Field Days Fun!

Today we woke to a dreary, rainy day and I think we all wondered if field days could happen outside. But the sky cleared and we shifted our schedule by an hour to allow for a little drying outside and the day was a huge hit! We had snack before our events began and everyone changed into bathing suits in preparation for the water slide. Each class rotated through a series of stations with various activities. Our stations included jump roping, hula hooping, relay races, wet sponge toss, playground/face painting, and finally...water slide! Our last station was water slide. It was still quite chilly and at the end they each got a rinse with the hose water! We all know how cold water direct from the hose feels and I cringed watching them as the soap and mud were washed off! We all went inside and they changed into warm, dry clothing! Our picnic lunch was held inside (it started to pour as soon as we came inside) and we enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs together-or home lunch! The day finished with a band in the gym. It was a rock band and was a bit loud so half my class had their hands clamped over their ears. I sent those kids back to the room to get headphones to block some of the volume. It was a sight to see...rocking out to the music with headphones! It turned out to be a great day, but I'll be surprised if you don't have kids who crash early! It was a busy, fun day! Check out the pictures...I love the facial expressions on the water slide!

Dissecting Flowers and the Lamb Lady

We've had a very busy week! On Wednesday, the half day, we spent some time dissecting flowers. In small groups student were given a flower, a work mat and a magnifying glass. I asked them to dissect their flower and find the following parts: pistil, stamen, petals, and stem. Each type of flower had distinctly different pistils and stamen so after they were dissected, each group had the chance to wander from group to group and observe each others work. It was pretty interesting. The next day they completed a flower diagram with each of the observed parts. Earlier in our plant unit we took apart a Fava bean that had been soaking in water. There was a small embryo (the future root/plant) already growing inside the Fava bean. They learned about the seed coat, the embryo and the cotyledon. We're also growing some classroom plants from seeds we planted just a few weeks ago. Plants are so much fun for first graders to learn about! Check out the pictures from the flower dissection.



In addition, we continue to practice for the play and learn about farm animals. Friday was the day the "Lamb Lady" visited! (Also known as Ms. Knox, a reading specialist here). It was very exciting because when we were at Shelburne Farms, the lambs were not our focus and we didn't have the opportunity to spend much time with them. There was much excitement about her arrival! We felt it best to meet the lambs on the tennis court in case they decided first graders were too much and tried to make a run for it! They were very sweet and seemed to like first graders after all! Each child had the opportunity to feed a lamb a bottle and most of them gave it a try. The lambs are just getting used to being on a lead and every child who grabbed the rope felt great success until the lamb decided to go its own way! It was hard to tell who was walking whom! Ms. Knox also brought a spinning wheel and a big bag of wool. Each child was able to take a fistful of wool home! A very exciting day!

Chicks Visit

Last week Ivy asked if she could bring her chicks to school on her share day...how could I say no to that? So on Tuesday, Ivy's chicks made a visit! Her mom came with three new chicks and one older chick. We made a welcoming circle on the rug so the chicks could visit with each of us. They made the rounds and many children tried to pick them up. The chicks are pretty spry and definitely made it known when they wanted to be put down! They were fluffy and cute and almost everyone wanted to bring chicks home that day! A very special thank you to Ivy and her mom for sharing their chicks with us!