“Reduce, reuse, recycle” is the melody to a song that we have been singing in the classroom this month, as we look at the importance of carefully using our natural resources.On that note, we encourage the children to pack a cloth napkin to use during lunchtime, eliminating the need for a paper napkin that must go in the garbage.

School lunches come with a water bottle, which the children are in the habit of recycling.  Any leftover water is collected in another blue dish pan, which we pour on the plants outside.  We started this recycling effort last year and the children naturally did it again this year.

One of the interesting experiments that we are running, is to place a fresh green pepper on a tray along with a plastic spoon.

We are observing the decomposition process of the green pepper day by day, and seeing that the plastic spoon has not changed one bit!  As the children will report, the green pepper is biodegradable and the plastic spoon is non-biodegradable.  

Earth Day happens to be today, which gives us a chance to explain to the children that all of us are caretakers of the Earth.  We show respect to the Earth by being careful not to let the water just flow out of the faucet when we are washing our hands and brushing our teeth, to put our trash in the trash can, and to turn off lights if we are not in the room.

Caring for the Earth is the same as caring for ourselves.

Kindergarteners enjoyed their “Pippi Longstocking” chapter book party with pancakes and whip cream.  They also got to be “Thing Finders” just like Pippi, and located wooden spools and gold “coins” in the classroom.

Thank you to all the parents who traveled with us to the Children’s Discovery Museum and helping us to have a safe and fun field trip.

Ms. Diana conversing in Espanol with her students.

Catching a quiet moment to do the “100 Board.”

Doing practical life jobs:

Mother’s Day Tea is coming up on Friday, May 6th at 10:30 am in P1.  All mothers are invited to attend.  If a mom cannot attend, please send a special someone in their place. Each student is allowed one guest, due to space restrictions in the classroom.

Counting is so much fun in the outdoor classrom:

Thank you to Cortland and Cooper for providing our classroom with delicious snacks and beautiful flowers.  Cooper, we really enjoyed having the red roses from your garden!

Well, Spring has sprung and we all feel the pull of Summer coming.  The children want to spend as much time as they can in our outdoor classroom making art, experiencing the water table, working with puzzles and making paper airplanes.

Ladybugs and praying mantises are busy doing their work in the greenhouse, giving our students the opportunity to see the work insects do.

Our school has been actively engaged in the Great Kindness Challenge, a nationwide challenge dedicated to creating a culture of kindness on campuses.

With the help of our upper elementary and middle school students, we have made bookmarks that are hanging in the trees on our playground.

 Inside the classroom, the children have been busy making “kindness necklaces” threading 7 beads on a string, while thinking of kind deeds they can do for themselves or others.  Finally, with the help of Jennifer (Chloe’s mom) and Gabriela (Francesca’s mom), we also made chocolate chip cookies that were delivered to our local fire station.

South America is the continent we are studying this month, with emphasis placed on learning about the rainforests including the plants and animals who inhabit that very productive ecosystem.  Earlier in the year we were visited by actual animals who live in the rain forest.

We are also learning about birds and their characteristics.  These unique animals are fascinating to study since the students can observe a great variety of birds in the Outdoor Classroom including pigeons, quail and hummingbirds and even a woodpecker or two.

Thank you to all the families who participated in the Fun Run and bid on our art auction items.  Ms. Melissa was so happy running the 5k, she could have done a second one!  

Our final, full class field trip is coming up on Wednesday, 4/20.  We are visiting the Discovery Museum.  Please have your child to school by 8:15am.  We are loading up the bus and leaving school by 8:30am.  We will be back on campus for lunch.  Also, please remember to have your child wear their neon yellow FMS shirt.

Thanks to Madison, Cooper and Cortland (and their families) for providing our classroom with healthy snacks and beautiful flowers.