All about Plants

Our plant unit is almost coming to an end!!!

We learned all about the needs, parts, and life cycle of a plant. We had a ton of fun planting and observing the growth of our own marigolds. We even turned ourselves into flowers! Exciting times! We are still waiting for our flowers to bloom and working on our final digital group book project. In the meantime, check out some of the unit activities we've done so far...

Planting time! We are responsible for our own plants!

Plant Journal - We created our own plant journal documenting the growth. In the journal, we also made a list of the plant's needs, labeled the parts, explained the steps to planting, and sequenced the life cycle.

Got this great resource from LittleAchievers on TPT. This is a freebie (also includes needs and life cycle of a plant posters)!!

Freebie from 1st Grade Hip Hip Hooray

We turned into flowers - See mini flower projects below to learn about us!

We used "Chatterpix for Kids" on the iPads to present our mini flower project. Hope you enjoy the presentations! :)

Can't wait to share our digital books soon...stay tuned!

The Best Part of Me

We draw, we write, and we dictate.

My kiddos and I have been working on opinion pieces. They are learning to state an opinion and provide reasons explaining their preference. For this particular activity, the kiddos were asked to identify what they think is the best part of them and give one or two reasons explaining why it's the best part.

Since we have been experimenting with iPads and turning in assignments on Canvas (Learning Management System), I figure why not let them record a video!! It was quite a wonderful experience for them! They absolutely enjoyed videotaping their responses. Getting to check themselves out while self recording was...a plus for these little kiddos! Lol!  And of course, it was awesome for me to see and hear what they have to say. I've got some pretty amazing and interesting ones! :)

Check out their thoughts...
The brain - "The best part of me is my brain because I can think with it and I can learn different stuff with it."

The hair - "The best part of me is my hair because it looks nice and my friends like it."

The stomach - "The best part of me is my stomach because without my stomach I can't eat anything."

The eyes - "The best part of me is my eyes because I could see with them; and if I did not have eyes, I would not see my friends."

The arms - "The best part of me are my arms because they help me play tennis."

The book that goes with this activity is called The Best Part of Me: Children Talk About their Bodies in Pictures and Words by Wendy Ewald.

Without iPads? No problem! I've come across some other versions of this topic. I've seen teachers who took photos of their students' best parts and had students write about them. Some drew, some painted, and some even made a sculpture out of clay. There are always LOTS of great ideas out there from super creative teachers! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms out there! 

This year, I decided to combine a few of my favorites together into one! The kiddos each created a thumbprint necklace and a card. In addition, we made a "Love Message" video for our awesome Moms. Check it out below...

Thumbprint necklaces made from air dry modeling clay. Love how fast it hardens!  I think their favorite part was probably designing and wrapping the necklaces by themselves.

Mother's Day card
Front cover: "A BIG HUG FOR THE WORLD'S BEST MOM!!!"

Inside: Picture of Mom & me, fingerprint flower, and a sweet letter to remind Mom just how special she is

Class video - "Love Messages" 
This was such a cute video! Each student used Chatterpix for Kids on the iPad to take a photo and record the message. They had a fun time adding little features to their video (filter, sticker). I then combined them all on iMovie and added some finishing touches (title page and music).

Turning individual Chatterpix videos into a class video - see below...

It was wonderful to see how hard all kiddos worked to show just how much they love their moms. I always remind them...put all your heart and love into it! Lol! You can definitely see and feel the love!