Our Brockway Field Trip

Our class enjoyed learning about life cycles and metamorphosis. We are so thankful for the Dorthy Osborne Trust that allows our class to work with the naturalists from the Audubon in our classroom and at the Brockway Nature Preserve. Mrs. Chapman from the Audubon has been helping our class learn about vernal pools too as part of our science lessons.

Mrs. Chapman brought a Painted Lady Turtle to our
classroom.  This type of turtle can be found at Brockway. 

We got to touch the shell and feet of the turtle.

The foot bridge at Brockway is a
great way to view the beaver dam.

At Brockway, we caught all kinds of pond life...salamanders, tadpoles,
 minnows, crayfish, dragonfly nymphs and even a whirligig beetle. 

Mr. Montano helped us get an up close look at some
of the creatures we caught in the pond.

Mrs. Chapman lead our group on a nature walk at Brockway too.

We looked for bird nests along the nature path...

...and learned about the different places that birds make nests and why.

Noah and Wyatt work together on our nature walk.

We put picture cards of the Mayflower's life cycle in the correct order
and then looked for them along the trail.

Charlotte and Eden match a Mayflower leaf to the correct picture card.

Peeking inside of a tree bud.

KD is ready to go "ponding".

In the HMS vernal pool, we found interesting creatures
just steps away from the playground.

It was tricky getting what was in our nets into containers!

We found it was easier to work together. :)

Learning to scoop deep in the muck and search for bugs and salamanders.

We even found a red eft!

Thanks to all of our parents for sending in appropriate footwear for the week and to our chaperones!

Contoocook Village Field Trip

We had a great time on our Contoocook Village Field Trip.  Our students enjoyed singing and the Slusser Center, visiting the Hopkinton Town Library and touring the Hopkinton Fire Station. A special thanks to all of the chaperones that joined us.  What made this field trip extra special was that it was our first one of the year!

It's always exciting to ride the bus with friends...
Wyatt and Eden.

Izzy and Charlotte

Camden and Jack

Taylor, Chana and Lily

Noah and Connor

Autumn, Lucy and Brylee

At the Slusser Center, we sang the Rainbow Song.

We read with friends while others found the perfect
 book at the Town Library.

Patiently reading books and waiting for friends to sign their new library cards.

Izzy and her dad pick out a book at the library.

At the fire station, we reviewed fire safety rules.

Corbin practices using the fire hose and aiming at
the tire.

There were so many tools kept on the fire trucks!

Learning all about Engine 1 and the ways the fire department
can help people.

Exploring the fire trucks.

Izzy takes a turn spraying the hose.

Lions, Lambs and Leprechauns

What a busy month!  We've been making a video for all of our families to see (it's almost ready!). We can't wait to show you all the things we are able to do in kindergarten in springtime.

We've really enjoyed our author study on Mo Willems.  Willem's Pigeon and Duckling books have been a fun and creative way to explore within our opinion writing unit. Some of this month's writing prompts have included: Would you let the pigeon drive the bus?  Would you give the duckling a cookie? Kindergartners are practicing stating their opinion and giving a reason why.

You wouldn't believe all the reading that happens in KD.  We have the most
excited bunch of readers!!

Last week we participated in this month's STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) challenge in the library.

This month's STEM challenge included creating a structure
to hold a marshmallow. 

Everyone got 20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti, 
3 feet of masking tape and one marshmallow to use.

We worked in partners to create our structures.

Everyone had different ideas...

...and each structure looked different.

We had a great time completing this month's STEM challenge in the library.

A special thanks to our librarians, Mrs. Marino and Mrs. Bolhman
 for putting together another fun challenge!

It seems like we have had plenty of indoor recess lately.  Thanks to all of our families for sending in full winter gear during this tricky in-between season.  Hopefully an end to the snow pants season is near!

Other March highlights include searching for the leprechaun, Read Across America Week,  lots of fun math problems combining numbers to ten and learning a new song to sing to the seniors on our Contoocook Village field trip!

One of our favorite indoor recess activities is creating
a puppet show with friends!

We enjoyed celebrating St. Patrick's Day...

...in our pajamas...

...and having a Teddy Bear picnic.

Kindergartners participated in our school-wide assembly during
Read Across America Week.

Snowshoeing

We had the best time snowshoeing and taking advantage of the unusually warm weather right before vacation. It was a great way to celebrate all of our hard work throughout the month!

LOOK...no jackets!

We enjoyed creating our own trail.

It was a perfect day for a walk in the woods!

Stopping for a quick break...

...with friends...

...is the best way to spend an afternoon.

The stone wall was a perfect spot to rest.

Mr. G. joined us on our walk and we practiced taking our pulse.

A fun game of tag to end the afternoon.

February Fun

A huge thank you to all of our parents who sent in donations for our Valentine's Day party!  The room was filled with excitement as students shared Valentines and snacks with each other. It truly was a special day and we appreciate your support! Check out our class reading a poem from Valentine's Day called I Like Hearts.

We delivered our own Valentines...

...and practiced reading our friends' names.

Fun times checking out our Valentines!

Our Fancy Friendship Party was a great time.

Our 100th day of school was filled with math activities. We practiced counting by 1s, 5s and 10s. We thought about 100 things we would like, 100 things we would not like and even read stories about 100th day.

100 days in kindergarten....

...time flies when you are having fun!

Have you heard our dramatic play area has turned into a flower shop?  We've been having a great time receiving and filling orders for flower bouquets. It's such a fun way to practice writing numbers, letters and working together.

Brylee and Lucy take an order in our flower shop.

Our class has been visiting the computer lab every week.  We've worked on creating labels and diagrams for our informational writing unit, practiced typing our names and using the SHIFT key as well as coding!  When we return to school, we will continue to learn about coding.

Kindergartners create diagrams in the computer lab.

Sometimes we work together and other times we work alone on a project.

Ready to add labels.