A Frozen Vernal Pool

We journeyed to the woods this morning and say a Vernal Pool but it was frozen!  We noticed that most of the snow had melted but there was still quite a bit of ice in the woods.  Due to the ice we decided to take a walk after checking out the frozen pool and had some time to play at Ethan Allen Playground!

This afternoon in Math we learned some new Math Games!  Bump is a favorite and a great way to practice addition facts and/or counting on.



                   

A Secret Pool!?

This afternoon with Mrs. Tourin's class I read the book The Secret Pool by Kimberly Ridley.  We are hopeful that with warming temperatures we may notice vernal (meaning "occurring in spring") pools in Ethan Allen Woods in the coming weeks.  Vernal Pools are often mistaken for mere puddles in the woods but vernal pools are the source of life for many interesting creatures!  Many animals such as salamanders and wood frogs will lay their eggs in vernal pools in the spring.  Vernal pools usually dry up during the summer which means fish and other predators cannot live in the them.  This is a good thing because the eggs can stay safe in these temporary pools!  We will continue discussing vernal pools over the next few weeks and hope to spot one soon.

 

An overdue post!

We have been BUSY the past week with our "Red Clover" week. The Red Clover Book Award is designed for children in elementary. Each year thousands of Vermont children read the 10 nominated picture books and vote for their favorite in the spring. The award has been handed out annually since 1997.  Students K-5 are split into 10 different drops and each teacher at Smith is reading one of the 10 books and completing a short activity.  At the end of the week students will vote on their favorite book.  I am reading the book Malala's Magic Pencil the story of Malala Yousafzai who defied the Taliban in  Pakistan and fought for girls to attend school through the power of her voice and her writing.  Last week on "Stuffy Day" the stuffies had some fun while Kindergarteners were at P.E...

Happy First Day of Spring!

This morning we began our first chapter book of the year Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant.  I will be reading a chapter a day to get students used to hearing chapter books being read aloud.  Gooseberry Park  is the story of a an unusual friendship.  Most dogs chase squirrels but not Kona.  He is best friends with a squirrel named Stumpy.  Today we met Stumpy and learned that she likes to collect things and that she is also expecting babies!  We are excited to "meet" Stumpy's babies.

Goodbye Winter...?

Kindergarten is excited for Spring to arrive tomorrow.  Hopefully warmer weather is on the horizon!  Our poem for this week is called Goodbye Winter:

This afternoon I read the book Mama Miti about Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathi.  Wangari was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her work supporting women in Kenya.  Wangari helped to plant over 30 million trees in Kenya and surrounding African countries.  We discussed that in addition to making oxygen for us to breath trees are important because they: provide shelter for animals, fire for firewood, timber for buildings, food for people and animals, and even medicine for cows!  During Math this afternoon we continued working on ten numbers with a ten frame.  We talked about how teen numbers are 1 group of 10 and some more.  We worked on counting on from 10.    

 

Snow Fort!

I was surprised this morning to see how much snow had fallen.  Kindergarten was excited because it was perfect snowman snow!  Kindergarteners worked hard at morning recess to roll BIG snowballs and put them together to make a "snow fort."  We decided to take advantage of the milder weather and returned back outside before lunch and had our read aloud in the snow fort with Mrs. Tourin's class.  I read a favorite, Thomas' Snowsuit by Robert Munsch.  It was great fun!

New Books!

This week some students have brought in books to share.  I LOVE books and it is always exciting to be introduced to new books and authors.  Today one of our Kindergarteners not only brought in a book but she read it to the class which was super exciting!