​We had so much fun, observing and gently touching the worms.  Also, I learned there are so many different types of earthworms, and although the science of it all was over the heads of the 1stgrade, they completely appreciated that their teacher had something to learn with them. 
 
One of my favorite times of the year at school is the Fall Carnival.  Every year each class takes on a theme and dresses to the nines to present that theme. It is always so much fun to show up in costume with the class and have such great community support around.  Don’t mine me this past year, 9 months pregnant as Cruella de Vil.  My first grade class made the best Dalmatians!
 
I’ve added a few pictures from years past too.  One year was Willie Wonka and the Oompa Loompas and pure 70s, groovy. 

​Word to the wise, make sure that if you order earthworms, you leave yourself plenty of time or else that shipping cost will get you in the end.  Who knew earthworms would cut into my Starbucks budget? 
 
We had so much fun, observing and gently touching the worms.  Also, I learned there are so many different types of earthworms, and although the science of it all was over the heads of the 1st grade, they completely appreciated that their teacher had something to learn with them. 

​We had such a treat, or scare for some of my little guys.  We had the opportunity to observe live crickets.  Full disclosure, my husband was not a fan of having them in the house the night before and did not want to be around while I put each cricket in its own container.  
 
For the lesson, we had already done our research on cricket, read a story about a cricket who tells secrets, and drawn what we thought a cricket might look like.  Lastly, we were able to observe, draw, and label the different parts of the body of the live crickets.  At the end of the lesson, we released the crickets into a garden that was not in use.  We were attempted to do as little harm as possible to the surrounding areas while still being responsible students. 

​Stop me if you’ve been there before or heard this one, my lesson didn’t go as planned! Not even from the very beginning.  I had this great set up, a whole week of bugs, we were going to be able to get our hands dirty, observe, hold, and then release when appropriate.  Welcome to ladybugs who happened to be very popular at every hardware store, 5 to be exact.  Yes, I even tried Amazon.  
 
So, like in Friends, pivot! Holding ladybugs went to creating our own. We did our research, created our Thinking Map, and then created a tear art ladybug. While we would have loved holding and releasing ladybugs, getting our hands dirty was a great treat too! 

We had such a great time exploring how we could create robots with items that we could find within our own home.  We used an electronic toothbrush, washable markers, a pool noodle, and rubber band. 
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We were able to attach the markers to the outside of the pool noodles with the rubber band and insert the electric toothbrush into the center.  Three markers seemed to be the optimum number of markers. The students choose their colors and let their robots do their thing. With trial and error students were able to decide what worked and what did not work.  It was so much fun, an easy setup, and only a little mess when the doddle bots had a mind of their own. 

​We used a Flow Map to give directions on ‘How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag’, and then as a class we were able to actually make the ice cream.  I was careful to check with parents first as two students did have many allergies.  We had a great time making and eating the ice cream.

​We have been studying different types of maps and what you can find on a map.  Students were able to apply their learned knowledge and were able to get messy too.  We created elevation maps using flour, salt and water.  First students had to draw out a map, that had to include various landforms and bodies of water. Once they were all approved as well as colored correctly with their key, as a class we were able to move onto the actual creation of the map.  
 
Each student was given a piece of cardboard.  One the cardboard they recreated their map before they were allowed to get messy. Once pencils were away, it was time to get our hands in the thick of it.  It took a few days but in the end, the finished product was great.  Students were able to see their maps go from something one dimensional to something 3-D that they had wholly created.  

Getting students to read on their own and being interested in it, I find, is a challenge.  I love doing Lit Circles. Early on in the year I assess where each student is at and put them in groups that are appropriate for their level.  I allow the students in the group to choose a book that I have final approval over for them to read.  The students have different roles while reading in the groups.  All students are actively engaged and know that I am roaming around and can pop in at any time into their circle.
 
Once students got the hang of the roles, they were asking to do Lit Circles more.  Empowering the students to take charge of their learning and reading was amazing and they continuously pushed each other.