A Month in Review...

I cannot even begin to express how quickly the last few weeks have gone.  Although, that seems to happen quite regularly.  It seems as though we are planning for the week and somehow, before we know it, the week is ending and we are saying goodbye for yet another weekend.  A student told me recently that the reason the days go so quickly is because, "Our learning is busy and fun" and of course we would not want it any other way!

Two classes were able to make it out to the zoo on one of our beautiful early spring days.  The other classes had gone in the fall and we were ready to share the experience!  We could not have asked for a more perfect day thanks to Mother Nature and of course our amazingly inquisitive explorers.

 Binoculars sure help us to see the world with a different persective!

Look at the HUGE elephant footprint!

You may hear our Explorers discussing how we sound like elephants as we walk through the halls and up and down the stairs.  This is a GOOD thing!  This was just one of many interesting facts we learned on our tour.  

I know our kiddos are anxious to go again.  We are so lucky to have such an amazing zoo and learning opportunity so close to our homes.  We are so glad they enjoyed themselves and were able to appreciate the zoo as a class family.

As you are well aware, we have been throughly enjoying our Unit of Inquiry, How We Organize Ourselves.  Through this unit we have investigated how cooperation and establishing roles helps to promote success.  When we cooperate we all succeed!  *Has your child sung our Teamwork song to you yet?  It is sure a favorite at school.  Hip Hop Harry incorporated a lot of great points throughout the song and it is exciting to sing!

We have found out that people aren't the only ones that cooperate. Meerkats, worms, ants and bees need to cooperate too.  We have even connected cooperation to music and how the parts of an instrument must all work together as well as the members in an orchestra or band!  The connections our Explorers make are wonderfully exciting!

We have been cooperating very nicely in our classrooms too.  It is something we know takes practice, hard work and patience.  When, as a group, we show cooperation we have been earning a piece of Mr. Potato Head.  This has been a fun way to celebrate our accomplishments.  When Mr. Potato Head is complete we earn a surprise.  Mrs. Snyder and Mrs. Grzelak's class have earned a pancake breakfast already.  Yummm!

                                                   

                                                                                                               

Cooperation is everywhere!

Young Audiences have come to share various performances with us.  We have enjoyed hearing a variety of music and have been able to see beautiful dances.  We have connected that just as the performers work together, our school does as well when we use our audience behaviors to enjoy these special performances.


Last week we were able to enjoy another fabulous trip to the Art Museum.  What a treat!  Our focus was to study animals in many art pieces (sculptures, paintings, fabrics...).  The Explorers were very inquisitive and knowledgeable as we toured around.  We were even lucky enough to be able to create our own elephant masterpiece before leaving.

The Art Museum provided the fanciest bus for our program and that was truly the icing on the cake!  We certainly appreciated their generosity.

We are READING!!!!!

We cannot conclude without celebrating all of our fantastic readers!!!!!!  Your children have been working incredibly hard to develop their reading skills.  Not only are their sight words coming along fabulously, but their fluency and comprehension skills are most impressive.  We know they are very proud of their hard work and practice, just as you are.  Keep reading together. They are truly growing by leaps and bounds!