The Nature Museum

Today we went to The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. The Nature Museum is known for its iconic Judy Istock Butterfly Haven and providing more hands-on science instruction than any museum in Chicago.The Academy continues to excel in all aspects of the museum experience, citizen science initiatives, compelling public programming, its outdoor Nature Trails exhibition and much more.

Before going to the nature museum we visited the Lincoln Park Conservatory and Botanical garden. At the Lincoln Park Conservatory we found tropical palms and ancient ferns and many other exotic plants from all around the world. I love flowers and nature, and this place is beautiful, it took my breath away. I highly recommend you to visit. It is also very educative as all the trees have tags for the little ones to read its name and where it came from.

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum has many exhibitions to entertain our children; one this was the Mysteries of the Marsh, which showed the animals that live in wetlands. I was really pleased to see this exhibition because a few weeks ago we studied about frogs and toads. Hence, it was important to see it as my son could relate them to the ones he studied on the books.

The butterfly haven is amazing :)!! The butterflies are beautiful and well taken care. It has close to more than 75 species of exotic butterflies and stunning bird species from the Southern hemisphere in a 2,700 square-foot greenhouse filled with pools of water, flowers, tropical trees and 1,000 butterflies, including those never-before-seen in our region.

Apart from the butterflies, we also saw cockroaches and spiders at the museum.

My son also had the opportunity to read and analyze a board which illustrated the butterfly family, as well as their life cycle. There were many butterflies on the chrysalis stage, some of them were coming out and a few were out already taking their time to feel strong enough to fly.

It was a very fun, educational and productive day, I recommend it to all parents and teachers to visit the museum. It is a great experience indeed. 

I also would like to remind you about our super giveaway which is ending on Friday at midnight. To have a chance to win the competition, enter below please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks and good luck!!!!!

Fabiana

Butterfly and Ladybug

Hello everyone :)), hope  you had a good day!!!

This week we are continuing to study insects; my son is learning about them individually. He has studied about butterflies and ladybugs so far.

The image below is an illustration of the books my son read. Both books are incredible: Clara Caterpillar is a fiction and Monarch Butterfly a non-fiction book . I highly recommend them to teachers and parents. The Monarch Butterfly is an excellent non-fiction book for children to learn about life cycles. The text and illustrations are wonderfully well expressed, which made my child to understand easily the message that was given in the book. The author also includes the migration of the butterflies. The last pages explain how children can take care and observe a monarch butterfly to experience and investigate their life cycle. 

He also did a lot of exercises to help him understand the context of the lesson. I purchased an unit from TPT called Insects & Lifecycles MEGA Unit for Literacy, Math, & Science Centers. This pack is very good and useful.

Moreover,  my son also studied about ladybugs. He read two books as illustrated below. The Grouchy Ladybug is a wonderful fiction book, and Ladybug a non-fiction book . I highly recommend them to teachers and parents. The Ladybug is a great non-fiction book for children to learn interesting facts about ladybugs, including where they go in winter, their life cycle and predators.  Another great fact my son learned reading this book is that it explains the great value ladybugs have for farmers and gardeners as they help to control insect pests.

 My son did a lot of exercises, which were taken from the insect unit I purchased from TPT as aforementioned.

 Furthermore, my son painted a ladybug family on rocks.

I also would like to remind you about our super giveaway which is ending on Friday at midnight. To have a chance to win the competition, enter below please.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks and good luck!!!!!

Fabiana

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!!!!!

To celebrate Memorial Day, my son and I went to see the parade. We enjoyed it very much, specially my son :). He was very excited to see the soldiers marching on their best uniforms :).

He also studied and learned about the meaning of Memorial Day. I printed from TPT two great mini booklets that explained in an easy, simple and interesting way the significance of this day. He also did exercises to practice comprehending the context of the lesson.

Furthermore, I asked my son to write a journal of how he had celebrated memorial day. 

I also would like to remind you about our giveaway; to have a chance to win please enter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks and good luck:))))!!!!

Fabiana

Insects

Hello everyone, hope you had a great day :).

We had a very busy day, but also very pleasant.  We had a friend over for tea this afternoon, which was fabulous as we spent quality time together whilst eating delicious food. It's no secret that I love cooking, specially baking :))). Hence, on this lovely occasion I made homemade bread, cinnamon rolls and cupcakes. I tried to prepare the table very vintagy but yet sophisticated.  If you would like to know the recipes please inform me and I will email it to you :).

This week we started a new subject, insects. My son has been reading many books to learn more in depth  information about insects, as well as making experiments, writing and completing exercises that involves the topic. So far, he is enjoying it very much!
The image below illustrates some of the books we have been reading this week. The books have eye-catching images, interesting facts, as well as stories to keep my son inspired and paying attention. We borrowed all these books at our local library.

