Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Today's leader is... Hedgie the Hedgehog!  She is very happy to see you!  Hedgie usually lives in Mrs. Bernier's room, but our plushie friends invited her over to say hello!

Today is March 31, 2020.  Tomorrow is a brand-new month!  Do you remember which one?

Here are some fun facts about hedgehogs!
Hedgehog Facts and Fun

Hedgie and Darla learned some new words in French:

hedgehog: hérisson (AIR-EE-son)
Tuesday: Mardi (MAR-dee)
March: Mars (marse...rhymes with "sparse")

Try these:

Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence.

1. Hedgie and Darla     speaks      speak     French.

2. Mrs. Cole      love         loves      coffee.

3. Enki has        huge         hug        paws.

4. Azhi always   meows     meow    at Mr. Cole.

5. Did you         know        knew     that tomorrow is April 1st?

STEM Connection: Precipitation

Here is a song to help you learn the four types of precipitation: Precipitation video

Today's Math Challenge!

Hedgie had a plushie party with 8 friends.  6 more friends came to the party.  Then 3 friends went home.  How many plushies were left at the party?

Extra Challenge: Two more plushies came.  They each brought a friend. Now how many plushies were at the party?  Use your ten frames, counters, a number line, or a picture to show 2 strategies.

Virtual Field Trip: The Eiffel Tower, Paris  Eiffel Tower virtual visit

This is a fun virtual tour.  You'll feel like you're really standing in front of the tower!  I know many of you have done the Paris section in Lexia, so I thought you might like to see some of the real-life city.

Move your cursor up, down, and side-to-side to get different views.  A grownup might have to enable Adobe Flash for you to see it.

Here are a few Eiffel Tower pictures from 2 of my trips to Paris. I was there as an exchange student a long time ago, then I went with my daughter Meghan, and most recently I was there with Mr. Cole.

How are you doing? I miss all of you and I am so proud of the things you are doing while we're not together.  I hope you are enjoying the virtual field trips and the photos!  Have you been trying the new words in French and Spanish?

See you back here tomorrow!

Love,

Mrs. Cole

Happy Monkey Monday, friends!

Today's Leader is...Sock Monkey!  Our blog today is all about monkeys! 🐵

Today is March 30, 2020.

Sock Monkey and Darla learned some new words in Spanish:

monkey: mono (MOH-no)
socks: calcetines (CAL-say-TEEN-ays)
Monday: Lunes (LOO-nays)

Try these:

Fix Mrs. Cole's Sentences:

1. the monkey is so cute did you see him jump

2. monkeys are primates there are more than 260 species of monkeys

Scrambled Sentences:

1. seen a Have chimpanzee? ever you

2. think you eat? do What monkeys

STEM connection: The Water Cycle

Check out this article on National Geographic Kids UK that explains the water cycle: https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/science/nature/water-cycle/

Here's a picture of the water cycle, too!

If you joined BrainPOP Jr, there is a video about the water cycle there, too.  Look under the Science button. ☀☁☂

Today's Math Challenge! 🐒

You can use your ten frames, counters, a number line, or a picture to help you.  See if you can show your answer by using more than one strategy! :)

There were 9 monkeys in a tree.  6 more monkeys came.  Then 5 jumped away.  How many monkeys were left in the tree?

Extra challenge: 4 monkeys came back. Now how many monkeys were in the tree?

Virtual Field Trip: San Diego Zoo Ape Cam: https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/cams/ape-cam and Houston Zoo Chimpanzee Cam: https://www.houstonzoo.org/explore/webcams/chimpanzee-cam/

I got to visit the Houston Zoo last summer; here are two of the pictures I took there:

Are you ready for an awesome week?  I was so happy to get outside this weekend and do some work in my yard.  I am ready for spring!  I can see from your pictures that some of you had some outdoor fun, too! :)
Have a fun-day Monkey Monday!
Love,
Mrs. Cole :)

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Today's Leader is...Mr. Moose!  He lives in Ms. Plain's room across the hall.  Our Morning Meeting sounds so fun, he has has always wanted to come join us and have a turn to do the calendar.  Here's a funny moose story! https://justbooksreadaloud.com/ReadToMe.php?vid=GiveMooseMuffin

Today is March 29, 2020.

If you like animals, I found this cool video from a trail cam that has LOTS of wild animals in it, including moose!! 🐾I had fun watching it.  Enki even liked it! 🐈 He and Azhi enjoyed the sunshine-y day yesterday:

Algonquin Park Trail Cam Footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLTGbLqUDs0

What have you been doing on this rainy day?  I put up new curtains and did a LOT of laundry.  I'm going to do a couple of craft projects that I want to share with you on the weekend blogs-I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Have a super Sunday, everyone!
Love,
Mrs. Cole

Happy Saturday, friends!

