Popcorn Popping on the Apple Tree!

 I looked out the window and what did I see?

Popcorn Popping on the apple tree!

Spring had brought me a nice surprise.

Blossoms popping before my eyes!

I could take an armful and make a treat!

A popcorn ball that would small so sweet!

It wasn't really so but it seemed to be,

Popcorn popping on the apple tree!

-Georgia Bello

This is a fun craft to do during the spring time when the trees are blossoming.  We draw a tree branch on a small sheet of paper, add a few green cut out leaves.  The blossoms are popped popcorn!  I color them with powdered tempra paint to make them pink but would just as well left white.

I enjoyed created this display and the kids enjoy walking under our apple tree as we go in and out of the classroom.

April the Snowman

April 15, 2013

I am a big fan of thematic units and come April, I want to delve into spring and all the learning opportunities therein, but this year the weather is not cooperating!  My students had 1 day of recess with no snow pants, boots, hats or mittens, just regular shoes and jackets.  They were free, racing around the playground with glee!  We spend the learning day talking about the change in season, writing about the weather changes and signs of spring, reading about spring weather and doing spring related math activities.  The next day, snow!  One of my students came to school and exclaimed "Teacher!  Winter came back!"  What is a teacher to do?  Roll with it, modify and keep on teaching!  We are still keeping a tally chart of how many robins we see.  We used the snow to make clouds for our science experiment on rain.  (See science activities)  We connected with the weather by writing about what we like to do when the weather is rainy or snowy and read about characters in similar situations.  I did my best to stay optimistic and promise that spring will eventually get here.  After our 2nd snowstorm of the week another dear little learner said to me "Isn't it a pretty day!?  I'm a snow bunny, I love the snow!"
Well, this is a spring for all the snow bunnies out there.  Hang in there, the flowers are coming!

Earth Day Project

This is a fun craft activity that includes a bit of science. Each student will need a coffee filter. I like to label each filter ahead of time with the student's name written in permanent marker. Create a solution of water and blue food coloring. Only a small amount of water is needed. Have each student use eye droppers to drop the blue solution onto the coffee filter until is is completely blue. Make sure to have something under the coffee filter because the food coloring will bleed through. When the filters dry, prepare another solution with green food coloring. This time fold the coffee filters into fourths and dip each corner into the green solution. Open the filters and allow them to dry. I like to mount them on black paper and have the student add a few gold stars. We also write a way to help the earth and mount that to the paper too.