Chicks Are In!!!

...Or at least the eggs are! Thank you to Grace, the preschool teacher for picking up our eggs at UMass yesterday. Today kindergartners guessed how many days or weeks it will take for our eggs to hatch. The chick eggs will go in the incubator sometime today or tomorrow, which makes their hatch date about June 1st. We are all very excited about this special event.

And WOW! Look at our plants. Julie, Henry's mom helped us plant seeds just last Tuesday and look at them now!

Kids have taken turns watering them every day.

They will sit under a fluorescent light until it's time for them to go in the garden.

Thanks again to Julie!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar and the Not So Hungry Salamander

We are borrowing a spotted salamander from a Shutesbury family. Today we had a chance to look at it up close and draw pictures of it. It hasn't been eating very much, unlike the caterpillar from Eric Carle's book!

We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and did a Smartboard lesson about it. There were many interdisciplinary components, including days of the week, graphing, and the butterfly life cycle. It was awesome!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

We have kicked off our Eric Carle unit by making our own brown bears based on the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle. First, kids traced a bear template, then cut out the bear shape.

Next, they covered with bits of brown, black and yellow tissue paper using a paintbrush and papier mache glue.

Over the next few weeks we will be reading a lot of Eric Carle and studying his methods of illustration, as well as working on more art projects. Have a great weekend!

Two Special Visitors

Today we had two guests. First, Shelby brought her 17-month old brother, Landon, into share with the class. Kids asked Shelby questions about her little brother, like does he cry? Does he talk? What does he eat? Can he get dressed by himself? Shelby's mom, Lisa, told us that Landon can't quite say "Shelby" yet so instead he calls her "Daddo." Other kindergartners chimed in and shared all the silly names their baby siblings call them too. Thanks, Shelby, Lisa and Landon!

Second, Fred Perry, Shutesbury dad and dentist, came to talk to us about teeth. Kids guessed how many baby teeth we have in all (it's 20), and how many adult teeth we get after we lose the baby ones (32). Fred told us how important it is to brush two times a day as well as floss and go to the dentist two times a year. It's also important to eat healthy food instead of sugary food to keep bacteria levels in your mouth down. Kids loved the short video about superheroes (toothbrush, floss and rinse) getting rid of the plaque in someone's mouth. Afterwards Fred showed us how to brush correctly using a giant toothbrush and a kangaroo! Then he gave us bags with dental goodies. Thank you Fred!

Wildflower Drawings and Planting Seeds

This afternoon children drew pictures of wildflowers using photos from our walk last week. They paid attention to how many petals and leaves the flowers had, as well as the color and size. Also, Henry's mom Julie came to help kids plant seeds for our vegetable garden. Thank you Julie!

We hope you are enjoying the warm weather.

Build and Remove

We learned a new game in math today called Build and Remove. We drew a card and placed that number of pennies on a 10 Frame. Children recorded the number and then rolled a die. This told them how many pennies to remove. They circled the number of pennies on their worksheet, then counted how many were remaining and recorded the answer. A lot of steps to remember! When we play again on Monday they will have an easier time remembering how to do it.

Playing Save the Whale, a simple addition game during computer lab time.

Being Architects

Today in art we had a great lesson about architecture. Kids learned about what architects do, and then got to be architects themselves! BZ put them into groups because architects often have to work with other people. Then she gave them the challenge of creating a building using every block on their table. There were A LOT of blocks on every table, of all shapes and sizes. The kids had to work with the others in their group to figure out how to make strong bases for their buildings and how to incorporate every block.

After their buildings were complete, they got a chance to draw what they built. BZ taught the kids the trick of how to draw a cube.

After they finished their drawings, kids who wanted to got a chance to use a digital camera to take a picture of what they built.

All in all it was an awesome lesson where the kids used many skills! Thanks BZ!