Mo Willems Author Study

We love Mo!
Mo Willems is the author of several great series of books, including the Elephant and Piggie books, the Pigeon books, and the Knuffle Bunny books.
We started with the Elephant and Piggie books.

These books are great. They include humorous but simple stories about two good friends, Gerald the Elephant and his buddy Piggie. We used these books to learn about making text-to-self connections, speech balloons, and story mapping/retelling (characters, setting, problem, solution).
As a wrap-up to this mini-unit, we made Gerald and Piggie puppets and made up and told our own stories. Then, we made a "sloppy copy" draft to plan our written stories. The final draft was a four-part comic strip in which the story was told using the dialogue of Gerald and Piggie.

The kids did great with this project!

This week, we're using the Pigeon books to learn about different types of sentences.

Here is our Anchor Chart. We sing a little song that goes like this:

Four Types of Sentences.

A question ASKS,

A statement TELLS.

A command ORDERS, and

An exclamation YELLS! 

As we read the different Pigeon books we identified the different types of sentences. Later, we wrote our own questions, statements, commands, or exclamations to go with our Pigeon crafts to decorate our door for Parent/Teacher conferences next week. 

Next up, the Knuffle Bunny books! We can't wait!

The Mystery of the First Grade Pumpkin

On Monday of this week, Ms. Gustafson brought in a pumpkin that she'd found in her garden. This wasn't just an ordinary pumpkin, however- this one came with a message!

Growing right out of the skin of the pumpkin itself were the words: "Hello 1st Graders!"

How could this have happened? The first graders went to work imagining and trying to solve the mystery. Here is a sampling of their ideas: 

Caitlynn: I think that the skin of the corn got on the pumpkin from the wind.

Daegan: I think a scarecrow walked to Ms. G.'s house and colored on the pumpkin. 

Gracie G.: I think there is a Garden Guy in Ms. G.'s [garden] and the Garden Guy took the pumpkin. 

Haydon: I think that a tarantula web is on it because the tarantula wanted to say hi to us. 

Rowan: I think a ghost tried to scare us.

Selena: I think a monster carved it late at night. 

Stop by to see the Mystery First Grade Pumpkin and read the other great first grade ideas!

Physics on the Playground Final Projects

Over the past month, the first graders have been exploring how the forces of gravity, push/pull, and friction affect how they play on playground equipment at school. Measurement data, questions, and observations were recorded in a science journal. As a final project, students designed and created a model of a piece of playground equipment, and explained the forces employed when using it. Here are picture of their final projects along with their explanations! I am so impressed with their creativity and their knowledge of forces and motion!!

Caitlynn: It’s like the merry-go-round outside. You pull it to make it move. 

Daegan: It’s a bouncy house. The bottom ribbon makes you bounce. It is kind of like a teeter- totter because when you bounce on the edges it goes down, and up, up-down. It’s gravity and friction, I think, because it is made out of plastic so there’s not a lot of friction and gravity pulls you down. 

Eli: These are monkey bars. You grab to hold them and you will hang there and then grab to the next one until you’re to the end. You grab on and pull your body. 

Erika: I built a teeter-totter. I think its gravity, because gravity pulls you down.  You wouldn’t go anywhere if it was a balanced force.

Gracie B.: It’s a trampoline with a lock on it. You have to go under it because this is like a gate. These are beds so you can sleep outside. There is a see-saw part. You go up and down when it isn’t a balanced force.

Gracie G: This is a kind of teeter totter. You push your legs down and up or else gravity pulls you down. If someone gets on the other side gravity pulls them down so you go up.

Grifin: I made a bouncy house. You just bounce in it. The walls shoot up when you run into them! Gravity pulls you down to the ground, so you have to push with your feet. The red line shows the danger zone!

Haydon: This is a climber!  You walk on this platform, you climb up there, and if you want you can jump on the trampoline and if you really want to go on the slides, you can go on the slides. This kind of slide has almost no friction because it is made out of ice so you go really fast. 

Jewels: This is a teeter-totter for lots of people. You go up when you push up, and the force of gravity pulls you down. When you push yourself up you go up and then you come down. It is fun. Ten people can go on it at once. 

Jordan: This is a really big bouncy house. You’re on the grass and you have to jump up to get into the bouncy house and then you can jump as high as you want to. When you jump in the air, gravity will pull you down but it won’t hurt because it’s bouncy. 

Kaydence: I made a merry-go-round. I know it looks weird. You push it and it goes around and around. 

Landen: This  is a monkey bar. You climb this ladder and then this one and and this one, and then you climb onto this one, and then you grab onto this rope and you can go across the monkey bars, and you can also climb across on these cotton balls. You have to be careful when you’re up there because gravity might pull you down and you could get hurt.

Lauren: This is called a horsey-ride. You have to get on it right here, and then you get to climb over and then you get to climb on this and this, like a koala, climbing backwards. Then you get to swing on here. You need somebody to push it, and then it will go for a while. You pull back on it to make it stop. 

Lilly: I made a slide. If you get a push you go faster. If you wear snowpants you go really fast because there is less friction. 

Makayla: This is a see-saw. You push up and down on your feet. When I go up, the other person goes down. Then gravity pulls me down.

Mason: I got my teeter-totter done! When the other person gets on, he has to pull it down on his side, because it’s an unbalanced force. The force pulls them down- the force of gravity. 

Selena: A playhouse! You can put your toys in there and stuff. These are windows on top. You can bounce in it and sit in it. There is ice in the bottom. It is slippery because of the no friction.

(Not pictured)

Rowan: These are monkey bars. You hold on these and jump, and then hold on to this, and jump, and then you slide down. Gravity is pulling you down so you have to hold on really tight. 

First Graders Figure out Friction!

As part of our Physics on the Playground unit, the first graders learned about friction today! We started by reading a book during which we imagined what would happen if we tried to roll a toy car across a variety of surfaces.

Next, we had a great time observing, predicting, and learning with this friction simulation from BBC Science Clips! Click here to get to the interactive simulation.

Then, we went outside and used the slide on the playground to experiment with friction. We timed the difference between kids who were wearing jeans versus kids who were wearing athletic-mesh shorts, and kids who held their feet flat compared to kids who didn't, and whether it made a difference if you gave yourself a push before beginning your slide.

Finally, we went back inside and the first graders wrote in their science journals about what friction is, how it affected their bodies as they moved down the slide, and drew a picture. They are becoming great little observers and recorders! Next up: the kids are designing, drawing, and creating models of their own pieces of playground equipment that employ the forces of gravity, push/pull, and friction. I'm so excited to see what they come up with!