Making Oobleck, Earth Day, and More...

Welcome back!  We finished our science unit on matter by reading Dr. Suess' Bartholomew and the Oobleck.  Afterwards, we made the oobleck from the book and discussed which type of matter it was:  liquid, solid, or gas.  We came to the conclusion that oobleck is a solid when it is being moved/rolled and it is a liquid when it is sitting still.  The students ~loved~ this experiment!  We got plenty messy and had a ton of fun.  It was totally worth the huge mess it left behind in my classroom.  Each child got to take a little bit of the oobleck home (I hope they asked an adult before they let it out of the bag).

This past week we celebrated Earth Day.  We read the books The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry and The Lorax by Dr. Suess.  When reading these books, we reviewed our reading strategies that we have learned this year.  Students were asked to predict, question, clarify, and summarize.  We discussed the theme of each story and the author's purpose.  After reading both of these books, the students were asked to write about how they can help take care of the Earth.  We used green and blue paint and created a marble painted Earth.

Here are the pictures I took of the students creating their marble painting of the Earth.  They loved this activity.  They turned out so cute and we are currently displaying them out in the hallway with our Lorax pictures attached them.

Here are the pictures I took of each of the students for their "If I was the Lorax I would help the Earth by..." writing.  Each student made their Lorax mustache and then we took pictures of them out in the hallway.  They of course thought this was hilarious and spent the afternoon with their mustaches on while they worked.  :)

I can't even believe that we are nearing the end of the year.  We will be celebrating our successes in first grade with a 10 day countdown to summer and second grade!  Be on the lookout this week for a note coming home explaining all of the fun activities we will be doing during our 10 day countdown.  We will be walking to Sonic and Woodplace Public Library therefore a permission slip will be attached to the 10 day countdown newsletter.  Please be aware that the permission slips must be signed in order for your child to attend those activities.  In addition, your child will need $1 for an ice cream cone at Sonic.  Please bring their dollar in a marked envelope with their name and teacher's name on the outside.  This will help ensure that if your child misplaces their money before arriving to our classroom that we will be able to find where the money needs to go.  I'm looking forward to celebrating the end of the year with your child.  They have worked so hard all year long and I know they will be ready for second grade.