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Hands On Activities

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What are some good hands on activities to do in a 1st grade classroom as a new teacher? And what are some good topics for the students to learn?

San Juanita Puga San Juanita Puga 180 Points

Hello, a good topic for the students to learn in the first grade would be The Plants and they would learn about the life cycle of the plants, get introduced to the word photosynthesis, know what the roots and stems are and many different stuff. What I think would be a good hands on activity for this topic would be having the students grow their own plant by starting with seeds and begin observing their plant and drawing any change they see.

Rosemary Rodriguez Rosemary Rodriguez 250 Points

Hello, an activity that you can implement into your first grade classroom would be the "Yeast Balloon Science." This activity allows the balloon to blow up by itself without using our mouths. The reason why is because the yeast that is being put inside the balloon gives off carbon dioxide which is the same gas that our bodies produce when we breathe. This gas allows the balloon to inflate by itself. Students will learn about the carbon dioxide (gas) that our body creates when we breathe and what it can do.

Katiana Munro Katiana Munro 190 Points

Hi Beatriz, An activity that you can implement in your classroom being a first year teacher is "Soo silly! Make your own Putty". I remember when i was little i was so excited to do hands on activities that i was able to take home. First you combine equal parts glue and liquid starch, mix well.Add Borax solution (plus food coloring and/or glitter if you’re using it) to the glue/starch mixture. Mix very well.When the mixture becomes too stiff to mix with your spoon, use your hands to knead it into a rubbery blob. Your putty will probably need to dry a little before you can play with it.Cooling the putty slightly should make it more “bouncy,” but if it gets too cold it will shatter. Store your funny putty in a resealable sandwich bag or other air-tight container. I chose this specific activity because it introduces kids to new terms suchas lquid starch and food coloring and for girls there able to decorate and put glitter on it if they wanted too.

TeAira Singleton TeAira Singleton 845 Points

Yes Katiana I've done the Make your own putty activity before in my middle school class over the summer, they really enjoyed it and wanted to do it everyday. I think this hands on activity not only gave them something they could play with but it enhances their learning experience they wanted to learn more after and even weeks after wanted to do more, Now they might have just wanted the putty but they were learning as well. I don't remember all the things I uses I do know I used glue and some sort of cleaning powder and water ( that actually might be it haah) but it's messy so make sure they don't wear clothes that can't be dirty.

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