Big and Little Buddy Hike

We had a wonderful day with our eighth grade big buddies. Before we left school, they made a waffle breakfast for us. It was very exciting to go all the way upstairs to the “big kids” room. They waited on us just like in a restaurant.  Then we went outside and learned a celebration cheer called Jazz Hands. Our big buddies even sat with us on the bus.

Once we got to the beginning of the trail, our big buddies helped to make sure we were always safe. They held our hands on the trail, encouraged us when it got hard and guided us up the fire tower. When we went to Little Baldy, they found good places for us to eat our lunch so we could be out of the wind. We love our big buddies and can’t wait to get together with them again.

We hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed doing the hike.

We Like Making Things

 Making Applesauce

We picked apples from the trees at school.

mosaicc67f3078811885548a6d34d523852a9c89b2c8f2We brought them back to our classroom and cut them up.

mosaic02aa115d1986d455845286b23cdaad328cb054ccWe put them in a big pot to cook.

mosaiced770797c2d3d6be9d0ae5ac0a54bff5a860022aThen we strained them to get out the seeds and skins.We added sugar and cinnamon. Then we ate our applesauce.

mosaic7dbfefce6d35b5985f9e04cedc015dad5099f22dMaking Grape Jelly

Mrs. Knee’s friends gave her lots of wild grapes so we could make grape jelly. Everyone got to take a jar of the jelly home.

 Apple Cider Pressing

Mr. Bioteau and Mr. Jack came to school with lots of apples and a cider press.

22290665805_98ef1da705_oWe put the apples in the box and turned the crank to crush them.

We pressed the juice out of the crushed apples and after we strained it, we could drink the cider.

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Raising Monarch Butterflies

IMG_1201We started the year with some very tiny monarch butterfly caterpillars. They ate and ate and ate all the milkweed leaves we had for them. We observed the caterpillars as they grew bigger and fatter. We read many books to learn about how the caterpillars would change. We learned that the monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico in the fall and stay their until spring.Screen Shot 2015-10-17 at 9.40.45 PM

When our caterpillars were ready, they shed their skin and became a green chrysalis and after a week or so, it changed IMG_3040to black. We could see the wings inside. We even got to see one butterfly emerge from the chrysalis.

12066067_1093111044040044_7787612304185735046_n   12047045_1093111154040033_3809361043156401809_n  12065557_1093111184040030_2159024564045829775_n  IMG_3058  

When the wings were dry, the butterflies were ready to fly and we released each butterfly so it could fly to Mexico.

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Needle Felting Project

We learned how to needle felt and make a picture with wool fleeceIMG_8598.

All of the kindergarten classes worked on this needle felting project so we could enter it in the Deerfield Fair. We made an apple tree in the different seasons. Our tree was the fall tree.

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20151004-220422.jpgThe judges liked our project. We got a blue ribbon for our work. It was fun to go to the Fair and see our project.

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Learning About Maple Syrup

Mrs Knee makes maple syrup at her house and she taught us all about it. We read books about maple syrup too. One day, after it snowed, we collected some fresh, clean snow in bowls and Mrs. Knee cooked the syrup until it was thick. Then we had sugar on snow – just like the kids in a story we read. On another day,Tim and Wyatt’s mom made pancakes for snack and we put Mrs. Knee’s maple syrup on them. Some families went to visit Mrs. Knee’s sugar house to see how Mr. and Mrs. Knee make syrup. They had syrup with donuts and pickles.

Our Important Work in Blocks

We have lots of time to work in the block area during our afternoon activity time.  There are so many wonderful benefits to working with the wooden Unit Blocks. The blocks are called Unit Blocks because they are proportional in size.

When working in blocks, the KinderKids learn counting, comparison of length and width, names of shapes, and how to combine some geometric shapes to make other shapes. They are learning the basics of addition when they discover that two short blocks are the same length as the next size block.

The KinderKids learn science when they experience gravity as their constructions fall. They learn the use of simple machines such as ramps when building. Their language skills and vocabulary improve as they talk about their creations and tell the stories that they are representing with the blocks. Children learn to write as they make signs and as teachers help them write stories about what they are building.

 Children learn cooperation and sharing when they work together with the blocks. They develop problem-solving skills and learn good work habits since they are responsible for picking up when they finish.

So, when your child tells you they played in blocks at school,  they actually were learning math, science, and literacy while enjoying themselves through working with blocks.

 

Our First Days and Weeks

Our days and weeks are filled with lots of activity. The KinderKids have adjusted well to their classroom schedule. There is a variety of work through the day. Here are some examples of the work we do. As you can see, we have very busy days.

Read to Self

Read to Self

Everyone does Read to Self

Everyone does Read to Self

Read to Self

Read to Self

Writing Workshop

Writing Workshop

Math activities – sorting and counting

counting counting junk boxes IMG_5454 jewels more counting sorting sorting rocks more sorting

Science

caterpillar science more science science

Outdoor Time

new friendships in the woods IMG_4664 more woods  and Lunch Lunch

Activity Time

blocks2 drawing getting ready to paint2 IMG_4636 IMG_5624 multilinks    Sand    tech    white shelf 3

Ice Balloons!!!

What do you do in the summer when you need to cool off? Perhaps you have some fun with water balloons.
What do you do in the winter when the temperatures are way to cold to play outdoors? You fill balloons with colored water, put them outside and wait to see what happens!!!
That’s what we did on one of the cold, cold days just to find out what would happen. We left the water filled balloons outdoors overnight and the next day we found out.

We think our ice balloons look spiky, shiny, colorful, glassy, icy, and beautiful.
We think our ice balloons feel cold, slippery, smooth, freezing, wet, and wonderful.
We think you should try this if you can.