Levi

Here is Levi!  He is our Student of the Week for the last week of 2018!  Levi's favorite color is BLUE!  Someday Levi would like to go on a Disney cruise with his family.  He loves to read Pete, the Cat books the best.  Levi likes to watch the Monster Truck Movie on television.  He has one pet - a dog named Josie.  Levi's favorite sport is soccer.  He loves to eat spaghetti noodles with butter on them.  When Levi grows up, he wants to be an ELF!  :)   Levi is special because his family loves him very much, but the VERY BEST THING about him is the fact that he is a great helper to others.

Maya

This is Maya.  She is our Student of the Week for December 10-14.  Maya loves the colors blue, purple and pink the best.  She would like to visit Disney World with her family someday.  Maya likes to read "Meet the Pikmi Pops" the best.  She loves the movie "The Greatest Showman".  Maya has two pets - one dog and one cat that she loves very much!  When she grows up, she would like to be a vet!  Maya is participating in gymnastics class, so her favorite sport is gymnastics, of course.  She LOVES to eat donuts!  Maya is special because her family loves her very much, but the VERY BEST THING about Maya is her sweet smile!

Colin

 

Here is Colin!  He is the Student of the Week for December 3-7.  Colin loves the colors yellow and blue (Go Blue!)  He would like to visit Florida with his family.  Colin likes to read the book "Dinosaur Cove".  On television, he likes to watch Chasing Monsters.  Colin is a pet lover - he has two dogs, one cat and two rats!  When he grows up, Colin would like to be an artist.  His favorite sport is bowling.  Colin likes to eat hot dogs.  He is special because his family loves him very much, but the VERY BEST THING about Colin is that he is really good at math!

Lydia

 

Here is Lydia!  She is the Student of the Week for November 26-30.  Lydia loves the colors blue, pink and purple.  She would love to someday visit Disney World with her family.  Lydia likes to read Junie B. Jones books the best.  She likes to watch The Greatest Showman on television.  Lydia has THREE cats at home and she loves them all so much.  When she grows up, Lydia would like to be a teacher for little kids.  Her favorite sport is Tee-Ball.  Lydia loves to eat corn.  She is special because her family loves her so much, but the VERY BEST THING about Lydia is that she is very neat at coloring!

Luke

Here is Luke!  He is the Student of the Week for November 12-16!  Luke loves the color GOLD.  Someday he would like to visit Lego Land!  Luke enjoys reading books with dinosaurs and animals in them.  He loves to watch the movie Jurassic World.  Luke has FOUR dogs at home, and he loves them all so much.  When he grows up, Luke is not sure what type of job he would enjoy, but he knows that he wants to be a dad for sure!  His favorite sport is soccer.  Luke likes to eat ice cream, and his favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip.  Luke is special because he loves his family and pets, but the VERY BEST THING about Luke is that he is kind to others.

Avery

This is Avery.  She is our Student of the Week for November 5-9.  Avery loves the colors PINK and PURPLE.  Someday, Avery would like to visit her aunt in Connecticut.  Mo Willems is Avery's favorite author, and she loves the Pigeon books and the Piggie and Elephant books.  Avery likes to watch "Adventures in Babysitting" on television.  She has no pets at home, but if she could choose a pet, Avery would love a bunny.  When she grows up, Avery would like to be a taekwondo instructor.  Her favorite sport is taekwondo!  Avery loves to eat hot dogs the best.  Avery is special because she is kind to others, but the VERY BEST THING about her is the fact that her family loves her!

Home Maps

  In October, we learned about maps for Social Studies.  We are almost finished with our unit, but so far have learned a LOT!  We began by looking at a globe and finding the North and South Poles and discussed the type of weather at the poles.  We also found the equator and learned why the weather is always hot there compared to the poles.  In addition, we learned about a compass rose, and the directions (north, sound, ease and west).  We learned a funny saying to help us remember how the directions are placed on a map.  In a clockwise direction, say, "Never Eat Soggy Waffles!"  The words stand for North, East, South and West!  The kids think it's funny, but it does help them remember!
  We created a map of our classroom as a group. We discussed 'bird's eye view' and pretended to be a fly on the ceiling when drawing items on our large paper. We labeled items as we went.  The kids then created maps of their bedrooms, or a bedroom they would like to have.  Then, we created a map of the inside of our school, labeling the different classrooms and other important areas of our school. Finally, we created a map of the school and surrounding neighborhood.  The kids really enjoyed creating these maps.
  Using a map packet, we are learning about symbols on maps and how they are used in a map key in the corner of a map.  In addition, we have learned how to start in one spot on the map, follow a road using a crayon, to another location. We discovered that one could take many routes on various roads to get to a destination.  Next week we will learn about reading maps in more detail, and finding coordinates on them!  We should be finished with the unit by the end of next week.
  Last weekend, families were asked to create maps of their homes and features on their property.  You did not disappoint!  The maps turned out great, and today we had the opportunity to share them with classmates!  It was great fun to walk around, listening to them explain their maps to their classmates.  Thank you so much for your help on this project! 
  Here are some pictures of each group during the 'showing stage' and then showing their creations afterwards. 

