Open House (1st Grade)

I've always had a love for Open House and the excitement that it brings.  This year was extra special for me.  Can you believe that I've never done my own Open House?!  In my first few years of teaching, my schools in DSUSD didn't do an Open House.  And as a long-term substitute, the Open House that I "hosted" was mostly done by the actual teacher.  This was my first time planning the activities, and arranging the classroom the way I wanted. 

 Here is a panoramic shot of the whole classroom.  I hung student work on every inch of the classroom!

Fact Family Jellyfish and Dr. Seuss art hung from the ceiling.  Our Fraction Robots hung on the window blinds.  On the left Math wall, I displayed a project the students did on Google Slides.  Each desk has students' Timeline project and a folder with their work.

I hung plastic table cloths to make a smooth surface over the cabinets.  The students' Symmetrical Portrait was a family favorite.  I also hung a shape project students did on Google Slides.  The right cabinets have students' final writing piece for our Opinion Writing unit.

The ELA wall is where our anchor charts usually hang.  Last minute, I needed a small activity to fill the space.  Students wrote about why school "rocks" and showed off their best dance move!

The Shape Monsters were a fun project to wrap up our shape unit.  Students created their own monster and then wrote about its' attributes.  Last, they recorded a FlipGrid video where they showed their Shape Monster and read their writing.  The QR code on the wall took parents to the FlipGrid videos!

These were projects from our Architect STEAM project.  We researched famous structures around the world and students worked in groups to build models of them!

Plants PBL (1st Grade)

Our school requires 3 PBL's each year, 1 in each trimester, and we did a plant PBL for the 2nd trimester.  The Essential Question was about parent vegetables and their similarities/differences with the offspring vegetable.  Each group had their own bell pepper seeds that they planted.  After the seeds started sprouting, we transferred them into bigger pots.  We studied bell peppers, planted the seeds, and tended to the plants until they sprouted into new vegetables that we could study and compare to the parents.

 

Throughout the trimester, we studied plants through various experiments.  In the picture below, we planted Lima Beans and were able to watch the process of the beans sprouting through the "greenhouse" sandwich bags.

We also incorporated Writing and Math into our Plant PBL.  Students did an opinion piece about their favorite vegetable.  Students also collaborated with their groups to create a vegetable garden.   They were given a garden space and had to figure out where they could 6 tomato seeds, with 6 inches of growing space.  They used the tables to sketch out their plants, then transferred their design to a poster.

  

This was one of my favorite PBL's because the students were so engaged throughout the entire project.  Students were so curious and really learned to worked together (we had a few lessons about taking turns and how to be a good teammate).  And it was cute to see students take ownership of our class plant; making daily observations and taking turns watering it at recess!

Storms Research Projects (1st Grade)

To wrap up our weather unit, we did a research project that studied the different types of storms.  Students worked in groups of 3-4 students to gather information about their assigned part. Each student was assigned a specific question; what causes a storm, where do they happen, etc.  They typed their findings into a matrix via Google Classroom.

I differentiated by providing different research materials.  For my students who needed extra support, I gave them an outline that listed facts for each part, so they could research in simpler terms.  For my students who needed a challenge, I gave them online articles and informational texts, so they could research their part on their own.

After students completed their part of the matrix, they presented their research via FlipGrid.  Each group recorded a video where they read their research.  At Open House, parents read students' research (the completed matrix) and scanned QR codes to watch their child's presentation video.