New Kinds of Play- Outside and In

 It felt like a long wait but the new playground is here and already being enjoyed!  Despite the ominous skies, Mr. T and Miss Abby introduced all four Kindergarten classes to the new structure and got things off to a safe and happy start.

For added excitement, last week also brought us "May the fourth".  For those who aren't huge Star Wars fans the significance may take a minute...  "May the fourth be with you?" ... ah, now you see.

We had some fun with Star Wars themed yoga and one friend even created a favorite character with a new math material called Cuisinaire Rods.  Have a look...

Whether working alone or collaboratively, these building pieces inspire great things and I can't wait to show the kids next week that we can actually "do math" with them too!  Each size rod has a value such that a white and a light green (a 1 and a 2) equal a yellow (a 3) etc.  Stay tuned!

We looked at outside and inside fun, but Farm to School brought a little of both!  In perfect timing with our classroom science learning about seeds and plants, we were able to plant some spinach and cucumber seeds with our Farm to School teacher AND sample some green juice.  We'll continue taking care of these seed starts along with the peas we planted in our recycled milk and yogurt containers!

Spring Has Sprung...For Real!

 Frequent visitors to the blog might recall posts about classroom celebrations for earning 100 apple cores.  We've had some fun ones in the past...remember Fancy Day and Kids-Run-The-Morning-Day?  Our latest celebration, "Beach Day", was no exception.  Here's a quick look-

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These pictures show classmates checking in at the morning message, enjoying time with summer clothes, and making "shell and flower" (paper) necklaces and crowns.  Our Beach Day was also the first day we met our fifth grade Big Buddies!  It doesn't get too much more fun than that.  

There's a display outside our room that's titled "What's the Scoop with Learning Buddies?" and each duo or trio of buddies has an ice cream cone that says their individual favorite flavors as well as something they have in common.  Exactly one week later, our Big Buddies helped us do a little "Orchard Grounds Green-Up".  Here are some pics-

Collectively, the kids exceeded my expectations for picking up a season's worth of liter!

We Need to Catch Up!

 It may be hard to find a through line here but I'm feeling the need to share so many snapshots of life and learning in Room 28.  Let me take you on a walk through the last few weeks to make sure I capture some of the moments that may not fill a whole post on their own, but nevertheless are worthy of sharing.

Do you remember our tree tapping event a few weeks back?  Well, here's a look at us enjoying some classroom made pancakes.

Around that time we checked in about all the ways we liked to eat maple syrup.

At the end of March we used chromebooks to solidify understanding about the names, values, and pictures on coins. Here you can see a student "clicking and dragging" to show what she knows.

It's SO clear that the children are growing by leaps and bounds.  You can literally see it happening outside...

And inside...

And in a health lesson with Miss Smith that highlighted just how capable these Kindergarteners really are.

Of course Pre K and K are just the beginning at Orchard, and seeing the fifth grade play gave our students a glimpse of some of the things that are possible when they get older.  As did watching the fifth grade model rocket launch!

Back in the classroom we've been focusing on measuring in math, natural resources in science, and wrapping up our readings of Gerald and Piggie books with posters for "made-up holidays" inspired by Piggie's "Happy Pig Day".

Whether working independently or with a friend, Kindergarteners in April are feeling comfortable and capable.

Force and Motion

I have mentioned that in the flow of our year, we explore more Social Studies Topics in the fall and more Science topics in the spring.  Of course there is some back and forth throughout, but March was a month to learn about Force and Motion!  Over the course of 3 weeks we did 3 different experiments and learned about how gravity and friction can impact how things move. Take a look at our first experiment:  Can you both pull and push your stuffie without directly touching it with your hands? 

Next we tried: Using a ramp and both a smooth and bumpy surface covering, how much force is needed to make a matchbox car travel the length of the ramp?

Finally, we tried "The Marble Challenge": Can you make your marble roll the length of the paper, turn a corner, move an object, and hit a target?

It's such a joy to see children working collaboratively to meet a challenge.  New skills, new discoveries, and new friendships emerge!