Haley, Maya, Mac and Nathan

Alyssa, Jalynn, Lydia and Katelynn

Silas, Luke, Connor, Noah and Avery

Evan, Colin, Hudson, Levi and Caden

Caden

 

This is Caden!  He is the Student of the Week for October 29-November 2!  Caden loves the color BLUE. Someday, Caden would like to visit New York with his family.  Caden loves the book called "The Book with No Pictures".  He watches a lot of YouTube when he can.  Caden has a dog and a cat at home.  When he grows up, Caden would like to be a police officer.  His favorite sport is soccer.  Caden likes to eat Peanut Butter and Jelly!  Caden is special because he is kind to others, but the VERY BEST THING about him is that his family loves him!

Katelynn

This is Katelynn.  She is our Student of the Week for October 22-26.  Katelynn's favorite colors are PURPLE, BLUE and PINK.  Someday Katelynn would love to go on a Disney cruise.  Her favorite book is "Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes."  Katelynn loves to watch The Greatest Showman on television.  She has no pets at home, but if she could choose any pet, she would like a little dog.  When Katelynn grows up, she would like to be a teacher.  Her favorite sport is soccer.  Katelynn loves to eat donuts and cake the best.  She is special because her family loves her, but the VERY BEST THING about Katelynn is that she has a great smile!

Silas

 

Happy birthday to Silas!  He is also our Student of the Week for October 8-12!  Silas loves the color BLUE. He would love to someday visit Florida with his family.  Pete the Cat books are Silas' favorite books to read.  Silas loves to watch The Greatest Showman" on television.  He has two dogs named Kirby and Gracie at home. When Silas grows up, he would like to be a firefighter!  He loves to play soccer. Silas likes to eat spaghetti best of all.  Silas is special because he has a great smile, but the VERY BEST THING about Silas is that his family loves him so much!

Trip to the Fire Station!

Today all of the first grade classes were able to take a walking field trip to the Hamilton Fire Station!  We were met there by a 'firefighting family'!  Our own Mrs. Heuer, a paraprofessional in our building, and her husband, Lieutenant Rob Heuer, and her two sons, firefighter Corey Heuer, and paramedic Nathan Heuer were kind enough to invite us into the fire station for a tour!

We began by reviewing many fire safety rules to help keep us safe.  The kids knew a lot of these already, but it is great to take the time to review and discuss them often.  Here are some of the safety rules discussed today:

1.  Plan and practice home fire drills.
2.  Know TWO ways out of every room in your home.
3.  Test your smoke detectors yearly, and if you do not have one, let your child's teacher know and they will get one for your home from the fire department!
4.  Never pick up or play with matches or lighters.
5.  When you hear the smoke alarm, GET OUT!  Feel your door with the back of your hand.  If it is hot, find another way out.
6.  NEVER hide from a firefighter! They are there to help get you out!
7.  Once outside, call 911 from a neighbor's house.  Know your house number and street name!
8.  Never go back inside a burning building.
9.  Plan a family meeting place and meet your family there.
10. If your clothes catch on fire... STOP running, DROP to the ground, and ROLL until the fire is out.

Lieutenant Heuer invited our own Wesley up to demonstrate how to Stop, Drop and Roll...

A mystery firefighter came out in full turnout gear to show us what a fire fighter looks like and sounds like!  The kids were surprised and excited to find out it was our own Mrs. Heuer!

Firefighter Corey Heuer showed the kids the parts of the turnout gear and how it keeps firefighters safe when they are fighting a fire.  Did you know that house fires can get as hot as 600 degrees??

 Paramedic Nathan Heuer showed us the tank and what it is used for.  He demonstrated that an alarm will go off if the firefighter gets low on air, or if he is 'down' for too long in a fire.  The alarm was very loud, which is good so that a firefighter can be found and helped if needed.

Next we got to see some tools such as the jaws of life, and very large cutting tool, and we got to see the inside of the trucks and what is kept in them.

Did you know that our fire department has several different vehicles at their disposal?  In addition to the emergency vehicle and 3 pumper trucks, they have jeeps for use in woods, trucks that respond to medical emergencies, and even a boat for river and lake emergencies.

Each student was given a coloring book, a sticker badge, and a window sticker to be placed on their bedroom window to signal a child's bedroom for firefighters.

