STEM + Reading Comprehension = Super Students!

It's been a busy week in first grade!  Our school STEM Night is tomorrow, and all of our students participated in a school-wide STEM challenge.  First we watched a video on YouTube called "Caine's Arcade".  If you haven't seen it, be sure to check it out!  Caine is a young boy who gets bored when he has to go to work with his dad.  He decided to create his very own arcade, complete with working games and tickets.  Our students were then challenged to make their own arcade games using the same materials that Caine used; old boxes, cardboard, paper, string, etc.  We had SO much fun designing and building our arcade games!  The classroom looked like a tornado swept through, but it was well worth the mess!  Some of the students created "claw" games, others made basketball or football games.  And they had so much fun trying out each other's games.  It was the best!!

On another note, I''ve been doing a lot of comprehension work with my reading groups.  Right now we are examining the differences between fiction and nonfiction.  I put my worksheets together in a comprehension pack on TPT.  Be sure to check it out! :)

Leaving the Solar System

We're into the last week!! :)

We've been finishing up our space unit with some awesome creations of our own.  The students were given the task of thinking up their very own planets and constellations.  I have some very creative thinkers in my group!

First we drew our planets and named them...

Then we created models of the new planets!

I bagged them up, attached them to our design papers, and the planets were ready for student transport!! :)

 

And last but not least, we designed our own star constellations!

 

Click here for the constellation freebie in my TPT store!

I got the coolest gift from a parent today...new sandals!!! My students know how much I love shoe shopping!! :)

Postcards from Space!

Greetings from Saturn!  To continue with our solar system unit, we read "Postcards from Pluto: A Tour of the Solar System" by Loreen Leedy.  The book's a little outdated, and says that Pluto is one of the nine planets, but I still love reading it!  The copy that I have was actually my husband's when he was growing up! :)

 

Regardless, I read it every year with my kinders and then we create our own postcards to mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, or even our pets at home!  Each child chooses one planet to "visit", and then write a message back home about their adventure.  The kids love doing it, and it's nice to expose them to a form of writing that you really don't see much anymore.

 

On another note, after about an hour and a half, I have all of my parent volunteer bags ready to pass out!  I found some fab ideas on Pinterest, stopped by the Dollar Tree on my way home, and started stuffing bags!

9 days and counting! :) 

Happy June!

Holy cow, it's June already!

Yesterday was our field day, and it was hot, hot, HOT outside.  But a total blast, as always!

We've been having lots of fun with our end-of-year space unit.  After a few days of learning about all of the planets, the students chose one to write a brochure on.  I showed a few sample brochures from various places, and the students were amped up to create their own!  They turned out fabulous!!

Two more weeks to go!