1st Grade Smarty Pants Camp
The end of the year is upon us! I have to admit that the last 2 1/2 weeks of school are by far my FAVORITE! (and not because it is the end of the school year)
The HEAVY weight of state testing has been lifted off of our shoulders and we can start to have ALOT of FUN and LEARN at the same time!
Before I show you my Smarty Pants Camp Unit ..... Let me show you our class Count Down!
The day after testing I replace my Reading Group bulletin board with an End of Year Countdown. I made 13 notes (we had 13 days of school left) that gave my class fun little activities to enjoy. I pick an extra good student to pop one balloon each morning and read our note for the day. These are some examples of activities I have planned:
Leave your shoes at the door day
Sit by a friend day
Play with sidewalk chalk day
Tic-Tac-Toe Tournament
Rock Paper Scissors Tournament
Science Experiment
Movie/Popcorn Day
etc,
The kids LOVE this and look forward to popping the balloon each morning! PLUS this is a little something you can hang over their head to try to manage that end-of-year behavior! "I only pick students who are making good choices to pop our balloons!"
Now to make my room look like Camp Smarty Pants...
I recruited some WONDERFUL parent volunteers to help with this endeavor!
We pitched a tent in the classroom, decorated the hallways, and BOOM ..... Smarty Pants Camp has begun! The kids came in on Monday SHOCKED at the transformation that took place!
Here are my plans for the week at a GLANCE!
Glimpse at Monday
We started off Monday by finding out who has been camping before, and who has not! What better way to do this than a graph!?
The students picked a circle (yes/no). They illustrated their circle and then placed it on the appropriate side of the anchor chart. We then counted the votes, took that data and created a bar graph, and used the graph to answer questions about the data!
(corresponding graph worksheet came with the Unit)
Then the students participated in some group work practicing the skill of ABC order. Each group was given 26 cards (all camping themed of course) and they had to work together to place the words in ABC order. After they had the cards in order, they each had to record the words on their recording sheet!
Glimpse at Tuesday
We have studied Comparing and Contrasting using a Venn Diagram throughout the year ....
so for this activity I placed a Venn Diagram at each of my groups. The students had to work together to Compare and Contrast camping in a Camper vs. camping in a Tent! Then we came together and completed a class Venn Diagram using the ideas they came up with in their groups.
Later in the day we took a Nature Walk to an outdoor classroom that our neighboring elementary school has.
(my school is Primary which is PreK - 2nd ... the Elementary is 3rd-5th and is right across the street)
While we were there we used our crafty binoculars (made from duct tape, string, and toilet paper rolls) to observe nature using our 5 senses. We of course left out "Taste" so I wouldn't have students trying to eat anything .... uggh!! They recorded their observations on a recording sheet.
Then we sat in a circle and shared our "Campfire Stories" that they students wrote at home for a homework assignment.
Glimpse at Wednesday
Who doesn't love SMORES!?
Wednesday was all about SMORES ....
first we built words using the SMORES ingredients!
Then we sequenced "How To Make a SMORE." I had the ingreidents organized at the back table along with a baking pan from our cafeteria. The students went to the back table and made their SMORE ... placing it by their name on the baking pan. After making their SMORE, they had to use the writing paper to sequence their steps and illustrate what they did. While they were completing their writing, my EA took their SMORES to the kitchen oven and baked them until the chocolate and marshmallows were nice and melted! YUMMY!
She returned to the room with a OOEY GOOEY SNACK for the kiddos to enjoy! Of course on the back of their sequence writing page was an Adjective page in which the students had to list adjectives that described their SMORE!
What would you do if you had SMORE time in 1st Grade?
This is the question my students had to answer with a fun writing prompt and craft! The things they wrote were quite entertaining!
At the end of the day we conducted a Science Experiment "Growing Marshmallows!"
Did you know that if you put a marshmallow in the microwave it GROWS?
The students made observations before it was heated, during the heating, and after the heating! Of course they had a page to record their observations!
I loved watching them GAWK with amazement as their marshmallows GREW inside the microwave!
Glimpse at Thursday
We started Thursday learning about Acrostic Poems. We created these cute "HIKE" poems along with a craft. We then took what we learned and created another Acrostic poem for Mother's Day!
Thursday was a BIG day for our class! I had asked the students to bring in a paper airplane for a Math activity! They were so excited to fly these babies!
We headed outside with our paper airplanes in tote along with a recording sheet. Each student was to record 4 flights and use their steps as a nonstandard measurement tool. They had to record any changes they made that might have affected their flight like their direction, wind, etc.
They found that the wind had a BIG effect on the flight of their airplane, and that airplanes with weight (pennies taped to it) flew a lot further than the planes without weight! Hmmm.... interesting!
FINALLY .....
Check out this CUTE Mother's day gift we made!
Friday AT LAST!
I can't believe we made it to FRIDAY!
The students were asked to bring in a BOAT on Friday!
Yes .... a BOAT!
They could make this boat out of ANYTHING ... I just asked them to test it out to make sure that it could float!
BOY do I have some crafty kids (parents)!
I filled up a kid pool with water, and we headed outside with our boats!
We made predictions on what boats we thought would sail the best, and we talked about what each boat was made from. We discussed how some materials would float and what materials would not float! Most importantly ......
WE HAD A BLAST!!!
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| These are some of the boats that the students turned in! |
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This is a Zucchini boat ...... made from a Zucchini!
HOW CREATIVE! |
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Can you tell we were just a BIT excited!!
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This is a video of one of the boats in action!
YES it has a motor!
We ended the day with a BANG!
Our PTO sponsored a celebration for our school to celebrate the wonderful fundraisers our students participated in throughout the year!
We had Jumpy Jumps (that's what we call those inflatable things) and Snow Cones!
Right before we went home I presented each student with a specific Smarty Pants Camp Award ...... and we took a class picture!
I promised to let them take a "goofy" picture if they would all look at the camera and SMILE for a real picture!
I can't believe Smarty Pants Camp is over!
Of course I didn't make all of these resources on my own .... I purchased many of them through TPT! Please use the links below to find and purchase these resources!
Check us out next week to see our
ICE CREAM UNIT!
