May 20 - 24

This week (...okay, technically last week, sorry!) we continued to learn about seeds, plants, and gardens. On Monday, Ms. Rice was out of school, but Mr. Matt  read “My Garden” by Kevin Henkes to the students, and they all imagined what they would have in their imaginary garden if they could plant anything. On Tuesday, we read “Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth” and talked about composting and why it can be helpful for gardens and the planet. We continued our rainbow taste tests with  carrots and found out that 11 out of 13 students liked them! That is the highest number yet! On Wednesday, we read “Hank’s Big Day: The Story of a Bug” which tells the story of a pill bug’s adventures in a backyard. When we went outside, many of the students had fun finding bugs and wondering about their adventures. On Thursday, we read “The Forever Garden,” a sweet story about a little girl who enjoys gardening with her neighbor. When the neighbor has to move away, the little girl continues taking care of the garden and even teaches her new neighbors how to take care of their new garden. On Friday, we tasted purple cauliflower! Many of the students had never eaten cauliflower  before and were a bit unsure about it, but almost everyone tried it and 6 students liked it! We also spent the morning creating artwork and kind notes for the big kids at school since they were all away at the ROCKS celebration at Westshire. After choice time, we walked around the school and left our pictures and notes in every classroom! The students were excited to spread some kindness around the school. At the end of the day, the ducklings that we hatched came back for a visit on the playground! It was so much fun to see them again, and we couldn’t believe how big they had gotten! Next week, we will keep learning more about seeds, plants, and gardens since there is just so much to learn!

LEGO house

Digging in the sand box

Performing on stage

We can pump!

Proud of her tower 

Smooshy nap face :) 

Walking around the school to deliver our kind surprises! 

Taping up some pictures and notes 

The notes and pictures that we left in kindergarten 

Our taste test graph so far 

Ducks! 

Ducks and babies!! 

May 13 - 17

This week, we started learning about seeds, plants, and gardens. On Monday, we learned about seeds by cutting open a yellow pepper, an apple, and an avocado. We noticed that all of the seeds looked different, and yet they were all still seeds. We also made a graph using our seeds to count how many seeds we found in each vegetable/fruit. The avocado had one big seed, the apple had 5 medium-sized seeds, and the pepper had too many small seeds to count! Later, we tasted the yellow pepper at snack time and took data on how many student liked it. Seven students in our class liked yellow peppers. We will continue tasting fruits and vegetables of all colors of the rainbow through the next few weeks and graphing how many students liked them on our “Tasting a Rainbow of Fruits and Vegetables” chart. At recess, we planted carrot and radish seeds in our garden.  On Tuesday, we read “The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carle and talked about how seeds can travel and be planted without the help of humans. We also started painting rocks to decorate our garden! Outside, we planted spinach and micro green seeds. On Wednesday, we tasted cucumber at snack time and found out that 9 students in our class like cucumbers. When I added that to the rainbow taste test graph, the students noticed that more students like cucumbers than yellow peppers. We planted peas and pink dianthus flowers in our garden. On Thursday, the weather was beautiful so we spent most of our day outside! We collected dandelions which the students later used to make “dandelion soup” in the mud kitchen. We also blew bubbles and planted the rest of our plants (daisies, petunias, tomatoes, and basil) in our garden. After recess, we had a picnic lunch at the picnic tables outside! On Friday, we tasted cherry tomatoes at snack time and found out that only five students liked them. Next week, we will taste purple cauliflower and carrots! We will also continue learning about seeds, plants, and gardens.

Seed graph

Very excited about our new stuffy

His creation that looked like a “stadium light”

Painting rocks

Collecting dandelions 

Making dandelion soup 

Planting in the garden 

Our finished flower garden 

And vegetable garden 

Everything that we planted throughout the week 

Silly girl :) 

Playing football

Football practice with Coach Caleb 

Wearing her beautiful dress made by her dad 

Sibling love! 

Jumping action shots

May 6 - 10

On Monday, we came to school to find 3 new chicks that had hatched over the weekend! As usual, the students brainstormed name ideas and voted on their favorites. The names that we landed on were Darth Vader, Storm Trooper, and Lollipop. We expected more chicks to hatch that day, and when none did, we figured it meant that all of the eggs were done hatching. On Tuesday, some children worked on a special Mother’s Day writing/art project. We also read a non-fiction book about robins and compared the development of baby robins to that of baby chicks. On Wednesday, we took a walking field trip to the library to have story time with Mrs Samantha! We read some silly stories about bath time and then we painted with colorful mud-paint! Back in our classroom, we noticed that 2 more of the eggs in the incubator had holes in them! Even though they were 2 days past their due date, we were about to have two more chicks! By the end of the day, one had hatched. We named it Raisin. On Thursday, we made predictions about what kinds of animals we would see at the farm on our field trip. We also read “Amelia Bedelia’s First Field Trip,” a very silly story where Amelia Bedelia goes to the farm on a field trip and gets very mixed up. At the beginning of rest time, one student went to check on the egg that had been hatching since Wednesday and noticed that the chick was coming out of it! We all squished around the incubator to watch the chick come out of its egg! Needless to say, we had a shorter rest that day, but it was an experience that none of us will soon forget! On Friday, we took our field trip to the Mountain School! We saw sheep and lambs, chicks and chickens, pigs, cows, and even a llama! We also got to make our own sheep using real sheep’s wool! Even though it was very cold and rainy, we made the best of it and still had a great time! Next week, we will begin learning about seeds, plants, and gardens.

Darth Vader

Storm Trooper

Lollipop

Working hard to clean out the gardens

We found a toad!

We collected these strange bulbs while we were digging out the garden. I did research and found out that they were Jerusalem Radishes. They are now in our science center to explore. 

Very proud of his buildings this week :) 

Our sunflowers that we started in the classroom and transplanted to the garden 

Story time at the library 

Painting with mud! 

Raisin 

Watching the chick come out of its egg 

Welcome to the world, baby Nugget! 

Nugget (after hours of fluffing up) 

Field trip to the Mountain School 

Walking up the very windy Garden Hill 

Rainy days are fun! 

Our excellent guide 

Taking a peek at the chicks and chickens 

Petting the sheep and lambs 

In the greenhouse 

We got to see an art class in action! 

Sheep wool craft