The slideshow/video below will show you the students with our ducklings. At the very end of the show is a short clip of one hatching experience. It is awesome! If you click on the arrowed box below John’s picture you will have a larger screen for viewing.

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Here is a link to this week’s newsletter.

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For the past couple of weeks, we have been studying and exploring Simple Machines. The key concepts I want the children to know and understand are:

• machines are all around us
• machines make work easier
• levers, inclined planes, and wedges are examples of simple machines

We have used Discovery Education and its United Streaming videos as part of our learning adventure. Here are  some clips of the children creating these simple machines. They declared it to be a really Fun Friday!

We made our first trip to the vernal pool this week. We were prohibited from visiting it in the fall due to concerns about a possible outbreak of the West Nile Virus in our area. The children were very excited about this impromptu trip and voiced much excitement and misinformation, as well as anxiety about what our trip would involve. Will we be taking a bus? Will there be bears in the woods? Here is a class picture taken by the biggest tree in the pool area.

From beginning to end, I recorded some of the happenings and thinking going on. Here is a link to the video prepared after all was said and done. It is another wonderful example of Kindergarten science in action. A side benefit to this experience is the developing language skills of the students. More and more are asking to participate in sharing their thoughts and observations.
Click on the Google Video logo and choose full screen for a bigger image.

This week, our class used Mac laptops alone for the very first time. We explored the installed software StoryBook Deluxe. While there were a number of questions, the children seemed more than happy to click away. When they really got stumped with an error type message, they called for help. The friends at their table were also happy to jump up and show them how they could do something cool. As for Mrs. Piper and I, we were more than happy with the end result. I have signed up for the cart again this Friday afternoon for the short time we have during rest. It is reserved for big blocks of time for much of April already. We will try to steal a bit of time whenever possible. Here is a short video of some of the students as they try to explain what they are doing. Once again, I emphasize the importance of developing good language skills. Explaining their own processing requires higher level thinking skills. Great stuff from some great kids!!!
Click on the Google Video logo and choose full screen for a bigger image.

Kindergarten students examine plants with magnifying glasses and talk/write about what they have seen and thought.