Concert, MMU Service Day, & Science!

 

We had a wonderful visit this week from the Brown’s River Middle School chorus and band! Their performance was fantastic, and our students were a terrific audience who truly enjoyed the concert. We were also excited to welcome students from MMU, who joined us for their service day. They played games and did crafts with our students—it was such a fun and meaningful experience for everyone.

This week, our first graders had fun learning to tell time to the hour! They built their own clocks and practiced reading and writing at different times. Next week, we’ll begin our final geometry unit, where students will explore 3D shapes through hands-on activities.

Kindergartners explored weight in math using pan balances. After spending time learning to measure length, this week was all about discovering whether objects are heavy or light. They compared the weights of various items using cubes, pennies, and other classroom materials.

In science, students were introduced to some big new vocabulary words: Opaque – something you cannot see through. Translucent – something that lets some light through, but you can’t see clearly through it (like frosted glass). Transparent – something you can see through clearly (like a window).  It was exciting to see students begin using these scientific terms to describe the world around them!

Poetry, Poetry, Poetry

This week, the weather has been too gorgeous to ignore—clear skies, warm breezes, and sunshine that seemed to call us outside every moment. So, we listened! We took full advantage of the beautiful days by bringing our work and play outdoors, making the most of every sun-soaked moment.

Our garden quickly became the heart of our outdoor adventures. We’ve created a lovely workspace nestled among the plants, a peaceful spot where inspiration can flow. It’s already become a favorite place to write our beautiful poems!

We also took our first exciting steps toward building our garden beds. The students worked together to plant our very first bed with tea plants—lemon balm, mint, and anise hyssop, to name a few. Students enjoyed getting their hands dirty while smelling the aromas of these special plants! We look forward to the continuous transformation of this place of work, play, and discovery!

Important Dates:

• Field Trip forms are due!
• Wednesday, May 21st ~ BRMS Music Presentation @ UCS 
• Friday, May 23rd - MMU Service Day - High schoolers heading our way to help us do some outdoor classroom projects - wear old clothing, please!!
• Monday, May 26th ~ NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

Buzzing With Sound🔊 & Story📚

Students continued to explore the world of sound this week. We explored what makes sound possible, focusing on vibrations, and examined how pitch and volume help us understand the different qualities of what we hear. The room buzzed excitedly as students made homemade instruments using everyday materials. These creations sparked thoughtful conversations about how sound travels and how we can manipulate it through design.  As students plucked rubber band strings, tapped jars, and shook homemade maracas, they considered what causes high vs. low sounds, and how we can make something louder or quieter. 

After spending the last couple of weeks getting to know the characters in our stories—thinking about their actions, feelings, and motivations—we’ve now begun to notice the setting: where the story takes place. Students are learning to visualize and describe the environments that shape the events in a book, and how the setting can influence the mood and tone of a story.

Happy Mother's Day, everybody!  You are incredible!!

Spring Time Fun

 

Springtime in the Forest and the Classroom!

What a magical time to walk in the forest and see spring ephemerals popping up everywhere! Our class took a trip into the woods on Friday, and the students were bursting with excitement at all the beauty around them. With the warmer weather on its way, we’ll be spending more time outdoors—please remember to check your child for ticks each day.

We also spent time in our school garden, planting seeds that we’ll care for indoors until they’re ready to thrive outside. I’m so excited to get our garden growing this year!

Literacy & Writing 

Students continue to work hard in Literacy, and we hope you're seeing the same incredible growth at home that we’re seeing here at school. We’ve got some real reading machines in our classroom!

In Writing, we’ve begun our final mini-unit on Poetry. This is always a fun and creative time as students express their interests and imagination through their poems.

Math Adventures

In Kindergarten, students have been revisiting story problems—identifying what the problem is asking, representing it with drawings or objects, and solving it. They’re also building fluency within 5 using fun games focused on addition and subtraction.

Our first graders are continuing to explore addition and subtraction using place value and base ten blocks. They’re learning to break numbers into tens and ones to help solve double-digit problems. With base ten blocks, they can physically combine or separate tens and ones to find solutions. At home, you can support this by grouping everyday items into tens, counting together, and discussing how numbers are made—it's a great way to reinforce these concepts in a fun, hands-on way!

A shout out to all who were able to come to our Art/Music Performance!  What a wonderful turnout we had on a beautiful evening in Underhill!