Water, Water Everywhere but not Enough to Drink

Our class is currently hard at work on our water PBL for January.  We have been learning all about water in America and comparing and contrasting it to water around the world.  We have researched and made noticings charts of where water is located, how we use water, the water cycle, pollution in our water, and how to have clean water.  We have also read many informational texts and discussed and practiced how to determine importance while researching and how text features can help give us more information.  We are nearing the end of this unit and now students are working in groups to create a magazine modeled after the Time for Kids that we read each Friday.  In these magazines, the students are listing facts they have learned about water as well as facts they have learned about how water is different in Rwanda than in America.

In the pictures below, the students were experiencing what it is like to gather water from the cafeteria restrooms and transport it in buckets back to our classroom.  This was just a tiny glimpse of what children in Rwanda have to do each day; however, their water is not as clean looking as ours.

The first time they carried the buckets by hand back to the classroom, and the whole process took 23 minutes.  Then, we brainstormed ideas of how to make the process go faster.  One student mentioned that in the books he read, he saw the people in Africa carrying jugs while riding their bicycle.  We knew we could not ride bicycles down the hallway, but that lead to another student's idea.  Hunter suggested that we use one of the carts that roll on wheels so we could go faster and the buckets would not be so heavy. Jackson said we needed to add lids to the tops of the buckets so the water would not splash out.

Our new time was only 9 minutes!!  

We visited the Wonder Room to learn about rivers and how they flow.

We created a homemade water filter and found the dirtiest water puddle on the playground to gather water from to test.  If you look closely at the last filter picture, you will notice that our yucky, muddy water filter through and came out amazingly clear.

Stay tuned to see pictures of the magazines in the next few weeks!!

Christmas in Rm 105

We had so much fun together in the weeks leading up to Christmas in first grade.  I am so appreciative to all the parents who helped send in materials and food throughout December for our fun projects and parties.  Here are a few snapshots of our fun:

                                           Decorating Gingerbread Houses

 

We read several versions of The Gingerbread Man the first week in December.  Our reading comprehension strategy was visualizing, making a movie in your mind while reading or listening to a text.  The students practiced visualizing all week and learned that good readers us visualizing to remember what happens in a story.  To end the week, they were asked to visualize the perfect home for the gingerbread man and create it using the materials given.  They did a great job!!

                        Mystery Readers 

We had 2 Mystery Readers in December.  Beth's mom came to read If You Give a Dog a Donut and brought us Krispy Kreme to enjoy :). Yummy!!  Jackson's dad came dressed in his camouflage to read Little Jake's Big Bowhunt. Jackson's mom and dad had prepared s'mores for us to eat as a "woods" treat.  We love and appreciate all of our Mystery Readers.  If you are interested in being a Mystery in our class please send an email or note.  We would love to have you!

                                                  Polar Express Day

Polar Express Day is always one of my favorite days of the school year.  We begin the day with a Polar Express word search, then we put on our Santa hats to take a class picture in our pj's!  We read the Polar Express book and then each child receives a bell to see if they can still hear the "sound."  It is magical!!!  Finally each student's ticket is punched and that get to settle in for a ride on "The Polar Express" where we drink hot chocolate, eat delicious snacks, and view the movie.  

                       Our Christmas Party

Thanks to Mrs. Pruett for planning a wonderful party and to all the parents who sent in items.  We had so much fun with our friends and parents!!