Greetings! Only 2 1/2 weeks left of school.... where did the time go? As we are winding down the school year, the students have been spending a lot of time out in the garden. Last week, they worked hard weeding the garden and spreading compost and mulch throughout, preparing a healthy environment for our vegetables to thrive in. We are sharing our garden with the other Kindergarten class, teaching them about team work and helping others. The focus for the garden is fairy tales and nursery rhymes. This interest sparked around the time the students were going to the Akron Civic Theater to watch the Under the Sea ballet, a fairy tale classic. My class spent a lot of time studying the different elements of fairy tales, and they always wanted me to read more of the enchanting stories. Thus, the idea was brought up to incorporate fairy tales into our garden and POOF.... it was started. The students love putting gloves on and using a shovel or rake to do their gardening, though some preferred to use their hands. Jordan and Patrick especially loved to push and pull the wheel barrow, for they said it was a "boy's job." With the help of our kind parent volunteers, our garden is ready for vegetables! The students have already started thinking about adding their personal touches to the garden, such as making stepping stones to act as a pathway. The other Kindergarten class thought of building a wall that Humpty Dumpty could sit on. On Thursday, the students will be transferring the vegetables that they have been growing and watching since before Spring Break. If you would like to help out with this process, please let me know! We will be going outside at about 1:15 pm. teamwork, teamwork, teamwork During our time out in the garden, there is also a small group activity if the children choose to take a break from the garden and need a small rest. Last week's activity was a sensory activity, where the children took a gummy worm and burrowed through mud. Some made tunnels for their worms, others burrowed all around their papers going in all directions! The ending product? Beautiful mud art that will look great above your mantel! On Monday, a master gardener came to our school to share her wisdom on worm composting. Worm composting in the classroom is a school-wide initiative that all classrooms are going to either start or continue in order to teach the students more about recycling and caring for the Earth. The students loved listening to her speak about the characteristics of worms and how they are our friends, holding worms, and building a compost system that would be suitable for a classroom. Andrew, Isabella and Aidan pick out recycled vegetables to feed the worms. There are so many distractions in today's world that some children might never see the sun come up except by watching it on television. National surveys say most children spend very little or no time observing or interacting in their natural environment and surroundings. My hope is that an outdoor classroom such as the one we have will help the children understand at a young age about natural resources and what their job is in the environment.

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!

Hello All! I hope this post finds everyone happy and healthy. The kindergartners have been soaring while exploring different birds and their habitats. This interest came from the question "Is rain helpful or harmful for birds?" Many of the children have a misconception that rain is harmful because the rain will harm the babies and they wanted to investigate more. The projects the children are creating are incredible! Everything from clay crabs and fish (what bald eagles eat) to a cylinder-shaped tree that holds the nest, the students can't stop creating and exploring as they learn new facts about birds. They all rolled their sleeves up and got a little messy when we mixed water and dirt to create the base for our bird nests. Andrew, Sophia, Isabella M., and Marlo have started on creating their bird houses. The fact that most birds enjoy worms and other insects is fascinating to many of them, and they are starting to find information on the different insects that they find in their yard at home or school yard. Here are a few pictures for you to see the little investigators in action:

Marlo, Sophia, and Isabella are working together to fill their bird houses.

Marlo and Andrew and busy painting a bird house and working on constructing a branch for a tree.

Alexis just couldn't get her black-capped chickadee to look how she wanted, but she finally did it!

Miss Leslie, Nathan, and Aidan are looking at website designed specially for children research.

The children and I took a beautiful nature walk today, observing the outdoors and listening to the sounds that could be heard. Before we went out, we predicted what we would see and hear. They came up with cars on the street, the wind, children talking, and birds chirping. They also said they would see lots of trees, bushes, dirt, birds, and rocks. They got their binoculars and clipboards and they were ready to go. Here are some things the children stumbled upon: an old tire, dandelions, a pile of sticks, animal holes, and most importantly, a pond! The children's discovery of a small pond was the highlight of their afternoon and will continue to be embedded into our weekly explorations. Here are is what some of the children said about their nature walk:

"I'm going to ask my dad to come back after school to explore more." (Aidan)

"Litter makes the Earth sad." (Nathan)

"I like trees and the smell of it." (Sophia)

"I liked seeing the tire because it looks like my dad's." (Alexis)

"Shhh... we will scare the birds!" (Isabella M.)

