Tracks

Today we learned about being a nature detectives.
We read a book about tracks.
Ask your child what cat, dog, fox, racoon and rabbit tracks look like.

Animals in Winter

Today we had a special guest. Sarah was from CREA (Cathance River Education Alliance). She told us how animals migrate, hibernate, and adapt to survive winter. We touched a beaver pelt. Did you know beavers have two layers of fur? TB got to hold a coyote skull. We saw a beaver skull too. We looked at both skulls, examined their teeth to see what they were made to eat. We also learned snowshoe hares turn white in the winter to hide themselves.

We had music and did Alabama Gal.
We finished Trouble Dolls...were were so glad that she found her dad.

Happy Shovelling!

My Teacher Sews

Oh...it was below 14 degrees, so we had inside recess today.

Today we are bringing home our new handmade book bags (made by our teacher)! These will take the place of the ever-so-sturdy Ziploc version. Please be sure to return them every day, so your child can take a new book home for practice.

The kids say...
-We started to read Trouble Dolls by Jimmy Buffett.
-We played a game like Chinese checkers with Mr. A's class (our reading buddies).
-We learned a new math game called Total of 10. Lay out four rows of 5 cards (face up) then pick up combinations of 10 (using 2, 3, 4, etc cards). Replace the cards after your turn. Try this at home with a deck of cards...(take out face cards).

We were in the book!

For the past 3 days our read aloud books have been Mrs. Toggle books. The characters are a teacher, her class (where many children speak), a principal, a nurse, and a custodian. So anyway we had a fun time changing the character's names to match those of our class and school. Once, I (Mrs. Toggle) got stuck in my coat...I lost the thingamajig (pull tab). Another time, our class was going to get a new student and it was a DINOSAUR! (ask your child about the misunderstanding). Then, today, I was playing soccer with the class. I kicked the ball, missed, my shoe went flying and got stuck in a tree. Oops.

If you are reading this and figure out how to leave a comment, we will read them with the class.

Thanks, enjoy your weekend.

Dragons

I asked the class for one word to describe something from their day. They said, "DRAGONS."
They were proud of their art creations.

If it were my word, it might have been...whales, books, or reading. Dragons DOES sound a little more cool.

Whales DO have belly buttons!

First of all, what a great class I do have. They are quite independent and mostly focused these days.
The class and I brainstormed about our day. Here are the interesting points we came up with...

1. We did gymnastics in PE. Cartwheels, diving rolls, rock and rolls, egg rolls...(that's what they tell me).

2. At our afternoon recess on Wednesdays, we are joined by 5th grade buddies who help to organize activities for the 1st and 2nd graders. Today they offered sledding, painting snow and digging tunnels for balls to roll through. How cool. (Also, the big plow came last night, so there is quite a large mountain for bum sliding.)

3. We learned whales DO have belly buttons. What an amazing concept for them. Did you know whales are born tail first? We did have a little innie/outie conversation too.

4. We decided our next reward will be PAJAMA DAY. I'll keep you posted as to when...

Tuesday, Inauguration Day.

KO said, "We learned about how some animals stay and hunt when it's winter and some animals migrate and some hibernate."

MA and AT said, "We watched Barack Obama being sworn in. There was a big, big crowd of people."

OV said, "We started new stations and we did calendar."

Manatees Migrate

First of all, welcome to a new adventure. I'm hoping the kids and I can attack this together, posting what we do in the classroom. Let's give it a try!

Well, we've begun speaking about animals and their winter behavior. Today we learned that even manatees, in the Gulf of Mexico, swim to warmer waters in the winter.

Also after 3 days of inside recess, you might have heard that today we had a variety of motor stations like Dance Dance Revolution, Kid K'Nex, mini-tramp, and Twister Hopscotch.

Today, we also said good-bye to Skye. We made her a memory book and ate apple strudel bread.