I hope everyone had a fantastic break!  The pre-vacation sickness seems to be gone and finally we can go outside without a lot of extra clothing.  We do have ECO tomorrow.  It looks like it will be a beautiful, warm day.  I asked the children to please wear mud/puddle boots if they have them as we may spend a little time exploring the small stream in the forest.  Otherwise, please send them with layers as it is apt to start of cool, but grow much warmer, along with a snack and water bottle.

In math we have been working on composing and decomposing numbers up to ten.  We have done a variety of math stations that have helped students see different ways a given number can be made, for example 10 can be 9 and 1 and also 8 and 2.  We have also been spending a lot of time on story problems, working on figuring out what a problem is asking, deciding if we need to add some more or take some away, and then finding strategies for getting a correct answer.

*We do have ECO next Wednesday.  As of right now it looks like it will be a much warmer day!  Please let me know if you would like to join us.

Sorting dominoes by their total, 4-10, and writing equations to represent each one.

More domino sorting.

Using different colored legos to build one number several ways.

It certainly did not feel like April yesterday, but everyone was so engaged during ECO they didn't seem to notice the cold!  Children were able to pick between three workshops:  tools and building, making a fire and heating sap, or creating an adventure with buckets, rope, and clips.  My time was spent with the last group where much effort was put into creating a mouse elevator and a mouse chairlift.  Hopefully your child shared a bit about his or her morning!

I will be out again tomorrow, attending the annual kindergarten conference, which is one of the few professional development opportunities specifically focused on kindergarten.

Working on the mouse elevator.

A forest treasure.

Getting ready to sample warm sap.