Today's Leader is...Lucinda! Lucinda is another friend of Darla and Kola!

Today is March 28, 2020.

I thought it would be fun to do another craft with you today!  Here are the directions:

You'll need...

1 old t-shirt-adult size works best
Scissors
A grownup to help you

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/kids-vs-plastic/craft-videos/

I can't wait to see your finished tote bags!

One of my other cats, Azhi, and my daughter Emma, who teaches Biology, have a question for you:

You say Azhi’s name like this: Ah-jee (the /j/ sounds like the second g in “garage”)

Here is a cool video of bears feasting on salmon!

https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

What are you going to do today? I have a meeting all day with some other teachers from around the state.  I'm hoping we are done in time for me to go for a walk with Mr. Cole.  Have a great day with your family!
Love,
Mrs. Cole

Hi, everyone!  Happy Friday!

Today's Leader is... Stillwater!  Do you remember him from Zen Shorts and Zen Ties?  Check them out here!

Zen Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3eGlKpYESs
Zen Ties: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYJ0EH_rVLY

Today is March 27, 2020.

Stillwater and Darla learned some new words today in Spanish:

panda: panda (PAHN-da)
old: viejo  (vee-AY-hoe)
new: nuevo (noo-AY-voe)

Try these:

Fix Mrs. Cole's Sentences:

1. he is a giant panda his name is stillwater

2. the children were afraid now they are all friends

Scrambled Sentences: (the first one is kind of tricky!)

1. this lots month? Have kind you of done things

2. foot. sleeping Enki is my on

Today's Math Challenge!

Enki slept for 3 hours.  Then he had lunch and went back to sleep for another 5 hours.  Then he woke up to play.  After that, he slept for 4 hours. How many hours did Enki sleep in all?

Extra challenge: If there are 24 hours in one day, how many hours was Enki NOT sleeping?

Virtual Field Trip: Atlanta Zoo Panda Cam https://zooatlanta.org/panda-cam/
and Smithsonian National Zoo Panda Cam: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams/panda-cam

I know some of you really love pandas!  I thought you might like to check out these panda cams at the Atlanta Zoo and the National Zoo.  If nothing's happening right now, you can come back and check again another time.  My daughters and I were at the National Zoo in November. They had a panda named Bei-Bei who was being sent to a zoo in China-you can read his story here:https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/17/us/bei-bei-giant-panda-national-zoo-trnd/index.html . We loved watching them eat their bamboo!

Did you have a great week?  What are your plans for this weekend?  I am going to clean up my yard a little (if it doesn't rain) and do a bit of painting in my house. There will be some fun things on the blog-be sure to check it out! One thing will be a special video of me and some of my family!  Another thing is a cool craft to try. You will need an old T-shirt (adult size might work best for your first try), a pair of scissors, and a grownup to help you. 
I miss you! I hope you have some relaxing time this weekend with your family!

Love,
Mrs. Cole

Hello, friends!

Today's leader is...Rodney Rat!  Do you remember reading his book together?  Here it is, just in case!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NbiJqk8Oow

Today is March 26, 2020.

☆Dr. Rhoads has given us permission to share the school account login for Starfall.  You can do some things without logging in, but this should give you more options:

www.starfall.com
UN: krhoads@rsu14.org
PW: leadwps

Rodney and Darla learned some new words in Spanish:

rat: rata (RAH-tah)
rodent: roedor (roe-AY-dor)
whisper: susurro (soo-SOO-roe)

Try these:

Fix Mrs. Cole's Sentences:

1. do you love animals which is your favorite

2. my horse is grey his name is reed

Scrambled Sentences:

1. creatures. are Rats smart very

2. cold today. is It very outside

Today's Math Challenge!

Look at each pair of numbers. Tell which one is greater.

98   89             12   21           86    68           101   111         78  88

Extra challenge!  How much greater is the bigger number in each pair?

Virtual Field Trip: National Zoo: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams/naked-mole-rat-cam

Check out the naked mole rats at the Smithsonian National Zoo!  There are 2 different cams-you can switch cams by clicking the tabs in the upper left hand corner.

Here's a picture of a capybara that I took at the Houston Zoo-just like Camilla Capybara in Hooway for Wodney Wat!

