This week, I had the opportunity to attend the VT Kindergarten Conference in Burlington! The focus was on the importance of learning through play. When we play, we learn—and that learning becomes fun, meaningful, and impactful. Don’t forget to make time to play, everyone! 

In the classroom, we continued exploring the fascinating desert ecosystem. Through our reading, we are learning that this dry environment is home to many different organisms that have adapted to survive in harsh conditions. Books are helping us open our eyes to the world around us and discover new and interesting facts! 

This week, we also began discussing long vowel sounds, especially in words that have a “magic e,” such as take, Pete, kite, cone, and cute. Notice how the “e” makes the vowel say its name!

In math, we had fun playing games like Teen Bump, where students roll a die and add 10 to their number. Playing Bump with partners is always exciting, especially when we get to “bump” each other off a space!

In Social Studies, we focused on our town of Underhill. We brainstormed places that are important in our community, and students illustrated their neighborhoods—thoughtfully including details like neighbors, roads, trees, and other features of their surroundings.

This week felt busy, sorry for not taking as many pics!

Important Dates

Looking for donations of duct tape, please and thank you!!

• April 8th: Student 2-hour Early Release

• April 13 - April 15: UCS Abenaki Garden Mural Project - very exciting!!

• Our class will host All School Morning Meeting on May 8th @ 8:00!!

• May 21 Art & Music Concert from 5-6:30!

Desert, Leprechauns, & Maps!

Spring has certainly made its entrance like a lion; let’s hope the lamb arrives soon! Our sugar shack was busy this weekend, and we’re hoping it will continue for a few more weeks. I’ll be bringing in some freshly made syrup for the children to taste test this week!

You may have heard that a leprechaun visited our classroom and left clues for us to discover. It was very exciting to say the least! We also enjoyed reading several books featuring tricky leprechauns, which was a fun break from our nonfiction reading.

This week, we ventured into the dry desert, learning facts about how plants and animals survive in such harsh conditions. For example, cacti store water for later use, and a camel’s hump contains fat that helps it survive for long periods without water. It’s amazing to learn about the adaptations these organisms have developed.

In math, we played partner games like Race to the Sun and Fill the Treasure Chest, where students practiced solving addition and subtraction problems to move forward in the games.

We also had fun working with maps. We finished creating our classroom maps and then began exploring a map of our school. Students loved connecting what they saw on the map to real places in the building. Next, we’ll continue expanding our thinking as we learn more about mapping our town.

Important Dates

• Conferences begin on Monday. If you have not signed up, I will assume you would prefer to receive a progress report, which will be sent out within the next week or two during the conference window.

• Friday: Trip to Brown’s River Middle School to watch the Vermont Youth Dancers’ performance of Mary Poppins. 💃

Maps 🗺, Ocean 🌊, & Music 🎸

 

This week flew by! Thank you for continuing to send your child to school prepared with clothing for all kinds of weather. I think we experienced just about every type this week! ☔❄️☀️

We began a new social studies unit on Geography. Students have already shown great interest as they explored maps, practiced finding the four cardinal directions, and began learning what it’s like to be a cartographer—a map maker! We even mapped our classroom and talked about which important objects and places in the room should be included on our maps.

We wrapped up our Ocean topic with a deep dive into our ocean book collection. Each student chose an ocean animal to draw and paint. I am always amazed by how beautifully talented everyone is—what wonderful artists!

During math, we played several partner games such as Roll, Add, and Find, and 7 Snakes. When we work with partners, students practice math skills while also learning important social skills like playing fairly, taking turns, being patient, and helping their partner when needed.

Lastly, we were so lucky to have Buddy Dubay join us for a spring sing-along. He always brings so much joy and laughter to our classroom! We were also happy to see that Ms. Neeson has migrated back to Vermont after spending the winter in Florida.

Conference Info here!  

1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp: https://signup.com/go/LyYvTaZ

2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.

3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.

Welcome Back

 Welcome back!

It was so nice to hear how everyone spent their winter breaks! Over the past few days, we’ve spent time reconnecting, sharing stories, and diving into our Ocean Literacy topic. The ocean is an endlessly fascinating ecosystem to learn about, and we can’t wait to continue exploring it together!

We also began discussing how some one-syllable words with a short vowel sometimes have a bonus letter at the end when they end in s, l, f, or sometimes z. For example: will, fluff, bass, and buzz.  We will continue to practice this new spelling rule this week. 

Upcoming Dates:

Correction:  Our class will be doing an All School Morning Meeting in May, not April!  Thank you.

3/9 Buddy Dubay visit

Later this month we will be offering a Spring Conference sign up. If you can't make it there will be a progress report option.  Look for the sign-up soon!