All month long, students learned about the First Thanksgiving through interactive read alouds, poems, songs, and crafts. Students weaved placemats, made friendship bead necklaces, and created classroom murals of Plimoth Plantation. In Art class with Ms. Cortes, all students made Native American vests. We even went on a “virtual” field trip to the Plimoth Plantation!
Much of our unit consisted of teamwork to represent how the Pilgrims and Native Americans had to work together in order to survive. We simulated how crowded it was on the Mayflower by gathering all students together in the first grade hallway in the same square footage at the Mayflower. Classes worked collaboratively to practice songs and poems and to make Pilgrim and Native American hats to wear during our Feast presentation. All five classes joined together to vote on a menu for our Feast (see last week's blog) and worked together to prepare the food for their feast. We couldn't have done this without the incredible support of our families! Thank you for the food donations, the help during our Monday Food Prep day, and your attendance to our Feast presentation! Thank you for all of your help in making this an amazing experience for all children and an event to remember!
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We are all painfully aware of how highly controversial and emotionally charged this election year is. Between the tv commercials, phone calls, door knockers, and debates... it's overwhelming! Like many of our families, I have struggled with how to discuss the Presidential Election in a way that respects all families' feelings and, most importantly, is appropriate and relevant to first graders. Regardless of who you support, we cannot ignore how historically important EACH Presidential election is. I want families to rest assured that we are filtering all election discussions into educational opportunities that are appropriate for first grade.
Here is how we are learning about the election in our classroom:
October is the perfect month for our mini unit on bats! On Monday, Ms. Eno, from the UNH Cooperative Extension, visited each first grade classroom to present about bats! Ms. Eno has been visiting WPS first graders for the past four years! She is just as "batty" about bats as we are! Ms. Eno showed us pictures of local New Hampshire bats and their habitats. Ask your kiddo how bats help NH farmers and where bats live! Ms. Eno even brought two frozen bats that had died and were recovered for science for us to look at, not touch. So cool!
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April 2017
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