It's Spring!!

I am on Spring Break and loving it! I love not waking up to an alarm clock (cat and kid alarm clocks don't count-- those I cannot control!) I go back on Monday and was thinking about... Spring in my classroom and some simple ideas 

Bulletin Board Ideas: 

This was my board and hallway last year...

I really didn't change it much except I haven't done the animal research projects yet. Pretty simple-- some flowers and trufula trees! 

Look at these other boards I found! I tried to give credit where credit is due! If I am in error, please let me know!

Love the colours and the artwork filled board! So happy!

Photo by Brittney

 The tree and butterflies just reminds me of Spring!

Photo by Jenni Scheid

Could not pass this one up with the bunny bottoms! LOL!

Photo by Jessica Cate

 Again, loved the flowers and watering can!

Photo by Lucy Pryor Brady

I really like the 3D effect with the balloons!!

Photo by Melissa West

Spring is also great for sooooo many science experiments! Weather, insects, temperature, plants, life cycles! The list goes on and on! My class is currently observing ladybugs. I ordered them insectlore.com

I felt like a kid at Christmas-- I was so excited! I've had them about a week now and they are starting to change into pupas!

The kids will love seeing this! Another life cycle I like to do in Spring is raising Monarch butterflies and all you need is this:

It's a milkweed plant. You can buy them at Lowes or Homedepot. Some local plant nurseries carry them. I look like a madwoman at my local nursery hunting for eggs. They are so small!! 

They look like little spots on the underside of the leaves! 

Some pictures of babies! Sometimes, you can tell if there are caterpillers on the plans because you will see holes in the leaves. 

A caterpillar!

I just choose to do these because they are much prettier to see than the ones from insectlore-- in my opinion. Now, I do realize that sometimes, depending on where you live you do no always have the opportunity to raise these because of the weather. If you do, though, you will not be disappointed! 

I usually keep my plant (you will go through several! depending on how many caterpillars you have) on a plate with a tomato stand with tulle wrapped around it. 

Why, you ask? Well, I did use the butterfly habitats that you can buy commercially but I had a hard time watering them and putting a new plant in. This way, I can move the plants when I need to. The only downside is that it can be messy; but the kids can see the caterpillars so much better.

I invite you to join my Spring in First Grade Pinterest Board for some more ideas and links to videos I've pinned! You can do that here! 

We also worked on some Spring poetry. I found this cute poem on Teachers Pay Teachers from Dilly Dabbles:

Click on the poem to download it from their store for free! 

We read the the poem and talked about each sentence line by line and how each represented the signs of Spring. Then I re-wrote the poem on sentence strips and scrambled the sentences. The kids had to put the poem back together and re-write it then draw a picture of what they thought the poem should look like. Easy and full of meaning! Sorry that I didn't take pics-- I forgot my phone that day! Here is a copy of the writing paper I used, though! Click on the paper to grab it for free! 

When we return, I will start another writing project with my kids. We will be reading Jaime Curtis' book: 

We will be letting some balloons go with a note attached:

This is an editable Power Point File. You will need the KG Font, Love Ya Like a Sister Solid  to make the text match. You can also just choose to print and handwrite the blank portions as well-- just be sure to delete the "insert text boxes" before you do! It's such a fun writing project. The kids write about where they think the balloon goes, who finds it, and what they do with the balloon. The possibilities are endless! I will post some pictures when we return! 

It's a Spring Cleaning Sale that I am participating in! It's your chance to stock up on some items for Spring or clean-out some of those wish-lists. Also, a chance for you to leave feedback on items you've already purchased to get some items for FREE or at reduced prices! 

My entire store will be 20% off! Click on the sale button above to take you to my store!

And look who else is on sale!

An InLinkz Link-up

Have other Spring ideas? I'd love to hear them! Always looking for new ideas to incorporate into my classroom! Have a great rest of the week!