 My son also did an experiment to try to catch bugs in a jar. He dug a hole, placed leaves in the jar to attract bugs and covered the jar with rocks. He left the jar in the garden overnight.

The  aforementioned experiment was conducted on Monday morning. He uncovered the jar on Tuesday morning. It rained a lot in Chicago on Monday night and the only bug my son was able to catch was a millipede. After evaluating his insect my son decided to put the jar back on the ground and leave it another day to attract other insects. I asked him to write a report of his findings on this experiment. 

Science projects are very important for our kids growth. Kids are very curios, they always have questions about everything, which is essential to develop their critical thinking skills. It is also a great tool to help us as parents to develop a strong bond with our children. Another advantage of these kind of projects is that our kids will learn faster when they see how things work. Science projects provide learning and fun that our kids need while they grow.

The following image are a few of the exercises my son completed.

I also asked him to work with number orders and comparing numbers, which I created in his math notebook.

I also would like to remind you about our giveaway; to have a chance to win please enter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks :))))!!!!

Fabiana

Last Giveaway

Hello everyone, hope you are having a great week :)!

Its time for our last giveaway of the month. This week three of the greatest teachers and bloggers around are supporting our blog: Vicky Moore from Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After, Kathy Law from First Grade a La Carter, and Yolanda Arnold from Oceans of 1st Grade Fun. I am very excited for this giveaway because they are amazing and have been quite generous with their offer :)). It has also been a pleasure and honor to work with them, thanks girls :)))!!!

To enter the competition and a  have a chance to win follow the link below please. The giveaway starts now and it will finish on Friday 31st of May at midnight. We are offering 7 wonderful packages. The winner will be announced next  weekend.
a Rafflecopter giveaway Thanks for reading our blog, and good luck :))!!!

Fabiana

Winner of the 3rd Giveaway

Good morning everyone :))),

Its a beautiful sunny day in Chicago, and I am glad to announce the winner of our 3rd giveaway is:
 

 Laura Schumacher 

IP Addr: ::ffff:76.236.4.48

Congratulations Laura, I will email you shortly your package. Thanks Laura and all the other visitors for entering the competition.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!!! Thanks!!

Fabiana

Frog Hat

Today was a very productive and nice day :). We started our day learning the difference between frogs and toads. We read Days with Frog and Toad, and also checked on Kidzone to learn more scientifically the difference between them. Two other websites that helped my son to understand the dissimilarities were All About Frogs and Kiddyhouse.

Afterwards, my son worked on comparing and contrasting frogs and toads. This was a great cut and paste activity for him to compare and contrast frogs and toads on the Venn Diagram.  He also did a creative writing.

Once my son wrote the reasons he would rather be a frog on his creative writing activity :), he was ready to make his frog hat. I used construction paper to cut the templates, which I printed from making friends,  and my son put it together. He used cotton balls and pompons to create the eyes, and chenille pipe cleaners to hold the hat on his head. It looked pretty cool :))!!!

In the afternoon, my son worked with reading comprehension using a Frog and Toad Together Mini Lesson that I printed for free on TPT.  My son did two tasks with this exercise. The first one he read the story and then put it in order according to the text. In the second task, I took all the papers away and asked him to put the story in order without looking at the text. When he finished, I asked him to go back to his first task and compare them to see if his answers were right. He did a great job retelling the story. This was a great exercise in reading comprehension, which I recommend you to download.

He also did a few exercises to practice contractions.

I would also like to remind you about our giveaway, which is ending on Friday at midnight. We are giving away 6 wonderful products from my TPT store, Fern Smith's Classrrom Idea and Oceans of First Grade Fun. To enter the competition and a  have a chance to win follow the link below please. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks and good luck!!!!

Fabiana  

Vowels and Consonants

I purchased on TPT  a vowel recognition game called Frog Hop Vowel Recognition by K. Kindergarten. I bought this product because I thought it was a great idea to revise recognition of vowels, as well as consonants.

This game has 40 CVC cards to help the students to recognize vowels.  Whilst my son and I were playing the game, I asked him to read aloud the word, and tell me the vowel and the consonants shown on each card. When the game was finished I asked him to rhyme the words and then write it on his notebook. He also wrote the consonants and vowels written on each group. This game is really nice to practice recognition of vowels and consonants, and you can also practice rhyming, spelling and writing like my son did. I highly recommend you to purchase this material.

I also designed a vowels and consonants poster to put on our language arts center. This poster is available for FREE on TPT. To download your free copy please click on the following link: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vowels-and-Consonants-Poster

I would also like to remind you about our giveaway, which is ending on Friday at midnight. We are giving away 6 wonderful products from my TPT store, Fern Smith's Classrrom Idea and Oceans of First Grade Fun. To enter the competition and a  have a chance to win follow the link below please.   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks and good luck!!!!

Fabiana 

Ribbit Ribbit

Today was a beautiful and warm day in Chicago. My son and I went for a bike ride at the end of the day, and the weather was just perfect. The smell of the flowers were even more endearing. I love spring!!!!

