We have had a busy and exciting couple of weeks.  Last week during ECO we celebrated dandelions and had a chance to taste dandelion greens cooked over a fire (with a little maple syrup and tamari).  We also worked in groups to build mini-maps of the forest, including a hidden treasure (red bandana).  Each group then studied another group's map to see if they could find the treasure.   Children loved both the map creation and searching for the hidden bandanas.  This week we used natural materials to make ink and also had time to explore in the stream.  We found several interesting critters.

We were thrilled to have two cecropia moths emerge from their cocoons this week.  We are hoping for several more in the coming days.  We set them free with wishes for safe journeys.

Finally, everyone loved the school-wide boat challenge, the opportunity to work with other children and adults, and of course the ice cream!

After quite a few weeks of hard work we have finally wrapped up our informational writing about our nature name animals.  Kindergarteners were asked to revise some of their pages for this project, which is something we haven't spent a lot of time doing this year, but a task they will spend more time on in first grade.  Completing all of the pages took a lot of perseverance!  Everyone loved working on the accompanying project, creating the animal's habitat in a box, and then making a model of the animal.  Each child will have an opportunity to share with the class and then the books will be sent home along with the projects.

During ECO this year we have been very fortunate to be joined by Mary Colleen Sinnott, who initially came as an intern with North Branch Nature Center and had so much fun she kept coming.  Wednesday was her last day with us as she has other commitments this spring.  She generously wrote a song about bees to share with us and also gave our class several cecropia and prometheus moth cocoons.  We will be eagerly watching these over the next several weeks.

We have begun our final science exploration, states of matter, paying particular attention to solids and liquids.  We have compared jars of solids and liquids, noting some differences between the two:  solids keep their shape, while liquids take the shape of the jar and when we pour them, liquids flow easily, while solids generally do not.  On Thursday we explored water using eye droppers, which was lots of fun.  I heard lots of excited exclamations and children made interesting discoveries.  We noticed that the drops always have rounded edges and if two drops get really close to each other they "jump" together to form one bigger drop.

On Friday during technology kindergarteners did a project on signs of spring.  You can view it with the following link:  https://voice.adobe.com/a/7XA0O  Enjoy!

I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation!  On Friday this week we ate lunch together in the classroom as part of our celebration for getting 50 class tallies.  We earn tallies for a variety of things from working very quietly to cleaning up quickly and efficiently.  We also get a tally any time the class receives a compliment from another adult in the building and recently we have been earning them for being especially kind and inclusive.

We are wrapping up our informational writing about our nature name animals.  Yesterday we made collage covers for these.  Using pictures of their nature names children looked for shapes that they could cut out and put together to create a picture.  Next week we will begin a project to go with these.

In conjunction with our school-wide focus, we have been having an ongoing discussion about making sure that everyone feels welcome and safe in the classroom and the school.  We have put particular emphasis on including others.  We read a great book on this topic, Odd Velvet, about a girl who is not included because she is different.  However, we noted, it is her differences that make her interesting and unique and there is much to be gained from including people who may be different than us in some way.  We have also revisited the book Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon, about a girl who is taught to celebrate and be proud of her own differences.  While children in our class all know each other pretty well at this point in the year, during snack this week children have been challenged to sit next to someone they might not know quite as well as others, and we are working especially hard at including others during choice and recess times.  This a discussion we will continue throughout the remainder of the year.

It has been fantastic to get back to the forest for ECO.  Our first week back we reviewed old our forest routines and this week we focused on beavers.  We were amazed at the changes in the forest in just a week, and we will be paying close attention to changes over the coming weeks, especially noticing the birds that are slowly coming back, as well as the new growth that happens as the weather gets increasingly warmer.  Each week we will focus on a different bird song- so far we have done song sparrow and American robin (and we couldn't help hearing the Canada geese and red-wing blackbirds as well).  In addition, each child has also adopted a bud at his or her sit spot and we will be documenting the changes in these.  Parents are always welcome to join us!

During math we have been working on decomposing numbers up to ten.  Kindergarteners have used legos and colored tiles to model their work.  Today in honor of Wyatt's birthday we did birthday cake problem solving, decomposing the number six.   We have also been working on subtracting within 10, by building numbers and then taking some away.  A favorite station for this is bowling!

Until things really dry out, any clothing your child has to stay dry is greatly appreciated, along with extra clothing.  Puddles are hard to resist!

Since our return from vacation we have been learning about the five senses.  This week we read a book called What Does Peace Feel Like? by V. Radunsky and children from around the world, which portrays what peace looks like, smells like, sounds like, feels like, and tastes like to children from all over the world.  After we read the book we created our own versions about spring.  Some of our thoughts were "Spring feels like soft feathers," "Spring looks like a mother crow feeding her babies," and "Spring sounds like birds chirping in the trees."

With the arrival of spring the temperatures have been pretty variable and  our playground is at times quite wet and muddy.  Please continue to send snow-pants, boots, hats, and mittens until the snow is gone.  Extra dry clothes are also very helpful!

Weather permitting, we will return to the Wu Forest for ECO on Wednesday, April 8th, and subsequent Wednesdays until June 3rd.  I will send an email with further details closer to the date.

This coming Wednesday, April 1, we will be traveling to the Flynn Theater in Burlington to see Harold and the Purple Crayon.  We will leave around 8:15 and plan to be back in time for lunch.  If you haven't already sent in $3.00 for the show, please do as soon as possible.

We are also collecting shoe boxes (or similar sized) for a project to accompany nature name reports.  I have 13 so far.  If you happen to have one to donate we need 5 more!