So Long, Farewell

This coming week will be the last for the 2008-2009 school year at Metz. What a wonderful experience it has been for me to be able to share what has been going on in my classroom all year. I believe that all teachers, new and experienced, have things to learn from each other. It is in this exchange of ideas that we become better educators for our own students and colleagues.

Class Science Experiment Sink or Float

Every year my class participates in the annual Metz Science Fair. Even though our school is very good about setting up classes for our parents to learn how to support their child during an at home science experiment, I rarely have a parent choose to work with their own child on an experiment at home. So each year, as a class, we brainstorm ideas that seem interesting to us to explore.

Celebrate Earth Day With Plants and Seeds

With Earth Day quickly approaching, I would like for you to take a minute to look at the Environmental Health Unit, I wrote as well as some of the ideas about plants and seeds I am posting here. There are also a ton of ideas that Scholastic put together for you in Caring For The Environment You will find many ideas that you can use in your own classroom to help celebrate the day we celebrate our Earth!

Bulletin Boards: Spring Has Sprung!

One of the best things about teaching at Metz is the fact that all of my colleagues take such time and care to keep our hallways looking beautiful with student work. These displays allow everyone to have a glimpse on what is being taught in each room and are also excellent learning tools. I took some time last week to photograph many of these gorgeous displays to share with you. It is one thing to read an idea for a bulletin board in a magazine, but quite another to see a teacher's and her students handiwork! Enjoy!

Technology in the Classroom II

Here is Part II of III of quick tech ideas that I have completed with my 1st graders over the past several years. Many of the PDF examples I am sharing with you were done in Kid Pix. We now have Pixie in our computer lab, so a few of the ideas will have come from that program. In many ways the two programs are very similar, so you should have no trouble adapting the ideas! Hopefully you will find something here that you can use with your own students or maybe these lessons will inspire an idea of your own!

 

A Book of Hugs

In keeping with the theme of love for the month of February, I would like to share with you an activity I completed with my students using the book A Book of Hugs by Dave Ross. 

Love Bug Art

The “Love Bug” activity, taught by my friend and amazingly talented colleague, Metz art teacher, Rebecca Nusinow, gives students a chance to integrate science, math and art skills to create an original insect.  The “love  bugs” my own students brought back to class were so incredibly cute, I knew I had to write about how they made them and show some photo examples!

Valentine Activities

Here are a few quick and fun activities with the theme of Valentine's Day!

100th Day of School

Schools start at many different times of the year usually in August and September. At Metz, we started the latest that I ever remember, and as a result, we are celebrating the 100^th day of school next week on February 4^th. Whether you have already celebrated the 100^th day of school with your little monkeys this year or having it coming up in a few weeks, I hope you can find some fun ideas here to use and have some 100^th day fun!

Peace Begins With You

In addition to teaching about the wonderful life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I like to extend the celebration of his birthday into several lessons on peace; peace within our selves, peace with others and peace between nations.