Adventures with Mrs. Key

Monday, January 14, 2013

Solar System--so much excitement

Hi bloggy friends! I hope your Monday was grrrrrreat (in my 
Tony the Tiger voice)!! :) 
We study Space/Solar System for two weeks (while finishing all the Winter stuff I wanted to do that I haven't gotten to yet). There are not enough hours in a school day to get all the amazing stuff done that I'd like to do with my kiddos. It's funny, I find there are never enough hours in a day to get everything done in any area 
of my life. I know I'm not the only one who has that problem. 

I decided I would put a Solar System Unit together to use over the next two weeks. It is full of stuff my students love doing. We filled out the KWL chart this morning. Being first graders, there wasn't much my kids already know about the Solar System. If only I had my camera out when I told them I wanted them to write something they knew. I got the "huh??" look from most of them. It was quite funny. Then I mentioned the word planets. I had a couple who knew a thing or two then. One of my kiddos wrote that she knows the planets spin. I was proud of that. 
Then, on the W of the KWL, a couple wrote they want to know how many planets there are.  Some want to know more about specific planets. I have to be honest, I'm glad they don't know too much. That means I get to teach them more. They will be able to fill out the L of the KWL with several facts. 
This afternoon, we started talking more about what the Solar System is made up of. I gave a quick overview of what we would be learning. Then we discussed the sun and moon. I showed pictures of the moon and Neil Armstrong on the moon. They thought the craters were gross, but they thought going to the moon would be awesome. I also showed pictures of space suits, and we talked about how astronauts are not able to go to the moon without a suit because it's so cold and there isn't enough air. Gravity and floating in air was also brought up. They were just amazed by it all. My little ones were sooo very excited to be learning something new. Something fun. They love the word "Science". I think it makes them feel like the big kids. Their excitement about learning makes me even more excited to be teaching them. 

Click TpT or TN to check it out. 

TpT             TN




Sorry for the long post. I got a little carried away. :)

Have a marvelous week!!