Learning About the Number Balance

On Friday before break Mrs. Lamphier, our Math Coach came in to teach a lesson about addition using the Number Balance. She talked to the children about how the tool can be used to prove if an equation is true or not.  You could hear and see the wheels turning as the class puzzled many ways to balance out a number- if you put an 8 on one side of the scale you could put a 6 and a 2 on the other or also two 4's, a 1 and a 7 or a 3 and a 5!

Playing Kickball With Our Fifth Grade Buddies

My action photo skills are not the best but take my word for it- the kickball game with our big buddies was a blast!   Mr. Wright was the pitcher and his fifth graders kicked, caught, coached and cheered along with all of us as we made our way through several innings.  There were varied levels of skill and understanding for sure but none of that mattered- there were smiles all around!

Julien's Candle Day!

On Thursday before the break, we celebrated Julien's Candle Day!  With help from his mom and dad Julien talked to the class about his old and important stuffed cat (including how he got his name), the beautiful wooden sword his dad made for him, the ongoing flying car project he's working on at home and his hobby of collecting found object treasures.  Next we went on a nature walk to collect found treasures of our own and came back to make nature collages with the items as well as enjoy a snack of blackberries- his favorite. A great time was had by all.  I look forward to more Candle Days this spring when we can highlight the uniqueness of each child.

Inspired to Garden

You may have read about the book The Gardener by Sarah Stewart in our newsletter.  It's a touching story about a young girl who is sent to live with an uncle in the city during The Great Depression.  She stays in touch with her parents and grandmother back home through letters about their shared love of gardening.  They send her seed catalogs and bulbs and she tells them how she's working on a surprise roof top garden for uncle.  Our class connected to the story in many ways.  With help from my mother-in-law (and super gardener) Judy, we browsed through inspiring seed catalogs, made collages of our "dream gardens", wrote letters about what we'd like to plant and planted some peas in the raised bed in the courtyard.

Thinking Spring!

Although the weather isn't cooperating, we're been doing what we can to welcome the change of season.  About two weeks ago we investigated what's inside a seed by observing how a seed coat splits open when it's moistened.  Over several days we were able to see the process of roots reaching down and stems shooting up!  Take a look at the seeds beginning to sprout and how carefully we transplanted them into soil before sending them home.

Word Work and Word Play Too!

About a week ago we had a session of Reader's Workshop where the children worked in pairs to create words "in the op family".  This means words that are formed by putting a consonant in front of "op".  Here you can see the children experimenting with magnet letters and finding lots of rhyming words in the op family.  I also wanted to share a picture of a different kind of word work- what we call "superstar sentences".  Take a look at the satisfaction on this student's face as he sits in front of his creation "The slow dinosaur said no.  Let's go moon monster!"

Let's Hear It For Elephant and Piggie!

Mo Willem's Elephant and Piggie books have taken our room by storm!  The excitement around reading them is evident throughout the day.  I thought I would share a few photos of classmates reading them to one another but I also want you to imagine me asking individual children to "read a little quieter" to themselves at Quiet Time because when they sit with an Elephant and Piggie book they often read so dramatically they crack themselves up!  If you're not familiar with these books I encourage you to ask your kindergartner about them and then check a few out of the library. Mo Willem's has a serious knack for conveying humor that appeals to both adults and children.