Hello All!

Goodness, what a beautiful week it has been! The children are loving the sunshine. As the days get warmer, please feel free to send a water bottle with your children to keep in their locker so they stay hydrated. That is extremely important with active children like the ones we have!
In math, the children have been practicing sequencing numbers and size, using a bar graph to represent data, and "bundling" sticks to  start thinking about place value. I was working with Marlo and I was teaching her how to "bundle" 10 popsicle sticks and place it in the tens container. She confidently looked at me and said "Oh, like bundling your car and home insurance!" If that wasn't making a home to school connection, I don't know what is! The children are doing great with sequencing numbers and size, and leads right into many discussions on putting stories into correct order The students are very excited to read and explore Pete the Cat and his Four  Groovy Buttons by the dynamic duo Eric Litwin and James Dean. The book came out on Wednesday, and next week we will take a deeper look into Mr. Eric's writing and the illustrations in the third book.  The children just love Pete the Cat, so I know this book will be  hit with them and I cannot wait to dive right in! Learning about birds has been so fun for both myself and the children.We were able to go outside right after a rainfall to seek out worms. Luckily, the rain did bring out many worms, and the children were able to answer the question "Is rain helpful or harmful to birds?" It is helpful, of course! It gives them water to drink and brings worms above the ground to eat. We learned that the feathers on birds protect themselves during a rainfall. Pretty cool! Incorporating Pete the Cat into our bird studies, the students were wondering what the bird in all the illustrations was thinking when Pete continued to step into messy things. The children also explored different bird beaks by using different tools (clothespin, toothpick, and large spoon) to represent the beaks of different birds. They became very frustrated when they couldn't pick up much food with just a toothpick. Jordan exclaimed, "Yeah! This is exactly how a hummingbird feels!" We took a nature walk today, focusing on things we found out in nature that weren't supposed to be there. How do you think they got there? What does this do for the animals and other humans? Some of the things we found were: litter, 2 old tires, wood, broken fench, an old tennis court, and a soccer ball. It was interesting to hear their thoughts on how the items got to be outside in nature. They are very concerned about the litter, and I just know this will develop into an ongoing project.



Isabella M. is working on representing the point of view of the bird from Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes







Jordan working very hard on grabbing as much food as he could with a clothespin, representing a cardinal he has been studying about.






Nathan, Patrick, and Andrew checking for worms to put in their worm environment they had made. We started off with a mason jar and a little dirt for our worm environment, and after lots of research and investigation, we found all the right materials to keep the worms happy and healthy! Well I am predicting, just as we do ever morning, that a big storm is rolling in. Everyone keep safe and dry!