Fun with our PIE Partners!

This year our first grade classroom is PIE partners with the Storm Lake High School.  In November, we were lucky to have the National Honor Society come to our room and read to us.  The kids loved having these "older kids" visit them.  Thank you to Mr. Lyon and all the students for doing this.  

In December, we were able to travel to the high school and eat lunch with the student council members.  The kids thought it was pretty cool to walk through the same halls as some of their older siblings.  We had a great time with the high schoolers and can't wait to go back and visit them soon. Thank you to Mr. Swanson and the student council members for letting us come and visit.  We look forward to many other activities with our PIE partners this year.

Winter Weather

Winter weather is quickly on its way. We want the kids to be able to enjoy their time outside at recess. Please make sure your child is dressed warm enough for the colder weather. They will need warm coats, snow pants, boots, gloves and hats.Be sure that you put your child's name on each item of clothing.  If you need help purchasing these items please let me know.

Turtles, Salamanders and Snakes...OH MY!!

What an exciting week in 1st grade!!!  We are busy learning all about different reptiles that live on our earth.  We talked about what reptiles have that make them different from mammals.  The kids looked through reptile books and shared a cool fact about a reptile.  We found out that a snake can unhinge it's jaw while swallowing large prey and a gecko can drop its tail when it is in danger.  On Wednesday, Katie from BV Conservation came to talk to us about how animals prepare for winter.  She brought in an otter skin that showed us how their thick fur helps them stay warm.  She also brought in a salamander for us to feel and understand how they hibernate in the winter.  Katie also had a box turtle that we got to only look at because the turtle was a little grumpy.  The biggest surprise was when Katie pulled out a real, live snake from a bag.  Once the kids calmed down, she told us about the snake and the kids even had the choice to touch it!!!  Some kids were really excited about this, while others were a little on the scared side (me included!!).  It was a great way for the kids to understand how the snakes scales help it move on the ground.  It was an awesome experience that the kids really enjoyed!!!

Fun at the Apple Orchard!!

Our first grade class was lucky to go and visit the Hillside Apple Orchard in Newell.  We had a beautiful day, but was a little windy.  When we got to the apple orchard we saw how they sort the apples and how they bag apples to sell.  The kids were able to watch the machine clean the apples and sort the big apples from the smaller apples.  They were able to each take an apple with them.  We then took a tour through the orchard and saw the different types of apple trees.  Bruce explained to the kids how he takes care of the apple trees each year.  He also told the kids the proper way to pick apples without damaging next year's blossom.  The highlight of the trip was feeding their pigs the smaller, rotten apples.  The kids loved throwing the apples to the pigs and watching them run around.  They also got to play with the puppies that they had.  The kids were very well behaved and had a great time.  We are very grateful to Hillside Apple Orchard for letting us come and visit their orchard. They are always very gracious and wonderful to the students.  It is a great little orchard and has many varieties of apples. If you have never checked it out, you should!!!

BUTTERFLIES!!

It has been a very exciting month in our classroom!!  We have been busy learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. We were very lucky to have found 3 monarch caterpillars that we kept in our butterfly pavilion.  For about a week we were able to watch the caterpillars munch on their milkweed leaves.  The kids really enjoyed seeing how much they ate and how active the caterpillars were.  Once they were full on leaves, we were able to see the caterpillar climb to the top of the pavilion and make a "J" shape.  From here, the caterpillar made its chrysalis.  However, they seemed to make their chrysalis when we were not around!!  Then, the waiting game began. We had to wait 2 weeks and we watched the chrysalis turn from a bright, green color to dark black.  Finally, after much anticipation we were able to see our butterflies emerge from the chrysalis.  The kids were so excited when this happened.  We were even able to tell if they were boy or girl butterflies.  Ask your child how they know which is the boy and which is the girl.  They should be able to tell you! Last Friday, the weather warmed up enough for us to let our butterflies go.  The kids enjoyed watching them as they flew away.  It has been so much fun watching this change and it was a great learning opportunity for them.  I have pictures that I will get posted to the blog as soon as I get them on the computer.