Final Cochran's, Tree Friends, Dog Sled Visit

Another busy and joyful week in kindergarten is in the books! From dog sledding to skiing and all the laughs of Spirit Week, we packed in so many special moments. We were lucky that the weather cooperated, allowing us to participate in all four Cochran sessions at Cochran's Ski Area! A huge thank you to Amanda Cowan for organizing such a wonderful experience. We are also incredibly grateful to all of you who volunteered your time to support your own children and others. And thank you to everyone who lugged ski gear to school and helped pack your child's bags with all of the necessary supplies — your support truly makes this program successful!

Math
This week in math, we focused on breaking down subtraction (also known as “takeaway” or minus). Students played a game called Build It, using ten-frames to practice subtraction and create equations. They also continued solving word problems by showing their thinking with both a picture and an equation.

ECO & Literacy
We connected our forest studies in literacy to real-life exploration during ECO time. After reading a story about food chains in the woods, students ventured to meet a “tree friend,” marking it with a ribbon. We then created bark rubbings and observed the unique designs and textures of different trees in our forest. We will watch for changes in our trees in the coming months!

Have a great break!

Important Dates:

3/3 Voting Day!

3/4 Back to school

4/3 Our class runs the All School Meeting!! You are welcome to come for this from 8-8:30.

100th Day, Cochran's, and Dance Parties!

❤

Greetings, Families!

We kicked off the week celebrating our 100th day of school with lots of fun activities! Students counted all the way to 100 and explored what it means to think of 100 as 10 groups of 10. We’ve been sneaking in place value practice whenever possible, and the kids are really starting to make those connections!

Later in the week, we had our third visit to Cochran’s. The snow was a bit tougher to move through this time—especially on the bunny hill—but the children gave it their best effort and are making wonderful progress. Their perseverance and growing confidence on the slopes have been awesome to see!

On Friday, we wrapped up the week with a joyful celebration of friendship. Students enjoyed games and an afternoon party filled with laughter and connection. A huge thank you for supporting your child with this special day—and thank you for the delicious treats! They were very much appreciated.

During literacy time, we explored forest ecosystems. This is a biome many of us are familiar with in our everyday lives—from dappled sunlight through the trees to the sounds of birds, and sometimes even spotting animals or their tracks. The students loved making connections between what we’re learning and what they’ve experienced outside.

In literacy groups, we continue to strengthen: letter and sound recognition, CVC words, digraphs (sh, th, ck, wh), & blends.  We are also practicing our growing Power Word list. Some new words we’ve added include: are, want, here, have, and for. Your continued support with reading practice at home makes such a difference—thank you!

Upcoming Dates

Spirit week this week!!

2/18 Vermont Sled Dogs and Adventures

2/19 Final Cochran's 

Another chilly weekend greeting! ❄

What a fun-filled week we’ve had! Students have been resilient, chugging right along through these busy days. The whole school headed to the Flynn this week to see Cirque Mechanics: Tilt, a mesmerizing act of skill and strength. A huge thank-you to the UCS PTO for supporting this trip—students were on the edge of their seats the entire time! 🎡

We also wrapped up our second week of Cochran’s. Each week, students grow in skill and bravery on the hills, pushing themselves to go farther. It’s wonderful to see the quick progress that happens every year. ⛷

In the classroom, we began a short science unit on Force and Motion. We use pushes and pulls throughout our day, and this unit is filled with experiments and hands-on activities that reinforce these concepts. It connects nicely with the Olympics and our whole-school Iditarod mini unit this month! 

In literacy, we continued exploring the toasty savanna. Students loved learning about the adaptations animals use to survive—such as camouflage, long legs, and sharp teeth and claws. This week, students wrote about the savanna, pushing themselves to add more details and facts while tapping out sounds as they wrote. 🦒

In math, we started the week with some Groundhog Day math. On the following days, students counted items from mystery bags and played a caterpillar counting game. Their goal was to reach 60 by coloring in circles and tallying as they moved along the caterpillar.

We have another busy week ahead—rest up! 🌞

Upcoming events:

• Tuesday: 100th Day of School

• Wednesday: Buddy Dubay 🎸 & early dismissal

• Thursday: 3rd Cochran’s Ski/Ride

• Friday: Friendship Party 🎉

This week, we jumped into the biome of the savanna and its ecosystems—though it felt more like the Arctic outside! We learned that savannas are grasslands with scattered trees and shrubs, a wet season and a dry season, and they are home to many incredible animals. We took a closer look at the African savanna and its amazing wildlife.

Some students brought home their Zoology Unit 2 writing this week. You’ll spot lots of scientific thinking, including detailed animal illustrations and thoughtful comparisons. The rest of the students will bring their work home on Monday.

Math time was full of hands-on fun! We played games like Build 20, where students added pennies to a 20-frame and stopped to think: “If I have 3 pennies, how many more do I need to make 20?” Students also loved measuring their legs and arms with cubes—and comparing their measurements with friends.

Snow Motion was incredible! Students with skiing experience found their rhythm right away, while first-time skiers impressed us all with their bravery and determination as they took on the hill. We can’t wait to head back next Thursday!

                                                 Enjoy some fun clips of the week!

Upcoming events:

2/4   Flynn Trip

2/5   2nd Snow Motion Ski/ride day

2/6 Book orders due

  SHOP OUR CLASS PAGE:  https://orders.scholastic.com  

Then click connect to teacher.

Class Code: V4R4N

SHOP FLYERS: https://clubs.scholastic.com/all-flyers

2/13 Friendship Party   This info will be printed and sent home on Monday. 

                                                                      A beautiful Bolton bobcat track

Chilly Greetings!

