For the last month we have been learning all about elephants. As a final project, each of us wrote two facts that we learned about these BIG animals. Some of us wrote about the different parts of an elephants’ body, while others wrote about things elephants are able to do. Once our writing was complete, we all drew beautiful pictures of African and Asian elephants. The sentences and pictures were pasted into a big book which we have sent to our new friend, Chris. He is a soldier in the Army who is currently deployed in Afghanistan. We learned that soldiers sometimes live far away from their families, and it is nice to send them special letters and packages to bring them happiness. The package that Chris should receive soon is still a surprise to him! We hope to teach Chris, and all of you, lots of interesting things about elephants.
From Moose Jaw to Deerfield
We have a new friend who is interested in our classroom and what we do. She is working with Mrs. Knee and us to learn about how to use technology in kindergarten. She sent a video to us so we could learn more about her.
We used Google Earth to learn more about Moose Jaw. It is kind of far from Deerfield. It is in a different country. It is in Canada, not the United States.
We skyped with Deanna and told her about the things we like. We had Canadian flags. She told us about Mac the Moose and we showed her Mrs. Knee’s little moose from Moose Jaw.
Then, Deanna sent us a video of Mac the Moose. We loved it. We think you will too.
Mrs. Knee made a video of us watching Deanna’s video so Deanna could see our reaction. We thought that Mac was really huge and humongous. It was the real color of a moose and it’s antlers were bigger than his body. Thank you Deanna, for showing us Mac the Moose. We can’t wait to talk to you again!
A Virtual Valentine For Mrs. Conklin’s Class
We participated in the The K-12 Virtual Valentines Project. This project is designed to teach students geographical awareness and understanding while connecting classrooms all around the world for Valentine’s Day. Our partner class is a kindergarten in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania. We found their school on Google Earth and noticed that their school is a different shape than our school. Our school is shaped like a square and their school is shaped like a hammer. We also wondered if they have a playground. We could not see a playground.
We used Kerpoof to make Valentine cards for our new friends and made a movie for them. We hope we can skype with them soon. Happy Valentine’s Day to Mrs. Conklin’s kindergarten class.
The 100th Day of School
We’ve been counting the days we’ve been in school since our first day. Today was the 100th day of school. We made special hats that 100 things on them. We used 10 strips of paper and glued 10 things on each strip. When we count each strip, we count by 10’s. We can also count everything by 1’s but that takes longer. It took all day to put 100 things on our hats. We love our hats.
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.
Chromebooks for KinderKids
Mrs. Knee asked Donor’s Choose for 2 Chromebooks for our classroom. Lots of people she knows donated money so we could get the Chromebooks. We were very excited when Mr. Yergeau brought the package to our room. We unpacked the box and took a look at our new laptops. We can’t wait to use them. Thank you to Cathy Higgins, Dr. Peggy George, Amanda Marrinan, Marrinan Family, Susanne Tewell, Linda Nitsche, Cheryl, Cynthia Dunlap, Marian Guidoboni, Anne Sloan, Chris Kenneway, Gary Stager, Susan Gelder, Pam McLeod, Mali, and Disney for your contributions.
Our Alphabet
When we made pulp painting pictures like Denise Fleming does in her books, we also made the letters of the alphabet. We have them displayed in our room. We want to share them with you.
A Little Building Fun!
We enjoyed the many Gingerbread Boy stories we read this month but we were especially delighted by Jan Brett’s stories of The Gingerbread Baby and The Gingerbread Friends. We made plans to make gingerbread houses similar to the one that Matty made for the Gingerbread Baby. Although we didn’t catch a gingerbread baby, we did have lots of fun.
Soup From a Stone…Fancy That!
We read different versions of the story, Stone Soup and began making plans to cook the soup ourselves. This story is a folktale that has been retold in many countries, each having its own version. It is a story of hungry travelers, looking for food, who arrive at a village and the people are fearful of being generous. The story ends with the realization that when each person makes a small contribution, the collective impact can be huge. The people learn about the pleasures of sharing – soup from a stone, fancy that!!