Black Stallion Literacy Project - Day 2

The week before spring break was a busy week for P.E.S. first graders. I posted a week or so ago about them getting a book, meeting a horse and kicking off the Black Stallion Project. Well, day 2 of the project was even more exciting.....
They got to take a field trip to the fairgrounds and enjoy several equine activities and boy did they have fun!
Sara's first stop with her class was watching how a horse gets new shoes and how to take care of their feet. Each student got a horseshoe to hang over their bedroom door for good luck! Here her class is reaching in the basket to choose a shoe.

Next her class sat and listened intently to Mr. Todd, the horse dentist, talk about how to keep a horses teeth clean. That file made an awful noise in Katie's mouth.....

But it was the one station you could have heard a pin drop....they thought it was awesome! Sara and Sophie thought looking in her mouth was cool, too!

Then off to learn about the different grass and food horses eat. But not just horses can eat the food, the kids got to take a taste too. Sara and Sophie didn't think it was as delicious as Mrs. Hillery's horses do.

Students also got to ride saddles on hay bales while waiting for their snack. That was pretty interesting. Lots of bucking broncos! Sara and Bralayzia did stop and pose for a quick picture though.

I took so many pictures, I couldn't post them all. It was a really fun morning. The kids had a blast and learned while they were having fun!
There were some other stations I didn't mention......the post where you could read your favorite part of Little Black, A Pony to a horse, learning how to groom as horse (brushing, braiding mane and tail, etc.) and Mrs. Blevins (my first grade teacher that retired a couple of years ago) read a horse book to each class and last but not least, a sack lunch before coming back to school on the bus.
Each student also got their second book, Little Black Goes To The Circus.
Now, I am sure you are asking yourself, did Sara read to the horse? No, she did not, she wouldn't think of it. Wouldn't even let me take her picture with Mr. Poole and the horse!
And yes, I will answer your second question, is Sara's horseshoe hanging above her door for good luck? No, it is not. "It needs to be cleaned first, too dirty to hang on her clean walls."
It was a great day. I am very thankful for Mrs. Ingram, who started this project a couple of years ago. To Mrs. Hillery for helping make everything come together with the use of all her stuff, horses and all. To all the volunterrs who helped make the day a success. To PTP and Mrs. Plunkett for getting the finances and making the t-shirts all the students and teachers wore and got to bring home. It's nice to work in such a great school and community!