Last week flew by! Many of us were very busy trying to get well and stay well. We have been taking extra care to wash our hands and cough/sneeze into our elbows. We want to keep all of our friends healthy so that we can play together at school each day. Here are some highlights of last week:

We started our individual book boxes. Each day we spend time reading special books from our book boxes.  These books are beginning reader books, which contain simple texts with sight words and words that can be sounded out.

We started discussing the different seasons and why we have different seasons.  We also began thinking about why animals might have difficulties finding food in the winter. To illustrate this point we gave each student a piece of pineapple that was frozen in an ice cube. Students tried various strategies to get to their chunk of pineapple. We discovered that it’s very difficult to eat food that is frozen and we discussed how animals might have a similar problem getting food in winter when things are frozen outside. Soon we will begin discussing ways animals deal with the harsh winter weather (adaptation, migration, hibernation, etc.). 

We had a music makers session with Ms. Shelley on Tuesday. We sang songs, did movement activities, and played instruments.

We began getting ready for our authors’ celebration. We read through all the writing pieces in our writing folders. Then we each selected a favorite piece to publish.  We talked about the process authors go through to publish their writing. We worked hard to edit and add pages to our stories. We added to our illustrations and designed special covers for our stories.

Of course we spent time playing and exploring in the Atelier and in Creative Play. In Creative Play we have been making animal habitats and role-playing animal behaviors.  The Creation Station has been very popular and several scientists have been hard at work making new inventions. Last week we even designed, tested, and modifed “launchers”. 

Best of all, we spent time enjoying our friends and the beautiful Oregon sunshine!

View more photos from last week in our Feb 1-5 Photo Gallery

Dear Families,
Today me and Brendan played Harry Potter outside. We are going to play Harry Potter every single day we meet each other. That even means during creative play, atelier, and every single recess.
LOVE,
bat man!!!

This week we are starting a new theme: Animals in Winter. We were delighted to find several animal costumes and an assortment of fabric in the Creative Play room today! These costumes and fabrics will allow us to turn into different types of animals as we learn about how different species prepare for winter.

We had lots to talk about during calendar time today since it’s a new month. We discussed upcoming holidays and birthdays in February. We labeled the dates on our February calendar and wrote up other special events such as book bags and buddies. We decided that February is a very tricky month to spell since the word does not look the way it sounds. We skip-counted by 5s and 10s today as we figured out that we had been in school for 90 days so far. We also got to add a tally to our tooth chart since Isabela lost a tooth over the weekend!

Jack wrote an interesting story about a Lego creation that he made. He shared a photo of his creation with the class using the SMART Board.

View more photos from today in our Feb 1-5 Photo Gallery

We’ve had a busy week in kindergarten! We were very excited to see the sun peeking out from behind the clouds this week. We took advantage of the beautiful weather by riding trikes outside.

Mr. Mark visited our classroom to discuss our outdoor learning space.  We took a look at all the plants we planted last Spring. We learned that even though the plants are “sleeping” right now, they are still alive and must be treated with care. We talked about ways to keep our outdoor space beautiful and enjoyable for everyone.

Our buddies visited us on Tuesday. They taught us a fun song about the solar system and showed us how to make constellations on paper. We also spent time enjoying books together.

Sadly, this week was our last week with Ms. Becky. We painted special pictures and wrote cards for Ms. Becky. We will miss her very much.

We did math activities on the Smartboard this week. We studied different geometric shapes and learned how to manipulate and rotate the shapes to make different designs.

We worked on designing and flying gliders. We measured how far our gliders could fly. We modified and experimented with different designs to see which one would fly the farthest.

View more photos from this week in our Jan 25-28 Photo Gallery

On Friday we got to bake focaccia bread with Chef Cavolo, who is the father of one of our students and a professional chef. We got to mix in ingredients, knead and shape the dough, and put fresh toppings on our focaccia bread.  Along the way we discussed different techniques chefs and bakers use, and we learned the purpose of specific ingredients. For instance, we learned that yeast “bugs” eat sugar and then make gas. The gas forms air pockets and causes bread to rise. We used flour to make dough less sticky and the right consistency. We also got to taste fresh ingredients that some of us had never tasted before, such as fresh mozzarella cheese and basil. Of course we also loved tasting our finished focaccia bread. Yummy! Thank you so much for coming in to bake with us, Chef Cavolo!

View more photos from our baking experience in our Jan 19-22 Photo Gallery

Today’s Blog Message
Dear Families,

Love,
Leo and Ewan

Today we welcomed a new student into our classroom community! We are so glad that Monique returned to the ELC. Today Jack read us a special story from his home.