"I didn't like it as much because I don't like bugs." (J'Lyn)

"I don't want to go back inside!" (Aaliyah)

"I'm going to take a nature walk at the park by my house!" (Jordan)

In math, a major focus for the children has been addition, subtraction, and learning about money. The children are identifying the name and value of the coin, and are beginning to understand the exchange process. They are being introduced place value next week, specifically the ones and tens column. The children love that Daily 5 Math has been added to their day, because they love the hands-on learning approach! The children are also understanding that words are made up of parts, and these parts can help us read and write. We are working on the word pattern -and right now, and found it very exciting that Andrew has the word pattern in his own name! I have been helping the children put stories in the correct sequence starting from the beginning. Being able to re-tell a story from the beginning, middle, to end is a very important comprehension skill that you can practice at home as well!

I could go on and on about our days here in kindergarten, but no blog post will ever capture how lucky we all are for our ability to learn and wonder. Have a restful weekend!

Hi Families!

Thank you for all who came to this year's student-led conference in Kindergarten. The children were very excited to how you their classroom and celebrate their learning. If anyone would like an additional conference, please let me know and we can set up a time that works for you.

Last week, COSI visited our school and provided the children with engaging, hands-on experiences. COSI On Wheels is the traveling outreach program of COSI that engages the students with a dynamic opening assembly and fun, hands-on science activities aligned with the Ohio Academic Content Standards and the National Science Education Standards. There were 10 stations set up with different activities, encouraging the children to explore with different concepts of chemistry. They were able to create light, test objects to see if they would float or sink, write secret messages to each other using invisible ink, testing liquids to see if they were acids or bases, and so much more. The most popular activity with the children was the making of ooey, gooey, slime, which is not surprising to me at all! Aidan came up to me with a giant smile on his face and said "this is the best day of my life!" It was such a fun day. Thank you to Shelly Penrod and Jenny Neel for helping out with the stations! Here is a slide show of their learning:

A free slideshow by Smilebox

For our project time, the students have been investigating birds and whether or not rain is harmful or helpful for birds. This question was developed after the student's made their own rain gauges and measured how much rain they had collected. They just weren't sure what animals, especially birds, do when it rains. The students are choosing what bird they want to investigate, and are in the middle of creating the bird. Some students chose to use recycled materials to build their bird, and others are sewing a bird using felt and a needle. Kaydence really enjoys taking that time to write in her journal about birds and how "pretty" they can be. Jordan and Andrew like to go to the observation window and use the binoculars to see if there are any birds they can identify using a guide for reference. Because of their interest in water and birds, I see this investigation going far!






Jordan and Andrew identifying the birds in their own school yard.


I would also like to give a BIG thank you to Mr. Capoun, Marlo's dad, for he rototilled the Kindergarten garden soil to prepare for the growth of seeds. The garden is going to be a "fairy tale" garden, incorporating many plants and vegetables that are seen in popular fairy tales. We are so fortunate for his willingness and time! Thank you!

Everyone have a safe and relaxing spring break!

Greetings!

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. This week in literacy, we have been discussing the different components of a book, specifically the characters and setting in a story. My hopes is that the children will apply this knowledge to the books they are writing and ask themselves if they have these different components in their story. When reading with your child at home, ask them who the characters were and what the setting was in the story to work on their comprehension skills. I have also been working with the students on how to access a reading book or math game on the Ipad independently. They really enjoy using the Ipad for a variety of things, so it is very important that they develop a sense of independence when on it. It hasn't taken them long to feel comfortable using it and accessing what they want... imagine that! We did a heart word activity that I must share because the students enjoyed it so much! They all taped a heart word on their forehead. They had a sheet with all the students names and then 15 heart words. They had to draw a line from a classmate's name to the heart word that was on their forehead. With process of elimination, the children had to guess which word was on their head. It was very fun and engaging!



Bella draws a line from Kaydence's name to the word "please." They couldn't wait to see what word they had!





In math, the children have showed an even deeper interest in maps, for they created a map of both their classroom and school. The objective of these activities was to enrich the children's understanding of measurement, distances, and spatial relationships. Next week: treasure maps! The children are still exploring the meaning of "half." We have looked at paper cut in half, food divided in half, and even a half a cup of water vs. a cup of water. Incorporating our vet center, we talked about the needs of the animals and how if you give a dog too little or too much food, it would not be good for them. The dog bowl, dog food, and measuring cups were put in the office, and the children have been taking good care of the animals by giving them the right amount of food.

