Enjoy spring break and rest up for the remaining weeks of Kindergarten, they are going to fly by!

Notes:

*My outdoor theater project has been funded, thank you to all who donated!!

*Looking to take a family walk? The UCS trail now has our Earth Day posters up!

*Earth Day Challenge for fun!

*5/13:  UCS Art/Music Night (rain date of 5/14), 5:00-6:30 pm: 

 What a fantastic week together!  We have said farewell to the snow (hopefully) and have welcomed the wind. rain, and some warmer temps!  Birds are chirping, daffodils are beginning to pop up, and buds are forming on the trees.  What a magical time.  

During ECO we brought the compass and our school grounds map and we went in search of different birds.  In the West, we saw and heard a flock of geese, a Northern Cardinal, an Eastern Phoebe, and a Crow. In the far-off field in the east, we heard Chickadees and Crows.  It was a blustery day so we suspected many birds were in their nests. We were able to stay out all morning long for this adventure.  Please check your child for ticks daily, especially on our eco days. 

In Literacy, we continue to build our bank of Heart Words/high-frequency words. Kindergarteners have been enjoying our Jeopardy word game, where they read a word and earn a sticker. We have done Heart Words and CVC words.  Next week we will incorporate words with digraphs in them!  We will also begin to write about problems that we see around us and brainstorm ways to be problem solvers.  This past week we read several books about environmental activists: Greta and The Giants, The Watcher, and The Tree Lady.  These women inspired us to think about how we can help make a difference and fight for what we believe is important. 

IMPORTANT Notes & DATES

Please continue to send your child in layers.  The forecast may seem warmer than it actually is. Thank you!!

4/14:  UCS Garden Day (rain or shine), 1:00-4:00 pm: see below for details

4/19:  Fun Friday, Wear rainbow colored clothing or your favorite color

4/19:  My Child As A Learner forms due for rising 1st through 4th graders

4/22-4/26:  April Break

5/13:  UCS Art/Music Night (rain date of 5/14), 5:00-6:30 pm: more details coming soon.

Link to My Donor's Choose Project!   Please share this with anybody who you think may like to donate!  I am very excited about this project! And it is almost complete! Thank you so much!

 

What an interesting start to April!  Snow storms and a Total eclipse! People are calling it The Great American Eclipse.  It is interesting to think the sun is 400 times bigger than the moon (about 64 million moons would make up the volume of the sun)! But with this perfect alignment, it appears to be the same size! It is also interesting to think people have been observing eclipses since the dawn of time and in the beginning years people thought it was a bad omen, now people are flocking to see these. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and allow for this image above to happen. It is fascinating to think scientists and astronomers can gather important information from this to learn more about the sun! 

If you want to make safer glasses HERE is a fun activity we were unable to get to. Happy viewing!

Link to My Donor's Choose Project!   Please share this with anybody who you think may like to donate!  I am very excited about this project!  Thank you so much!

The Compass, Optimism, & Math Game Fun!

This week we explored the theme of optimism.  Some students thought of little skits to act out that practiced looking on the bright side of things.  This little video was shared at All School MM on Friday.  

We are moving right along with our Geography unit.  Students learned about the cardinal directions.  We can use tools like a compass and a compass rose on a map to help us navigate to places.  We discovered that the Coyote Den (outdoor classroom) is in the North, the Owl's nest is in the West, the playground is in the South, and the start of the bike path is in the East.  Later students colored a compass rose to add to their classroom map.

This week we looked at the glued sound an again and noticed it is included in many words like our latest heart word - can.  We also looked at the word said and noticed the tricky center that makes the /e/ sound. This word is found in most books that have a dialogue.  

If you celebrate Easter, wishing you a wonderful holiday weekend!

Notes:

There are a couple of cases of strep throat in our classroom in case you notice symptoms along with some itchy heads. We have put our pillows and blankets away for now, FYI.  

                                         🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

The sun is out, and the snow is asking to be played in! I hope you had some fun this weekend!

This week, kindergartners were surprised when they arrived at school on Monday to find out that a Leprechaun had visited our classroom and left clues behind for us to follow! 

Students enjoyed a math game that had them playing competitively with a partner.  They also had opportunities to play versions of the game called "I have... who has...?" with numbers and letters. 

Buddy Dubay came by and shared some fun spring songs with us.  He is so kind to come and visit us every few months. He captures our attention with his warm and playful spirit!

Kindergarteners enjoyed creating a map of our classroom in Social Studies this week.  The challenge was to think about why we make maps.  How can we make maps easy for others to understand? What important features of a map must we consider when creating a map?  In the next week or two we will explore the cardinal directions using the compass rose and begin to think about creating a school and town map. 

IMPORTANT DATES

3/29:  Weather At Your School, 4:30 am-8:00 am (parents must be 

3/29:  Silly Weather Day - Dress for the weather you love the most. You'll see a range of outfits, from summer sunglasses to hats and mittens.

3/29   Guest teacher

4/8:    No School

5/13:  UCS Art/Music Night (rain date of 5/14), 5:00-6:30, more details coming soon

 

As I sit and write this post the Tufted Titmouse's song is loud and clear.  Here is a fun fact: The titmouse has been known to sneak hair for their nest off a squirrel, woodchuck, or even a man's head! Though we still have a few inches of snow on our land, spring is arriving this week and signs of life are beginning to show! 

This week students had fun with leprachaun-themed math games and challenges. They also practiced showing ways of solving story problems.  Next week we will begin to play games that will get students thinking about subtracting from a group of numbers. 

Kindergarteners are enjoying expressing their ideas and opinions in our latest writing unit.  This week they shared some creative responses with the writing prompt, should the pigeon drive the bus? 

 

Notes:

Conferences are being held this week.

3/22:  Early Release, 11:20 dismissal time (buses leave UCS around 11:25)

4/8:    No school - Solar eclipse 

Welcome Back!

Welcome back after winter break!  It has been fun hearing stories of far-off places, sugar houses, and visits to grandma's house! 

March came in like a lamb and may be turning into a lion at the start of this week.  If you live on a dirt road like myself you know mud season has made an enthusiastic arrival! The signs of spring are quickly upon us.  This week we began our mini study on Maple sugaring because it is such a large part of living in VT.  Those who don't know much about it are learning quickly with our new "sugar house" dramatic play area in our classroom, along with the books that we are reading!

This coming week, we look forward to diving into some new units, Geography in Social Studies and a new Opinion Unit in Writing. 

We welcome the Chamberland family to our UCS community!💗