Recap of Penguins in Antarctica

So I’m kinda totally blogging about this week and last week. Is that bad??  Our unit of study on Life in Cold Climates has just been AMAZING and I have to share!! I mean, who doesn’t love the freezing cold temperatures and blubber??

So, last week I had the pleasure of having 7 scary administrators come into my room to see what we were doing. Ha! Well, not that scary, except that they all come looking so serious. Plus, they’re all taller than me. Well, I’m 5’1” so most people are taller than me. 

I asked students if they thought fat could keep an animal warm. We then watched a scene from The Magic School Bus: In the Arctic and discussed blubber (one of the penguins' adaptations). I had just sent my kiddos back to our seats to begin our blubber investigation when our visitors walked in. Have you seen Aimee Salazar’s Penguin Integrated Unit? It’s kind of the best! It had more than enough resources for me to use throughout the week. Anyway, it includes directions for making blubber bags and a page to record observations and reflections. Each team conducted their investigation (the administrators pulled up chairs). My kiddos slipped their hands into the bags and counted for 5 “alligators” or seconds. For once, I was not nervous about having grown ups in my room because the kiddos were all so engaged, on task, AND having fun. We completed the recording sheet together because there is a wide range of abilities among my students. My kiddos couldn't stop talking about the investigation.

Excellent detectives!

On of our close reads for the week was Penguins by Anne Schreiber. Tara West has a Penguin Close Read freebie for this nonfiction text. It’s intended for kindergarteners, but I was able to make it work for my firsties. We discussed whether or not we’d be able to have a pet penguin where we live, and practiced locating evidence to support our answers. I copied a few pages of the text in order for students to use when answering the question.  

I sent home my That’s Not a Snowman take-home project! They were all so cute! I love seeing what my students and their families come up with. Here’s one of the snowmen that came back.

Apron from Etsy Seller Foodphyte

Did you see my Instagram post about my new teacher apron?! BEST. IDEA. EVER. I just don’t know how I ever lived without one. My day pretty much goes like this… Oh, it’s time for Freddy to go to Reading intervention. I owe Bobby, Johnny and Becky a ticket. What did I do with that black marker? Where are my keys? Now, it’s all so handy because it’s in one of my pockets. Each item I carry has a designated pocket (hooray for efficiency). I found this apron on Etsy and got to pick the colors.

I finally updated my fan freebie button on my Facebook page. I added my ink friendly No Homework passes. Head to my page to check it out! Tomorrow there will be a math freebie, so be sure to come back. I printed them on bright pink paper and my students loved them.

Well, that's all for this Five for Friday Sunday. I'm ready to relax before the week begins. Tomorrow there's no school, but we do have a full day of profressional development. I'm crossing my fingers that it's a good one. Have a lovely week friends! 

SNOW Much Fun!

My team met last month and planned out our first unit of study. YEAY!! We were given time to collaborate and build our unit with the help of some of our administrators after learning about the process. A few months prior, we had received some professional development based on the book Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding (I went cross-eyed a few times while reading/discussing some of the chapters). It took a few (full) days to build this unit and agree on an essential question. Now, we’re definitely on our way to answering it.

We began our unit of study after returning from Winter Break. It’s centered on life in cold climates (Arctic & Antarctica). Many of my students have little to no experience with freezing temperatures or snow. A snow day in Central California?! That’s unheard of (especially this season when our lowest temps have been around 40). So, I decided to make fake snow for my kiddos. You should have seen their little faces when I told them we would be making snow. Of course, one of my little geniuses raised his hand and said, “Wait, are we making it out of paper or something else?” He thought I was pulling his leg. I had to explain that it would look and feel like snow. Holy moly! The whole class started buzzing with excitement.

I stopped at Target to pick up 4 pounds of baking soda, and the Dollar Store for a bottle of hair conditioner. I couldn’t believe how easy and cheap it was to create such a memorable experience for my class.

I was so fortunate to have a couple of parent helpers come in and assist with the activity. They chose students to mix the ingredients and monitored them as they made snowmen, igloos and cakes. The mixture made enough for 10 kiddos to play with and share with the carpet. The other half of my class did a craft, and then switched activities after 15 minutes. I had to apologize to my custodian for all the mess my little friends had left behind. OOPS! Although, I don’t think he minded much because our floors are always so spotless.

On the day of the activity, my students were so excited that the first thing they said to me that morning was “It’s Snow Day!”

I would highly recommend this snow activity if your students have had limited experiences with snow. It has created so much more excitement for our unit of study.

If you'd like a page to compliment this activity, click {HERE}. I'm always looking for ways to get my kiddos writing.

I can't wait to share more about this unit! Stay tuned!