Earth Day 2013

Earth Day 2013

Organization

Organization is the key to success! The students in my class make me so proud! We have a management system for almost everything in our room. Although we have choice in a lot of areas: various types of tables,  no assigned seats, and free choice seating in our class we work within systems that keep us all organized and ready to learn! Here is an example of how we prepare ourselves for the end of the day.

Our backpacks are neatly lined up in front of creation station.

"Jungle Gym Concerts"

Our class has thoroughly enjoyed the warm weather we've had recently. Especially the beautiful weather during our recess and free choice time. When the weather is especially nice some of the young ladies in our classroom love to serenade us with "Jungle Gym Concerts." The songbirds sing a plethora of songs; here is a small clip of one of their infamous concerts.

The Lorax

We read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss before Spring Break. We discussed various ways we can protect our Earth, its resources, and all living things. We took the time to write what we would say if we were the Lorax in speech bubbles too! We also created Lorax mustaches! We had a terrific time designing them however we wanted. Many of us even decided to make more than one.

 

Our TEAM

Silly Lorax

We all loved our mustaches!

Mr. Matriccino swung by our classroom and surprised us with a visit from his sweet dog!

We had the privilege of having members of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Organization at The University of Virginia volunteer in our classroom. We enjoyed sharing Dr. Seuss stories with them and listening to them read a few books as well. They helped us with our ABC order, rhyming, and other Dr. Seuss activities. They even stayed for recess, lunch, and quiet time!

We enjoyed watching The Lorax with all of our first grade friends!

iMovie Screening

We had the privilege of attending a "short film screening" for our reading buddies. Our reading buddies in in Mr. Matriccino's 4th grade class created country projects/reports on iMovie. Our reading buddies invited us to their "short film screening" and encouraged us to make suggestions and provide feedback about their short films. We had a terrific time making selections for their iMovies and working with them on their projects. We cannot wait to see the finished product!

I Can Read with My Eyes Shut

We read I Can Read with My Eyes Shut by Dr. Seuss as part of our March Dr. Seuss author study. We also created our own class book! Our favorite quotes from the book were: "There are so many things you can learn about. BUT... you'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut." We also enjoyed the quote displayed on the wall in our room, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." We decided that we liked reading with our eyes open because reading can take us places we may never have the chance to go!

St. Patrick's Day

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day in our classroom on Friday, March 15, 2013. The leprechaun left us a letter that morning and we worked on our St. Patty's Day packet. We also had a visit from a leprechaun friend from the class next door. We thoroughly enjoyed our Green Fruit and Veggie Party! We had the opportunity to try fruits and veggies like: green grapes, celery, cucumbers, avocado, edamame, green peppers, broccoli, honeydew melon, green apples, and snap peas. We enjoyed Lucky Charms math! Our favorite part was eating them at the end! We read Bartholomew and the Oobleck and we were able to participate in a science experiment where we collected observation data about Oobleck. Most of us enjoyed touching it, squeezing it, and playing with it in our hands. St. Patty's Day in Ms. Hinnant's class was truly lucky!

Our leprechaun friend

We read the note left by the leprechaun and worked on our St. Patty's Day packet.

Green Fruits and Veggies

Seconds anyone?

Making our St. Patty's Day four leaf clovers. There was green paint everywhere!

photo cred Thor G.