Macnee's Marvels

This afternoon, Matthew's Grandma Cathy from Chicago came into the classroom to read the children a book during Read Aloud time. She read the big book Chicago Winds to the class who thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Matthew did a wonderful job introducing his Grandma who is here in Vermont on her Spring break from teaching 7th & 8th graders.After the story she treated the children to fresh strawberries and fluff at the snack tables. Enjoy the sideshow.....

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Mr. Ben's Thursday Activity

Today Mr. Ben, from UVM (very catchy), had the opportunity to lead the kids through one of his lesson plans on diversity. He introduced how people were alike and different from various outside appearances but the same on the inside. After leading the kids through a few activities he demonstrated a very powerful experiment. Mr. Ben asked the class for their observations of a brown egg and a white egg and noted their responses. Then, he cracked the brown egg open into a dish and then cracked the white egg open in another dish. The kids really made the connection that no matter what you see on the outside, they are the same on the inside. He then read the wonderful book "It's Okay To Be Different" by Todd Parr which was a nice ending to this activity. Mr. Ben worked with kids in small group to complete a drawing and a sentence about "It's okay to__________"

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Owls-Silent Predators of the Night

On Tuesday the Four Winds helpers swooped back into the classroom to present information about Owls. After observing the real life adaptations of their faces, ears, beaks, talons and wings the children were treated to a play with an owl and a blue jay as the characters. The children found out what an owl pellet is and how and why they are able to consume their prey by swallowing them whole. Most of their prey is indigestible like fur, bones and feathers. The rest is coughed up as a pellet. We had a chance to examine the contents of a sanitized pellet and glue the contents on a piece of paper. The kids absolutely loved this part of the workshop. Enjoy the slide show.....

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Reading Buddies with the 1st and 2nd Graders

On Wednesday, we met our reading buddies for the first time. Each Wednesday we will meet our reading buddies and spend time in Mrs. Thyngs's and my classroom getting lost in books. This 20 minutes each week is a magical time for all parties involved. There is a high payoff for the students as well as the teachers. I love walking around and watching the natural interaction between the young learner and the 'older' learner when it involves books. The older children feel a sense of mentoring and my kindergartners feel a sense of pride as they read to their buddy. The kids started looking forward to the next week the minute Reading Buddies was over!!!!! Enjoy the pictures.

A free picture slideshow by Smilebox

Maple Sugaring Field Trip

Thursday we headed up to the Audubon Center in Huntington to learn more about the maple sugaring process. Although the weather was cold, the sap was running drip by drip. The kids were dressed warmly so they enjoyed being outdoors in sugarbush. They were able to see the evaporator, collect sap buckets, listen to stories around the campfire and taste test the different grades of syrup. Thank you to all the chaperone's who made the trip enjoyable for all. Enjoy the slide show!!!!

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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Literacy Work In March

In March we have raised the bar and have been working on a lot of activities that really get to the core of Literacy. Guided reading groups, reading response journals, word sorts, sight words, 'tap and drive', author's studies and writing stories. Here are some slides that show kids in action working on the various activities. One of their favorite activities has been the making of their own Elephant & Piggie booklet with talk bubbles titled: We Are In a Book by Mo Willems.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Four Winds: Birds, Beaks & Wings

On Friday, March 4th, the Four Winds helpers came into the classroom to present a workshop all about birds. The children learned that birds have different adaptations of beaks, wings and feet depending on where they live and what they eat. After a slide show of some amazing bird pictures the children were entertained by a puppet show. The rest of the workshop was split up into four exploratory stations that the children were able to rotate through with the guidance of our Four Winds' helpers: Katrina Moreau, Amy Armstrong, Tammy Jadus and Wendy Ward.