Our Seasons of Change: FULL OF LIFE IN FIRST GRADE

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day full of hugs and kisses.

May has sure brought with it new life and anticipation in room 109. We have become the loving family for 12 small, tiny chicken eggs. We began incubating these eggs two weeks ago and I have to admit that I am just as excited as the children. It always amazes me, how quickly these little ones grow inside their eggs. Each day we enter the class, there is usually one child that asks if today is hatching day ha ha. There are always a few children that believe they have heard cheeps coming from the eggs (who am I to tell them any different?). What a wonderful incentive these 12 little eggs have been for class management. I just tell them that the chicks can hear everything inside their eggs and the room goes quiet. One very sweet boy suggested we even sing to them each day because that would help them sleep (how sweet). I have to say that I have a very thoughtful class this year. Each day, the children look and read about how the chicks are developing and then write in their chick journals. We record the temperature and take special care to turn the eggs 5 times each day.

We will keep you updated on our babies as time goes by.

As our study of life systems continued, we looked closely at plants and the earth in which they grow. The children were not afraid to get their hands dirty. We pretended to be scientists and dissected a lima bean seed with toothpicks. We talked about the different parts of the seed and why each part was important for the growth of the seed. The children had a close-up view of this dissection through the use of our small document camera that displayed our learning on the overhead projector screen. I just love this classroom tool and how it engages every child in the learning process.

After taking our beans apart, we then created a small bean out of construction paper and labelled all of its parts. I think they turned out so sweet, the children continue to amaze me on how they soak in all of their learning..just like the roots of a plant.

We are now in the middle of growing lima bean plants, as well as grass seed in our classroom. I think our room is beginning to look like a nature observatory (beans, grass, eggs).

In our class, we definitely do not have a problem with taking a hands-on approach to our learning. While we were talking about plants, we focused on distinguishing between living and non-living things. This was brought to life through the use of earthworms and gummy worms. Yes, you read that last sentence right, we brought in first grade favourites straight to our classroom...WORMS!! These little guys are amazing creatures that help our earth in amazing ways. Not only do they help with composting, but did you know they have 5 hearts? Wow, that is a lot of love packed into one, little, wiggly worm.

I think earthworm day was by far the most exciting and engaging moment we had in our class this school year. We finished up with a squishy snack of worms in dirt (pudding, crushed Oreos, and gummy worms). These worms didn't stand a chance!

Here are a few pictures from our community project presentations. What a fantastic job our first grade children did on creating thoughtful and interesting dioramas. Thank you to all parents, family members, and any helpers that guided our children in the construction and recording process. I was thrilled with the results and awed at each child's understanding of their project and knowledge of what a community is. You continue to amaze me every day first graders! I am the luckiest teacher in the world to spend my days with you.

The following pictures are from our visit with a firefighter to discuss fire safety. Our class was full of questions and every child had the chance to witness their teacher decked out in firefighter attire. I had no idea that each piece of clothing was so heavy. The children even had the opportunity to feel how heavy the oxygen tank was. Thank you to our firefighter for taking the time to spend with us!!