Award winners!

At our last assembly our class had a few award winners among them. Congratulations to these poetry award winners!! 

Fizz, Boom, Whiz!!

Today the First Grade had a great treat--the SEE Science came to us! The students were like scientists, testing theories and sharing ideas about how to make one piece of paper fall faster than another.

Then we learned about combustion, and that we need a fuel, oxygen and a catalyst.

Look what happens when an explosion is used to make a cannon:

We experimented with air flow and her to make a ball go through a hoop without touching it.

And finally we learned about chemical changes.  This started out as 2 white powders but when a liquid was added it got hot, turned orange and made the bag expand!

Press play to see a chemical change in action:

All of the students loved seeing science in action. Be sure to ask them what their favorite part was!

Field Trip

Last week we had a wonderful field trip around Hooksett. Our first stop took us back in time to the Head School, a one room school house that was Hooksett's school over 150!years ago!

The girls curtsied and the boys bowed as they greeted our school m'arm "Miss Hill" before we began our school experience. Inside, girls and boys sat separately and they were all given names of students from back in 1840.

Students wrote on their slates, read a story, and did some arithmetic too!

We also made observations of how our school is different from a school in the 1800's. Even the map of our country is very different!

We had a great trip back in time and the students are looking forward to returning in 3rd grade for a longer experience to learn more about how students learned long ago.

Then we were off to the library where we read a story with Miss Grace,

 and sang a song with lots of movement...

before exploring the library with Misss Vickie and each other.

If you do not already have a library card be sure to stop by to get one--the students loved to see all you can borrow from the library and are excited about the summer reading program too. Look for more information on that coming home in folders soon!

It was a great trip to explore these Hooksett treasures!

Building our Outdoor Learning Space

On Friday the students were able to work with our Artist-in-Residence to help plant and build our outdoor learning space. 

Each student planted a bulb and all worked to help move some mulch to another garden bed where sunflowers will be growing this summer.

I cannot wait to see how this space grows up with the students. It will be something to look forward to when they return in 2nd grade!

Botanists at work

Today we planted sunflower and pumpkin seeds so we can watch  and study them as they begin to grow. With our sunny classroom they will be sprouting in no time! 

Reading Challenge Success!!!

Thank you to all the parents and families who supported our April Reading Challenge at home by reading with your students and recording minutes read at home. The school surpassed the goal of 100,000 minutes and read a whopping 155,735 minutes! Wow! Be sure to ask them all about Mr. Bairstow's celebration of our challenge.

Our class did an amazing job with this challenge--our name was often called in the top 3 for our grade level and we also were recognized one week for increasing our weekly reading!

Wow, 7,890 minutes in 4 weeks! That is something to be proud of. The students loved the bookmarks they took home today, and I've got one last reward for tomorrow....

All kinds of creations

Today during indoor recess the students enjoyed working together to create. Some built puzzles while others used their imagination to create something brand new.

Wacky Wednesday

Today was pretty WACKY!!!! Some students dressed super wacky, some rearranged their clothing to be wacky and some of us were just our wacky selves.  Can you tell the difference?

They even had a pretty wacky teacher...