Gliders in Math

We have had so much fun making and flying gliders in math class!  Each student made their own glider and measured their glider's flight distance on our 200 Unifix cube runway (numberline). Students had three flight trials. They recorded and compared the distances of their three flights.  We then collected data for all of the flights within the class and analyzed and compared them!

Shelburne Farms Visit

We had a great day at the Shelburne Farms Dairy Barn!  Thank you to the wonderful Shelburne Farms educators for teaching us all about being a dairy farmer!  Also a big thank you to the parent volunteers that joined our class on this beautiful day! When asking your first graders about their favorite part of the day, many of them said visiting the babies!  We met a calf that had just been born the day before when Mrs. Lasher's and Miss Lass's class visited! His name is "Hinesburger!"

We learned about different ways that farmers milk cows.  The students learned how milking machines work in the milking parlor!

In this picture above, some students have volunteered to be cows (see the "udders" between their knees!) while other students get ready to clean and pretend to put on the milking machine.

We also learned how to milk cows the old fashioned way!

...And how to help push their food towards them to make it easier for them to eat!  One of the most important roles of the farmer is giving the cows lots of love!  Your first graders certainly helped out a lot in that way!

After lunch at the education center we spent some time near the farm barn and learned about different products that come from cows.  We briefly saw some other animals that live on the farm and we made some butter!  It was delicious!  Ask your child about it and his or her favorite part of the day!

Sharing our Teaching Books!

Seed and Sample Day

Students sampling vegetables that we will grow in our garden at HCS.

Students sampling vegetables that we will grow in our garden at HCS.

Students plant tomato and pepper seeds that will eventually grow in our school garden at HCS!

Mindfulness Jar

Have your children talked to you about the mindfulness activities we've been doing? Mindfulness is thinking about one thing at a time like our breath, what we see, or hear... Our minds are so busy all the time and this practice helps us calm them. I have been working with Gretchen Garvey, a second grade teacher in Shelburne and an expert on mindfulness.  In our classroom, we have practiced mindful breathing, seeing, and we had a mindful snacktime this past week. Tuesday morning, Ms. Garvey visited us and did a lesson with the class.  She brought a sand and glitter jar. Ask you child about it!

Students watch the sand and glitter settle.

5th Grade Buddies Toy Fair

On Friday, we visited our 5th grade buddies' classroom to see their toy fair projects based on Newton's Laws of Motion.

Penguins!

As part of our measurement unit in math the students learned about penguins!  They carefully measured and studied penguin features to create real life like painted penguins.  In the pictures, you will see Emperor, King, Rockhopper, and Little Blue Penguins! Didn't they do a beautiful job?