It's finally time: Winter break has arrived! The last week has been a whirlwind of activity as we've crafted, colored, and created our way to our well-earned rest. On Friday, we had our first Kindergarten Town Hall. It was here that the students were able to share their personal timelines, something they've been working on to wrap up our current Unit of Inquiry. They did an exceptional job! We also recently had our Winter Concert, where the students got to have their first musical performance. Students got to conduct candy cane experiments with their Big Buddies, and explored the idea of weight by comparing various classroom objects to a ball of PlayDoh using a pan balance. There was time to build some blocks towers, visit the Book Fair, and get lots of play in the gym. We somehow even had time to build a class Christmas tree, with the students adding new pieces every day. Please enjoy this photo dump of all we've been up to recently, and enjoy your winter break! I'll see everyone next year!
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We've had an incredible week! We had our last 'Y on the Fly' class with the folks from the YMCA, heard many personal timelines from staff here at Discovery, and even got to do candy cane experiments with our big buddies. Our last day of 'Y on the Fly' was an absolute blast. The students have had 5 weeks of gym with instructors from the YMCA, and their last day was a celebration of all the fun they've had. The students got to play with balls, cones, and even bubble wrap - it was a great time! As part of our current Unit of Inquiry, students will be creating timelines sharing their personal histories. As inspiration for this, we had several staff members at Discovery share their personal timelines and helped the students to ask questions and make connections. Mrs. Adams, Mr. Simon, Mrs. Nugent, Ms. Owens, and Mrs. Ankrum all kindly shared their time to give our students exemplary timeline examples to model after next week. Mrs. Sidders and I also shared our timelines with both our own and each others' classes, and the students had great questions and connections! The cold weather this week also prompted some icy discoveries. This student discovered that ice formed on the playground equipment, and that it was wet to the touch (the sun was making the ice melt). Other students discovered that several rocks had frozen together, and still others found ice frozen where there had been water the day before. Once we get a proper snowfall, some winter experiments will be in order! Speaking of experiments, we had the pleasure of visiting our Big Buddies in 5th and 6th grade to do some candy cane science experiments! Students explored candy canes using their 5 senses, discovered whether wrapped and unwrapped candy canes sink or float, inquired into whether candy canes dissolve in various liquids, experimented with the use of baking soda and vinegar on candy canes, and watched how pieces of candy cane dissolve. Our Big Buddies ran all of the experiments for our class, modeled appropriate behaviors and expectations, and demonstrated leadership skills they've been working on all year. We're so lucky to have such incredible students here at Discovery and the opportunity for cross-curricular learning with multiple gad levels!
We're heading towards Winter Break, but we still have a week full of learning and fun planned ahead. I can't wait to see what all we accomplish together! As we come back from Thanksgiving break and start heading towards Christmas, it's a great time to take a look at everything we've been learning. From outdoor exploration with leaves and ice to indoor exploration of numbers using calculators and number charts, we've been very busy! As always, we've been thoroughly enjoying our outdoor time. Some students have been making rings and soups out of natural materials, while others have been building with dirt. Most recently, we discovered ice on the playground! The students were incredibly excited to discover that rocks, berries, and sticks froze inside the ice. This prompted inquiries into how this happened, and will likely lead to experimentation in the future! Unfortunately, the cold and rain kept us inside more than we would have liked. Still, the students made the most of the situation, and had a great time playing during inside recess. Pre-K had some extra cardboard boxes, and they graciously let us use them for imaginative play. The students also had a great time playing basketball, as well as building forts using the gym mats. It was a big week for us in math! We explored the use of calculators, used number charts to help us count by 1s and 10s, and played a new game called 'Top-It with Number Cards' where the students had to identify which number was larger. They loved it! We're placing a significant focus on teen numbers right now, both in counting and in identifying, so these were all great activities to practice that skill. Last but not least, we headed to the library for a chance to look at some books. We listened to a great story (brought in by a student!), and practiced putting books back where we had found them. I can't wait for us to head back next week, too!
Later today, we'll get to celebrate the end of our Read-a-Thon with a special assembly. Next week, we'll be starting work on our personal timelines as part of our unit of inquiry. We just have a few short weeks until winter break, but they're going to be jam-packed full of learning and fun! |
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May 2024
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