While I was a bit disappointed when the snow turned to rain on Tuesday, forming a thick crust on top of the powder, it turns out this crust is quite good for building.  We spent an extra long recess time on Thursday creating a class fort with pieces of crust.  This was truly a team effort, with everyone contributing in some way (we talked about this teamwork and kindness being the main reason I let our recess run extra long).  We finally had to stop building to go inside for gym.  As we were lining up someone noticed the next group coming for recess and a big cheer went up as kindergarteners realized third and fourth graders were going to continue the building. Later we saw first and second graders and fifth and sixth graders adding to it as well, making it a whole school effort!

 I never fully appreciated Valentine's Day until I started teaching kindergarten.  There is such anticipation and joy in giving and receiving valentines.  I thought perhaps it was because these are often accompanied by sweet treats, but there was as much excitement as ever this year, even without candy! Kindergarteners love every part of the day from matching valentines to the correct bag (some of the names in our class are very similar) to spending time poring over each individual valentine, it is truly a celebration!

Perhaps the most anticipated time of day for children is choice time, a time of day I always make sure we fit in, partly because it is almost everyone's favorite time of day, but mostly because so much learning takes place during this unstructured, self-directed time.

Recently a popular option has been making tube creations.  Initially this was inspired by the books "I am Not a Toilet Paper Roll" and "Fun Things To Do With Cardboard Tubes." More recently, children have run with the concept and are thinking of their own ideas for tube creations: castles, bats, owls, unicorns, alligators, sharks, monsters... the possibilities are endless! Thanks to Joe Robinson, our custodian for graciously collecting paper towel tubes for us.  We use them as fast as he delivers them to the room! We have also discovered we can just make our tubes using colored paper. 

Another favorite choice is building with big blocks, where a wide array of things are constructed, from castles to cars and recently a pirate ship complete with flags.  Some other popular choices include magnet tiles and puzzles. Ask your children what their favorite choice is!