We have had an amazing year together.
Here are a few pictures from our last few days. We visited our forest spots for one last time as Kindergartners. We decorated them with a thankful flag decorated with a favorite part of nature. We had an awards ceremony and got some cool pictures, too.
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing children with me. This day is bittersweet for me. I will miss seeing these sweet faces every day but I know they are ready for first grade!
Have a wonderful summer.
What a blast we had at the pond yesterday and we really lucked out with the weather! The children and adults just had a glorious day together. We were so thankful to share in the delight of this special place. What a way to send us off into summer and First Grade!
Here is the link to our Animal Reports “Movie.” We wrote and illustrated a book about our forest animals. We picked our favorite page to read out loud. Hope you enjoy the show! You have to advance the slide manually. Just copy and paste this address and it will take you there.
https://voicethread.com/myvoice/thread/9229748/52696404/52375020
Let me know if you can’t hear/see the movie.
Dates/Info to remember:
*Monday – 6/12 – NO WELLNESS
*Tuesday – Field Day – 1-2:30 – please send your child in SNEAKERS!
*Wednesday – LAST MARS 8:15-9:00 – Celebrate 6th Graders; 9-9:30 – Musical Showcase
*Thursday – 6:00 pm – Graduation
*Friday – 10:00 – Step Up – Children meet their First Grade teacher/class
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL IS A HALF DAY! Busses leave at 11:45
Hello Families,
Last week we spent time with our friends from Ms. Myriah’s class sharing our bird reports. Their class studied Cardinals and we studied the American Robin. So, we got to exchange information about our fine, feathered friends.
On Friday, we shared our animal reports with them. We have been using the Internet platform, PebbleGo! to research about our forest animal. Each of us has an animal name for Forest Fridays so we are researching anything from a fox to a skunk. The children have really enjoyed using the Google Chromebooks to learn more information about the animals. Then, we translated that information to our reports. Many thanks to Mrs. Mitchell for helping with this project. It is a bit challenging to help 10 children navigate the Internet at the same time.
Last Friday, we had a BLAST in the forest. Almost all of the children were wondering how the time went by so fast. We were so busy making teeter-totters, some children made a “ride” on a vine that was hanging from a taller tree, we dug worms and counted them, we cleared land for some new buildings we want to create, we made mud pie smoothies and cakes and some of us played house. We have had such an amazing year out in the woods. The children are also creating “Thankful Wish Flags” with Mrs. Gombosi that they will hang in their Sit Spots as a farewell and a thanks for our time in the woods. Next Friday, we hope to dig up the pumpkins we buried near the entrance to the Forest Classroom in the Fall. One pumpkin was filled with “trash” and the other was filled with natural materials – compost. We will share the findings that we unearth!
Dates to Remember:
6/7 – Field Trip to Cousino Pond
6/9 – Our Last “official” Forest Friday
6/16 – Last Day of School – Children dismissed after lunch. 11:45
As you can see, we had an awesome day at the Farms despite the cool, rainy weather. A huge thanks to all of our intrepid and dedicated chaperones! What a wonderful day.
We had an excellent week!
Between our trip to the Arts Festival at Mt. Abe and our work in the forest today – it was pretty awesome!
Enjoy the pictures!
Greetings, Families!
I hope you are all surviving all of this blasted rain we’ve been having. UGH! I am ready for warmer, Spring temps.
We have begun the busy month of May – this is the home stretch of Kindergarten. It is always such a gratifying time of year for me – I can truly see all of the growth and learning we’ve accomplished in our classroom.
This past week, we put the finishing touches on our non-fiction books about the American Robin. We have been working hard to make our writing clear and detailed. This week, we are going to get together with Miss Myriah’s students to exchange information about backyard birds. Her class has been learning about the Cardinal.
Next. we are going to use our “forest names” as the focus of our individualized, non- fiction reports. We are hoping to share our reports in a Voice Thread (video) platform, so, we will send you the link when it is complete.
In math, we are practicing numbers beyond 20 and also reviewing the “teen” numbers. We have learned a few new workplaces that have to do with building and comparing equations, too.
In the next few weeks, we will be completing the formal end-of-the-year assessments in math and reading. Along these lines, I will have a sub on 5/15 so that I can complete the math work. Additionally, I will be out on 5/24 to complete the Reading assessment. I will be in the building but I will be working with each student.
This Wednesday (5/10), we are headed to Mt. Abe for the afternoon to view the Fine Arts Festival Gallery and Presentations. We will go after lunch and recess and be back at school in time for the buses. If you’d like to meet us there, we’d love to see you! It is such a special event – each child in our ENTIRE district has a piece on display. Our art teacher, Mrs. Gombosi has worked tirelessly to highlight the creative minds at work in her art studio!
On Thursday (5/11), Myriah and I are headed to Keene, NH for the day. We are participating in a conference sponsored by Antioch University – “Promising Practices in Nature-based Early Childhood Education” – Mrs. Brakeley will be subbing for me that day. We can’t wait to learn and to experience all that this conference has to offer!
Here are a few pictures from Forest Friday this past week. It was soggy but Andy installed a new tarp over our new platform (THANK YOU COUSINO FAMILY!) so we stayed a little dryer… As always, it was really fun!! Sorry we sent them home so muddy!
Important Dates to Remember – this time of year always goes FAST!
