Spooky Math

Today we had a spooky math time in first grade.  Students made Halloween Math books by counting combinations of mini ghosts and pumpkins.  Then they wrote an equation to match their picture.

Guess My Rule

Today in math first graders learned all about the attributes of shapes.  We practiced describing and grouping like shapes.  To finish our math time, students played a game called Guess My Rule!  In this game, one student grouped shapes by one attribute while their partner tried to guess how they grouped them! We had a few tough rules to guess! Each group picked their favorite rule and made a poster of it. Way to go!

CSA Farm Share is coming...

We are learning all about vegetable farms this week in our class. Farmer's Markets and CSA farm shares are a great way for small farmers to sustain their business.  It has been great to hear our class discuss how important fresh fruits and vegetables are for them. They had great ideas about why buying local produce is great when you can. Today we ordered a pretend farm share.  It will be delivered Friday! We can't wait to see what delicious vegetables come in our box!

Friday Letters

Our first Friday Letters will be coming home tomorrow!  These notebooks are a great way to hear about what is happening at school! They are also a great way to see your child progress as a writer throughout the year.  Even if you cannot make sense of the sentence your child has written, ask them to read you what it says!  They can share things they enjoyed about our week at school. 

Please take a minute to write back to your child in the journal and return it by the next Friday! The kids love getting your messages!

Thank you for your support! 

Whitcomb Farm

Today our class traveled to the Whitcomb Farms Pumpkins Patch! We learned more about the pumpkin life cycle and how pumpkin farms operate. 

Did you know that farmers in Vermont often barter with other farmers?  At Whitcomb Farm they share their blooming pumpkin plants with a local bee farmer!  They get pollinated flowers and the bee farmer gets delicious honey!  

Here are a few pictures from today!

This pumpkin weighs 751 pounds!

Behind Mary Whitcomb you can see a few of the pumpkins they sell!  We liked the Gooseneck and the Cinderella varieties!

In the corn maze!

Just Right Books

The best way to grow as a reader is to practice reading lots of "just right" books.  Selecting a just right book is a big job and one that our class is working hard at.  We compare picking a "just right" book to riding a bike.  Below is the poster we use to help us select books.  You can use the same idea at home!  Save those up hill books for reading together!

Here are a few of our First Graders selecting "just right" books!  Keep up the good work!

Apples!

Our new unit is all about farms in Vermont. Apple farms are first on our list to investigate.  Friday, students learned all about the parts of an apple and things people do with apples. We made our own applesauce from Vermont fresh apples! During our taste test, 16 out of 16 kids loved our homemade  sauce!  The recipe went home in you child's folder.  Enjoy!

Have a safe flight!

Today we let our 2 butterflies go so they could start their migration! We were all a little nervous, but the butterflies took flight right away!

Boy or Girl

Here is an example of a girl and boy monarch butterfly.  The top butterfly is the girl and the bottom is the boy.  Take a look at the wings on the boy.  Can you find the black spots on the bottom half of each wing?

Finally !!! It's a girl!

A butterfly has finally hatched from its chrysalis!  It's a girl! You can tell because the wings don't have black dots on the lower half!