Image Map

April 15, 2015

Awesome Adjectives about US

Last week we learned about nouns, went on a Noun Hunt around school, and made Noun Town.

Next up, adjectives.  We created a list of adjectives that described us and then they created the work below.


Art has always been a huge part of my life and I incorporate it ANY way I can into my classroom.  It's amazing to see how much they progress as the year moves along.  I've never been into directed drawings or having their work all look the same.  Instead I teach them tips and tricks on how to create their piece.  I often say, "Think of shapes when you draw."

After they drew themselves I gave them mailing labels (talk about exciting) and they had to write 5 adjectives.

Here's their work!  I love how unique and individual each one is (the big eyes, pony tails, frilled skirt, huge smiles).

Rawr...Dino Time

I ABSOLUTELY love teaching about dinos!!  I know it's because when I was in first grade I was 100% sure I was going to be a paleontologist when I grew up.  Yes, I could say that word and knew what one was. I had dino posters up in my bedroom and could name many of them. I even thought that I'd find a NEW dino and it would be named after me.  Big dreams, I know!

There was something exciting to me about being out on site digging for fossils.  I guess teaching students about them is a close second for a career...right?  I'm not sure if it sounds as appealing now that I'm no longer a 6 year old little girl.

We've been learning about many types of dinosaurs and they've been writing facts in their informational books.  After read alouds, we create a Dino Character Map.  I had a brilliant moment this year too.  Making each poster doesn't take me that long but coloring them can get tedious so I now have two students in the morning color.  This saves me time and they absolutely love it.  Plus, it's exciting to see what they'll look like when complete.  Who knows...maybe dinosaurs were really tye dye!

Here are few we've learned about.

Click to enlarge.

A Long Overdue Post...

We finished up learning about Space.  We discussed the moon's environment and what it was made up of.

I created the moon's environment in some pie pans (Foss Kit).  The kids used magnetic marbles (which were meteorites, asteroids, and comets) to create craters on the moon.  We started by sitting on the floor and dropping them into the pan.  Then they stood up and dropped them.  They made observations about what they observed.


We also created some Space Art!  Students traced their hands and feet on a large piece of white paper.    They added the rest of their details and outlined with black crayon.  They used black to fill in the background.


And a VERY happy birthday to this sweet girl!!  She brought in these cupcakes which were quite impressive (and delicious too).