What a great first day! We had so much to cover and so much to talk about, and these kids did an amazing job!
We began our day with an overview on how to feed each of the animals on the farm. We talked about the importance of keeping grain dry, the differences in feeds, and learned how to care for each animal group. Then, the class broke up into groups. Each group was given a checklist, and we set out to work on tending to the animals! I promised them that our mornings won't always take so long... there is just a lot to learn on the first day!
After animal time, we had a quick snack and they received their journals. These are for the writing assignments that they will complete each week. I assured them that the journal activities are meant to be fun, not stressful! I've loved giving the class time to read and share their thoughts with their peers, and I look forward to unlocking a love (or at least a tolerance) for writing!
The class talked about different shapes today. We drew some on the board and discussed the differences between squares, rectangles, and rhombuses. The class then began creating and abstract farm scene using cutouts of different shapes. A lot of times, students will react negatively to the idea of creating animals or scenes using unrealistic colors or (heaven forbid) creating them without a pencil or markers. This class today did an amazing job! There were some of the cutest sheep I have ever seen... made completely of circles! I can't wait for next week!