We had a nice visit to our very own Hamilton Fire Station!  We thank the Heuer family for their time today.  Next week is National Fire Prevention Week, and we will be learning more about how to stay safe or what to do if/when there is a fire!

And of course... the FUNNY ONE!

Madelyn

 

This is Madelyn!  She it our Student of the Week for October 1-5.  Madelyn's favorite color is yellow.  She would love to visit her grandpa and grandma the most.  Little House on the Prairie books are Madelyn's favorite books to read.  She loves to watch Sofia on television.  Madelyn has a dog named Molly.  When she grows up, Madelyn would like to be a mom and a teacher.  Her favorite sport is soccer.  Madelyn loves to eat tacos! She is special because her family lovers her, but the VERY BEST THING about Madilyn is the fact that she is kind to everyone!

Fall at the Outdoor Discovery Center

What a fantastic day! The weather was cool and sunny... just perfect for a walk at the Outdoor Discovery Center!

We started our adventure at Founder's Hall.  We spent a short time checking out some living animals such as turtles, an owl, and snakes in aquariums.  We also looked at some really cool taxidermy animals!  And finally, there was a touching table with natural items such as bones, feathers, snake skins and more.  

 

Our guide for the day, Miss Sheila, gathered us up on the floor to talk about the new fall season and the changes in animals and plants from the summertime.  She then showed us two types of live turtles.

The first turtle was a box turtle, who lives on land. He is a reptile, which means he is cold-blooded. His body temperature is the same as the outside temperature. To warm his body, he must find the sun. In the fall, he starts to prepare for winter and hibernating by eating and searching for a good place (on land) to sleep for the winter.

 

Next, Miss Sheila brought out a painted turtle. This turtle is also a reptile, but lives mostly in the water.  He also is cold-blooded like the box turtle. The painted turtle will hibernate as well, but goes into a pond, digs into the mud, and hibernates there all winter.  Miss Sheila told us that the painted turtle needs to breathe air, but while hibernating, he can absorb oxygen from the water through his skin!  Pretty neat trick!

 

Miss Sheila showed us the shell of a turtle. The underside shows the turtle's spine.  She told the kids that the turtle is not able to leave his shell because it is attached to his body! The shell grows with the turtle just like our spine grows with us. She also told us that the shell is made out of the same material as finger and toenails!

 

Finally, Miss Sheila pulled out both turtles for a race!  The first turtle to move off the carpet won.  The best of 5 races was the winner.  Care to guess which turtle won?   It was the BOX turtle!

 Our next adventure was to go out on the paths to explore three different habitats.  Our first habitat was the meadow.  We enjoyed looking at some beautiful flowers, tall grasses, and of course, weeds! Miss Sheila discussed the five needs of animals... food, water, air, shelter, and space to thrive.  She asked what types of animals would use the meadow for their home.  Answers included mice, snakes, birds and maybe larger animals such as rabbits, foxes and deer.

Miss Sheila took a few moments to show us the milkweed plant.  This plant is the only food that monarch caterpillars will eat. It is poisonous to animals, but not the monarch.  When the caterpillar eats the milkweed leaves, the 'poison' makes it (and the butterfly it will later become) taste bad to predators.  In the fall, the pods grow and open up, allowing the seeds to blow into the wind to take root for next spring.  Miss Sheila opened up a pod and gave seeds to the kids to toss into the wind!

 

We were fortunate to see a monarch chrysalis today!

Our next habitat we visited was the pond.  The kids were allowed to lay down on their bellies to feel the water.  Animals that live there are fish, frogs, maybe water snakes, and other animals visit the pond to drink.

Our final habitat was the woods.  We noticed that it looked different, with many trees and plants.  We took a moment to close our eyes and listen for five different sounds.  Animals that might live in the woods include rabbits, squirrels, deer, and birds. 

We talked about two types of trees in the woods.  Deciduous trees are those with leaves that turn color and drop off in the fall. The trees go dormant all winter, but awake with new buds and leaves in the spring.  Conifer trees (also called evergreen) are trees with needles that do not drop off in the winter. The kids were told that they could pull off one needle and EAT it if they chose.  The kids thought they tasted minty!

 

One last stop on our walk back was the bird feeding station.  Unfortunately, we were a bit noisy, so no birds came to visit while we were there.  

We had a fantastic time at the Outdoor Discovery Center today.  Our next visit will be in January, when we will visit the same habitats to see how they have changed from our visit today.  Thank you to Miss Sheila, who was a fantastic teacher.  Thank you to the parents who joined us today, and thank you to our administration team, who makes the trips to the ODC possible for first graders each year!

And now... as always... the FUNNY ONE!