I just got back from a hike and saw so many incredible tracks, I would have loved my 16 tracking buddies to have been there! Over the past two weeks, we’ve learned about the very cool beaver, an animal that creates an entire ecosystem as it builds its home. This week, our curiosity turned to squirrels and their clever nut-hiding habits. We discovered how forgotten nuts can sprout into new trees, making squirrels unexpected helpers in growing healthy forests!

In math, we continued to engage in games that focused on making combinations and practicing correct number formation.

In literacy, we began introducing our next unit by discussing living and non-living things. Over the coming weeks, we will continue strengthening our reading and discussion skills while exploring the fascinating world of ecology. Students are already showing curiosity and excitement about learning how living things interact with their environments.

On Thursday we had a wonderful time cheering on the VT Catamounts women’s basketball team! While it was a high-stimulation (and tiring!) day for everyone, students had a blast showing their UVM spirit! 🐱

Note: Please continue to check your child for head lice. 

Ski & ride day @ Cochran's on Thursday!

 

We are grateful for this three-day weekend and took time to pause and reflect on the inspiration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the important work that still remains. Kindergarten, with the help of Mrs. Jones' buddy classroom, ended the week with a thoughtful discussion about Dr. King’s legacy. We talked about how one of the most important lessons he taught was leading others with his words, not his fists. Students then collaborated with partners to create peace pledges.

In literacy, we concluded our Zoology unit by comparing two animals, focusing on what they have in common and what sets them apart. This coming week, we will begin a new unit on Ecology, where we will explore different ecosystems while practicing key literacy skills such as reading for key details, learning new power words, writing about what we learn, and more.

In math, students played Double Compare, practiced solving story problems, and created tile combinations while following specific rules. They also stepped back to examine their combinations and worked on creating equations to match their thinking.

Report cards will be sent home this Friday. Please note: because learning at this age happens so quickly, students may already be demonstrating new skills that were developed after our assessments were completed. Which is a beautiful thing! 

Have a wonderful week!

1/19 No School

1/22 UCS @ UVM Basketball game 9:30-1:45

1/29 1st Snow Motion Ski/ride day

2/4   Flynn Trip

2/5   2nd Snow Motion Ski/ride day

Welcome Back!

We had a great first week back at school! Students settled into their routines nicely, although they were a little tired at times. 💤

This week, we dove into the waters of fish.  This will wrap up our Zoology unit shortly. Students are learning so many fun and fascinating facts about these aquatic creatures.

Kindergarteners began a new digital literacy program this week called Lalilo. Similar to Happy Numbers, Lalilo is a wonderful tool that meets students where they are academically. The program is completely individualized, allowing students to engage in games that build letter recognition, sounds, and early word skills. 

In math, we explored story problems and began identifying what each problem is asking. Students practiced representing their thinking on paper using drawings and simple equations.

We also kicked off our yearly Scat and Track program, presented by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Over the next month, we will watch videos featuring Vermont wildlife and learn about each species’ habitat, life cycle, tracks, and scat. This week, we studied the gray fox, a nocturnal species. The following day, we went on a tracking expedition to search for this unique animal. While it’s still up for debate whether we found gray fox tracks, we did discover many other animal tracks along the way! 🐿

Important Dates:

1/14 Early Dismissal

1/19 No School

1/22 UCS heading to a UVM Basketball game

1/29 1st Snow Motion Ski/ride day

2/4   Flynn Trip

2/5   2nd Snow Motion Ski/ride day

 

Wishing you all happy holidays and a wonderful break!

Here are a few moments of our festive two days we had this week!  Thank you all for your generosity and the gratitude you have shown me these past couple of weeks! ❤

                                                               Happy Winter!

Why did the lizard bring a blanket to school? 🦎  Because it was a little cold-blooded!  This week, our Kindergarteners explored the world of scaly reptiles! We learned interesting reptile facts through books and continued practicing our sketching skills by creating detailed diagrams of a reptile of choice.

Toward the end of the week, we began discussing amphibians. So far, students know that reptiles have dry, scaly skin, while amphibians tend to have smooth, slimy skin—and that both groups are cold-blooded. We also learned that amphibians belong to three main groups: frogs and Toads, salamanders, and caecilians.

ECO was a blast this week! Students played another Predator vs. Prey game and had a lot of fun building animal habitats, which quickly evolved into building the largest snowball. We were glad to enjoy the sticky snow before it melted!

We ended the week with a beautiful whole-school sing-along. 🎶❄️ We look forward to two days this week filled with festive activities!

A note from Art:

To celebrate and wrap up their clay unit, the kindergarteners will be having a tea party in art class on Monday with Mrs. Aucter. They are excited to use the teacups and saucers they created!  Mrs. Aucter will be serving lukewarm Bigelow Mint Medley tea with a small amount of sugar. If you would prefer that your child drink water instead, please contact Mrs. Aucter at kim.aucter@mmuusd.org.

Buddy, Birds, & Measurement!

 Hello,

This week was full of snow flurries and fun! ☃❄❅

Students have been busy learning all about birds, revisiting life cycles, and on Friday, we slithered into our new unit on reptiles. Ask your child how birds are different from mammals! (They have feathers, wings, lay eggs, have beaks, and no teeth.) Then ask how they are the same! (Both are warm-blooded and have vertebrae—also called backbones.)

One of the highlights of the week was creating adorable owls while learning fun and fascinating facts about them. Each owl was unique and beautifully made, with lots of creative textures!

In math, our young mathematicians have been measuring up a storm! We measured our feet and compared them with our classmates’ feet, then measured classroom objects and strips of tape using cubes and popsicle sticks.

*Thank you so much for helping out with leaving toys at home these last couple of days!