Migratory Animal Presentations - Part 2

We finished our presentations yesterday. Again, I was amazed at what the children knew AND the variety of ways they demonstrated their creativity. Several students remarked that this was very fun, and wanted to do a similar project again. This, to me, is the best feedback I could have received.

Here are our presenters from yesterday:

Samantha's report was about the Bottle Nose Dolphin, one of her favorites.
Her creative project was a diorama - and the dolphin actually moved!

Ben was so excited to share what he learned about Humpback Whale.
His handcrafted project was a hit as he could make the whale shoot water!

Juna learned all about the Robin - our state bird.
She had several creative parts - one of which was the robin yoga pose.

Leo researched the massive and impressive Bull Shark.
He was the game emcee in a "quiz bowl" type activity.

Clementine learned all about the African Elephant.
After reading her great report, she showed us the elephant she made of clay.

Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-Up List

Monday, 3/12

7:30 - 7:50

7:50 - 8:10          Oliver

8:10 - 8:30          

12:30 - 12:50       Juna   

12:50 - 1:10         Owen

2:30 - 2:50           Clementine

2:50 - 3:10           Samantha

Tuesday, 3/13

7:30 - 7:50

7:50 - 8:10          Ella

8:10 - 8:30          Elliot

Wednesday, 3/14

7:30 - 7:50

7:50 - 8:10          Ariana

8:10 - 8:30          Ben

2:30 - 2:50

2:50 - 3:10          

Thursday, 3/15

7:30 - 7:50

7:50 - 8:10          Eli

8:10 - 8:30          Leo

Looking Forward to TOOLS - Our Theme for March

As we finish up our Migratory Animal Presentations, we are looking forward to the end of February and the start of March. Of course, a new month means a new theme - and this one promises to be pretty special.

When you say the word "tools" to a child, they mostly think of the type of tools that carpenters use - hammers, wrenches, and the like. However, tools can be thought of as anything that makes a person's (or animal's) job easier. This Friday, I will be introducing the topic of tools used by animals and the importance of our BEST tools (our hands, specifically our opposable thumbs). We will look at pictures of tools that early man used as well.






Starting next week, we will be having our families come in to show and tell us about tools they use as part of their job. How lucky we have so many fascinating parents in our classroom! So far, I have parents thinking about coming in to represent the following:

An ARCHITECT will show us some of the high-tech tools she uses as part of her job.
A student of ARCHEOLOGY will come and show us trowels and brushes used as part of that job, and then we will do a mini-dig of our own.
A THERAPIST will come with the puppets she uses as a way to get children to express their feelings, and then we may make our own emotion puppets or put on puppet shows.
A SCIENTIST will come with yeast, petri dishes and pipets to talk about how simple cells can teach us about more complex organisms.
A BAKER will come with some of his equipment and will teach us how to use a piping bag.

How exciting is that? I am really looking forward to learning along with the children. Many, many thanks to this amazing parent community. Not only will the children get some hands-on experience using all different types of tools, but they will also be learning about various jobs in their community.

Migratory Animal Presentations - Part 1

This morning, we had time to hear from 7 of our classmates. We will try to get through a couple more this afternoon, and will be all finished by tomorrow afternoon. So far, the presentations have been most enjoyable and informative!

Eli started us off with his presentation of the Hammerhead Shark.
The creative part of his project was a model of a shark - using a real hammer!

Ella went next. She did a terrific report on the Gray Whale.
Her creative part was a colorful and detailed diorama.

Elliot chose to research the Great White Shark.
He also demonstrated his creativity by doing a super diorama.

Maddy's researched the beautiful Monarch Butterfly.
She made a lovely mobile that she donated to our classroom.

Owen chose one of his favorite animals - the chinstrap penguin.
He cracked everyone up with his very funny comic book.

Oliver chose to research and write about the toad.
He made sock puppets and wrote a wonderfully silly play.

Ariana wrote a report about the Beluga Whale.
Her creative project was a gorgeous oil pastel work of art.

Happy Mid-Winter Break!

We are zipping into the last short months of the year. See you on the 27th!

