Thursday, October 31, 2013

Keeping Our Bodies Healthy!

For the past 3 weeks we have been learning about keeping our bodies healthy! In this thematic unit we used children's books to learn about eating healthy, exercise, germs and much more. Here is a look at our unit:

Here is a look at our board we added to throughout the unit. 

 First we made a list of questions we had before we started reading the books. The orange writing is our answers. We completed this part on the last day of the unit.

They had 2 pages worth of questions!

Throughout the unit we kept a list of truths  we were learning through the books.

When we read about germs we made a list of ways to prevent germs. We also practiced the steps to washing our hands. 1. Wet Hands 2. Get Soap 3. Scrub Hands 4. Rinse Hands 5. Dry Hands

When we talked about exercise we made a list of many ways we can get exercise! We practiced some of these during P.E. and in class. They had fun learning new stretches!

We read a wonderful book that taught us about when we should eat certain foods. Red-Light foods are ones we should eat only on special occasions. Yellow-Light foods are for every once in awhile. Green-Light foods are for all the time. They drew pictures of foods that fit in each category. 

We did a science experiment that illustrated what happens if we don't wash and take care of our scrapes and cuts. We watched an apple over 4 days that had been peeled to see what happen. They did a great job with their illustrations!



For our final project we completed a book that included pages like this. We filled out many things we can do to be healthy. 





When we learned about eating healthy we found pictures of healthy foods to fill our plates. We talked about the 5 different food groups. 


They planned a week of healthy snacks. Their challenge was to have 2 different food groups each day and have every food group at least once during the week. They had grapes and wheat bread on Monday. Tuesday they had peanuts and apples. Wednesday they had carrots and milk. Thursday they had string cheese and whole grain crackers. THANK YOU to the parents who helped supply part of our healthy snacks this week!! This is what they had to say about their healthy snacks:

"Great! Healthy! Delicious! Tasty! I love it! Awesome! Very good! Super Duper Good!"

Here is what they had to say about this unit:
"I learned you should eat healthy." -Calley
"I learned how to eat broccoli." -Tanner
"You get a blood pressure test at your check-up." -Aleah
"I learned how to get a check-up once a year." - Rebecca
"I get shots every year." - Emma
"I liked to eat the healthy goods we had at school."
"I like to exercise during P.E." -Bryonna
"I learned green-light, yellow-light and red-light foods." -Evan
"I learned to run around in P.E. on the line." -Juvanna
"I like the tag game." -Nolan
"I liked getting exercise in the classroom." -Taylor
"I learned how to do the splits." -Savannah
"I like to eat 5 fruits and vegetables each day. -Justine
"I like the scooter game." -Brayden
"I learned red-light foods."

Friday, October 25, 2013

Pumpkin Patch Writing

This week we got to write all about our visit to the pumpkin patch last week! Take a look at our journey:

On Monday, we created an anchor chart all about our field trip. (I recorded the ideas but all of these ideas were straight from their minds and mouths.)

We started writing on Tuesday. First we used a web to organize our ideas. (They did it all by themselves! They are getting really good at using webs!)




On Wednesday and a little bit on Thursday we finished our writing.




Last week Ms. Darby came in to teach us about creating beautiful illustrations. She made this anchor chart for us to keep in our room!

Look at how much better we are illustrating our work:



Finally on Thursday we got to share our writing with our friends!





Friday, October 18, 2013

Pumpkin Patch!

It was a beautiful day for us to go to the pumpkin patch. The clouds burned off while we were there making for a warm afternoon visit. The students were SO excited for each part of the field trip. They were excited about baby chicks, other animals, the hayride, picking the perfect pumpkin, seeing carved pumpkins, running around through the "night walk" and the snack Mr. Hentze so kindly gave us. Thank you to the parents who helped me out! I also should say that I was so proud of ALL the students. They had wonderful manners, followed directions well and had smiles on their faces all day! Enjoy these adorable pictures! :)
















Friday, October 11, 2013

All About Trees!

Hello students and parents! I apologize again for a delay in posting. Some of you know I was very sick this week and I am finally feeling like I have some energy! Hopefully today marks the start of being "back in a routine" with a weekly post made by Friday each week.

For the past 3 weeks we have been studying trees! The students have had so much fun during this thematic unit.

This unit included:
- Several books on trees
- "Adopting" a class tree (right outside our window!)
- Bean in a cup experiment (To learn about roots.)
- Building a tree by assembling the parts in our tree journals
- Celery experiment to see how sap moves through the trunk to branches and leaves
- A search for items that come from trees
- Leaf rubbings
- Bark rubbings
- Tree observations
- Finger painting the seasons of a tree
- Fall watercolor leaf art

Take a look at some pictures of our work and us observing our tree!


























I hope you have already heard a lot about our tree unit! Ask your students to share more! You can go on nature walks at home to see the beautiful fall leaves, look at different kinds of trees, collect leaves and so much more.

Next week it's off to the pumpkin patch! I look forward to sharing pictures from our trip with you next Friday. We will also begin a 3-week unit on being healthy. Be on the look out for ways you can help support your child as we learn how to eat right, exercise and prevent the spread of germs! (We don't all need this cold I have!) Have a wonderful weekend!