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.

This week during math we spent time working on problem solving. The problems all had multiple possibilities for solutions and everyone was asked to solve each problem in at least two ways. This weeks problems focused on smaller numbers to help children become fluent with these and allow them to focus on other aspects of the problem, for example making sure their solutions fit the wording of a given problem. We will continue work in this area next week.

Today we ventured to the garden in small groups and everyone had a chance to get acquainted with the kindergarten plots. We spent our time today cultivating the soil in preparation for planting beans when the weather allows. In the next couple of weeks our main task is to keep weeds from getting established in our plots, so we will continue to spend some time there.

We have started an exploration of liquids, focusing on water this week. Students have had an opportunity to explore with droppers. Some of the questions they explored were how small a drop they could make, how close together they could make two drops, how are drops made close to a surface different from those made far away. Some of the things we observed were that drops generally have the same round shape and when two drops get very close together, they combine to form one larger drop.

On Tuesday, May 16th the whole school will be traveling to Harwood for a performance by "Kinobe and the African Sensation", a band from Uganda. We will leave school at 9:45 and be back shortly after 11:00.

During the month of May teachers from all of the district schools will be spending time aligning report cards for the district so there is more consistency between schools. I will be at a meeting all day Monday working on the kindergarten portion of this.

We visited the computer lab again this morning to continue working on reports/ slide shows. Almost everyone has at least two pages completed. This has been a great activity for practicing constructing sentences, beginning them with upper case letters, ending them with periods, and leaving spaces between words, not to mention practicing some beginning typing, which requires matching letter sounds to the letters on the keyboard. Yesterday we added ear, legs, noses, fins etc. to our paper mache projects. I am hoping that these can be complete by the end of the week so painting can take place after the vacation.

Mrs. Hale and I carted the load of pennies to Northfield Savings Bank last Friday. (I'm sure this was an amusing sight-- it was quite a load and they did not push easily through the mud!) The bank has graciously agreed to count them in the next few days and then write a check for Pennies for Peace. We will share the final amount soon.

As you probably know, there has been a variety of illness traveling through the school and our classroom. Hopefully the change in weather and a vacation will return us all to good health!

Yesterday we went to the computer lab to start our animal reports/ slide shows. Everyone has chosen an animal and will be writing a sentence about what the animal looks like, where it lives, what it eats, and then one more sentence that either tells about a special feature that helps this animal survive or an interesting fact. Almost everyone finished their cover slides and some even began work on a second slide. We will continue working on these next week and for several weeks after the vacation. In conjunction with this, this morning we began working on paper mache models of the animals. Everyone did a fantastic job and seemed to really enjoy this process.

We have been playing two games related to math that everyone seems to really enjoy. One involves guessing a 3-D shape by feel. A student is given a 3-D shape to hold behind his or her back and then asked several questions to help identify it: does it have curved surfaces, would it roll, does it have any points, do some of the edges come to a point at the top etc. They are quite adept at using the questions to correctly identify the shape. For the other game, a volunteer uses his or her hands to flash a given number and the rest of the class guesses what it is. This is challenging when we get into higher numbers like 67, but great practice for both the person flashing the number, and for the students guessing what it is.

At assembly this Friday morning we will be showing a short clip of activities that we have done with third graders while working on the Pennies for Peace project. Mr. Hubbard will once again try to lift the bin and provided that he can't, Mrs. Korb will be shaving a W into his head. It should be exciting!

This week everyone chose an animal to learn about. We will be visiting the computer lab to create All About slide shows/ reports for these animals in the coming weeks. Everyone will be asked to write a sentence telling what their animals look like, what they eat, where they live, and one interesting fact. In addition everyone will make a paper mache model of their animals. We will probably begin this part of the project next week. It might be a little messy-- if you'd like, you could send in a smock (large t-shirt) for your child to use while we are working on this. I'd also happily take any newspaper you might have sitting around!

We began looking at 3-D shapes this week. Students had an opportunity to think of examples of some of these shapes in the world. A disco ball, the Earth, and balls are all spheres. Culverts and water bottles are cylinders. The book shelves in our classroom are examples of triangular prisms.

Next Friday, April 8th, we will be showing a short movie at assembly of some of the activities we have done with Mrs. Hale's class around the Pennies for Peace project. Mr. Hubbard will attempt to lift the bin of pennies. If it is too heavy for him Mrs. Korb will be shaving a W into his head. It should be exciting!