The Water Cycle

Over the last few weeks we have been learning alot about the Water Cycle. First, we learned the different stages of the water cycle and what happened at each stage.

1. Precipitation
2. Collection
3. Evaporation
4. Condensation

We even made our own water cycles on the classroom window using plastic baggies that contained colored water. The kids loved being able to watch the water cycle happen in our own classroom!

After learning about the water cycle it was project time. For this project, students were in groups. Each group had to create a drawing of the water cycle. They then wrote down what happened during each phase of the cycle. Last, they used Educreations to create a finished project. Here are our final products:

http://padlet.com/nolan3/c62grpd2it8m

Valentines Day Fun

It was an exciting and busy week in 1st grade! On Tuesday, we were overjoyed to get to take a quick break from our learning and go outside to play in the beautiful snow! We even kept the blinds open all day to keep an eye on the snow. I just loved hearing, "Mrs. Nolan, it's snowing outside!" all day.

This week our first grade was hosting a cereal drive for the whole school. We encouraged every student to bring in at least one box of cereal for children in need. Our goal was 600 boxes. On Tuesday, our class was in charge of counting the cereal boxes brought in that day. We had lots of fun grouping the boxes into groups of ten and then counting them all up. The kids were sooo happy to hear at the end of the week that we had collected 684 boxes!

Lastly, it wouldn't be Valentines week without fun crafts, Valentine exchanges, and Valentine books.

I also was treated to a late birthday celebration from my class, and man did the make me feel special! They brought me flowers, gift cards, coffee, and lunch. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! :)

Now for a girls weekend at the beach to enjoy some relaxation and sun!

George Washington Carver and Harriet Tubman

Our last unit in Social Studies was on Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver. We started out our unit by reading books on each of the characters.

First, we studied George Washington Carver. We learned that George Washington Carver made many different things from peanuts and was often referred to as the "plant doctor". Students even went home and did some research on their own to see how many different things he created using peanuts. They brought their lists to school and shared them with the class.

Next, we learned all about Harriet Tubman. We learned about how brave she was. We also learned all about the Underground Railroad.

To conclude this unit we did group projects using the free app, ChatterPix. For this project, each group did some research on either Harriet Tubman or George Washington Carver. Next, they drew a detailed picture of their character. Last, they were able to make their characters come alive using ChatterPix.

Check out our finished projects on this Padlet site:

http://padlet.com/nolan3/lqe6kpd8xgsn