Do you ever feel like somebody is watching you? Well when you go out in the night "someanimal" is definitely watching you! We are going to be taking a field trip to the zoo at the end of the month, and we have been busy, busy learning about animals in our classrooms. One week we focused especially on nocturnal animals. Since we are doing this unit in the month of October, I added some spooky pizzazz to a craft. First we wrote about all things nocturnal on this writing paper.
Then we made our somewhat spooky little craft. Who doesn't love a lift the tab book? This was perfect for my firsties. They loved lifting the flap to see which noturnal animal was watching them.
I also want to send a shout out to all of my firsties and their parents!! They had an assignment to make a diorama and complete minimal research on the animal they completed their diorama. Can you believe it's a first grade standard to do research? I mean for real?! They got their feet wet last month researching and publishing information about monarch butterflies. They did a fabulous job then too! I believe students can do anything if they are taught with a slow release of independence. There are high expectations, and they are definitely setting the bar high. They will be pros by the end of the year. Here are a few of the dioramas. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we did.
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| Squirrel |
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| Raccoon, I love the trash can! Isn't that the truth though? |
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| Black Panther |
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| Cattle, those are real pictures of this little guy's cattle. |
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| Starfish, the two star fish are the actual size of a large and small starfish. |
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| Clam, complete with sun and ocean animals. |
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Pygmy Marmoset, we learned that these tiny guys can jump as high as 16 feet. CRAZY!
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To top off all of our animal learning, someone brought in piglets to our classroom. Gotta love the benefits of going to a rural school. huh? Talk about hands on learning! Look at all of those sweet faces! That piggy was so stinking adorable! I have never heard a pig squeal like this little fella.
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| Speaking of sweet faces. Look at this little guy. Melt.my.heart! His shirt says it all. |
Speaking of living in a rural area. Here is another benefit. This is my little guy. He is running for student council. So the task of the weekend was to make posters. We thought of this little slogan, held a chicken, snapped a picture, typed, and printed a few copies, and boom. It's all done! Way easier than making posters for hours. Not to mention it's super original. Look at that face! HA. Makes me die laughing! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he wins. But if he doesn't it's ok. There will be many lessons to be learned from forming his first campaign.
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On the home front we have been busy. But a good kind of busy. First of all I have been watching my handsome son playing tennis. Let me tell you, he does not inherit his athletic jeans from me. This kid is so talented. As I look at this picture, I begin to wonder. When did he grow up? I think it really hit me when I helped him brush his hair, and I wasn't leaning over to brush his hair. It sounds so silly. But for so many years, I bent down and brushed his hair. Somewhere in between that and him learning how to do his own hair, he grew up. And then it just hit me. Like.a.ton.of.bricks.
Another of our fall past times is going to watch my daughter cheer. She is growing up into a beautiful young lady. I love to see her smile!
In between the good busy days with the older two, I have these two crazy guys. And let me tell you, they are something else. They are so funny. They got out a blanket, a board game, took it outside, and just played forever. It's such a blessing to have four of my own children to go home to to love on after a day of school. I'm beyond blessed.
