Spider Unit

Here are just a couple things we did during our spider unit this week!

First, we started our unit by graphing if we are or are not afraid of spiders.  Here is what our class graph showed.

Next, we filled in the KWL Chart.  We added what we already knew about spiders and what we wanted to learn this week about spiders.

Throughout the week I read numerous Non-Fiction books about spiders.  Here are some of the books I read:

We talked about the difference between Spiders/Arachnids and Insects.  We labeled the parts of a spider.

For a fun art/writing activity we began by filling in the verb/adjective chart together as a class.

 

After filling in the chart together, the students used the words off the chart to make a poem about spiders.  After the students wrote their poem they made a handprint spider. They added eyes, a web, bugs in the web, etc. to their spider after it dried.

Click HERE to download the Spider Poem Writing Paper from my TpT Store!

We have been talking a lot about the difference between a fact and opinion lately.  For this activity the students sorted and stuck the Spider fact and opinion sentences onto the correct spider.

Click HERE to download the Spider Fact and Opinion Sentences from my TpT Store!

As a class, we wrote our own Spider facts.

We ended our spider unit by filling in our KWL Chart again with all the new information we learned throughout the week about spiders.  Finally, we graphed again on how we now feel about spiders after learning about them all week.

Apple Unit

Here are just some of the apple stuff we have done over the week!

 

 

Each student had to bring one apple to school.  We graphed how many apples of each color were brought in. 

We tasted three different kinds of apples.  The students graphed which apple was their favorite.

Pinterest Craft

I had too many old, used crayons I didn't know what to do with.  When I saw this idea on Pinterest I just had to do it!  First, you take the paper off of the crayons.  Then, break them into small pieces.  Put the pieces in a muffin pan mixing the colors if you would like.  In the oven at 275 degrees let the crayons melt (takes about 10 minutes).  Then take them out of the oven and let them cool.  When they are cooled, they will pop right out of the muffin pan.  You can even use different shaped muffin pans like hearts or pumpkins to create different shapes!  You can use these during class time or give them to your students for fun gifts.

Watermelon Fun!

During our Exploring Our 5 Senses with Watermelons unit we learned about each sense and explored watermelons with our five senses!  Here are some of the activities we did:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are sugar cookies with mini chocolate chips that are made to look like watermelons.  It is always a blast to hear the kids predict what they think these cookies are going to smell and taste like.  :)

Here are some additional fun watermelons activities we did.

Each student graphed whether they like or do not like eating watermelon.

 

We read The Enormous Watermelon and talked about what the word ENORMOUS meant.

Then we used a real watermelon to do some different prediction and measurement activities.  We predicted and measured how wide and long our watermelon was, how much our watermelon weighed, and how many lines were on our watermelon, etc.  The students wrote their predictions in their watermelon booklet.  Then, we measured to get the actual measurements.

 

After all our measurement activities, we cut open the watermelon!  Each student received a slice of our watermelon.  Before we ate the watermelon slice we used our five senses exploring the piece.  We added a description on how the piece of watermelon sounded, felt, looked, smelled, and tasted like to our anchor charts!

 

 

Here is a picture of our watermelon that has cool watermelon facts.  The facts have sticky Velcro dots on the back to easily take on and off as you introduce each fact.

 

 

For a fun whole-group syllable activity, I gave the students a word.  I called on student volunteers to put a seed up for every syllable they heard in the word.

 

 

Click HERE to download my Exploring the 5 Senses Using Watermelons unit on my TpT store!

 

 

Handprint Craft

We made these "I Love You" student handprint magnets this past week.  These will be given to my parents as a little gift at our First Grade Parent Meeting.

My Classroom Bulletin Boards!

Math and Literacy Center Student Accountability

The hardest part of math or literacy center time is to keep the students on track, focused, and working while they are at their designated center.  I have the students fill these out during the week while they are attending their centers.  Not only does it keep them accountable for their center work, but I staple this sheet on top of all their center work and send it home with them.  It really helps the parents see how independently their child works during center time.

Click Here to Download