How is your day so far?  I hope you are doing lots of new and cool things! I miss you all.  So does Darla!
Love,
Mrs. Cole

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Today's leader is...Peter Rabbit!  He is another Beatrix Potter character!  If you haven't heard his story before, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_LeUSA-qIg

Today is March 25, 2020.

Peter and Darla learned some new words today in French: ☕🎂🍪

coffee: café (ka-FAY)
cake: gâteau (gah-TOE)
milk: lait (lay)

Try these:

Fix Mrs. Cole's Sentences

1. do you like chocolate cake I prefer vanilla

2. he gave me a cookie may I have some milk

Scrambled Sentences

1. care Who a would sandwich for?

2. not I'm right now. hungry

Today's Math Challenge! 🍪

Remember, you can draw a picture or use beans/coins/buttons/etc. to help you!

There were 18 cookies in the package.  If two kids shared them equally, how many would each one get?

Extra challenge: If there were 18 cookies in the package, and three kids shared them equally, how many would each one get?

Virtual Field Trip: Dutch Hollow Farm  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-FQsNH0fXI

I grew up helping my grandparents on their farm!  We had Holstein cows, ducks, and lots of vegetable gardens.  I also kept my pony there. Here's a picture of me and my brother, David:

Have a great day!  Do you have lots of plans for today?

Love,

Mrs. Cole 

Hello, everyone!

The Leader today is...Jeremy Fisher!  He is a character created by the British author Beatrix Potter.  You can listen to his story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDa8H1vPXqg

Another character from her books will be the leader tomorrow...can you guess which one?

Today is March 24, 2020.

Darla and Jeremy Fisher learned some new words in Spanish: 🐸🐟🌸

frog: rana (RAH-na)
fish: pescado (pes-KAH-doe)
flowers: flores (FLOR-ays)

Try these:

Fix Mrs. Cole's Sentences:  🐈

1. enki likes to play with string do you have a cat

2. we love to watch the birds they like our bird feeder a lot

Scrambled Sentences:

1. favorite my is London city.

2. games Which you like do play? to

Today's Math Challenge! ☕

Mrs. Cole's coffee pot makes 12 cups of coffee.  Mrs. Cole drank 4 cups of coffee.  How many cups were left in the pot?

Extra challenge!  The pot had 12 cups of coffee in it. Mrs. Cole drank 4 cups. Mr. Cole drank 3 cups. How many cups of coffee were left?

Virtual Field Trip: Buckingham Palace, London

https://www.royal.uk/virtual-tours-buckingham-palace

Watching the Jeremy Fisher video reminded me of this beautiful place. Mr. Cole and I visited the palace a couple of years ago.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but you can see some of the rooms on this virtual tour.  We did take pictures outside:

 

Have a great day!  What are you going to do?  I'm going to have a meeting with Mrs. Bernier and Mrs. Stover on the computer.  I am also going to do some chores around my house and shovel the driveway.  I'll see you back here tomorrow!
Love,
Mrs. Cole 😎

Good morning, friends!

The Leader today is Henry!  He is a good friend of Kola and Darla.  He was so excited to have a turn to do the calendar!

Today is March 23, 2020.

I hope you had a great weekend!

Final Iditarod Update:
All the mushers, including the Elim 11, have finally reached Nome!
Read their story here:
https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/iditarod/2020/03/22/bookended-by-rookies-the-iditarods-elim-11-reaches-nome-to-mark-the-end-of-the-race/

Your family might enjoy watching the movie "Balto"...it's available on Amazon Prime.  Just remember...even though Balto finished the relay, Togo did most of the work :)

Here are some pictures of the Balto statue (from the movie) in Central Park, NYC. I was there a couple of years ago with my nieces:

Try these...

Fix Mrs. Cole's Sentences:

1. henry is a brown bear do you wear glasses too

2. can you figure out the calendar pattern what color will tomorrow's shamrock be

Scrambled Sentences!

1. snow It start will to later.

2. quickly. will snow The melt

Today's Math Challenge!  🍕

Mrs. Cole made 2 different pizzas for dinner.  Her family ate 6 slices of cheese pizza and 8 slices of veggie pizza.  How many slices did they eat in all?  Hint: try using your ten frames drawing from last week!

Extra challenge: If both pizzas had 8 slices before dinner, how many slices were left after dinner?

😎

Today's Virtual Field Trip: Boston Children's Museum! 

https://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/museum-virtual-tour

If you've never been to this awesome museum, your family should definitely check it out sometime!  It's really fun and there is sooo much to do!  Take this virtual tour to get some ideas about which part you might visit first!

