Hello families to our precious kindergarteners!

Well, our first field trip was a success! The morning could not have gone any smoother. I have to say that the children were more excited about riding on the school bus then the actual performance. I could have told the bus driver to drive around Akron for ten minutes and the children would have been completely satisfied. It was fun for the children to look out the window and recognize the different landmarks or roads. Some of them said "This is the way to my house!" My favorite was when many of them said "This is where my mom and I stop to get donuts!" The children were also amazed at the appearance of the Civic Theater and how "fancy" it was. They especially loved the stars and moving clouds on the ceiling. The performance was great! It was about a cuckoo bird who was new to the area but all the animals were being unkind to him. At the end, a gentle and elegant swan showed kindness to the bird by helping him make friends. The children decided they all needed to be swans in the classroom. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they responded:

Kale- "The bus"
Nina- "When I sat by Sophia on the bus"
Gabriel- "I liked sitting by Sam."
Lucia- "I liked the girl with the tutu."
Avery- "Sitting by Drew and when the swan helped the cuckoo bird."
Isaac- "Sitting by Luke on the bus."
Rook- "Riding on the bus"
Sophia- "Everything!"
Evan- "The Akron Civic Theater and the bus."
Aurora- "The swan"
Jadon- "Sitting by CJ"
Luke- "Everything!"
Mackenzie- "Everything!"
CJ- "The school bus lady"
Kaiden- "The whole thing!"
Drew- "The stars and clouds up above"
Riley- "Everything!"
Sam- "Everything!"
Mrs. Bowen- "Seeing the children so happy."





















Nothing is better then teaching in spring weather. The transition from winter to spring is so refreshing. The children have been working on our class garden in order to prepare to plant our beet and lettuce plants. You  may think I am crazy for having the children plant beets, but guess what? They loved them! I brought in fresh beets, carrots, and onions for them to try. The best part of taste testing at school is that it is more likely for a child to try new things if they see their friends doing it. The children took a vote on what vegetable they wanted to grow and beets won! We are growing lettuce (Ruby Lettuce) so that the school can harvest and eat a salad before the year ends... so we need a lot of lettuce! The children really enjoy working in the garden, and they are very good at it!

In math, the children have been learning how to count by 5s, making tally marks, and measuring with nonstandard feet. The children loved the activity we did when it required them to take off their shoes to measure objects around the classroom. The children have also been introduced to the ruler and measuring to the nearest inch.

In writing, the children are busy writing their "How-To" books! To kick off the unit of study, I tied a ribbon around our chart and told the children we were going to have a "ribbon cutting ceremony" to begin our new unit of writing! Sarah was chosen to cut the ribbon, and the children followed that with an applause! We dove right in, and the children have been writing how to do something using a step by step process. Nina has chosen to teach her readers how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Evan has chosen to teach his readers how to ride a scooter. If you would like to help your child at home with their writing, you can do this through cooking! Invite them to cook with you when you need to follow a recipe and have them pay attention to how the directions are given in steps. If the recipe forgot a step, would the food taste good?

Please remember that student-led conferences are coming up! They will be held on Wednesday, April 16th and Thursday, April 17th at the time you signed up for. I will be sending a slip home to you at the beginning of next week confirming your date and time. The children will be excited to celebrate their learning with you!

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs. Bowen :)