Math Breakout

I kind of love doing Breakout EDU activities in my classroom.  I say kind of because the kids love them and they are so fun to watch figure out all of the clues and puzzles, but they are A LOT of work to get ready.  My goal is to do one a month.  You can reuse breakouts from year to year, so I already have some made from last year. This is one of those:

Where have all the Polygons?  We just finished our chapter in math all about shapes so what better way to celebrate our first math test than to do a breakout activity.  The kiddos worked so well in groups that they created all on their own!

Brayden opening a lock...

...with the key he found under the trash can

 

Gavin taking his turn opening a lock

Brylee and Maddyx solving the directional lock

Brayden and Katherina on a shape scavenger hunt

Scanning the clues in the lobby

hmmm, this one was tricky

Brylee and Maddyx trying the lock

Katherina and Brayden trying their combination

What do we do with all of these shapes?

What a great team!

Scanning QR codes to find clues

Solving the 3 digit lock

The final puzzle said... WE BROKE OUT!!

They did an amazing job!  The 2nd Breakout activity of the year and they beat the timer again.  I believe they had 7 minutes remaining!!  Way to go first graders!

~Ms. Anglin

Art

I think a little part of me, a secret part, would love to be an art teacher :)  Its so much fun!  This year we are responsible for teaching our classes art, if we so desire.  Well, I scoured the internet for projects this summer and have been tickled pink with the level of creativeness and enthusiasm for art in my classroom.  I've always been big on crafts and holiday/season themed art projects.  This year I hope to teach the first graders several art techniques that they have possibly never seen or used themselves.

The first project we did was a crayon/water color resist using their hand prints and different designs filling up the space inside their prints. 

I love how different they are

Then, they learned how to use water color paints and painted over the top of their hands.  They could not believe their eyes when the paint stayed away from the wax of the crayons.

Brayden working hard

Sirenna filling her paper up

A finished product hanging in the hall

They did a great job with the water colors!

I know this is only the 2nd art project we've done this year but I am already considering my favorite.  My apologies to future projects, but you have nothing on this one. 
My favorite animal is a giraffe and I am embarrassingly obsessed with them.  I found such a cute project based on the book "Giraffes Can't Dance".  We followed the step by step instructions that included free hand drawing the giraffe, cutting it out, and painting the background.  I may not send these home, they may be mine forever :)

Maddyx coloring her giraffe

Brylee coloring her giraffe

Colby coloring his giraffe

I do not have an 'in the process of painting' photo- I was far too busy helping and painting myself to take pictures.  So you will just have to have finish product pictures instead.  I am dying over the cuteness of these dancing giraffes!

Shake it to the left

Dancin' in the Moonlight

Everybody dance now!

I am excited to show you more art pieces throughout the year.  This class is so creative and not afraid to try new things!

~Ms. Anglin

End of August-September

The school year somehow seems to be moving along so quickly... I already can't keep up!!  Also, my creativity seems to have been sucked dry today... Case in point- take a look at the title of this blog post :)

We started the year off learning about shapes in math.  We did a lot of hands on activities during class.  One of the favorite activities was Tangrams on the Osmos.

Sirenna making a horse

Maddyx making a bird

Brylee creating a bird

Katherina creating a horse

Brayden making a horse

Colby making a rabbit

Gavin completing a hard black and gray level

 The first graders also worked on building shapes with the solid figures.  I got some giant magnetic shapes that we used for lessons on the board.  They also got to practice naming 'real life' shapes with a shape sort.

Gavin, Colby, and Maddyx building

Brylee and Brayden using magnetic shapes

Katherina and Sirenna sorting shapes

Maddyx making a hexagon out of different shapes

The finished shape sort

Brylee's turn

Here are a few random pictures taken during late August/early September.

Apple math craft

Using our flexible seating during reading class

The first graders earned a popcorn party at the beginning of September for great behavior.  They watched a Magic School Bus episode about the sense of smell, since that is what they just had a test over in science.

I love Magic School Bus!

Something brand new this year for first grade is Travel Time.  Between Science and SS chapters we will be learning about different countries.  Our first 'stop' was in America.  They learned facts, listened to the 'Fifty, Nifty United States' song, and created an American Flag craft out of tissue paper.  Then I took a picture of the class in front of the green screen in the Makerspace to make it look like they were visiting the Statue of Liberty.  It was the first time I have every used the green screen, so it's not my best work.

Hello from the USA

the flags turned out great

 The next country we traveled to was Mexico.  I really enjoyed this one because I actually know some Spanish and taught them some new words.  We counted, learned about shapes and colors and learned common words like hello and good-bye.  They created a pyramid poem all about themselves after learning about the ancient pyramids that are in Mexico.  This trip we took a picture in front of Chichen Itza.

Hola de Mexico!

Always smart, Never mean

Always funny, Never lonely

Always happy, Never scared

Always quiet, Never sad

As you can see, the first graders are learning so much and they are having fun doing it!

~Ms. Anglin