Farewell First Grade!

Well...I decided to make a position change at my school.  I will be leaving my treasured first grade classroom to become one of the Technology Integration Coaches.  I have began the creation of a new blog called Harrison's Technology Depot.  This blog will showcase our school's technological endeavors as well as become a place where my colleagues and other teachers can find useful, educational resources on technology.
Please click on the link below to follow my school's technological journey through the 2012-2013 school year!!

http://mytechnologydepot.blogspot.com/

Rainforest Animal Reports

The kids worked very hard to finish their rainforest animal reports.  After they were complete they had the option to record their report using an iPad app called PhotoSpeak.

Watch all 11 videos or pick and choose.  Click on playlist to see them all.  Enjoy!

News Article on Stability Chairs

Thought I would share the article written about our class!!  Super exciting :-).  I am so proud of my kiddos and my school.


Northwest Herald | Choice seats at Wonder Lake school

Skype with Rusty

We spoke to Rusty from Schooltoolstv.com via Skype yesterday and it was fantastic. As you know, I always try to record our Skype sessions; unfortunately, something weird happened during the recording. I will post the video; however, beware that there is a delay of about 20 seconds, so the mouths do not match the sound :( It also has a delayed start due to me forgetting to hit record. :) Anyone who has never heard of schooltoolstv.com before please visit the website and sign up for Rusty's videos - your class won't be sorry!

Plant Photo Essays

Each of the students researched a plant over spring break. Then, they found pictures using Google Images and created a photo essay sharing the facts they learned! I am so proud of how hard they all worked to get these completed!! Great job guys :-) Click on the picture to see a larger view in Picasa.

Newscast 6

Abby, Izabelle, Thomas and Dylan reporting on Room 105!  (sorry about the static...had some technical issues)

Newscast 5

Excellent news reports on tumbling, telling time and George Washington!  Keep up the super work Peyton, Travis and Ashley!

Newscast 4

We've been learning about congruency in math, asking questions in reading and practicing jump roping in P.E.  Listen in to hear James, William and Abigail tell us all about it!

Newscast 3

Want to learn about planets and verbs then watch Jake and Makenzie's newscast!

Nature Hike

We celebrated the first day of spring with a hike in Benwell yesterday!  Thanks to Leslie from the conservation district we found an area that we will be observing over the next few months.  Each pair of students found a plant to take field notes on yesterday and will continue to through may.

Brainstorm Plant Words!

We started a plant unit this week and we needed to tap into our prior knowledge.  Room 105 sure came up with some SUPER words!

 

Learning About Plants!

We are using a web tool/iPad app to reflect on and communicate our learning with each other each day. Follow our lino canvases to learn too!! The kids will be adding to their canvas each day.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Plant Puzzle

We are starting a unit on plants.  If you click the link below you can put together a puzzle that will teach you something about them!!  Find out the information the puzzle gives and you'll be ready to learn about it in class.

Parts-of-Plant

Welcome To Our Class Mr. President!

We Skyped Mr. Abe Lincoln this week!  The kids brainstormed some great questions and each got a chance to talk with Abe.  Thanks Mr. President for taking the time to talk with us.  Sorry about some of the technical issues!! (We lost video during our session)

Guestbook

I am very sad to say that the site slide.com that hosts my guestbook is going to be shutting down!  :-(
This will result in us losing all of the great messages and pictures from all of the super people who signed it.  I am in the hunt for a new guestbook and am hoping that all that signed it will take the time to sign it again in the future!
If anyone knows of any other guestbooks that allow pictures please let me know!  :-)
Thanks SO much for your support and kind words...our class greatly appreciates them.

Ask the Expert: Planet Edition

My students did a great job recording their podcast on the planet they researched.  I took all of their recordings and pictures and created a movie using iMovie on my Mac.  Great job and huge thanks to the fourth graders who helped out!! I hope you enjoy!

     

Photo Essays

Recently, my students researched a planet with a partner. They then picked a few of the facts they learned and created a photo essay. A photo essay is a group of photos that tell a story or provide the reader with information. They used the iPads and an app called ComicBook to create their essays and share their learning with all of you!

I hope you enjoy watching their journey!

Redbird News, Week 2

Lynette, Lexie, Elijah and LaShawn reporting on our learning!

Redbird News! Week 1

Check out Thomas, Izabelle and Abby reporting some of their learning this week!  This is our very first newscast this year!

Martin Luther King Jr. Timeline

The students learned about Martin Luther King Jr. this month.  One of the activities they completed was a timeline of a few of the important events in his life.  With a partner they illustrated their event and took a picture on the iPad.  They then typed their event into an app called Sonic Pics (however, the text was not included in final video  :-( ) and then recorded the event with their voice.
Watch the video we created!
Keep your eye out for our class video on MLK Jr.

Creating Word Clouds

To begin our solar system unit on Thursday the class brainstormed as many words as they could that related to space. Then they got into groups of three and created a word cloud using the netbooks. They learned how to log into the computers and find the link to ABCya's website. Then they each took turns typing the words into their word cloud; they even chose their own color schemes! I was so impressed with how well they worked together as a team. Keep it up first graders!!

New Science Unit Starting...

Assemble the puzzle to find out what our next science unit will be covering!! Come to class Thursday with the answer.   :-)

Click Here For Puzzle

What do shoes have to do with math?

In math this week, we used the kids shoes for an activity! I asked them what they thought we were going to be learning about, hear are a few responses: "We are comparing the shoes", "Looking at the different sizes", "Measuring them".

Good ideas, but they were actually learning about pairs! :-)

Learning About Magic e

The kids were learning about magic e (or silent e) this week. The got with a partner and had to brainstorm at least 6 words to share with the class that had the _ake word family in them.

The kids did such a great job sharing and exploring the newly introduced app!

Guess Who Activity?

Visit the link provided to assemble the puzzle.  When the puzzle is finished you will see who we will be learning about after break!!  Enjoy!

Boys and girls please leave a comment letting me know if you enjoyed this activity.


Link to puzzle

Weather Word Cloud

The kids brainstormed as many words as they could to end our weather unit!!  Check it out...they remembered a lot...41 words!!  Wow :-)