Miller Farms Field Trip

My last post, The Calm Before the Field Trip, was spot on!  Here are my little sweeties on the bus ready to hit the road.  For some of them, this was their very first time on the big yellow school bus.  Just look at how excited they were.  And this was the calm...

Now to the trip...

First of all, the day before was 80+ degrees.  The morning of the field trip, a whopping 41.  

{oh yea, that's Colorado for ya}

Second, we went with first, second, and third grade classes so the bus was pretty packed.  We didn't have enough room to carry 88 sack lunches there and 88 bags full of veggies back.  I was in my car on the highway, and Mrs. McCarty the third grade teacher called~all I heard was THE.BUS.BROKE.DOWN.

UGH!

Our wonderful bus driver was able to get the bus to an auto parts store and get two new batteries replaced.  Within an hour they were back on the road.  What troopers they were sitting on the bus.  Our second grade teacher, Mrs. Prager had them singing songs and playing games to pass the time.

Here they are.  Finally at the farm.

All loaded up and ready for the hay ride through the harvest.

First stop, was the corn field.

 Then we picked carrots, onions, leeks, cabbage, green beans, celery, potatoes.....and the grand finale, pumpkins.

 Some of the onions were the size of a small child's head.

By the end of the day, most of the kids were falling over because their bags were so full and heavy.  Even though outlook for the day started out very bleak.  It ended up being an incredible day!  I love taking the kids to Miller Farm!

Friday was a half day.  We worked on Q-tip painting our fall trees.  I used my Cricket machine to cut the trunks and lightly drew a circle around the top for them to use as guidelines.  They really turned out beautiful!

We are going to try growing a pumpkin in a pumpkin.  

I found this idea on Pintrest {great, but addicting site}

Here's our pumpkin.  

 The "innards" as my grandma used to call them.

 Add some soil and a little bit of water, set in the sunshine, and we'll see what sprouts.

No scissors fall trees.  

Leaf rubbings.

Next week.....pumpkins!

The Calm Before the Field Trip

We'll be heading out to Miller Farms tomorrow.  Our first field trip of the year.  I LOVE this field trip for a few reasons.  First, the kids get to harvest their own vegetables. This means they get to dig in the dirt and what kid doesn't love the dirt?!?!  Second, they get to be as loud as they want!  And finally, for some of my littles this is the first time on the school bus.  EX.CIT.ING to the max!

The beginning of the week we spent working hard on our centers.

Counting up using a die.  They did a great job on this task!

October 2nd is Guardian Angel Day.  Our Guardian Angel {aka Mrs. Matt} came in for a quick visit.

Who knew a container of acorns, almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and macadamia nuts, could be so much fun?  Look how these two worked together to sort and count.

 Sorting & Graphing Leaves

I put several leaves {copied on different colored paper} in baggies.  The students had to grab a bag, sort/count and graph on the worksheet.

LOVE the hard workers in my class!!!

Patterning plastic leaves I found in the Target dollar spot a couple of years ago.

{I HEART Target dollar spot!} 

Birthday Celebration

Today we discussed doing our "Best Work"~what it looks like~what it sounds like.  I played classical music, gave instructions to first illustrate in pencil, black marker or crayon, then to color in.  The topic was a pumpkin patch.  I was amazed at how wonderfully these kiddos did.  Not only did they do their best, but they worked on their stamina.  They worked quietly for nearly thirty minutes.  Here they are hard at work.

They were eager to get back to centers.

 I Like Fall Leaves pocket chart and mini book. 

 {Give 'em a pointer, and they'll read all day}

 You can find I Like Fall Leaves pocket chart here and I Like Fall Leaves mini book here.

Off to the farm tomorrow.  I promise MANY, MANY, MANY photos will be posted on Friday.