Our Trip to the Flynn Theatre!

Today we went to the Flynn Theatre to see a production of THE CAT IN THE HAT.  This was a perfect show for us to see as the children have been enjoying many of his books during quiet time and Readers Workshop.  On Monday we spent some partner reading time browsing through  Dr. Seuss books taking note of all the all the Super Reader Powers we use as we read them.  Turns out Dr. Seuss books are great for practicing pointer power, picture power, pattern power, rhyme power. popcorn word power and partner power!  We also noted that a few other authors who write in a style similar to Dr. Seuss have a picture of the cat in the hat on their books too.  

In the words of the kindergartners:

"The show was good!"

"I like how the music went right with the cat's tennis racket."

"The cat was funny when he balanced all that stuff!"

Learning with Mr. Schmidt's Third Graders

Mr. Schmidt's third graders were looking for an audience to present their in-depth study on Native Americans to and we were happy to oblige!   In small groups the third graders talked to our class about the daily life of different tribes. Our class listened intently and asked great questions.  They noticed that the facts they remembered most were the ones they could easily see represented in pictures on the posters.  This goes right along with our focus on making the pictures match the words when we read and write!

Cup Stacking Demo by Julia!

The title says it all but Julia treated the class to a cup stacking demonstration on Friday!  She's been practicing and we were all quite impressed.  After watching, many friends wanted to try and Julia was an excellent teacher.

Valentine's Day

We called it "School Valentine's Day" and it was possibly the sweetest day ever!  I hope you enjoy the pictures of the children reveling in delight as they empty their bags full of cards from one another and fill up on Friendship (fruit) Salad.  Thanks to all of you for helping with the cards at home and sending in fruit.

Tiger's Candle Day!

You've read about them, we talked about them at conferences, and thanks to Tiger and his mom Xioamin, our class experienced their first Candle Day!  A Candle Day is a time for your child to be in the spotlight and to highlight something about their life outside of school- maybe a hobby, a family or cultural tradition, or a retelling of a trip they've taken.  Tiger's mom shared all about Chinese New Year with our class and Tiger helped to show the importance of wearing red to "scare away the monsters!"  (Don't worry, they are just pretend).  Xioamin brought grapefruit and special candies for us to try and gave each child a red envelope with a little something in it as part of the tradition for the Lunar New Year.  Happy Year of the Monkey!

 

Super Cool Smoothies with Farm to School

On Friday, February 5th we made smoothies as part of a Farm to School Lesson.  After reading a story about a garden and discussing how fruit is grown, Miss Lizzie and her friend introduced our crew to a bicycle powered blender!  Everyone helped to either add some fruit or turn the peddles and afterward a berry smoothie was enjoyed by all.

Guidance with Mrs.Grey

In addition to the mindfulness work we do each day to help us stay calm, quiet and ready to learn we're enjoying a series of lessons with Mrs. Grey in which we're learning more about how our body and mind are connected.  Mrs. Grey used the image of a shaken snow globe to help us picture what's happening in our brains when we're over excited, angry, or rushed and overwhelmed.  Here you can see the class practicing some belly breathing to get in touch with the feeling of calmness.