Hoping For Hatchlings!

Young scientists eagerly launched a new Chick Investigation during Science this week! Curious scientists have been observing eggs as they incubate in our classroom, and wondering, “When will they hatch?” Students discovered the basic needs of chicks. Young scientists found out exactly what an incubator does and what conditions an egg needs to hatch. In the words of a Kindergartener, “An incubator acts like a mother hen!” Learning Centers were alive with chick discoveries. Students built farms in the Blocks Center and filled the farms with animals. Imagination Station turned into “Cooper Farm”, complete with a roosting hen, eggs for sale, aprons and boots for hard farm work! Ask your Kindergarten “Farmer” what they learned about chicks this week!

Reading Closely to Understand Characters

Young readers have been busy investigating story elements and discovering the ways we can observe characters in books to develop big ideas about characters’ traits. This week, Kindergarteners practiced observing characters’ dialogue, actions, and problem-solving strategies while asking themselves, “What does this tell me about my character?”. All of this close reading left us with a growing list of character traits as we analyzed characters throughout the week. Curious readers examined clues like quotation marks that help us know when a character is speaking. They noticed that they often found the word, “said” very close by when they saw quotation marks. Finally, readers noticed that sometimes a narrator tells the story as an outsider looking in on the characters.

Ashepoo

On Thursday, Kindergarteners got the chance to visit a private plantation with second grade. With over 1,200,000 acres of serine beauty, Ashepoo is located in the ACE Basin and the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. Through several partnerships, the land has been conserved and protected. Kindergarten explorers walked along the marshes and observed wildlife all around them. They were able to investigate how a pond is created and irrigated. They learned first hand about snakes, animal tracks, and fire ants up close and personal. They even got to see gators lurking in the murky water. It was a great day in nature!!

Important Dates:

• Monday, May 30th – Memorial Day (No School)
• Tuesday, May 31st – Publishing Party @ 10:30
• Thursday, June 2nd – Fifth Grade Graduation (11:30 Dismissal)
• Friday, June 3rd – Last Day of School (11:30 Dismissal)