Today we continued working on our frog math, literacy and science unit. My son worked doing: word search, compound words, antonym, synonym, telling the time, riddle, fact and opinion, and writing. As I posted yesterday, I purchased on TPT a package called Frog unit - Math, Literacy and Science by Primary Divas. This package is wonderful, it explores very well the context of the lesson, which are frogs, as well as involving other subjects to help the child develop their understanding of the subject matter.

In addition, my son wrote a few frog facts that he learned about frogs, and he also created a frog craft. He hung the frog on our wall to be able to read about them every day.

Moreover, its time for our 3rd giveaway of the month. This week two of the greatest teachers and bloggers around are supporting our blog: Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas and Oceans of 1st Grade Fun. I am very excited for this giveaway because they are amazing and have been quite generous with their offer :)). It has also been a pleasure and honor to work with them, thanks girls :)))!!!

OCEANS OF 1ST GRADE FUN

To enter the competition and a  have a chance to win follow the link below please. The giveaway starts now and it will finish on Friday at midnight. We are offering 6 wonderful packages. The winner will be announced on the weekend.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for reading our blog, and good luck :))!!!

Fabiana

Frogs

Hello everyone :)), hope you had a good Monday!!!!

We started our week studying about frogs. Today we finished reading an interesting and very informative book called Frogs! Strange and Wonderful by Laurence Pringle. I highly recommend  reading this book as it contains everything you need to know about frogs. It talks about different types of frogs from all over the world: their habitat, their size and weight, the shape of their eyes and how it is important for them to obtain food, the way their tongue works, as well as poison frogs and its benefits, cycle of life, and much more. The book is also very well illustrated, which captures the child's attention.

My son also borrowed many books from the Froggy's series by Jonathan London. Theses books are super cute and wonderful for beginner readers.

Furthermore, my son is working with a product we purchased on TPT called Frog unit - Math, Literacy and Science by Primary Divas. So far, I am very pleased with this material. My son has practiced the life cycle of a frog, and he also answered true or false fact questions about frogs. In addition he completed fact cloze activity, which helped him to comprehend even more true facts about this amphibian. This package also provided math exercises including patterns, problem solving  and addition and subtraction. The content of this product is very useful, well prepared and easy for the child to read and understand. I highly recommend you to purchase it.

Thanks for stopping by :)))!!!

Fabiana

Happy Mother's Day

Hello everyone!!!!

Happy mother's day to all the beautiful and wonderful women in the world. You guys rock!!!!!!

I also would like to announce that the winner of our second giveaway is:

Rachel  

rdfields2005@yahoo.com

 IP Addr: ::ffff:68.51.75.89

Thanks Rachel for participating :)), I will email you shortly with your prizes.

Thanks and have a wonderful day.

Fabiana

Frogs

Hello everyone :))), hope you are having a wonderful week!!!!

This week my son started learning about frogs. We went to the library on Monday and borrowed many books that explains and illustrates the frog's habitat, cycle of life, the way they move and eat, as well as many interesting things that our children need to know about frogs. So far, my son is loving studying frogs :))).
A book that stood out for my son and also myself was "Little Green Frogs" by Frances Barry. It is an amazing book with attractive pages that explains the life cycle of the frog. The child has to unfold the pages and learn how the frogs develop from eggs to tadpoles to frogs. I highly recommend this book. When we go the book my son read it 5 times without pausing :)).

I also downloaded many useful materials on TPT to help my son to develop his understanding of the frog's life cycle. He used "The Life Cycle of a Frog Wheel" by Julia Lee - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Cycle-of-a-Frog-Wheel. It is a great material that has different levels, which provided to my son plenty of writing and reading activities that enabled him to master the subject of the lesson.

Furthermore, he practiced math using a  great source from Oceans of First Grade "Frogs in Space"  - http://oceansoffirstgradefun.blogspot.com/. He also practiced addition and subtraction math riddles using a material was purchased from Kathy Law called "Frog Riddles" - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Frog-Riddles-Addition-Subtraction

Tomorrow we will continue studying about frogs and I will post more activities he will do.

I also would like to remind you about our giveaway, which is ending tomorrow at midnight. To have a chance to win three wonderful educational materials to support your teaching, enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I would very much appreciate if you would spread the word about our giveaway :))). Thanks!!!

Fabiana 

It is time for another giveaway!!!!

Hello everyone :)!! Hope you had a wonderful day.

Today I am launching our second giveaway. It will start now and will end on Friday at 12 am.  On Saturday I will announce the winner.

I am having a lot support from my teacher bloggers, I am so thankful for your help :)).

The images below are the products you will receive this week:

The chosen winner will be selected through Rafflecopter. All you have to do is to follow the directions on the link below and enter for a chance to win.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck!!!! Thanks!!!!!!

Fabiana