First Day of School Class Photo

First Day of Kindergarten

First Day of School

What a great first day of school!  Students had fun playing at different centers (magnetic cars, drawing, playdough, building, etc.)  They also did a great job learning the expectations for the playground and cafeteria.  We practiced in both areas before having recess and lunch.  Yoga was one one of their favorite activities  today.  They enjoyed the poses and breathing.  Students even spent time reading the books in their book bins.  They learned that they can read in different ways, including reading the pictures or reading the words.       I can't wait for tomorrow. 

Audubon Field Trip

We love being outside!  We went to the Audubon on Wednesday to investigate insects and look for signs of spring.  We found lots of creatures under the leaf litter, rocks, and rotting logs in the forest.  The large black beetles, centipedes, and salamanders were favorites.  We did discover a lot of ants as well.  Their home was loaded with eggs and larvae.  We saw the ants carrying eggs and plant material.  At the pond we used nets to scoop out water creatures.  We caught dragonfly nymphs, tadpoles, leeches, snails, etc.  We could have scooped for hours!

Whitcomb Farm Field Trip

Our field trip to the Whitcomb Farm on Thursday was a huge success.  Mary Whitcomb, our farmer friend, did a terrific job showing us around the farm.  We have been corresponding with Mary for several months.  It was exciting to see many of the things she had been writing to us about.  A few of our favorites included the robotic milking machines, the newborn calves, the "red cow", the chicken who lays "Easter eggs" (eggs that are a variety of colors), the cow food, and the barn.  Mary was quite informative and we all learned a great deal about how to take of newborn calves and cows.  She was able to weave in our Five Senses and Organisms science units throughout the trip.  We want to thank NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont) for funding our field trip to the farm and coordinating our connection to a local farmer.  We also want to thank Mary Whitcomb for her willingness to communicate with us and have us visit her farm.  Thank you parent chaperones for volunteering on our trip.  It was fun having you share this learning experience with us.

Cooperative Spring Flowers

We are working on a cooperative project with our fourth grade buddies.  Partner teams are designing a flower that will be as tall as the kindergarten partner.  Fourth graders measured their kindergarten buddies and now the challenge is on for each team to create a flower that is the same height as the kindergartner.  We will meet again next week to finish our flowers.  Thank you fourth graders.  We love working with you!

Pajama Day, Crazy Hair Day and Stuffed Animal Day

We had a wonderful day!  What a great way to celebrate positive behavior.  You can tell from our pictures that we enjoyed our special day.

April Poetry

April is poetry month.  Our class is reading and writing poetry this week.  We created this poem together this morning.  We hope you enjoy it!

Spring

S unny and warm

P lants are budding.

R oses bloom.

I  am playing in the mud.

N ow it's time to cut grass.

G reen grass growing. 

Signs of Spring that students brought in today:

tadpoles, worms, branches budding, leaves from plants & chives.