Morning Meditation

We started a new routine in our classroom yesterday. I told the children that I recently read several articles on how older children really benefit from starting each day with 15 minutes of silence. Their work improved, their focus was better, cooperation between students increased, and they just felt better and more relaxed as they began their day.

I told them that I would like to see if we might benefit from this practice as well. We are starting out small - just 2-3 minutes of quiet. Yesterday it went really well, but I could tell many minds were still busy. Today, we learned a mantra - something to say over and over again in our heads:

Gabrielle, Ariana's mom, has loaned me a copy of the book, Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children. I just started reading it, but I can tell already that I will need to get my own copy. It is written mostly for parents, so you may want to check it out.

We will continue to expand on this morning meditation time as a way to calmly enter the day. I'm hoping to increase the time the children can be still, and we will learn about the importance of breath. I will take the children on some visualization journeys as well.

By the way, I just heard a second grade boy walk by, saying softly to himself, "I am calm and still, I am calm and still..." I think this is the start of something big.

Happy Valentine's Day

Thank you to all who helped make Valentine's Day such fun. We had lovely snacks - delicious and beautiful fruit salad in the morning, and vegan brownies in the afternoon - sweet valentine cards and treats, and lots of expressions of friendship and love.

Snack Schedule - Updated

Here is the snack roster from now until the end of the school year. A sincere thanks to each family for making our snacks so healthy and appealing!

February 13 - 17        Maynard

MID-WINTER BREAK

Feb 27 - March 2        Pritts

March 5 - 9             Levin

March 12 - 16           Miller

March 19 - 23           Pui

March 26 - 30           Stuckey

SPRING BREAK

April 9 - 13            Applegate

April 16 - 20           Davies

April 23 - 27           Godwin

April 30 - May 4        Hume Clark

May 7 - 11              Matzger

May 14 - 18             Kulper

May 21 - 25             Maynard

May 28 - June 1         Pritts

June 4 - 7              Levin

Special Readers - Updated List

The children are doing so wonderfully at Special Reader time! It has amazing to me how confident and at ease they are becoming. And audience behavior is getting better all the time. It seems to help that the reader gets to "rate" the audience at the end of their time - everybody wants to get the elusive "10". And this past week, we did - twice!

Thursday, February 16: Oliver and Elliot

Thursday, March 1: Ariana and Clementine

Thursday, March 8: Leo and Owen

Thursday, March 15: Samantha and Maddy

Thursday, March 22: Eli and Ben

Thursday, March 29: Ella and Juna

Skating Party - Join Us!

Owen, Maddy, and Ariana from last year's party. Fun!

On Friday, February 17th, we will have our annual pre-mid-winter break skating party at Buhr Park. This will be from 2 - 3. Additional details will be covered in an email from Karen.

Please note - we LOVE to see parents there. It is a family-school event that is always a lot of fun. Plus, the teachers can really use help getting all these children in and out of skates!

Also, we'd appreciate you picking your child up at the rink if at all possible. If you are not there by 3:00, then your child will be shuttled back to school for the usual pick-up (either at 3:30 or aftercare). If you let me know that you will be picking up at the rink, I can make sure that your child has everything with them.

The Great Migration - The African American Experience

Tomorrow, the children will learn that animals are not the only living things that migrate. Humans do too, of course, and there are many instances throughout history where this has happened.

Val, our amazing and inspiring kindergarten teacher, has invited her friend Kaye to come in with her collection of quilts. Kaye is a member of the Great Lakes Quilter's Guild and Ann Arbor Quilter's Association. Her quilts feature African and Underground Railroad design blocks. Secret messages in the form of quilt patterns aided slaves escaping the south before and during the Civil War.

Later in our history, African Americans left the south in great numbers - especially between WWI and WWII. Christine, Juna's mom, sent me an amazing lesson plan that is actually about blues and literature, and "the great migration" that happened in the first half on the 20th century. Because of the oppressive conditions of the Jim Crow South, millions of African Americans left their homes for the economic and social promises (sometimes unfulfilled) of the north. We will be listening to a couple Langston Hughes poems, The South and One Way Ticket.



