Many thanks to Hammond Henry Hospital for inviting Geneseo first graders back to tour the hospital and have their teddy bears mended. Below are some pics of the group I followed today:

In my classroom, we always do some reading activities with the Clifford series. Today, each student chose a book from this series to practice reading each day until next Thursday. On that day, we will visit Mrs. Dewey’s kindergarteners and read to them.

We made “pretty papers” yesterday with paint and atypical painting instruments in the style of Eric Carle. We will use stencils and cut out the papers to assemble flowers next week. We will also label the parts of the flower as part of our current science study.

If you’ve never seen it before, I recommend getting a hold of the documentary, Eric Carle: Picture Writer. It’s only 27 minutes long and the kids are so fascinated by it each year when I show it.

We began using tanks and raising frog eggs and tadpoles last school year to teach about animal life cycles; unfortunately, we didn’t have any tadpoles here at Millikin turn into frogs.
HOWEVER, this year, we have had success and the students have really seen their science learning come alive before their eyes. Below is a picture of our first frog:

Here’s a classroom pledge the students wrote as a part of the “Fill a Bucket” campaign at Millikin. We read one part of it each day as a class. The students take more ownership in its message having written it themselves.

Here’s a couple pics of the students measuring classroom objects with Unifix cubes. We always measure with informal units before using formal units on rulers (ie., inches and centimeters) in order to teach the concept of how to measure the length of an object first.

Click HERE to view a live feed of an eagle’s nest in Davenport, IA. The mother’s three eggs are due to start hatching at the end of March. This fits in perfectly with our mini bird study!

Looking to fill out your family’s collection of Dr. Seuss books. Here’s a compiled list on Amazon for you to order from.

As promised to my students, click HERE for a link that shows several “Minute to Win It” games children can play at home. We’ve been playing a few of these games in the classroom to gain a better sense of how long a minute is. This is part of our “Telling Time” math unit.

Parents, please note that our class Valentine’s Day begins at 2:00pm on the 14th of February. It will be here in the classroom. A list of the boys and girls in our class is coming home at the week’s end on the back of the weekly classroom newsletter. Please contact me with any questions/concerns.
Note that students must pass a Valentine out to each student in our class if they are bringing any to pass out.