Today we began our Writer's Workshop routine.  We read a book called Library Mouse, by Daniel Kirk.  In this book a mouse named Sam writes books for children who visit the library.  He helps them realize that writing is quite fun and not so hard if you write about what you know.   I modeled for children by writing about something I did this weekend and we talked about the many ways of writing including telling a story with pictures, writing with pretend words, or writing any words we actually know.  Children helped me think of ways to add more detail to my story before they went off to write about their own weekend.  Most children chose to tell their story with a picture, letting me scribe for them when they were done.  We were able to share everyone's work, noticing specific details of each child's writing and hopefully spreading good ideas for next time.  Look for these first pieces of writing in your child's green folder.

We had a wonderful first week of school!  Much of our time was spent establishing routines and exploring materials that we will use throughout the year.  With such a small group it seems we are quickly learning basic expectations and moving through our days efficiently.  Beginning next week I am going to switch our morning recess and choice times so we can be outside with the first and second graders during their recess.  This will give our class an opportunity to mingle with other children on a daily basis and spend time in a larger group.

Thank you for doing such an amazing job of getting your children to school on time each day- I appreciate how challenging this can be, but it really makes a difference when we start the day with the whole group. Also thank you for returning red folders so promptly- this is a huge help to Kathi. Have a wonderful weekend!

Exploring math materials.

Looking at books independently...

and partner reading.

Working on "Hopes and Dreams" for the year.

Playing outside.

Happy first day! 

Your children were fantastic today, from sitting quietly through the assembly first thing, to maneuvering the lunch line and cafeteria routine, and everything in between.  The first day is perhaps the most challenging because everything is new and needs to be explained.  Your children were wonderfully patient and respectful as they began learning our classroom routines.   They received many compliments as we made our way through the school.  Despite the light rain at the start of our morning recess they were very eager to go outside, so we did.  Generally unless the weather is really inclement we will go out, so rain coats and puddle boots are a good thing to have on potentially wet days, although I have quite a few extras that I will happily let children borrow.  Our special today was library and each child has a library book in his or her backpack.  These can be returned anytime directly to the library or to the classroom collection basket.   I took many pictures today and will post some soon.  I expect all children will be quite tired this evening- this is to be expected!

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.