Today's Special Share: 

You all know how much I love Mr. Rogers! Mr. Cole and I went to a museum near his hometown this past summer.  I got to see many of the puppets, his sweaters, and even a statue of him.  We drove past the house he lived in as a boy, too!


Link: I like this episode a lot-it's about sharing and has a cool part about how people make apple juice!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgo-rjo2rMM

Have a wonderful day!  See you back here tomorrow with a special video!
❤
Love, Mrs. Cole

Good morning, friends!

It’s Sunday! I hope you and your family are relaxing today! Enki definitely loves chilling out on the weekend...

Our Leader today is Lilly!  She is a character who was created by one of my favorite authors, Kevin Henkes!  Here's a link to her first story, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urB6gh-E59Q

Today is March 22, 2020.

Darla and Lilly learned some new words today in French:

mouse: souris (soo-REE)
sun: soleil (so-LAY)

The sun is shining brightly this morning!  Have you been outside very much this week?

Did you get to try the craft yesterday? It’s one of my favorites!  You can do a few of them in different colors and layer the pieces over each other.

Iditarod update: I found out that the last 11 mushers in the race got stuck at the Elim checkpoint due to weather conditions.  These 11 mushers are all traveling together, led by musher Martin Buser, who has won the Iditarod in the past.  They are being called the "Elim 11", and you can read their story here: https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/iditarod/2020/03/21/after-getting-turned-back-by-overflow-iditarods-elim-11-may-try-saturday-morning-departure/

Have a wonderful Sunday!  Be sure to check back here tomorrow!
Love,
Mrs. Cole

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Today's leaders are...Elephant and Piggie!  They were really excited to do calendar on a weekend, because we're usually not at school! 😊

Today is March 21, 2020.  Here's a little video I made for you...having Gerald the Elephant as one of our Leaders today made me want to share some special artwork I have here at home:

Elephant, Piggie, and Darla learned some new words in French today:

elephant: éléphant (AY-LAY-font; say the /t/ very softly at the end)
pig: porc (like pork) or cochon (co-SHAWN)

They also learned a new word in Polish: wycinanki (vee-chee-NON-kee).  It's a special paper craft that people in Poland make.  I think it's a great way to decorate for the beginning of spring!  Here are some examples:

                                 

There are a couple of different kinds of wycinanki.  The one we're going to make is a style called Kurpi, which is symmetrical.  Do you know what that means?  If something is symmetrical, it means that if I drew a line right down the middle, both sides would be the same. 

First: Get 2 pieces of construction paper, or any paper.  I like to use 2 very different colors. I picked Piggie and Gerald colors today. 🐖🐘

Next: Fold one of the pieces of paper right down the middle, in a hot dog fold (you might have to teach your family about hot dog and hamburger folds).  Make sure the edges meet.

Then, make a dot that is two finger-widths away from the top of the fold.  Make another dot two finger-widths away from the bottom.  It's very important to do this on the fold, not on the open edges.

After that, draw a smooth, curvy line that starts on the top dot and ends up on the bottom dot.  Make sure your line doesn't cross itself or get too close to itself.  Lots of ins and outs will make it more interesting.  Don't get too close to the edges. 😁

Now, you're ready to cut out your design.  Remember to start on the top dot and end on the bottom dot.  Cut slowly and turn the paper, not your scissors, just like we practice in class.

Finally, open your design and separate the pieces.  Glue one part to one side of the other paper, and the other part to the other side.  Now you have a two-sided Kurpi wycinanki that you can hang on a window, the fridge, wherever!

Great job!  I bet yours will be even fancier than mine!

What else are you doing today?  I'm going to do a little bit of work around my house.  I'm also going for a walk in our woods later on, and I have a video meeting with some other teachers.  See you back here tomorrow!

<3

Mrs. Cole

Happy Friday, everyone!

So, our Leader today is...… Knuffle Bunny!  This cute character was created by one of our favorite author/illustrators, Mo Willems...have you been checking out the Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems?  I hope so!  It's super fun!  I posted Episode 1 a couple of days ago...here's Episode 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30DCOgTGn_o

Today is March 20, 2020.  It is the first official FULL day of SPRING!!  I'll be posting a fun spring craft on tomorrow's special Weekend Edition of the blog!  You'll need 2 sheets of paper in 2 different colors, a pair of scissors, a glue stick or some tape, and a pencil or a light-colored crayon.

