Ready, Set, Caterpillar Race

My favorite time of year is here... Butterfly Time! Our classroom received our caterpillars a few days ago and boy let me tell you were they excited. This group is not afraid to touch the caterpillars so I was able to bring back a fun activity. The students let their  caterpillars out and tracked their path and then raced them against friends!

Some of them raced their two caterpillars against each other while others raced their friends.

When we were all done we measured the distance from start to finish.

First Grade in 360

I am thrilled to announce the newest technological addition to our classroom! With the help of Donorschoose our room has received a 360 camera! I am really looking forward to being able to share our learning experiences with the community. These experiences will range from everyday activities, fields trips, and even my summer travels. This summer I look forward to creating virtual reality experiences that my students will be able to experience as if they were there with me. The camera is simple to use and will allow us to capture some of those special moments. Students were excited to try it out when it came. Here is a snapshot of our room in Tiny Planet Mode!

Science Fair

 

As part of the STEAM committee this year I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Middle School Science Fair. Typically the elementary school does not participate, so this was a very exciting thing. We had two different stations!

1. World Landmark Engineers

For the past few years, I have been having bi-weekly STEAM landmark competitions. It has been a fabulously exciting way to get students thinking. Every other week I introduce a new famous landmark that I have visited. Together I show them some pictures and learn about the history. Students are then given opportunities during their free time and centers to choose to work on the project. Each student will use QR codes I created to learn more about the landmark. Next, they fill out a planning sheet and create a plan. Then they try building their landmark with the different materials from the STEAM bins. Finally, they take a photo and upload it. At the end of the two weeks we go through all of the projects and the top few are selected for our Hall of Fame.

At the science fair we wanted to share this experience so that other teachers and families could see and have the opportunity to incorporate it themselves. Students ran the centers and explained to others how to give it a try. This was so exciting to see elementary students so involved for the first time at the science fair.

2. Butterfly Project

As many of you know, I am extremely passionate about butterflies and restoring their habitats. Each year we raise butterflies and release them. Last year our first grade classrooms planted and restored a butterfly habitat at a local park. This year the new first grade studied the monarch caterpillars we found at the park. Together we tracked their migration down to Mexico (if you would like to read more about this refer to my other blog post!)

The second grade came down to help create a student made bulletin to teach those at the Science Fair all about the migration track and how they helped! It was amazing to see this come together because it was almost entirely student made.