Fun at the Farm!

One of my very favorite field trips is the Erie County Farm 2 Table program! Today we experienced learning while at the farm! Our topic was "Baby Animals" and it was a huge hit! The kids enjoyed it and learned so much. We are so lucky to have this program available to us!

We began by learning all about baby chicks...

Did you know that chickens are descendent from the T-Rex dinosaur?!

We got to make handprint chicks 

Then got to watch the chicks

hatch and even got to pet a chick that was just days old.

Next we moved to the Goat theater. Where we learned about all of the things that are made with Goat's milk. 

Did you know that when farm goats are babies (kids) their horns have to be burned off to prevent injury and infections.

 

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We made goat puppets and got to pet the goats too!

Our last group we learned about dairy cows. Did you know that a female cow is called a Heffer until its first calf is born. Then it can be called a cow and it begins to produce milk. 

We made a cow craft and then got to pet a calf. 

We finished our day with a perfect picnic lunch.

 

We had an amazing trip and as always the Farm 2 Table volunteers and staff were outstanding. 

We finished the trip, back at school writing opinion essays that we shared with first grade friends. We wrote about our favorite part and shared why we think that they will enjoy it too. (They are going tomorrow.) 

Thank you again Erie County Farm 2 Table!

Reading Fog

Today we talked about what happens if you are in a reading fog. You aren't thinking, asking questions or making corrections and that's just not good reading!

We also learned about the water cycle and what fog really is. Then used my humidifier to create water vapor or "fog" in our classroom.


Check out our video!







A few pictures of us in the fog

Thought Bubbles

Working on our metacognition in readers workshop we were talking about all the things that go on in our thoughts while we are reading. We made thought bubble crowns to remind us of all the things we ask ourselves while reading. 

Writing Celebration!

We have been working on persuasive essays in Writer's Workshop and the opinions have been flowing! I read essays on why we don't need homework, why we shouldn't sell soda to how new books would benefit our classroom.

We used the anacronym OREO to help us organize and plan out our writing. 

Today we celebrated the end of the unit by eating OREO cookies and even had a special guest (my son) visit our classroom!!

You can see the big Oreo on our board

I modeled how to use your opinion to persuade

Enjoying some Oreo cookies while we worked. 

Then celebrating with our special guest!

He was excited to be the line leader on their way to lunch! 

Buy by far one of our favorite parts of this unit was singing the OREO song! Here it is for you to enjoy at home.

Crazy for Cursive

We have begun cursive writing which has been a very exciting adventure for everyone! It has brought me back to my childhood and the kids are really putting a lot of effort in! Before the holiday break I explained that we could not begin cursive if their printing was not the best it could be. They really took on the challenge and I saw a great improvement in their handwriting. 

Our first unit in cursive was called  "clock climbers" we are using the program loops and other groups

Clock climbers are the letters that climb up the clock

The kids really did a great job. Here is a sample from Mia. 

We celebrated the end of clock climbers by writing on the tables with shaving cream!!! 

Next up are kite strings...

You can have your child practice these letters at home to improve their writing. 

Surgery Day!

What an exciting day we had today! We performed contraction surgery!

We began the week working in our readers notebooks on contractions. I didn't tell them about the exciting day we had coming up.

 

There were some great videos on YouTube that we watched and the kids really loved.

While they were working I prepared all the materials for the surprise "surgery" I printed, cut and laminated the patients.

I also found this great book on Teachers pay Teachers https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Each book has a place for the word and the contraction.

Next printed up colored and laminated signs for the surgery room. 

Next I did the same for the hospital signs and hung them around the building for the kids to find.

I picked up the kids from lunch and assembled them in a group. I explained that we had some patients who need the their help! I told them that they needed to have surgery and we needed to get to the hospital right away. They were so excited to help!!

we searched for the signs throughout the building to find our way to the hospital room.

...In the stairwell

...on the doors

This is the surgical room I prepared for them.

When they got to the room they were given their doctor kits.

Complete with name badge, gloves, surgical mask and band aids. They had all they needed to become doctors for the day.

The doctors prepared themselves for surgery.

Surgery was serious work and took great concentration.

The finished patients were taken to the recovery room.

The doctors also had to complete their paperwork

After surgery was completed they worked in teams to play a contraction matching game.

the game got quite competitive.

They were so proud of themselves.

Surgery success! I think we may have some great future surgeons in our  midst!