WOW! Time is really flying here in Kindergarten. This time of year always seems to speed by! Here are some photos from our most recent adventures…
Our latest adventure in 4 Winds was all about birds! It was such fun! We have been watching the Decorah, IA Eagle Cam in class – watching an eagle family – the web address is  www.explore.org. Feel free to check it out over break!
A very special thanks to Chris Runcie for making our maple sugaring dreams come true by leading us through the process (without all that waiting while the sap boils!) at her home. What a special activity! We loved it – especially meeting Chris’ dog, Maggie and trying the syrup. It was a super rainy day but no match for our smiling faces and warm hearts!
We were lucky to have seen the 5/6 performance of MacBeth this morning during MARS. I hope you all have a lovely April vacation!
Hi Families,
I hope you all had a good weekend! We had our last ski race weekend and it was lots of fun despite a lot of pea soup on Saturday. I hope you were able to get outside despite the “in-between season” weather we had all weekend. We’ve been tracking “lion” and “lamb” weather this month in our calendar area. It has been a little tricky to say the least! Most days, we’ve had to pick both characters to represent our weather – so changeable!
This week allowed us to practice being a great audience – TWICE! The show at the Flynn on Tuesday morning – “Elephant and Piggie: We are In a Show!” was fantastic! The children were literally on the edge of their seats and were hooting and cheering at the end of the performance. It was truly magic to behold. The show was excellent. What a super way to end our Flynn Season this year.
On Wednesday morning, we watched a show put on by “Puppets in Education” which highlighted the topic of cultural diversity. It was engaging and interesting and the puppets were really impressive. If you want more information about the show, please visit the following website: http://www.puppetsineducation.org
Many thanks to our amazing school counselor, Amy Johnston, for arranging this special opportunity.
As you will note from the photos below – Forest Friday was another snowy one! The children had a BLAST using snow to build and to create. They also were excited to uncover the Fairy Houses and to enjoy some hot chocolate around the fire! I have a feeling the snow will be replaced by MUD this coming Friday – so – BE PREPARED!
Finally, we have Literacy Game Night this Wednesday and we hope you can come! The night is a great chance to learn some new games to play with your family. The Project READ committee sponsors the evening each year. We have a yummy meal cooked by Doreen, play some games that highlight literacy skills in a fun way, and then you have a chance to win one of the games to take home! The event is on 3/29 and begins with dinner at 5:45! Hope to see you there!
Important Dates to Remember:
BOOK ORDERS DUE ASAP – I’m going to submit the order by 3/29.
3/31 – NO SCHOOL for students – Teacher Inservice Day
4/3 – NO SCHOOL for current Kindergarten students – Incoming Kindergarten Registration Day
Hi Families!
I’m sorry for letting such a long time pass between blog posts! Here is an update about what we’ve been up to!
Above all else, thank you so much for taking the time to come in to meet with me for Parent Conferences. It was so nice to sit down and to share about all of our hard work and learning.
Additionally, thank you so much for bringing your children to our concert! Wasn’t the show so amazing! They did a fantastic job with the performance – so brave and entertaining.
As you will notice in the photos below, we have a new tool to use as we practice our writing skills. We were awarded a “Kids In Need Foundation” Grant for $100.oo from A.C. Moore to purchase sketchbooks. We LOVE them and are so thankful to have these journals to make our writing really come to life!
Our final activity of our Fairy Tale Study was to make our own pizzas! Laura LaVacca came from ANESU Food Service Cooperative and helped us to make some delicious creations. Some of us even tried an anchovy!
Finally, we had our January Four Winds session about White Tailed Deer. It was a cold day but we had lots of fun! Many thanks to our fearless teachers for braving the conditions with us!
Hope the snow days have been good to you. I need a break from skiing but it has been beautiful!
As you can see from the photo montage above, we’ve been so busy! Additionally, as the photos attest – we’ve been happily having LOTS of fun!
This last week, we continued to work on our Retelling skills through the story called The Little Red Hen. We also met a character named Henny Penny or Chicken Little in some versions. Those stories were pretty funny and the sly fox strikes again! We decorated a gingerbread person to adorn our “retelling kit” that will likely make it home to you after vacation. The children have learned so much about story structure and story elements in this unit. It is fun to hear them saying things like: “My favorite character is…because he/she…”
We exchanged Valentine’s Cards on Tuesday afternoon – thanks to Lilly’s family for sharing the yummy cupcakes! We were so happy to share our “Splish, Splash” song with our Grandparent/Grandfriend visitors on Wednesday morning, too. It was such a sweet occasion to welcome special visitors to see our school and to share a snack. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this event – it was such a fun morning.
On Wednesday morning, we also had a “pop-up” Forest Friday. The snow was just perfect for building so we couldn’t resist some more time in our favorite place. The children had a blast digging, exploring and building.
Our trip to the Flynn was almost thwarted by a snowstorm on Thursday morning, but, we are all grateful to our intrepid and skilled driver, Katie! We made it to see “Frog and Toad” and back again. Another fantastic trip to the Flynn!
The previous week, we met a real-live, Vermont author named Natalie Kinsey-Warnock. She shared her books with us, as well as a cool slide show about her animals – horses, cats and dogs. She showed us AMAZING, hand-stitched quilts her grandmother made to go along with the books she has written. Gorgeous and so interesting.
As you will also note from the photos, we all celebrated the 100th Day of School. It was pretty amazing to think of all that we’ve done and learned in these 100 Days! The children were so excited!
Enjoy your vacation!
See you back at school on the 27th!
