Pumpkin Scientfic Lab w/Freebie

My class had a blast this week.  We began our discussion of the Scientific Method with a beginner lab. 

I recently went to the farm with my little boy, Owen.  I bought 3 pumpkins- 1 for Owen, 1 for my house and 1 for my class.  We had a great time carving our pumpkin at home that I thought it  would be fun to carve in school. 

First(observation)-We observed the pumpkin without opening it. Students drew a picture of the pumpkin and came up with 5 describing words about it.

Next (Hypothesis and Prediction)- Using the hypothesis "What is inside a pumpkin?", students drew a picture of what they thought it looked like inside and predicted how many seeds were inside.  Their guesses were great- anything from 2 seeds to 1,000,000!!!!  For step 3 (experimentation)- students watched the pumpkin being carved and drew what was actually inside. 

Then (Experimentation)- Students used their 5 senses to inspect a plate with the pulp and seeds on it.  We used magnifying glasses and were able to tch and dissect it.  We even brought in a hot plate to make the pumpkin seeds for them to taste.  Some LOVED them, some not-so-much.  BUT, everyone had a blast!

You can find these sheets in my TPT store for FREE!!!  CLICK HERE FOR MY TPT STORE   Just leave me feedback if you like them.  ENJOY!!! and let me know how your students liked the pumpkin experiment. 

Case of The Mondays!

Today my class did a really cool science investigation. We used the template from my Mega Bundle. It was awesome! First, I got a pumpkin at the patch with Owen! I brought one into class!!!

I was shocked how many students in my class NEVER saw a pumpkin before!!!!!!!

We (the teachers) opened the pumpkin with a safety child carver that we got at the dollar store! We read a book about how a pumpkin grows. Each group of students got a plate full of seeds and pieces of pumpkin. Then the students used their 4 senses to describe what was inside the pumpkin. It was so much fun!!!

Coming Soon:

We are going to write a sequencing book about how a pumpkin grows.
We are also going to use our 5th sense of taste to try pumpkin seeds later in the week!

Keep you updated. What activities are you doing in your room for Halloween?

Very busy week

This week has been BUSY!! I am studying the different boroughs of New York. My students found maps and color coated them. We also found an amazing powerpoint about the smells of New York City! 

When researching for these lessons I stumbled upon the best website called We Give Books!!! It puts a book on the smartboard! I am so excited to use it! This link will take you to all the books you can read for free on Halloween!
wegivebooks.org

In science my class has been learning about how the earth changes. We decided on Friday afternoons to make science experiment centers. This week we used sand and water to show erosion. The students had to blow it, tilt it and pour water on it! They had so much fun!!!!

On Fridays for having a great week and doing all their homework I give prizes. I found that my students LOVE LOVE LOVE glow bracelets. They are inexpensive too! I get them for 1 dollar for 15 bracelets at target or micheals!! I spend about 5 dollars and make my life so much easier. The change I have seen in my students because they want the prize is unreal!!!

Here is my very cute prize box (from Ikea)

Any other great prize ideas?

I've been BOO'ed!!!

I'd like to thank Melissa at First Grade Smiles

 

 

So, 3 October activities I love are:

 

1.  My son Owen's Halloween costume.  He is only 1 year old and will be participating in a Ragamuffin parade in town.  My nephew, Mikey, will also be in it- he is dressing as Mickey Mouse.  Owen will be going as a hamburger.  This is his costume, but this is NOT Owen.  However, it does look like him a bit (the blond hair).

 

2.  My Halloween MEGA pack, including Math, Literacy, Science and Writing (word choice)- Common Core aligned.

I LOVE this packet and it is receiving rave reviews on the separate pieces.  ALL of the following items are included.

 

check out the MEGA pack here

 

 

 

 

 Halloween math and Halloween literacy, science and Said is Dead available separately in my store. Here is a few pictures of what is included.

 

 

3.  The movie Hocus Pocus!  My mom and I would warch this movie EVERY year.  She still calls me whenever she sees it on.  I admit that it is not the best movie, but there is something about it that I love.  If you have not seen it, RUN AND RENT IT!!

