Dancing Raisins!

In science, we have been studying the three states of matter - solid, liquid, and gas. We did an experiment to see how all three of these states of matter can interact! The materials for our experiment were:

• cups (solid)
• raisins (solid)
• water (liquid)
• clear soda (liquid and gas)

First, our students predicted what would happen when we put raisins into two different cups - one filled with water, and the other filled with clear soda. 

Then, we performed the experiment! We poured water into one glass and clear soda into another. Then we put about a 1/3 cup of raisins into both glasses and observed what happened! In the glass with water, the raisins sank to the bottom of the glass. In the soda, however, after the raisins sank to the bottom of the glass, they began "dancing!" One by one, raisins came up to the surface of the soda and then sank. 

We then recorded our observations. 

After our observations were recorded, we gathered on the carpet to discuss what happened. We drew a detailed, labeled picture to help organize our thinking. Here is what happened with the dancing raisins: 

In the soda, there were bubbles of carbon dioxide, which is a gas. The raisins that were in the soda were lifted to the surface by these bubbles, and then dropped down to the bottom of the glass after the bubbles popped. 

We had a lot of fun practicing our science words - like "observe," liquid," and "solid." We can't wait to see what else we learn this year!

Box Tops!

Box Tops are a great resource to help supply our classroom with fun and useful supplies! Box Tops are due on Wednesday, October 21 for the Fall submission date. Remember that at Upland Christian, all Box Top funds are given directly to the classroom teacher for use in your child's classroom! Here are some of the items we were able to add to our classroom from our Box Top fund last year:

Welcome back!

Hello and happy school year to you all!
I am finally catching up after the whirlwind of back-to-school set up and activities, and I have some fun things to share. In the first few weeks of school, our focus is on learning procedures, procedures, procedures! It is very important that we know how to do everything that needs to be done in our classroom so that it will be "smooth sailing" for the rest of the year. Your first graders are now experts at packing and unpacking their backpacks, keeping their desk neat, walking in line, and how to proceed when there is an emergency.
Along with mastering the many procedures there are in day-to-day life, we have been learning some academic games and activities that will help us practice skills all year long!

Write the Room:

Greater Than/Less Than Math Game

Spelling BUMP!

Students get to practice being the teacher!

Guess My Number!

Open House

It was so wonderful to see our first graders and lots of other elementary students at Open House last night!
Here is the End-of -Year slideshow that was playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8mF8Zik5Cs

And in case you're like me and want to watch the Do Something video over and over, here is that link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD8O6fov5s8
(I know you all enjoyed this video, too, since it has over 300 views!!)

Standardized Testing

Have you ever been curious as to what standardized testing sounds like in a 1st grade classroom?
Something like this:

"Class, turn to page 45 in your test booklets."
"Turn to page 45.... Honey, it's page 45, not 35."
"You need to be on page 45."
"Ok, we're ready to sta-" "Yes, here's a pencil."
"Ok, let's start with Sample A."
"Sample A, not number 1."
"No, don't fill in a bubble yet! I haven't asked the question!"

We have to admit this is probably not the most entertaining monologue to listen to. And while standardized testing at UCA is kept to a minimum and is actually very helpful to administration and teachers when planning curriculum and instruction, it's kind of... boring sometimes!
Click on the video below to see what we did to get our bodies moving, keep blood flowing to our brains, and beat the testing blues!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_5KQbB4wcg
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*disclaimer - no footage of actual testing is included in this video. I was responsibly proctoring the test, not filming it ;)
**Someday I will figure out how to embed video into the blog! Someday!

Time Scoot

We played a new math game today - Time Scoot!

Each of the students had watches and a recording sheet. They got to "scoot" around and record the times on all of the watches. 

And, since the weather was so nice, we decided to scoot around outside!

Here's a few pictures. Check out the Shutterfly site for more!

Amy's Farm

We went on a field trip to Amy's Farm! First, we met Farmer Melissa, and we learned about plants, animals, and how farms work.

Next, we learned about herbs like lavender, sage, and rosemary. After the kids had an opportunity to pick some herbs, we also got to pick some lettuce and eat it!

From there, we headed off to meet a cow with a really long tongue, and then we got to feed and pet some farm animals!

Before we left, we got to hang out with some horses and then each student had the opportunity to milk a cow!

Getting Ready for the Farm!

In anticipation of our fried trip to Amy's Farm this week, we are learning about plants! Today we used an informational text to read about how plants grow, and later in the day, we discussed what plants need! Here is some work from class: