The Queens County Farm

Dear families,

Today we went to the Queens County Farm. This was a big week for trips!

On the farm, this is what we did:

• We went on a hay ride all around the farm. It was lots of fun!
• We saw bee hives. The bees were doing work. We didn't interrupt them, or else they could sting us. We shared the research we did about bees with Miss Chris, the farmer. 
• We saw two peacocks.
• We saw sheep. A girl sheep is called a ewe. A man sheep is called a ram. A baby sheep is a lamb.
• We saw two cows. We learned that most cows have horns, even females. In big farms, the horns are cut off when they are young so they don't hurt each other. These cows still have their horns because there are just two of them and they aren't in a big herd.
• We saw hens and roosters, a chicken coop, pigs and piglets, goats and geese (the geese were honking at us!)
• We saw nesting boxes and a roost in the chicken coop, just like in our block area.
• We fed the goats. The kid goats are called kids, like us!

That's it for today, families! See you around town!

love, the First Grader Travelers

Our Trip to the Farmer's Market

Hello families!

On Monday we went to the Union Square Farmer's Market. We went there for real, not pretend like we do in drama.

At the farmer's market we had clip boards. We had to find these things: fruit, vegetables, baked goods, meat, dairy and eggs. We saw these things and we also saw:

• flowers
• died eggs and HUGE ostrich eggs
• duck meat getting cooked
• grass fed beef
• apples
• root vegetables like carrots, beets and parsnips

We talked to farmers and their helpers who were selling their crops and other food from their farms. 

That day we ate snack of things we bought at the market. We had purple carrots, three types of apples, whole-grain bread and sunflower seeds that were still attached to the sunflower! Yum.

Bye, families!

The First Graders

p.s. Thanks for all the comments. We really love it when you write comments because we can tell you read our blog!

Another farm update!

Dear families,

We did a great job of building our farm in our classroom, for Drama with Kelli. In the block area we built a barn with farm animals, a chicken coop with nesting boxes and a roost, and a garden. In our garden, our seeds have sprouted. Our hens have been laying eggs. Some of them will be baby chickens and some we will take to the farmer's market to eat.

For real, we planted lettuce seeds in a window box. There was a weed in the box, so Azul weeded it. The window box is in our class window. We can't wait to see the lettuce grow!

Today when we came back to our class from Velda's class, we saw a rabbit's footprints! It took our carrots! When the rabbit came in, we didn't even see it. There was only ONE carrot left in the garden box.

On Monday we're going to a real farmer's market. We're going to get food. Two days after that day, on Wednesday, we're going to a real farm!

See you later!
The First Graders

Our Second Day on the Farm

Dear families,

We hope you miss us because we're living on Freedom Farm now! For a whole month. We took a bus to Freedom Farm. We packed our bags with all the things we would need. It was raining for part of our trip.

Clara was the bus driver. We saw lots of things out of the windows (really pictures on the Smart Board) -- Times Square, then a bridge, the highway, then the country. There was lots of trees and grass in the country, and not a lot of cars. We went through a small town with only one restaurant, a diner! Then we passed Kia's school. When we got to the farm we sorted fruits and vegetables into roots, seeds, stems, leaves and fruit (all the parts of the plants that we have learned about). Then at night we built a campfire and slept outside under the stars in our sleeping bags.

Today we're going to plant crops on the farm!

(Don't worry, it's not real, this is all just for Drama.)

Bye bye, families!
xoxo
The First Graders

Drama with Kelli: Farms!

Dear families,

This week we started Drama with Kelli. We went to a farmer's market. It was a pretend farmer's market. We met two (pretend) kids called Kia and Rex. They live on a farm with their dad. Their farm is called Freedom Farm, because the animals run free, not like in factory farms. But something sad happened! Their dad said they had to close the farm because they didn't have enough people to do the work. Kia and Rex's parents are divorced, and their mom works in the town. So there are only three of them to do a lot of work. Then we had a great idea: we could help! Kia called her dad to tell him the good news but he didn't believe her! So, we yelled into the phone "We can help you!"

So, families, if it's ok with you, we're going to pack our bags and move to Freedom Farm to live there and work for a little while.

Remember, it's all pretend, and drama!

Have a great day!

From, The Farm Graders!

Ice Skating and Researching!

Dear families,

We went on a field trip on Wednesday. We went ice skating in Central Park. Some of us fell down, but then we learned how to ice skate all by ourselves! Some of us learned how to go really fast. Clara taught some of us, and some of us already knew how. We ice skated with friends, together. There was a guy at the rink ice dancing. He was super duper cool. He did spins and jumps like in ballet.

Here's a movie of us ice skating!

For a new writing project, we're writing nonfiction magazines about farm animals. We're in groups to research and write about cows, chickens / ducks, pigs, bees, horses, goats and sheep. Yesterday and today we thought up research questions, like "Do cows ever get fleas?" "Can cows run?" "Does the queen bee make the bees be born?" "Are baby chicks born with wings?" "How are baby horses born?" and "Where did the first bee in the world come from?"

Bye, families! Catch ya later!

The First Grade Ice Skaters