Animal Habitat Diorama

 

 

 

 

Stage 1 'Living Things' unit of work: after studying animals and their habitats, students created a diorama of a chosen animal in its home.

Kids brought in recyclable materials from home to assist in the construction of the habitat. Paint and glue was supplied at school.

Here are some sample dioramas from my Year 1 class:

1. sheep on a farm

2. bat in a cave

3. bird in a forest

4. caterpillar in a garden

5. octopus in the ocean

6. butterfly in a garden

Push Pull

  

I've been using hula hoops to help demonstrate Venn diagrams to infants children for a few years. It's really helpful for whole-class/group learning. 

Students sit in a circle with the hoops separated. We first categorise the images and make a pile of those which fit both. Then I have a students physically move the hoops and overlap them so that we can complete the Venn. 

Here is one we did recently on 'Push and Push' forces:

Here are some of the images I used for the Venn diagram (source: google images).

Fairness

 

Found this quote on Pinterest and jazzed it up for classroom display. 

Sometimes the little ones can't seem to understand why some accommodations are made for some students, be it academic or behaviour. By being honest and reasoning with them, I have found that despite age, most kids understand that others experience more hardship/difficulties and accommodations need to be made so that all have the tools to succeed.

Constellations

For our Early Stage 1 science unit "Twinkle Little Star", we made our own consellations. 

It's a very basic activity where the children pasted stars onto black paper, but good for fine motor development.

 

Each student created their own constellations; some made them out of shapes such as hearts or letters, and all students had to give their constellation a name.

Apple Tree Behaviour Chart

 

We had these gorgeous wooden trees in each of our rooms at my workplace last year and I wanted to use them for something other than dressing up my book corner. So I turned it into a behaviour chart!

Each student had an 'apple' (I edited mine from Sparkle Box) and they were arranged around the centre of the tree.

Those with beautiful behaviour were allowed to move their apple up the tree whilst those exhibiting unacceptable behaviour had to move down the tree.

Technology: Smart Response

Last year I attended some professional development on interactive Smart Response technology. Fascinating stuff!

These wireless clickers can be used in most key learning areas as a testing tool for comprehension or the collection of data from students.

Smart Response VE can be used by other wireless products such as phones and tablets.
See here for the website.
 

Angry Birds 3D Shapes

 

This guy here is an absolute GENIUS!

He has turned the old 3D shape nets Angry Bird style!

Cutting, pasting and creating 3D shapes can be tedious especially with Stage 1 students, but my students were more than enthusiastic when they knew they would actually be creating a Angry Bird from the shape nets.

The Rock

Ever heard the story of the philosophy professor who filled a jar with rocks? He asked his students if they thought it was full, and they agreed it was. He then tipped smaller pebbles into the jar and they slid between the larger rocks. The students thought it was full now. The professor then poured sand into the jar and it filled up all the remaining cracks in the jar.

The professor likened these items to life, saying the rocks were the important things that made their life complete (family, love, health); the pebbles were other things that matter (job, house, car) and the sand is all the small stuff in life (insignificant things). If the professor had filled the jar up with the sand (smaller, insignificant stuff), there would be no room for the rocks or pebbles, similarly if he had put the pebbles in first there would be no room for the rocks, and so on.

The moral of the professor's story was to pay specific attention to that which was critical to one's happiness in life. His message was to take care of the 'rocks' (priorities) first, and all else would follow.
 

 

In teaching this concept to my students, we literally completed this task; students filled up a jar with items and then discussed the important things in life and identified the insignificant things that hold us back from being happy.

Told to them at the beginning of the year, the story was a great reference throughout the remainder of the year; to always look at the bigger picture and to not take things in life for granted.

Word Detective

 

Here's a game I made for my students for literacy group spelling reinforcement. Students are to select a card and on a dry-erase whiteboard, write as many smaller words from it as possible. 

It's wonderful for spelling, writing and vocab building; it's challenging and competitive, as well as lots of fun!

Mini Toast Art

 

Kindergarten decorated these mini toast croutons using icing paint (both can be found in the local grocery store). It was part of our 'It's Alive' unit, looking at plants, and an alternative to drawing or painting flowers.

Animal Sillouettes

 

To create these sillouettes, select some animal outlines from google images (see below for samples). Photocopy onto coloured cardboard and have students cut out before pasting onto a different coloured piece of cardboard. It helps develop fine motor skills thorugh cutting and pasting.

Caterpillar Craft

 

Cute Caterpillars 

These super cute caterpillars were a quick 10 min activity to help excite my students about the butterfly lifecycle.

What you need:

• Wooden pegs
• Coloured pom poms
• Pipe cleaners
• Wood glue
• Goggle eyes

1. Spread glue along peg
2. Paste pom poms on top of peg
3. Bend pipecleaner and squeeze between the caterpillar's head and body
4. Glue on goggly eyes

 

MS Read-A-Thon

My school had a wonderful incentive to help raise funds for MS Read-a-Thon; the class that raised the most money won a trip to Luna Park (Sydney).

My 3rd graders raised over $2,000 a few years ago for this great cause, and here they are enjoying the rides at Luna Park.

Click here for a link to the MS Read-a-Thon web page.

 

(Students can also participate in the Knit-A-Thon to raise funds for M.S):

 

Toys Unit: Puzzle

Cute and colourful puzzles - part of our Stage 1 HSIE unit on Toys. These were drawn with oil pastels onto cardboard, cut out and then rearranged.

We chose the balloon theme after doing some Push Pull experiments for Science.

Here is a basic template. Photocopy and have students decorate the blank side. Then flip over and cut along the black lines.

Treasure Boxes

 

We made Treasure Boxes for Christmas this year. The box was ordered through Educational Supplies and the students decorated them with rhinestone jewels.

The box has an insert for a photo which personalizes the gift. A very simple yet thoughtful present.