Monday, April 29, 2013

Did you eat that WORM?!?? {FREEBIES}

Oh yes it is! But don't you worry.....we didn't really eat them! Well, not the real worms anyway. But it sure was fun to pretend that we were going to!!! Last week, during our Earth Day unit, we learned soooo much about those wiggly lil critters. We decided to have a "Worm Day" & did all things WORMS!!! I started by reading the lunch menu for the day....my firsties got so darn tickled when I said that the cooks were making "worm patties on a bun" for lunch! Hehehe! {Sshhh...it was really just a chicken patty!} Then I told the kiddos that I had been digging in my garden the night before & brought in something that I wanted them to feel. Without letting them see what was in the bag, I had each student reach and feel. Then they had to write down what they thought it was. Some of the kiddos' faces were PRICELESS!!!
Most of the kiddos though they were feeling worms.....this is what it really was!
 
Just a little rotini pasta coated in oil....ewwwww!!!! I think they were relieved to see it was just a bunch of noodles! If you would like a copy of  "What's in the bag?" just click on the pic.
 
We also read some great worm books. This book does a wonderful job of explaining the vital role that earthworms play in the planet's ecosystem.
 
Here are few more fun books about worms...
 


And now for the really creepy icky fun part....I let my firsties pick up a worm & pretend that they were going to eat it! Talk about some squealing! Some of them LOVED doing this & couldn't wait to take the picture home to show their parents! And others, well.....some of the kids weren't going to touch those worms for anything!!! {I let them hold a gummy worm for their picture.} Then we did some sequencing writing & wrote about the steps you would need to take if you want to eat a worm! Some of the firsties were really thinking...some said, put sugar on it, dip it in chocolate, roll it in salt and fry it! YUM!!!

Click the pic for a FREEBIE copy!
{Just add your own photo & glue onto construction paper.}

This was such a fun FUN day! We ended our day by enjoying a lil snack of worms in dirt! {Yep! chocolate pudding, oreo crumbles & gummy worms.} That snack was WORM-derfully delicious! I can't wait for Earth Day 2014! Hope you enjoy my FREEBIES!
Bon appetite!
 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

An "Oprah-Style" Giveaway & a Peek at Earth Day!

You MUST check this out!!! Ashley over at "JUST REED!" is hosting an Oprah-style Mega Giveaway! She is giving away all kinds of great stuff {hurry! it ends April 26th!}
 
Are days getting shorter??? I mean, it feels like I have less time in the evenings than I used to! I had oodles of stuff that I wanted to share tonight, but by the time I finished supper & cleaned up the dishes, it was time to tuck the kiddos in! Well, anyway I will be making this a short post tonight, but promise to post more pics VERY soon! We started out our celebration Earth Day by creating this anchor chart...
 
 
Then my firsties did this fun lil data collection activity. Just click the pic if you would like a copy!
 
Happy Earth Day Week!
 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

An EGG-citing Day in First Grade!

I kinda thought that I might find 1 or 2 fluffy chicks in the incubator this morning since there were a couple of eggs with small cracks last night when I left school. Well, check out what I found.....
Can y'all believe that we had 9 cute lil fluffy chicks hatch during the night!?! Needless to say, my firsties were just a little unsettled WILD today! After seeing that sooo many of our eggs hatched during the night, I was kinda worried that the hatching was over & the kiddos weren't going to see any of them actually break out of the eggshells. But after I moved these 9 fluffies to another box, I discovered small cracks on 3 more eggs. Over the next couple hours, well...to say the least, we were a bit distracted.....Check out what we watched...






I always worry that the chicks aren't going to live! You have to agree, they just look yucky right after they hatch! All that flopping around just looks to sad...BUT it doesn't take long for those feathers to start to fluff up and they start peeping & hopping all around! Well, if you've been counting, we now have 12 out of 13 eggs that have hatched. Just one lonely egg left unhatched in our incubator tonight...


Poor lil thing....no cracks or anything. :(  Will morning bring us up to a 100% hatch???

Monday, April 8, 2013

We've got CRACKS! {Peep! Peep!}

Just look what we found at the very end of the day!!!


OMIWORD! My firsties were chirpin' with excitement! Our actual "hatch day" is tomorrow but we already found cracks on 3 of the eggs! Woo Hoo! My kiddos have been writing in their "Egg Hatching Journals" each day & predicted how many of  the eggs would hatch. They are very anxious to see if their predictions are right. {Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how many fluffy babies we have!}

Monday, April 1, 2013

What's Hatchin' in First Grade?



Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! I'm trying to enjoy the last few hours of our "spring break" {which is actually 3 days...but at this point in the school year, I really appreciate a few days off!}Tomorrow our class will be welcoming some new visitors....1 dozen bright shiny eggs! Our incubator is all ready and the kiddos are soooo anxious to see what hatches. {Ssshhhh....don't tell them that we will be hatching chicks! I've pretended that I'm really not sure what kind of eggs they will be sending us this year....I want them to think about all of the different animals that hatch from eggs. And...OH MY! does it have some of them thinking! I've heard, "Lizards! Snakes!" and yes, even "Dinosaurs!" Dinosaurs?!? Hmmm....we might have to talk about that a little more! :) 

We are going to be starting our day off by filling the first few pages of our Egg-Hatching Observation Journal. Then each morning I will give my firsties a chance to observe any changes in the incubator & complete another journal page. This journal is part of my "What's Hatchin' Chick?" unit. This is one of my favorite units of the entire year! The kiddos really get into all of the activities.....soooo much excitement in the classroom! If you would like to check it out, just head on over to my lil shop at Teachers Pay Teachers or Teachers Notebook
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And...being the FREEBIE lover that I am, I want to share one of our fun little centers that my firsties will be working at this week. Just click the pic to grab a copy!


I will keep you posted on our hatch status! Are you hatching eggs in your classroom? Would love to hear from you! Happy Spring!!!