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We are learning about our bodies, starting with the circulatory system. Dr. Beinart was our guest speaker.
The first graders made pancakes in the Barnesville School kitchen. We did reading when we read the ingredients on the chart that Jessi wrote for us. Sydney and Della helped us keep our place on the chart. We did math by measuring the ingredients for the pancakes. We used fractions, too. We needed ¾ cup flour three times to make enough pancakes for all of us, but we did not have a ¾ measuring cup. We figured out if we used the ¼ cup measure 9 times, that would be the right amount of flour! It was easy to know what to do when we needed ¾ cup milk three times. We also used what we learned about geometry when we measured because if we used the curved side of the knife, we would have a concave measure instead of a full measure. We made a science observation of gas bubbles forming in the hot batter. Everyone thought the pancakes they made were delicious! Six out of twelve, or half of us like pancakes with blueberries. Do you know what we learned about after we ate our pancakes? We had a lesson on digestion!
At the end of the day on March 16, students set up the leprechaun traps they had constructed on their desks. They entered their classroom very quietly on the morning of St. Patrick's Day. Two students thought they saw leprechauns escaping, but when they checked their traps, all they found were tiny notes signed by Lucky as well as a few treats.
Although they did hope to catch one, the students were pleased that their traps kept the leprechauns so busy they didn't bother to mess up the first grade classroom!
We went to Living Classroom in Glen Echo and learned about decomposers. Most wood around here is decomposed by mushrooms, which are fungi. Each of us dissected, or took apart, a mushroom. We found spores, which are like seeds, in the cap. Spores are hard to see because they are as small as a pencil point. Mushrooms have mycelium underground that look like tentacles. The mycelium grow into wood and break it up! Another decomposer we saw was an earthworm. We learned its head is on the little pink band side of its body. Earthworms eat leaf litter and poop out soil. We got to pet a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, which is also a decomposer. It makes a hissing noise to scare predators. Joke of the day: Why was the mushroom invited to the party? He is a fungi! (fun guy)
Composed by first graders: The three uses for the Clara Barton House were a warehouse, an office and a home. The walls of the first floor are closets. Inside the closets we saw food, blankets, bandages, pots and pans, cups, tents, soap, canteens, lanterns and candles. First this was for soldiers fighting in the Civil War. Then it was for people in natural disasters, too. We saw the office where Clara Barton and volunteers worked. Clara Barton took the back of her chair off to say that she wasn’t too old to work. There are desks, but they used typewriters instead of computers. The phone was different than ours. They had to stand the phone up and turn the dial to get the numbers. Their light was a lantern. People gave Clara Barton the house for free. She wanted it to look like the Red Cross hotels. The ceilings are covered with bandages. The closets look like walls. Chamber pots look like big tea cups, but they are toilets. They used a big bucket to have a bath. People came to the Clara Barton house for help. Once they were healed, they became volunteer workers.
We had the most beautiful day for a field trip, with time to play!
We took a full trash bag from the lunchroom to Mr. Huber’s home to learn about composting. He sorted out things from the bag that were made from plants because they can break down in the compost pile. We sifted through the compost pile that had been there the longest. Good soil for growing new plants was under the sifter. We also found worms for the chickens.
Enjoy photos of life in first grade!
Our last days of first grade were filled with fun events. We participated in field day with kindergarten, celebrated beach day with our buddies and other Barnesville friends, and had our candlelight, whisper breakfast and dance.
Thank you to all the parents and buddies that made Halloween fun!
We traveled to Maynes Farm in Buckeystown, Maryland on October 27. First we found our way through a corn maze. Then we took a hayride out to the pumpkin field to select our own pumpkin. We could choose either a Touch of Autumn Pumpkin or a Gold Dust Pumpkin. The Touch of Autumn Pumpkin is the larger type. We also saw Cinderella Pumpkins that are red and the same shape as the pumpkin coach in the Cinderella movie. We learned that the dusty blue colored pumpkins make the best pumpkin pies. After observing, we saw that some of the orange or white pumpkins were larger than some of the first graders. Then we ate a treat of popcorn and apple cider. Thank you to Mehrl Mayne, the farmer, Miss Betty, our bus driver, and Mrs. Tataei, our chaperone for the fun field trip!
We're happy to welcome our new class to First Grade!
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