What's Field Day again?

While I am super glad we made it to the spring I can do with out the rain. How's the song go.... "Rain! Rain! Go away! Come again another day"  I don't know about you but I could do without a little rain now. How about it comes back in a couple of weeks. Not only can the rain mean indoor recess (Gonoodle is awesome-sauce but we need some outside air too!) but it can mean delays and cancellations.

We got to experience the latter this past week. Miss Redfern (our fantabulous P.E. teacher) designed a great Field Day for the whole school. She scheduled the days for last week and everyone started getting excited! We blocked off Thursday afternoon and got ready to get our fun on.....cue the rain :(

Since we couldn't have it last Thursday we tried for this Thursday. Again, we got pumped and excited to play some games in our field! And then it rained from 4 p.m. Wednesday into this morning. You can imagine the sad faces this morning when we heard the announcement. So what's a teacher to do with a restless group of first graders who are craving some out door fun??? Create a Mini Field Day, of course!

We LOVE our mini Field Day!

Up first we did a timed race to see which group could walk quickly to the office, politely ask for a block which I had given the secretaries, and then walk quickly back. We FaceTimed my phone so the person walking could take us on the journey. Polite groups got a :20 second reduction and this resulted in a win by :02 seconds!

Next we took it outside for some relays and a water bottle showdown! Thank goodness our interior courtyard was dry!

Relay Race

The Over-Relay

The Under-Relay

Beanie Baby Relay

The switch off!

Obstacle Course while balancing a pom-pom on a spoon.

Knocking dominos down with water guns!

Down they went!

Surprises, trips, and videos!!!

We've had a lot of wonderful things happening in our classroom lately. One of those was what I found while doing a little investigating......

Every student has a release form on file in the office that is part of their enrollment packet from the beginning of the year. It dawned on me that there may be something included for classroom photos and videos. So I told me self, "Self! We need to go check and figure this out." Low and behold there is!!!!! I may have actually did a little jump and dance once our fabulous secretary clarified for me that it does indeed include and cover teacher creations such as this blog! *woot! woot!* Let's all take a moment to celebrate *insert your own dance break!*

Now that that's over I invite you to see what we've been doing in our classroom with some examples that SHOW us doing it!


Miss Isbell my fabulous intern has been using Kahoot to review with our students. The kids are loving it.

The other day all of first grade went to the Milford Fish Hatchery and Nature Center. We got to look at Walleye in their different stages. We also got to check out the catfish and coy in the raceways. We went on a hike and used our senses to help. We did a hands-on program and even a scavenger hunt.

Lastly, this week we have been working on writing our own plays. Groups worked to create their own plays. They then performed them today!

 We have been having a blast. I can't believe the year is almost over. That leaves us so little time to squeezing in more amazing learning, activities, and fun. Don't worry though.....We're up for the challenge!
#ChallengeAccepted

Kid Bloggin' Wednesday: Stories and Plants

Onions

• They are onions
• We planted them yesterday
• They are on a cotton ball
• The type of onions are called bulbs
• Some have spots
• We are going to see if they grow!
• They are going to grow.

This is our wheat

• They need sun
• They need water
• They need soil
• We like them
• Our wheat looks like grass
• We did not use soil!

These are our brassicas

• We are planting them
• We plant them as a class
• We love to plant!
• We love them!
• There are a few sprouts
• We got seeds from the seed pod, and then we took the seeds and put it in a whole class one.

Story Town Books

• Rhino is on the cover
• They have sticky notes
• They have non fiction and fiction stories
• We read the books Monday through Friday
• We each get to read once.
• They are fun to read
• We read them with teachers

Ivy Stems

• We have shoulder partners to do it.
• We put them in cups
• We are going to check on it in 10 days
• I think its going to grow!
• They have stems
• They have already grown before

Kid Bloggin Wednesday!

This is our clickers!

• We use them.
• We click them!
• We use them on games!
• When we are not using them, we put them on our name tag.
• They have colors on them.
• We use them for math.
• They have X and a check. They also have A, B, C, D on them.
• They are fun!

This is our journals.

• We write in the journals.
• We copy the question.
• We draw in them.
•  The teacher checks them!
• The journals are good.
• They are black and blue.
• We write 3 sentences in our journals!

These are author study books!

• One of the books is The Cat In The Hat
• We love them.
• Our favorite book is The Cat In The Hat
• The author is Dr. Suess.
• We read them after snack.
• The teacher reads them on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Our Junie B Jones books.

• They have chapters.
• We read it at the end of the day!
• We read one chapter every day.
• We change a book when the other one is done.
• Miss Messick reads to us!
• They are funny!
• The last one we read was Boo! And I Mean It!
• It is good!

The are our clocks!

• There are two kinds of clocks.
• We use them for math!
• They are small and big.
• They are cute.
• Clocks are different colors.
• They are fun!
• They have a minute hand and an hour hand.

KTOY - Manhattan!

I’m going to apologize now for flooding you with my KTOY visits….actually, no, I’m not. I have gotten to see some wonderful schools, great educators, and hear from some powerfully motivating administrators. 

Today’s post is about the Manhattan KTOY visit. This was a visit that Casey and I planned (along with the help from some amazing folks over at the RobinsonEducation Center) We began planning back in December and *dun dun dun DUN* it was finally time for us to show off USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden. We began the day gathering everyone up at the Flint Hills Discovery Center. Casey and I got to drive these wonderful vehicles that were loads of fun! Casey’s was actually a little bigger than mine….Ha!

We then drove over the the Robinson Education Center started the day off with a yummy light breakfast including Varsity Donuts. I highly recommended the Maple Bacon which was absolutely a hit. 

As everyone ate we heard about the school district’s amazing schools, resources, and programs.  It’s always nice to learn what is going on in the district. Many times as educators we don’t get out of our own classroom, let alone our school.

We then traveled (walked across the street) to the high school. As we walked around we got to learn some history of the high school and take note of the changes that happened with the renovation. While there we got to see their student art department. These students are celebrated and there is art work all over the school. It was such a great experience to see a program that really celebrates and encourages those student artists.

We also got to stop by and see the 3D printer and school program that is currently running. These students are not only getting to use this amazing piece of equipment. They are learning the ins and outs of design. They have to be able to successfully run the program, which is not a walk in the park. I was confused just looking over their shoulders at it. Their mesaurements and design have to be precise and correct or else the program won’t allow them to print. This is a great teaching moment as students can then go back and re-examine their work to find the fault and correct it. How cool they are able to actually design, produce, and see the process from thought through creation.

After that we headed over to check out the K-State Basketball facilities. Shhhh! Don’t tell, but we also got to tour Bramelage Coliseum!!! It was soo cool to see from the perspective of the players, well a few feet lower but you get the point! We definitely take care of our atheletes.

Yes, we stormed the court! No teachers were harmed in the filming of this video!

After lunch we got to go to Anthony Middle School and check out Casey's amazing room. It was so relaxed, cozy and organized. She has definitely set her students up for success!

We then headed over to my school. While I would have loved to showcase the amazing things happening here our visit was a little thrown off due to our annual Teacher Challenge. I was able to walk the team around and they snapped pictures around the school.

We ended at the Flint Hills Discovery Center. They had a Kansas Exhibit. How cool it was to walk around and interact with the materials. This is such an amazing resource to have in town. Please be sure to stop by and check it out if you get the chance. They also have AMAZING education specialists that can connect their content to your classroom if you can't quite make it in. Check them out!

We had such a blast and I would absolutely consider that day a success!