1/28/19

The class chose their new animal care jobs today.  We'll have these for the next three weeks, and then we will get new jobs after winter break.  In the spring, jobs change and things get exciting! 

 

Each week, I talk to the class about "Farm News".  Sometimes, the week's Farm News good; sometimes it's bad.  I always explain that life has ups and downs.  There are good times with happy, bouncy baby goats, eggs, new growth, sunshine, and health... and then there are times that make you question you abilities.  Question your choices.  Question whether or not all the working and raising and loving is worth it.  I told the class that I was not alone is these low times.  I began raising goats almost 20 years ago, and I have acquired many friends who farm.  We all go through moments like these.  To me, it is important to explain this to kids.  Often, we as a society try to sterilize everything for children. We try to present everything as if it is all guaranteed... as if it is always sunny... as if we, as humans, are entitled for life to be as such.  Farms offer the very real lessons that help to ground us, and I don't like to deprive my classes of these lessons.  So, today I explained that despite my best efforts, we lost a pig.  Yes, things like this happen... but it's never easy.  We cry, and we question ourselves, and we stay awake at night trying to make sure we look at things from every possible angle.  The bottom line is always this: after the tears have dried, we learn from mistakes, gather knowledge, and move forward.  I strive to be a good steward of these beautiful animals in my care, and we simply do everything we can to give them the best possible life!  Beyond vocabulary and writing and agriculture concepts, these are the big lessons are what I hope my students will learn and remember.

The class began working on their new art project.  We will hopefully finish these up next week and begin on our next big one.  It will involve an Eastern European artform!

At home, the class was shown three different European paintings of farm scenes.  They were asked to choose on of the paintings and write a story about it.  Just as I'd hoped, the students came up with vastly different storylines for the animals, characters, and settings!  I showed the painting and the class took turns sharing their stories.  We discussed the tone of the artwork and the different interpretations.  They did such a great job!

Since the day was so gorgeous, we headed back outside after reading our stories.  The kids were each given a set of gloves and we set to work pulling up old dead plants from our raised bed garden.  The kids needed some time outdoors, and this was a great activity to get them moving!

1/21/19

Due to the cold, the class didn't do today's animal care outdoor activities.  Instead, we talked about how farmers must go out even in the cold or rain or ice... or if they have the FLU!  Thankfully, the class was able to stay warm... and Ms. Holly did all of the jobs before class began.  I explained the class that the fate of the new calf has been determined: We will keep her!  The kids were very excited!  In other farm news, the Nigerian Dwarf goats are on baby-watch at for the next few weeks.  They have all been moved into the "Maternity Ward", given their CD&T boosters, and now they just get to munch on hay and relax!

At home, the class worked on writing very descriptive paragraphs.  They were asked to choose one animal on the farm and to describe it in detail... but not to tell what animal it is!  The kids loved listening to each paper and taking turns guessing.  I was very impressed with the quality of their adjectives.  They did a great job with these!

Next, the kids were given different animal cut-outs to glue onto construction paper.  Under each flap, they came up with different adjectives to describe the animal.  We called it "Adjective Farm".  This was a great way to practice with adjectives, but also to work on handwriting and spelling skills.  We used a "word wall" to keep up with all of the different words that we need to spell.

Once our Adjective Farm activity was completed, it was obvious that we HAD to get our wiggles out!  Thankfully, the sun had come out and things were warming up just enough to bundle up, get outside, and RUN!

After working on our oil pastel cows and eating lunch, the class added the adjective card to their stack of grammar cards.  We will be working to identify words that have different forms, making them nouns in one for but adjectives in another (example: happiness/happy, hope/hopeful, joy/joyful).

1/14/19

We began our day with a lesson on different breeds of cattle.  The class was able to see the different characteristics of dairy and beef cattle breeds on the screen and they asked a lot of great questions!  Our new little calf is part Holstein, and we continued to work on our Holstein-inspired art project!

At home, the students wrote about our new calf.  In class, we talked about the pros and cons of keeping a bottle calf.  The kids did a great job writing about this topic in their journals.  One of my favorite parts of Farm Fusion is the students' desire to share their creative writing assignments.  Each week, they cannot wait to stand up and read to their peers... and I love their enthusiasm!

In order to integrate a little math into our agriculture lesson, we discussed how dairy products come in gallons, pints, and quarts.  The class used pictures of different measurements to create a silly  "Gallon Man" project as we discussed the measurements as a class.  Hopefully, these kids will remember this lesson when the concept pops up in the future!

1/7/19

It was so great to be back.... and it wasn't raining!  Yay!

We have a new addition on the farm, and the kids were thrilled to meet her!  This little lady needed a bottle this morning, so I took the opportunity to talk to the class about a calf's need for milk or milk replacer.  The class heard about our previous bottle calf, who was on a diet of fresh milk, and we compared the approach to this one who is on milk replacer.  On fresh milk, calves can stay on the bottle for much longer.  Milk replacer should be used after the calf is given its colostrum for the first few days, and then you move the calf onto calf starter feed sooner than on actual milk.  The kids were amazed at how quickly she sucked down that bottle!

Due to some chicken coop construction, our animal care morning was a bit different.  We split up into groups and tackled feeding jobs, but avoided the chicken area.  I'm looking forward to a new chicken system just in time for spring hatching!  We quickly took care of all of the many animals on the farm and then hurried in to begin our lessons.  I'm hoping we get more winter days like this one!  It wasn't too bad out there!

In art class, the students worked on a sketch.  We talked about filling the entire space on the page, and the group listened closely as we worked our way through the pencil drawing.  Once the outlines were complete, the class traced the lines with a sharpie or black marker.  Next, they used oil pastels to fill in the different areas.  I explained to the kids that they could create a picture with realistic colors or choose to get very creative with it!  We will finish these up next week, but I can already tell they are going to be amazing!

The class listened to the story of Gregory, the picky eater.  They thought the idea of a goat who had poor eating habits was pretty funny!  We talked about junk food, healthy foods, and they will be given the opportunity to write about eating habits in their weekly writing assignment.