Now, we don't have the "bathrobe blues," but it's always nice to get reminders of how special we are!  So, we each wrote a secret letter to another classmate.  We practiced writing two inside compliments and one outside compliment.  That means two compliments about a person's character and one about something fun.

It was especially fun to see our friends faces when they read their letters and then later reveal who their secret pen pal actually was!  We're feeling the Valentine's Day spirit!

Today we continued to work on measurement.  We talked about measuring things in "city blocks" (tiles on the floor).  We looked at two different paths to figure out which was shorter.  Then we talked about how to get out the door the QUICKEST.  We figured out that a straight line is usually quicker, and when we are heading to recess we certainly want to be quick.

We then took some time to think about the big picture...if we want to get out to real recess the quickest way possible, which way should we go?  We can't always go in a straight line because there are ramps, and classrooms, and hallways in the way.  So how do we measure the quickest way out?  We decided to pick two routes and measure with meter sticks. 

Today was a science day!  Like a lot of science.  We started off the morning with science, had some before lunch, and even finished off with some before the bell!

Remi was the scientist of the week.  She wondered about invisible ink.  Turns out lemon juice makes great invisible ink that spies used to use to send secret messages.  She asked us what would happen if we put lemon juice on paper and then heated it up?  We thought:

Turns out...when the lemon juice dries and then gets heated up, it TURNS BROWN?  So she told us a joke...How many laughs does it take to make an octopus laugh?  We thought 8, maybe?

This morning Julie Wille joined us for some science as well.  She packed a graduated cylinder full of 100mL of snow.  Then we took some guesses as to how much would be left when it melted...when the solid turned into a liquid.  We're still waiting, but here's what we see so far.

We also made some more matter observations.  Julie brought a balloon filled with a solid (ice), liquid (water), and air (gas).  We passed the balloons around and made observations about the different states of matter.  These are some of the words we used to describe them.

Last, but not least, in our busy day we were surprised with Lilah's mom, Sarah, as Secret Reader. And she shared a HILARIOUS book.  She read Amelia Bedelia and we couldn't stop giggling.  First graders are already masters of the English language so we could tell when Amelia was taking things a little too literally!

Today we made our way into the snow, under trees, over bridges, and through the woods at ACES.

First we rode the bus into town.  Riding RFTA is always an adventure!

Then we listened to a fabulous puppet show and learned all about what animals do in the winter. We already knew about hibernating, but turns out many of the animals that stay awake live in the SUBNIVEAN zone.  What's that?  It's the area under the snow that stays warmer than the air.  

We took the air temperature and the water temperature.  Do you know which is warmer?  Here's a hint: there was steam rising off the lake!  The air was 25 degrees and the water was 45 degrees. Fish can make a nice home in the water in the winter.  We learned that snowshoe hares use their white coat for camouflage.  We learned that mice have many predators including weasels.  And we learned that a squirrels favorite food is not an acorn...but actually a Spruce seed.

Charlie was the reporter this week!  He shared an interesting article about avalanche safety.  When you go skiing in the backcountry ski patrollers don't maintain the snow and keep it safe for skiing all the time.  We learned there are a few things to keep in mind!  

And we ended the day with some fabulous cross country skiing.  This time we cruised through the powder, explored a longer route, sped down the hills, ran up the hills, and buried our faces in the snow.  That last one...we're still not sure that was a great idea!

Today we started to talk about Martin Luther King Jr.  And what better way than to start with a word from the fabulous Kid President?!

We ended the day by talking a little about what MLK did for our country and why we had the day off school yesterday.  We talked about what MLK stood for and how we can be like him in the classroom.  Here's a few of the ideas we came up with:

Treat everyone like it's their birthday!
The world would be an amazing place!

Share and use your words.
Work it out with a smile and shake hands on it.

Include everyone!
Ask a friend to play.  Give a friend a hug.

It's OK to be different.  Celebrate it!
Like playing baseball vs. hockey.  Or swimming vs. drawing.

Yesterday we learned all about the states of matter.  We learned how to define a solid, liquid, and gas.  We categorized different objects and substances.  And then we took a trip down to the molecular level! Pretty fancy stuff!

We demonstrated our knowledge of molecular structure with sequins. Needless to say, it was fun!