And, finally, I leave you with this video of Sweet Honey in the Rock. We will be seeing them next Friday (the day before mid-winter break). This particular song deals with the very current issue of immigration. Enjoy!


\\\\\\\\

Migrating Animals Project

This information is also found in your child's cubby. Please check!

The first and second graders in my class and Elaine's class have all chosen animals to research as a homework project. These projects will be presented to each other as an end-of-unit event. On the packet located in your child's cubby, you will see the animal your child has chosen.

This is a 3 part project to include:

A brief written report (perhaps one paragraph, or just written in Q and A form) that should answer the following:

* animal's name
* why the animal migrates
* route
* type of migration

Additional information about these topics are found on the written assignment.

A map should also be included, which shows the route the animal takes.

Finally, a creative aspect (clay models, posters, dioramas, etc.)

Please let me know if you have any questions. I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing these projects, and I hope your child enjoys the process, and learns even more about migration.

February Environmental Superhero Project

This being February, the month of friendship and love, the superheroes made their own "re-purposed" valentines for their kindergarten buddies (shh, it's a surprise for them). Using leftover valentines from previous years, materials from The Scrap Box, and our own imaginations, we made quite a few new cards. Giving another life to materials that would normally just get thrown away is an important lesson.

Learning in the Community

Field trips out into our community are a big part of our curriculum. Ann Arbor is full of fascinating places to go, and wonderful things to do - so field trips are often right in our own little town. The University of Michigan alone is rife with learning possibilities!

Amy, Ella's mom, arranged for us to go the map room in the Stephen S. Clark Library at the University of Michigan. Tim, one of the librarians there, patiently answered all of our questions as he showed us many maps of people and animal migratory patterns. I am hoping the children got some ideas about a project they will be completely over the next several weeks (details soon!).

Many, many thanks to Amy for arranging this trip, scouting parking choices (always a challenge in Ann Arbor), and helping to maneuver 12 children through the streets of downtown. Also, thanks to Lynne, Owen's mom, for meeting us and showing us where she works (nice view!).

Our kids are SO lucky.

Learning from Visitors

Our lovely and talented art teacher Tracy seems to know everyone! One of the people she knows lives right down the street from our school. Her name is Carol, and she does bird rescue. Carol brought in "Cloud", a very old and beautiful pigeon. Cloud was so patient as children watched him, learned all about him (as well as why some birds migrate and some don't), and then used their powers of keen observation to draw him.

Thank you Tracy for arranging this special visit. We learn so much from the visitors to our school.

Carol and Cloud

Such a beauty.

Owen is entranced.

Learning from Older Friends

We do a fair amount of teaching/guiding with our kindergarten buddies - but sometimes, we get to learn from the older students. This morning, we were honored with a visit from B's 5th and 6th graders. They each learned about an important battle in history, did extensive research, and made a very detailed map of their battle. We were inspired by the obvious time and effort each of these older children put into their maps and presentations. Truly amazing! You can see the maps in detail by clicking HERE.

Our Wednesday Poetry Routine

As most of you know, each child in the classroom has a poetry anthology in his/her desk. Before school started this Fall, I selected one poem per week - sometimes these poems reflect seasonal changes, sometimes they reflect special events or holidays, and sometimes they extend what we are learning about in school. These poems were typed up and put in a notebook - and I made sure that there was room on each page for an illustration.

Each Wednesday afternoon, the children get out their anthologies and we read the weekly poem together. Then children volunteer to read the poem aloud, selecting their preference, "all together", "all by myself", or "both!" (Most children select "both", but it is nice for beginner readers to have the perfectly acceptable option of selecting "all together".) This is always a choice, no one is forced to read aloud if they are not ready. But by following along in their own anthologies, I'm convinced that everyone really benefits. Also, children who want an additional challenge can memorize the poem! This has been great fun for some of the students who like to flex their memorization muscles.

Sometime in the past it became our custom to stand our our chairs when reading a poem "all by myself". I can't remember how it started, but it stuck. Here are some pictures of a few of our poem reciters today, plus the poem itself - a lovely one about migration, our brand new theme.