Happy Fall Fest!

Fall Fest: a day FULL of dancing, crafting, cooking, creating and fun!!!

Today was our annual Fall Fest in first grade. The children spent the morning learning about what it was like to live back in the day of pioneers and cowboys. Some of them even dressed the part! :) 

We learned that things aren't like they used to be and that these kiddos are pretty lucky to have everything they have. 

Some of the activities that the children participated in were: quilting, making yarn dolls, making butter, dancing, and playing games. 

First on our agenda: quilting. We learned what is was like to have to make our own quilts versus going to the store and buying them. Many students shared that they had quilts at home that Mom's, Grandma's and Great Grandma's had made. Cool!

Next up: the food rooms. Back in the day there wasn't a store to go buy groceries or all of the food that they eat, so they hunted and made things like butter. Making butter sounded like tough work, but that is exactly what we did today. We made our very own butter! It took lots of shaking and a LOT of patience.

We also made a yummy rice krispy treat to enjoy!

The students learned that they didn't have all of the fancy toys back then, so they made their own! Yarn dolls!!!!

TV?? No way! They used to play games with eachother, dance and sing for entertainment. So, we learned how to dance the Virginia Reel, play a few games like "Pioneer, where is my corn" and "pass the pumpkin!" Have your child show you their dance moves! They rocked!!!

The children had a very fun morning rotating through each station and getting to experience what life back then was like. Ask them about their favorite part! They'll have LOTS to share! :)

~Happy Snowy Friday! 

Pumpkin Pros!

It's October, which means it is prime PUMPKIN time!!!
We've learned in our class to embrace the craze and we decided we're going to learn all there is to know about these fascinating orange things.(Did you know though that all pumpkins aren't orange?!...we learned that!)



For the last week and a half we have learned about everything pumpkin. It's called a pumpkin investigation!!! From describing a pumpkin, to learning the parts of a pumpkin, to practicing the life cycle of a pumpkin, to tasting pumpkin...you name it...we've probably done it! 

In order to become pumpkin pros, we had to start by learning the life cycle!
What is the life cycle of a pumpkin you may ask?
You've come to the right place. We're kind of, sort of, maybe pros at it!
SEED, SPROUT, VINE, BLOSSOM, GREEN PUMPKIN, ORANGE PUMPKIN! 

We identified the parts: stem, skin, seeds, pulp!

**It always amazes me how much information these kiddos can soak up. Their excitement every day to jump into our science lesson makes me so happy! They truly LOVE learning and it makes teaching them so much easier!**

It's not an investigation without predicting and measuring. So, predicting and measuring we did! We guessed how many cubes tall our pumpkin would be and how many cubes wide our pumpkin was. Next, we actually had to measure it!

          

Last, but certainly not least we got to TASTE pumpkin. Call us brave...or crazy...but, we did it! Can't you see how excited they are??!?! 

Some of us liked it...most of us did not! ;)

                                

 

These brave girls take the cake for finishing ALL of their pumpkin!
Ask the boys though, they said it tastes like baby food! YUM! ;)

We once again had SO much fun learning about all of these fun things and after a few weeks of describing, measuring, identifying and tasting...we are now considering ourselves pumpkin PROS! Got a question about pumpkins?? ASK US! :)

We're Going On A Field Trip!

Brush Lake, here we come!!!

It all started Monday when Miss Weeding told us we would be learning about our 5 senses. ***Here enters Teacher Potato Head!!***

Miss Weeding gave the students a blank potato, just like Mr. Potato head. We talked about how without any parts, it's hard to function! The students got together and decided that Teacher Potato Head needed some very important senses, just like we do. So, we gave our friend ears, eyes, a mouth, nose and hands to help her hear, see, taste, smell and touch. (And of course they gave her a name too ;))

We learned that we would be using our 5 senses out in the woods when we traveled to Brush Lake for our field trip.....

SO, Friday morning 20 students, 4 parents, 1 teacher and a bunch of smiling faces loaded the buses up for our very first field trip of the year! It was chilly outside for a nice stroll through the woods (luckily we dressed warm), but the students had an absolute BLAST going on a scavenger hunt and using their 5 senses in the woods. 

 

 

 

 

We saw a lot, hear a lot, smelled a lot, touched a lot and a few of us even tasted a few things! We learned leaves aren't the greatest to eat! ;)
Ask your child about their favorite part about Brush Lake and ask them to tell you about our 5 senses! They're pros!

Happy weekend! Enjoy the beautiful fall weather!
~Miss Weeding