Field Trip Fun

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Posted by Alissa | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on May 12, 2017

We had a wonderful field trip on Thursday.  Another teacher asked our class how it went when we returned to school and a student said, “It was fabulous!”  I agree.  We all went to the pond at Northfield Mountain to dig deep in the mud in search of small critters who live there.  At first, it was hard to see the small insects, but once we did, the excitement started to build and children started filling their buckets with water striders, caddis flies, water bugs, tadpoles….and lots of other bugs.

 

Then we brought our buckets inside to put the insects under a microscope so we could observe what we saw up close.  We drew pictures of the most interesting bug we saw and labeled it.

After our pond program we had lunch in a yurt!

Then we took off for a hike in the woods!  We found a balance beam to walk across and a huge rock to climb for a class picture.  Our day ended with a special snack and a bus ride back to school.  Thanks so much to all the chaperones who joined us and helped out all through the day.

We celebrated Deb’s birthday this week!  She will be retiring this year from LES and we sure will miss her!

We also had a special visit from local author, Micha Archer.  She came in to teach the kids how to make paper and then how to use the paper to make a collage illustration.  We will use our illustrations to make a class poetry book.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy Spring!

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Posted by Alissa | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on May 4, 2017

Spring is here and flowers have been arriving in first grade every day!   In honor of spring’s arrival we went outside to draw the tree outside our door.  We’ve been observing it all year and drawing the changes that occur throughout the seasons.     We finished our Light and Sound unit by doing a project with light and how it travels through objects.  The kids made beautiful stained glass art that is hanging in our classroom windows.

  Now we are moving on to our study of Ponds in preparation of our trip to Northfield Mountain next week.  Their program is excellent.  The kids will be finding insects and plants that live in the pond, bringing them inside to observe under a microscope, and then setting them free back into nature.  We’ll also have some fun hiking in the woods and having a picnic lunch together.  Watermelon and lemonade to follow.  This week we did a craft that helps us understand the water cycle and how water accumulates in ponds.     We also have tadpoles in our room!  Deb found these in the vernal pool on our playground.  Do you have a pond near your house?  If you find any frog eggs, please send them into school so we can observe them grow.  We promise to take good care of them, learn from them and set them free soon.

 

We have also moved on to Opinion Writing.  The kids each brought in a collection from home of valuable items.  Now they are giving out awards like “Most Favorite”, “Most Valuable”……  and writing their opinion as to why each object deserves the award.  First Graders LOVE the chance to write about their treasured objects and share their opinions with classmates.

Next week we will have a visit from a local author!  Today we went outside with Lani for a “story walk”, where we walked in the woods and read the story “Daniel Finds A Poem”, which is a book about a boy who writes a poem after a walk in the woods talking to the animals.  We all loved the chance to get outside.  The book is posted on trees behind the Leverett Public Library if you’d like to take your own story walk.  It’s a sweet story your child can read with you.

 

Happy Spring, everyone!

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