The Newest Arrivals!

Today we welcomed 2 more girl butterflies to our classroom! In the photos you can see one just emerging from her chrysalis. Her body is full of fluid that she will push into her wings. Then the wings will dry and harden over several hours.  You can tell they are girls because they do not have spots on their hind wings.

Below you can see a comparison of a male and female monarch. 

The black spots on the male's wings are highlighted for you. To learn more and check out the picture in more detail visit: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/id_male_female.html

It's a Girl, and a Boy and another Boy! Triplet Tuesday!

Today our first graders got a chance to witness something very special! Three of our butterflies emerged. Our learners got to see first hand how the butterfly crawls from the chyrsalis, and pumps blood into their wings.  We watched as the butterfly closed its proboscis  and let their wings harden and dry. 

We learned that male butterflies have black spots on their wings. We then examined our butterflies and learned we had one female and two males. We finished our day releasing them into the wild.  We saw them heading south and wish them a safe migration.  

Labeling Butterflies

We are continuing to learn about the life cycle of the monarch butterfly.  Today we learned the parts of a butterfly. We created labeled diagrams to share what we learned.

We Dare to Play Double Compare!

Our first graders practiced playing the card game Double Compare today! Learners worked with a parter to add up pairs of cards. They were solving for the greater number. The partner with the highest total wins the cards! It was great to see all partners working together, playing fairly, solving problems and having fun!

Shaving Cream Spelling

No pencils, no markers, not even a crayon! Today in first grade we wrote with shaving cream!  Ask your child to spell the trick words and, a, I, and the!  We also played the game What Letter Comes Next? 

This is a fun game you can even play in the car.  Give your child a letter and ask them to tell you what letter comes next in the alphabet!  It's a fun thinking game.

Mystery Counting Bags = FUN!

Today is first grade we explored mystery counting bags. Secret items were hidden in bags and our scholars got the chance to do some counting!  Learners are working on organizing objects to make them easier to count! 

Growing Caterpillars!

We've only had 5 days of school, but look how much our caterpillars have grown! Did you know a caterillar's skin doesn't stretch? Ask your child what happens when the caterpillar's skin gets to tight! 

Take a look at the picture from last week and compare it to this week! It's amazing! The other photo shows a skin one of our caterpillars left behind!

Last week:

Today:

This guy shed his skin!