Happy Hawaiian Day

Well, it was a very cold May day, but the temperature felt warm in our JK/SK class we celebrated Hawaiian Day!  It was a great day as we celebrated life on a beach!

Here are some of our friends enjoying a view of Hawaii on the Smart Board! 

Working on a writing activity called "I am going to Hawaii and I am taking...".

Painting with pineapples!

We made our very own palm trees and pineapples using pinecones!

Our New Classroom Visitors...Snails!

Today we welcomed some new friends into our classroom...snails. Mrs. Ducharme collected these little creatures over the weekend at a cottage and thought it would be interesting to observe them in our classroom for just a couple of days.  We discussed how the snails are living beings and we need to treat them "gently".  We will be keeping the snails in our classroom just for a short time and then we will return them to the outdoors.

The children were so excited to observe the snails and many enjoyed letting the snails crawl on their arms.  Check out the photos below of our little scientists in action as they interacted with the snails.

We gathered some books from the library about snails.  We learned that the slimy, gooey stuff the snails leave behind as they move is called a "mucus trail".  We also learned that the snails have 2 short tentacles and 2 long tentacles that help them see and smell. 

Just like we did with our caterpillars, we created an "I Wonder" chart of the things we hope to discover as we investigate snails. 

Bake Sale Success!

A special thanks to all those who contributed to our bake sale on Friday!  The children were very excited about this event!  With the help of Mr. Szamburski's grade 6/7 class the bake sale ran very smoothly and children throughout the school enjoyed some tasty treats.  We will be using money raised from the bake sale to help pay for part of the cost of our field trip to Camp Gesstwood on Thursday June 13th.  Information about this trip will be coming home soon!

Thanks again!  Without your help, we could not have done it!

Good-Bye Butterflies

On Friday we arrived at school to find that all of the butterflies had emerged from the chrysalis stage.  We therefore decided it was time to let our butterfly friends go.  It was with mixed feelings that we let them go as the children have truly enjoyed observing them over the last few weeks.  Here are some photos as we set the butterflies free.

The children were loudly chanting "Good-bye butterflies!".

Some of the butterflies needed a little help to realize it was time to take flight, so here is a photo of Mrs. Allan helping the butterflies out of the butterfly house.  

Cloud Dough and Butterflies!

This week we experimented with a new mixture!  We made our very own "cloud dough".  To make your very own cloud dough mix 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil.  

The children loved the feel of this mixture in their hands.  They noticed that they could create molds with the "cloud dough", but it was also so much fun to let their creations crumble apart.  It was a little bit messy, but a whole lot of fun!

Remember our little caterpillar friends...
We have now entered into the next stage of the butterfly life cycle as we have been watching the butterflies come out of the chrysalis stage.  The children have had the opportunity to actually observe the butterflies as they first emerge from the chrysalis.  We have been busy counting each day and as of today we had 11 butterflies fluttering about.  We are feeding them with a sugar water mixture.  On Monday we will be taking a trip to the pond area to release our butterfly friends!  Your child will be bringing home his/her very own booklet about the butterfly life cycle.  

Growing and Learning in Kindergarten

There are lots of things "growing" in kindergarten over the past few weeks!  To begin, take a look at our caterpillar friends!  We were very excited to see that most of our caterpillar friends have moved into the chrysalis stage.  The chrysalids are now hanging in our butterfly mesh pavilion as the children anxiously wait for them to turn into butterflies!

We hope you have been at the school recently to see our "Kindergarden".  It looks great and the kids are showing a lot of pride in their accomplishment of making this garden look so beautiful.  We have been getting lots of compliments from staff, students and other parents on the garden.  

Cooking with kids is such a great learning opportunity.  Measuring, reading the recipe and working together are just some of the skills used when cooking.  Here are our friends baking some banana bread with Mrs. Allan!  A yummy treat!

We brought the connecting cubes out again this week.  What a hit this was with the students as they built interesting constructions and talked about what they made.  We are currently making our own big book with photos and the children's writing about the things they have built.

Following the students interest in growing and planting, we have turned out dramatic play area into a "Flower Shop".  We have also added a soil center with gardening signs, shovels, seeds, planting pots, gardening gloves and flowers.  

We went back out to the pond this week to check on the bird feeders we hung outside last week.  Guess what we discovered?  Most of the bird feeders were completely gone...the only thing remaining was the string hanging from the branches.  A few bagel bird feeders were still hanging, but looked like they had been snacked upon.  Lots of great conversation developed about what we think happened to the bird feeders.  Did birds eat the entire bagel?  Did any other creatures eat the bird feeders?

Super Science Wednesday involved more experiments with planting, including making our own mini-greenhouse, experimenting with re-planting and trying to grow a bean seed in a jar.