 

 

 

Bloggers I  BOO'ed:

The Peanut Gallery
Tanya Rae Designs
Fun in 1st Grade
Adventures in Teaching
Creation Castle

FREE FOR 1 DAY ONLY!

I have reached 100 followers on TPT (and close to it on my blog).  In honor of this milestone, I will be giving away one of my favorite units for FREE!!!!  This unit is all about DOGS!!!  This unit will be free from 10 am- 10 pm EST.  ENJOY!

This 40 page unit includes math, writing, reading and science:

Math-
Favorite Breed bar graph and tally chart and 8 extended response word problems

Writing-
A persuasive writing prompt with generating idea chart, picture and publishing paper.
A complete non-fiction book with cover page, table of contents, drawing page, dog breed page, dog features page, labeled diagram of a dog to complete, dog trick page, persuasive sheet, 5 facts about dogs, and a non-fiction glossary.

Reading- 2 cut and paste sequencing activities, dog vocabulary sheets

Science- Venn diagram comparing humans and dogs, living vs non-living activity sheet.

You can download the entire FREE unit HERE.    The only thing I ask is that if you like it, LEAVE FEEDBACK and follow me on TPT for more freebies!!!!

Halloween Giveaway

A friend of mine is having an awesome giveaway for Halloween.  I entered one of my best selling products- Halloween Literacy and Math Super Pack

Check out the giveaway here

Kristin :)

Celebrating Columbus (and a day off) :)

Over the past two days, my class spent a lot of time learning about Christopher Columbus.  We read a mini-book about his adventures and watched a Brain Pop video about him. 

Yesterday, after reading the mini-book,  we spent the day talking about what kind of person he was; what character traits he had.  The students came up with a lot of different ideas:  brave, loyal, courageous, leader...

My FAVORITE answer was:  Christopher Columbus was stinky because he was on the Santa Maria for 70 straight days and did not shower.  HAHAHA  Clever, and maybe true. 

This is the paper we used to complete the character traits.

Today we used Columbus' ships for a math project.  Students were asked to redesign a ship for Columbus after the Santa Maria was wrecked.  Students were able to use their pattern blocks to help them combine 2D shapes for the ship.  They LOVED this idea!!! 

Here are a few examples. 

In writing, we used a graphic organizer to help us create a 1492 Journal.   Students answered questions to guide their thinking like: 
Where were you going?
How many ships do you have?  Draw them.
What is your job on the boat?
What land did you find? Where is it located?
What did you find when you explored?

Students then went on to write a journal entry about the explorations.

Find the complete unit here


Enjoy your day off on Monday. (sorry if you have school)

Kristin :)

I completely forgot about Columbus Day

I cannot believe I forgot all about Columbus Day; we even have off that day!!  I have been racking my brain for activities for my kids to do and came up with this cute activitiy pack.  Check it out here

I plan to use my day off to take my son pumpkin picking.  He loves farm animals and making animal noises (he is 1), so we are off to the farm on Monday. 

Let me know how you plan to spend your day off celebrating Columbus.

Constantly writing about dogs....

My kids are always writing about bringing their dog to the park or teaching their dog a new trick or playing fetch.  I thought I would use these stories and interest and turn it into a new mini-unit.  This unit is across all content areas. 

Included:

Math-
Favorite Breed bar graph and tally chart and 8 extended response word problems

Writing-
A persuasive writing prompt with generating idea chart, picture and publishing paper.
A complete non-fiction book with cover page, table of contents, drawing page, dog breed page, dog features page, labeled diagram of a dog to complete, dog trick page, persuasive sheet, 5 facts about dogs, and a non-fiction glossary.

Reading- 2 cut and paste sequencing activities, dog vocabulary sheets

Science- Venn diagram comparing humans and dogs, living vs non-living activity sheet.

We are starting this unit on Monday.  I'll post pictures of my class completing this unit.

Click here to see Dog Mini-Unit