In science, the investigation with weather is still occurring, however from it, an interest of water has been heavily expressed. To expand more on their wondering about the interaction between rain and different types of land, the children went outside with their science buckets, spray bottles, and clip boards to experiment with the different types of land surrounding their school. The buckets of water represented a heavy downpour, and the spray bottles represented a light rain. How many buckets of water will it take for the grass to stop soaking it up and for it to form a puddle? How about using the spray bottle? How many sprays did it take until a puddle formed? The children discovered it was faster for a puddle to form when they sprayed the water directly on a patch of dirt and no grass. When Alexis was putting grass on the dirt around the tree, Marlo exclaimed, "Remember we couldn't make a puddle with grass, so go get dirt!" They also poured water on the asphalt, and we watched throughout the day as the water disappeared and evaporated.


Bella and Nathan count how many sprays of water it takes to make a tiny puddle.

"I am thinking we won't have to spray as many times if we are over on the parking lot. Let's go!" (Bella D.)




-Alexis, Bella, Sophia, and Jordan explore the idea of evaporation.







The children already have ants in their pants because they are so excited for spring break! Hopefully the visit with COSI will help! Have a great rest of the weekend!

I am LUCKY to have a class like I do!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Besides soaking up this warm weather, I hope everyone is finding time to put down the "to-do" list and spend the weekend with family and friends.

The children had a big week, for they worked hard planning out their leprechaun traps. Before they got started, they each explored their materials, and made a plan of how they were going to build the trap that would support catching the leprechaun. The designs and ideas that the children came up with far surpassed my expectations. For example, J'Lyn added feathers on the top of her trap so that when the leprechaun jumped up on the box, the feathers would tickle him, which would result in him falling in. I asked Jordan why he was working so hard making holes all around his trap and he responded by saying "Well, these are air holes and there needs to be a lot so the leprechaun can breathe." Marlo decided she would make a ramp leading up to her trap, where as Nathan made a door. As a finishing touch, many of the students decided to add the Irish flag on top, which they found what it looked like through research on the Ipad.

Below (Top Left): Isabella M's leprechaun trap complete with swinging door, the Irish flag, an upstairs, and a sign that says "Come Leprechaun."
Below (Top Right): Melania's trap- she had a difficult time trying to make her flag more sturdy. She problem solved and realized that if she puts a something heavier, such a popsicle stick, to the back of the flag, it would give it more support.
Below (Bottom Left): Andrews note to the leprechaun- "Mr. Leprechaun Please come into your new house."

The students also enjoyed making a healthy version of the shamrock shake. They mixed all the ingredients together to make a liquid mixture. It was interesting to see that 5 out of the 15 students did like the shake, for when we added the bananas, they did not like the texture of it. That led into a great discussion about texture, as well as that it is okay for everyone to not like something, for we all have different taste buds. They were curious about that concept, and I for see a new investigation in the near future!

The students were introduced to the -ay spelling pattern, which they did quite well with. When we were brainstorming words that have the -ay pattern in them, Nathan raised his hand and said "How about play!" What a great beginning! Writing books is still very popular with the children. They are even incorporating different components of books, such as the dedication page. Isabella M. dedicated her book about cats to her mom. If you find your child creating a book at home, please encourage them to remember to write the title, author, and illustrator on the cover page.

In math, the students built models of 3-Dimensional shapes (cube and rectangular prism) using toothpicks and marshmallows. In order for them to be sturdy, the marshmallows had to be stale. Instead of making the marshmallows stale on my own, I decided to include the children in this process. Why do you think the marshmallows need to be hard? What does it mean when foods go stale? Can you think of other foods that might go stale if you leave them out? When the marshmallows were finally ready, the children built their models of the 3-Dimensional shapes, as well as the 2 dimensional shapes that make up the cube and rectangular prism. We have also been focusing on skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s orally. I taught them a faster way to skip count- using calculators! It was like magic for them to see this occur on a calculator.

If you have not sent back your conference sheet back to me, please do so I can accommodate your schedule the best that I can. Have a safe and fun weekend!

Technology and Movies

Hey Gang!
It's Mr. Tom checking in. I just wanted to share what we did in Technology Class this week. We explored how computers are used to create the visual effects we see in movies and TV shows. Specifically, we learned about the use of GREEN SCREENS, and how computers are used to replace the backgrounds on images and make it look like the actors are in any environment they can imagine. It's one thing to talk about it, but it's much easier to comprehend (not to mention WAY more exciting) to try it out ourselves!