Easter Eggs

This is our version of dying easter eggs. The students cut out egg shaped ovals. Next they each designed their own pattern or drawing in white crayon. Then they took turns dripping food coloring on their egg while I sprayed water so it would run together. Fun activity but very VERY messy!

Spring is here!

Spring is here in room 101

 Above our reading library we have a spring inspired tree. This tree has been up all year and we just change it with the seasons!

 The students used a tissue paper technique to decorate flower cut outs. They could decorate them however they wanted. This was a great OT activity.

This is our spring themed bulletin board in the hallway. I am not sure whose quote this is. I found the quote and the idea for the 3D flowers online.  For the grass the kids stamped their hand prints. The raindrops are made from transparency paper stuffed with tissue paper (another great OT activity).

Winter Bulletin Board

Had to post a picture of our bulletin board before we take it down to put up spring!

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess: Oobleck experiment

Oobleck

 

My students love to get messy!

To celebrate Dr. Suess's Birthday we made Oobleck today in Science class. First, we read Bartholomew And The Oobleck. Then, we made Oobleck. Next, we wrote down all of the words we could think of that could describe Oobleck. I got this great idea from on of my favorite blogs: The Diary of a first grade teacher blog! Thanks Mrs. Buckly

Materials:

2 cups corn starch

1 1/2 cup water

4 drops of green food coloring

Grass Caterpillar

For science class and as an Occupational Therapy activity we made grass caterpillars. The students loved this activity but beware because it is messy! To start mix grass seed and soil in a large pot. Then pour the seed into about a 8-12 inches of women's pantyhose. It helps if you use a funnel. Tie a not at the top and then use rubber bands to make the pantyhose into 3-4 lumps. Students will see the grass growing in multiple steps. This is a great activity to show plant roots. We used a squirt bottle to water the grass. When the grass started to grow long we gave it a "haircut." We also used a data chart and drew pictures to chart our caterpillars progress.

Christmas door decoration

This was how my class decided to decorate our classroom door for the school door decoration contest before Christmas break. The theme was to incriminate Christmas characters. We decided to incriminate Santa for "knowing when your sleeping and knowing when your awake." On the inside we had Santa Clause peering into the house and from the outside we had Santa looking in through a window.....

Stem=Straw experiment

 

In science we are discussing how plant stems act as a straw and carry water to all other parts of the plant. I saw this experiment online and decided it would be a great way to demonstrate how the stem carries water.  I had the students make prediction charts and they had to predict what they thought would happen. After two days we checked the celery stem and they students assessed their predictions. The students were very excited during this experiment. Personally, I was not very happy with the results. You could see red around the edges of the celery leaves but it was not as vivid as I was picturing. Next year I plan on using carnations instead. 

Materials: 

Glass jar

Celery stalk

water

red food coloring