It’s been a long week of testing and by Friday we were ready for a change of pace. Well, what better way to celebrate the end of a test and the beginning of a summer than with a visit to the Botanic Gardens? Better yet, we were able to visit during the “World of Plants” event where guests get to travel around the gardens experiencing cultural tid-bits from places around the world - from Asia to Africa - making a souvenir at each stop. We had a blast (and beautiful weather to make things even better)! See for yourself...

{cooling off in the fountain}

{"strike a pose!”}

{making lotions in Europe}

{making butterflies in South America}

{modeling their pieces of art}

{“dress up” in India}

{hat-making in Asia}

Before we headed back to the bus, I took 1A on a little detour. 

As a kid, my family used to take frequent trips to the Botanic Gardens for picnics - and my personal favorite - feeding the fish. It’s a little known secret that the fish in the Japanese gardens go nuts for bread! (shhh) I brought our class their own loaf, and without telling any of our 1st graders the purpose of all this, had them lay down on their bellies on the dock. On the count of 3 I told them to drop a crumb of bread in the water. I wish you could have seen their faces!!! The fish came out of nowhere and were so thick you could reach down and touch them =)  I can’t begin to describe how exciting it was to able to share one of my favorite childhood experiences with your children... and I have a feeling it’s one they’ll never forget! 

{check out those lips!}

What an adventurous day... And don’t worry, for all 1st graders brave enough to touch the fish, we thoroughly washed those hands upon our return to New Hope! =) 

This week we are spending some time in the mornings on CTP4 testing... time to show what we know! Unfortunately, it’s not much to show in pictures. So I thought that I’d pull together an eclectic mix of photos from our learning over the past few weeks. Here is proof that learning doesn’t always mean a pencil and notebook paper... sometimes it requires Bendables, Post-Its, and marshmallows!

Here is our spelling center in 1B:

 Our language activity in 1C:

{each person got a post-it note with a contraction, then took turns coming up to the board to “break down” their contraction as we sang our contractions jingle =)}

 Here are some 3D shapes that 1B made and wrote about:

 And here are more 3D shapes  - made by 1C:

{I believe the first grade is looking at some future architects!}