It was so nice to see everyone at the concert last night. The kindergarteners did such a wonderful job at both the rehearsal yesterday and the performance.

Today Carol Hosford, who was principal and WES when I first began working here (and who I'm sure many of you know) came to read the class the book Big Bouffant, written by her daughter, Kate Hosford. They were a fabulous audience. Ask your child about the book. Kate will be in Waitsfield for a book party/reading at the Joslin Library shortly after school is out. Carol wasn't sure of the exact date yet, but said there would be posters with specific information. I think it would be a fun event.

Today during math students began conducting their own surveys, using t-charts to collect data from their classmates. We examined several of the completed charts and tried to make mathematical statements about them such as, "more kids in the class like cherries than don't." We have had lots of experience looking at t-charts during morning meeting, but this is the first time students have created their own surveys. They had a lot of fun thinking of questions and collecting the data. We will continue work in this area for the next several weeks.

*The spring music concert is tonight at 6:30. Students should meet the class on the Kindergarten mat in the gym. They looked great during our rehearsal today!

Today we continued our investigation of liquids with liquid races. Children worked in pairs to see which was fastest: oil, water, or cream. Ask your child about the results. Everyone then had a chance to investigate a different question. Some chose to see whether bigger or smaller drops of liquid are faster, while some chose to compare honey and glue. Several fascinating accidental discoveries were made as well. During our follow up discussion someone suggested we try all of the liquids on a different surface because then the oil might actually be faster. We will do that tomorrow.

I spent much of the day just outside the classroom plugging away at the math assessments, which are nearly complete. The kids spent some time making very thoughtful cards for Connie, working on more problem solving, and in between the rain drops, finally getting outside. They have done a really great job this week with a pretty disrupted schedule and lots of rain!

What a beautiful day! Mrs. Hale and I decided to take advantage of the weather and instead of our usual project time we went out to play a very low-key game of kickball with the third graders.

Earlier in the week we reviewed all of Aesop's fables that we have read and listed the characters in each. Everyone then chose a favorite character (or 2 or 3) and made stick puppets for these. We have spent the last few days using the puppets to act out the fables. Some favorites are The Sun and the Wind, The Dog and the Bone, and The Tortoise and the Hare.

*On Monday we will be visiting Harwood for a musical performance around 9:45 and returning at 11:00.

In math we have been working on solving various word problems and documenting solutions. Most of the children can find answers readily, but clearly showing their thinking is much more challenging. We have been working on making diagrams, or pictures, with numbers to represent solutions. Students have also been encouraged to write a math equation to go with their solution.

This week during read aloud we have been focusing on Aesop's fables. We have read about 10 fables so far and discussed the morals, or lessons in the story. Ask your child to share a favorite with you.

This morning most of the children completed their animal projects in the computer lab. Next week they will work on organizing all of their pages in a slide show. They have done such a great job on these projects that I have decided to print each report as well so they can have a hard copy to keep.

*Next Monday we will travel to Harwood around 9:45 for an African music performance. We will return to school around 11:00.

We have come into a very busy time of year as we move into the final six weeks of school. My intent is to stick to the regular routine as much as possible. We already have a couple of performances scheduled- an African music performance at Harwood on Tuesday, May 17th, and a performance by Kid on the Block at our school on Tuesday, May 24th. In addition I am just beginning end of the year assessments which are time consuming and can cause minor disruptions in our routine.

Today we spent time in the computer lab continuing our animal reports/ slide shows. Many children finished or are very close to being done. They have done fantastic work and I can't wait to share the final products. These have fallen under the umbrella of our study of living versus nonliving things. We have also been exploring plants through this lens. Much of our discussion has focused on the needs of living things: water, food, air, light and space. A couple of weekends ago we accidentally discovered what happens to sunflower plants without enough water! We replaced these with radishes, which sprout very quickly, and will be exploring the effects of varying amounts of light on some of these plants. We also have one pot that is filled with radish sprouts and one student noted that space might become an issue for these plants, so we will be watching this pot with space in mind.

During the month of May a lot of important work is taking place in our district around curriculum and report cards. I have been asked to spend a couple of days collaborating with other teachers from the district in these areas. While I hate to miss days in the classroom, I do think it is important to have input from teachers across schools and grade levels.