Darla learned some new words in Spanish today!  Try these...

rabbit: conejo (co-NAY-hoe)
ice cream: helado (ay-LAH-do) (you don't say the /h/)
left: izquierda (eez-kee-AIR-da)
right: derecha (day-RAY-cha)

Muy bien, mis amigos! <3

Fix Mrs. Cole's Sentences

1. we planted some flower seeds let's plant vegetables next

2. my cat is very silly did you see him jump up high

Scrambled Sentences!  Unscramble the sentence.  Think about which word has to be the first or last word in the sentence.

1. today. sun glad is I'm the shining

2. rode We bikes to house. his our

Great thinking!

Today's Math Challenge!

Mrs. Cole has 4 cats.  Each cat has 4 paws.  How many paws do they have in all?  Draw a picture to help you, use your ten frames, or try a different strategy.  How did you find your answer?

Use the ten frames you drew yesterday, or make new ones:  8 + 4    9 + 7   6 + 6   3 + 8

Awesome work!

Virtual Field Trip: United States Botanical Garden and National Zoo, Washington, DC!

I love the US Botanical Garden in Washington, DC!  There are so many beautiful plants and flowers to see there. I hope you get to see it in person one day, but I thought it would be fun for you to take a virtual tour today to celebrate the first full day of spring!   https://www.usbg.gov/take-virtual-tour

You can also do virtual tour of the National Zoo. Other languages are available as well:
 https://nationalzoo.si.edu/visit/self-guided-zoo-tour-english

Here are just a few pictures from my visits to Washington, DC...I posted a picture of Kola at the Lincoln Memorial back in November-see if you can find it in the blog archive!

Washington Monument                 The Capitol at sunset                       Lion at the National Zoo

 




How are you doing today?  I had fun feeding Eboo and finding some more things to share with you.  I also watered all the plants in our classroom and talked with some other teachers.  I miss you all!  Keep sending me those great photos and emails!!
Love,
Mrs. Cole :)

Hello, everybody!

Happy First Day of Spring!  Check out our special Leader today!

Today is March 19, 2020.

Here's a little message I made for you earlier...with Enki's help!

Darla and the Very Hungry Caterpillar learned the Spanish names of some of the foods in the Caterpillar's book:

apple = manzana (man-ZAH-na)
pear = pera (PAIR-ah)
strawberry = fresa (FRAY-sa)
cupcake = pastelito (pah-stay-LEE-toe)

Here's the book!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar

We'll have another special Leader tomorrow!  Here's a hint: he has long ears and a silent K at the beginning of his name...
😎

Fix Mrs. Cole's Sentences:

Try fixing up these sentences!  Each set of words can be divided into 2 complete sentences.  Remember to start each sentence with an upper case letter and put the right punctuation at the end.  Names should have an upper case at the beginning, too!  If you write these sentences, be sure to take a photo and email it to me!

1. mrs cole has an orange cat his name is enki

2. today is the first day of spring when will my flowers start to grow

Iditarod update:

About half of the mushers have completed the race.  Several more mushers scratched on their way to the finish line. It looks like 18 mushers have had to scratch.  It is a really difficult race!  You can see in the standings that several of the mushers are ending the race with fewer dogs on their teams than when they started.  When a musher has to drop a dog during the race, it is sent on a plane back to Anchorage.  When the rest of the team has finished the race, the musher can go pick up their dropped dogs.  There is a special place in Anchorage where all the dropped dogs are cared for while they wait.

Today's Math Challenges!

Last week, we learned how to add two numbers in our heads more quickly by making a ten and then adding on the rest.  Draw two ten frames on a piece of paper, then use beans, buttons, coins, etc. to practice adding by making a ten.

For example...

7 + 8

Draw your two ten frames.
Put 7 in one ten frame and 8 in the other.

You would take 3 from the frame with 8 and fill the first frame to make the 7 into 10.  This changes the problem to 10 + 5.

10 + 5 = 15, so 7 + 8 = 15.

Try these:    9 + 4     6 + 9    8 + 5    8 + 9

Super job!

Today's virtual field trip:  Chillin' with Polar Bears!

We learned about some polar animals during our Polar Regions unit.  Before we switch gears to spring, let's have one last snowy adventure watching a polar bear migration out on the tundra!  You can watch the whole thing, or ask a grownup to help you start the video at about 14:00.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pI22Seiqag

Here's a shorter polar bear video from National Geographic Kids:

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/videos/#/780765251701

I hope you are all doing great work while you're home!  Some of you have emailed pictures, messages, and work to me-thank you!  I love seeing all the learning you're doing!  Be sure to keep practicing all of the things we have learned in first grade.  I'm trying to make the blog better and better each day, so keep checking it and sharing it with your family!  I will update it over the weekend, too.

<3 Mrs. Cole