Working Harder To Get Smarter

The title of this post is a phrase we use in our classroom and I hope the pictures from last week will show we are doing just that!
For some time now we have been getting to know the characters, plots, vocabulary, and story structure of Arnold Lobel's classic Frog and Toad books.  After watching a claymation video of some of the chapters, we became inspired.  Here is some of our work...

On Wednesday we met up with Juli, our friend and bird expert from the Winnooski Parks Department for our third and final birding expedition.  This time we left Orchard School at met Juli at Muddy Brook Park for a river trail hike and observation walk.  We were lucky to see a Yellow Rumped Warbler and a Red Tailed Hawk!

Later in the week our fifth grade buddies helped us research accurate images of common Vermont birds so that we could color our guide books like scientists.

Lastly, if you haven't been outside the classroom lately than you may not have seen the individual and group projects that demonstrate the children's understanding of two recent units of study- conservation of our natural resources and plants as a food source.  Below you will see our mural that explains how when it comes to vegetables... sometimes we eat the tops, sometimes the bottoms, and sometimes the middles!  Hanging in front of the mural, you will also see our globe mobiles that communicate tips for how to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Aack! Time is Running Out

In the latest classroom newsletter I mentioned how aware I've become that our time together in this class in drawing to a close.  I'm struck by how much I still want to experience with this group!  We seem to be busier than ever with many of the things that have brought us joy throughout the year: contributing to the garden, learning with our big buddies, and deepening our friendships. Below you can see us learning about Addie's passion for painting and the celebration of Diwali with Vyaan- two fantastic Candle Days.

On Friday before a big Orchard community weekend, we had Explore time with our big buddies.  It was challenging and inspiring to make a tower that was taller than Mr. Wright!  Some Kindergarteners took that idea and decided to make a fort big enough to get inside.  

When the weekend arrived the fun didn't stop.  Below you can see a glimpse of Veggie Printing at Spring Fling.  Many thanks to the PTO for putting on a great, inclusive event.

And on to Saturday for the first (hopefully annual) Garden Work Day!  Teachers, parents, students, former students, one Mr. T came out to lend a hand reading the garden beds and putting in some new plantings.  It was so encouraging to see us working together and making a big difference in all the growing spaces.  A big shout out to all who helped.

This last picture is from earlier in the week when our class went out to thin the radishes.  If you are interested in helping care for our gardens this summer please get in touch!

More Candle Day Learning

Candle Days are a super way to learn little bit about a lot of things.  We don't all have the same talents, passions, interests, expertise, or cultural background and that's a good thing because it means we can learn from one another! Recently we learned about Skiing from Maren, Dolphins from Oliver, and Yoga from Hannah.  These "family shares" really enrich our classroom. They are always meaningful and memorable.

"We Are In Community..."

The title of this post is a reference to a line in the Orchard School song- "here we are, all together, we are in community...".  This feeling was so present during the preparation, running, and take down of our Spring Tag Sale.  You may know that the proceeds from the sale go directly to fund our gardens, but unless you've worked on the event you may not know how inspirational it is to see everyone pitching in to make it happen.  The event is just ONE of the ways that we teach environmental responsibility or the importance of taking care of the earth.  In the case of the Tag Sale, it's all about REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE.  A group of highschool freshman, led by two seniors came to help cart items and sort clothes for the sale.  They also spent time in the classroom helping each K student to make a paper mache model earth.  Stay tuned for a future post when you can see the finished products!

Connecting with Kindergarten Age Kids in Tanzania

Friday, May 3rd was the day of our long awaited Skype meet up with a school in Tanzania!  Our friend Miss Libby, who has taught in Tanzania, was instrumental in helping us create this relationship. Our Librarian, Mrs. MacDonald, was key in helping us navigate the tech connection. To help us get ready for "meeting" our new friends Libby came to our classroom to talk to us about the specific village in TZ where the children are from.  Here you can see her showing a picture of a village house and also what a girl in TZ may wear.

This connection is one that begin with the idea of giving, way back in February when we collected gently used books for the children in the school.  Since then we have participated in their Paper Plate Project where student's in TZ draw "what they see out their window" on a paper plate to send to us and we did the same to send to them.  This prompted us to formulate some questions to ask during the Skype session and to learn some words and numbers in Swahili! On the day of the Skype, the children in TZ were excited to learn that it was one of our student's birthdays and they sang her "Happy Birthday"!  We were excited to learn that there was a student in their class named Rachel, just like in ours.  We sang them the Orchard School song and they sang us a song about counting fingers.  The virtual meet up highlighted similarities among 5 and 6 year olds around the world!

Let's Catch Up- Candle days and Panting Veggies

It's been a while since I posted and our class has been involved in several important events.  In this post I will try to capture the spirit of what's been going on.  Right before our April break we had the first of this year's Candle Days and Connor taught us about his family's passion for legos. 

We also went out to the garden to plant radishes with our fifth grade buddies.  You can tell from the pictures that it was pretty chilly but we were thinking ahead to sunny days and fresh veggies.

 

Once we returned to school after the break we deemed it time to plant the peas!