Spring Has Sprung!

It's been officially spring for a few weeks now but with the temperatures finally climbing we are able to add more outdoor time back into our learning.  This week we "planted the seeds" for this- pun intended!  Inspired by one student's "signs of spring" sharing from March, we delved deeper into the life cycle of a seed and here you can see Bronagh showing the children how the seed we planted at sharing time is on it's way to becoming a new bean plant.  We followed this up with a sequencing activity.

Speaking of getting outside more, on Wednesday we watched our 5th grade buddies in the culminating activity from their Star Base Program... the Rocket Launch!!!  "How long until fifth grade" was asked more than once that afternoon.

And of course, I can't miss an opportunity to share how the children are learning more and more from one another all the time.  Below you can see children reading to one another from their "just right" book packs, and friends putting their heads together to create more "vowel power" with their vowel shields right close by.

How do you measure, measure a year?

Any musical fans out there may think the title of this post sounds a little familiar... As I look back over recent pictures it seems as though they all show how much the children have progressed in their ability to work collaboratively.  In Math we've been exploring different ways to measure length and weight.  Below you will see children working in pairs and as table groups to measure tape lines on the floor (in the standard unit of "craft sticks") and bundles of pencils and crayons in the standard unit of "bow tie pasta".

As we challenge ourselves to make our writing stronger, we've been looking to inspiring author Kevin Henkes (Chrysanthemum, A Weekend With Wendell, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and more) for a model of how to use "juicy" words and interesting details.  Here you can see table mates becoming more familiar with Henkes' style.

An important event in the last week or so was our final Farm to School session with Miss Meg. The program will continue with a different educator next year. Meg has been a motivated, dedicated, and knowledgeable food educator in the district for two years. In her last lesson she taught us about cacao, a plant native to the Dominican Republic where her mother is from.  We were able to try an authentic version of hot chocolate with a Vermont twist- it was sweetened with maple syrup!  A perfect tie in to our recent field trip to Shelburne Farms.  We learned all about the molinillo (wooden wisk tool). Take a look at what one student thought of the taste... thumb's up!