May 6

Students listen to a story around the fire as they finish their lunch.
Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin
(preparing or our ECO lesson)

Spring in Vermont certainly keeps us on our toes!  We began the week with snow on Monday, by Wednesday it was 85 degrees and ended the week on Friday night with severe thunderstorms.  We were thankful to have a wonderful day in the Forrest with ECO before the storms rolled through the area. 

During literacy last week student learned four new sight words and read a new sight word booked titled Will It Come?   New sight words are will, his, her, and  came.   During Writer's Workshop students word on finishing their personal narratives, by adding voice with speech bubbles, adding transition words, and writing a concluding page.

During math our focus was on subtraction from 9 and 10.   Next week we will spend our math lessons leaning about 3 dimensional (solid figures) shapes.  Each student is asked to go on a shape hunt at home and bring to school one example of each of the 3D shapes. 

During ECO students learned about force and motion by using some "simple machines" such as pulley's and carabiners to create a squirrel carnival in our outdoor classroom.  Students worked collaboratively to persevere on creating a "ride" for the squirrels. 

During our force and motion unit, students have learned that motion is created by a force of either a push or a pull  (or both).  Objects stay in motion until another force stops it (concepts of inertia and friction).  We've learned how simple machines such as levers, pulley's, and incline planes (ramps) help us create a force with greater ease.   We will be ending the year with Earth Systems and weather.

Our next ECO lesson will be, May 18th.  Please let me know if you can volunteer your time with us for the afternoon.

The end of the school year is quickly approaching (so hard to believe!).  Our last day of kindergarten is Tuesday, June 12. (The rest of the school ends on the 15th).   We will be having a  Kindergarten Celebration on June 12th at 1:30.  Families will be invited to come share in celebrating our writing and see students receive their Kindergarten Certificates.  We hope you will be able to join us for a special afternoon of fun and recognition.