Special Visitor "Winks"

Friday we had a special visitor.  This special visitor named "Winks" the squirrel was cleared to visit our school under the conditions that this animal was vaccinated, stayed in her cage and that the children were not to touch her in any way.  This visitor is friend from Mrs. Garrabrant's class, and is taking care of a baby squirrel that fell from a tree.  Sadly, her fall ended in her loosing a toe on one of her back feet.   She didn't have enough time to get well and prepare for the winter, so she is being kept in captivity until she fully recovers. 

Since we have been talking about Ohio's wild animals, this squirrel was a great way to get the conversation started about how she would have needed to prepare for winter if she was living in the wild.  We talked about how this animal is still a wild animal even though it lives at a humans house and is treated like a pet.  She was born in the wild and is potentially going to be released back into the wild. 

When the children got their first glance at "Winks" they couldn't help but smile and become VERY excited.  They came up with some great questions for its owner and we learned a lot.  

The students were thrilled to meet this squirrel.  This experience has made them even more excited to learn more about the wild animals in Ohio, and how they prepare for winter.  

I look forward to sharing more about our new study in the future!

Mrs. Atkin

Friendship Feast

This week was our Family Friendship Feast.  The students were extremely helpful with preparing for this exciting event.  Below you will see some documentation panels that we made to display our work.  These panels were displayed at the feast, and are now displayed in our classroom.  If you missed them at the feast, or weren't able to make it,  take a look at our process!

In addition we created table decorations that said "Give Thanks" on both the front and the back sides. 

 Thank you to those that brought in cans of corn for our feast.  We also used some of the hand picked green onions from our garden to give the corn some flavor.  

Students made labels for the items we made in our classroom. 

 Carrot cake cookies at our feast.  (The carrots were also hand picked from our garden at school.) 

The tables were set with beautiful decorations, and the feast was ready to begin.

We welcomed friends to our feast with our beautiful signs. 

 The students from all three classes sang a couple songs to kick off our feast.

At our feast we had A LOT of food.  Thank you for bringing all the yummy food!

AND... a lot of yummy desserts.  

 

 

 Our count was about 170-180 people that joined us for our feast.  What an amazing turn out!

Thank you again for joining our feast!  Here is a picture of all the teachers that had a hand in planning and making the feast happen (alongside the children).  We were joined by our superintendent Dr. Clifford.  Our principal Ms. Hall was busy at the moment and couldn't make the shot.

We had plenty of turkey, bread, potatoes, green beans, and fruit left over so we decided to feast with all the students the following day.  Mrs. Gore moved all the furniture to one side of her room and all three classes squeezed in so we could feast together.  ALL the children had a great time!

Thank you again for joining us at our feast.  Also, thank you for sending in apples and cans of corn to help us prepare food for our feast.  We hope you enjoyed our feast as much as we did.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your few days off.  

Take care,

Mrs. Julie Atkin

Inttro to Ohio Animal Study

Every year it's fun to really listen to the students express their interests.  I know I have mentioned this before, but it seems as though it's different every year.  A couple years ago, my students were interested with outer space.  Last year it was any and all forms of transportation.   And this year the students are all about ANIMALS!  We have noticed that the students love all types of animals...rain forest, ocean, reptiles, house pets, birds, and animals that we see around our homes. 

Last week after our bit of snowfall, we began discussing what happens to all the animals when the weather begins getting colder.  Students asked if we could build the animals a shelter so they have a place to keep warm.  As the week progressed, a few students made this "nest" for some birds to stay warm and possibly to "build a nest someday."

 

With it being a short week we briefly started talking about what makes an animal "wild."  We jotted down a list of "wild animal" characteristics as well as some of the wild animals that can be found in Ohio, or around our neighborhoods. 

You can see in the following picture how excited the students were to add their input. 

Later that week, I went to the library and picked up a few animal books that were all on our list.  The students were beyond thrilled to look at the books.  We have even had a couple student begin writing books during Writing Workshop about their favorite Ohio animals.  

We have a very busy week coming up.  

Don't forget about our Fall Friendship Feast on Wednesday at 6:00pm.  

We hope to see you all there!

Mrs. Julie Atkin

Preparation for Student-Led Conferences

As you all know, last week the students helped conduct student-led conferences.  To prepare for conferences, student had to do many things.  First, they gathered their best quality work that they were most proud of from their exploration lab journals as well as a couple pieces of writing.  Then, Miss Hannigan and I were busy conferencing with each child about all the pieces they chose for their portfolios.  Throughout the school year, students will be adding work samples to their portfolios.  By the end of the year, their portfolio will be a beautiful snapshot of their journey through kindergarten. It is almost unimaginable how much growth the children will make this year.  Portfolios are an incredible way for students and family to reflect on the amount of progress he/she has made in such a short period of time. 

Students enjoyed sharing their work with their peers in our classroom.  Before we shared, we talked about what it means to be an active listener.  In addition, we talked about how to respond in a variety of ways when being an active listener. 

We then shared our work with Mrs. Garrabrant's friends. 

In addition, we were busy making sure each students was introduced to their data folder.  Students began documenting their own learning in their data folders.  The data folders are a way for the students to begin taking control and develop a sense of pride with their own personal learning.  It is a resource for them to begin looking at what their strengths and weaknesses.  As we explained at conferences, the students data folders will travel with them throughout the day.  They will take them to the Literacy Lab in order to continue working on skills that are specific to their individual learning.  For example, if there are a few letters or sight words the child continues to work on, students will have the opportunity to work on those specific letters or sight words during their exploration work. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend.  Take Care!

Mrs. Julie Atkin

Crayons, Crayons, Crayons!

Earlier this year we asked the students what aspects of colors they were interested in learning.  Their responses were very different and unique.  Many of the students said they wanted to know how to make new colors, how to make colors lighter or darker, but the majority were interested in how to make crayons, markers, and colored pencils. 

Here is a video we watched on how crayons and markers are made.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8MpRd0pkGI

Towards the end of the video students were amazed to hear that the crayons that don't make it into packaging get melted down to make new crayons.  Students then made the connection that we could use some of our old crayons from our classroom, melt them down, and make our own "new" crayons. Every day this week,  during the "I Wonder" inquiry part of each day,  the students peeled the paper off of old crayons to make new crayons.  

I then  brought the unwrapped crayons home and melted them over the weekend. 
The students were excited to see and use the finished product.

In addition, together we talked about how we could create a beautiful piece of work with melted crayons.  We used a hairdryer to make a beautiful piece of wax splatters. 

Our completed piece!

Next week is going to be a very busy week preparing for our student-led conferences. 
We look forward to seeing all of you there!
Mrs. Julie Atkin