Lucky Week!

Monday started off with us frantically finishing our posters for the Science Fair.  Whew!  We got them done just in time, and they looked awesome!!!  The kids organized them according to the Scientific Method we have been learning, with their Questions, Hypothesis, Experiment, Observations, and Conclusions.

The kids did a great job talking to the judges, answering questions about their projects, and sharing what they learned.

They also enjoyed looking at the other projects at the fair, including trying some rock candy crystals!

Monday was also the awards ceremony for our Idita-Read reading contest.  It has been fun to see the enthusiasm for reading increase over the past few weeks as the classes battled it out on the "Iditarod Trail".  First Grade won first place.  We got the coveted Red Lantern award :) .  Great job everyone, and thank you to all of the families who dutifully logged their student's reading hours!

Our exciting week got even better on Tuesday, when we had the Battle of the Books!  It was an INTENSE battle... lasting over an hour and a half with lots of correct answers and challenges.  In the end, Jocelynn, Willow and Aiden, also known as The Amazing Puppies, came out in first place, the REACH team took second, Trapper, Melody and Charlize were third, and Easton and Rosalie tied with Zachery, Natasha and Dante for fourth.  The point spread between the teams was very very close, and our whole class is just excited that we get to add another trophy to our shelf!  These kids really know their books!!!  Again, thank you to everyone who helped them practice.  We have the best Kinder Families ever, and your involvement REALLY makes a difference!  

In Math we are doing a study of 3-D shapes.  On Thursday we had a 3-D shape challenge.  The kids were given the mission to create a 3-D shape using only paper, tape and scissors.  No other instructions, but they could collaborate and experiment.  They did AWESOME!  

We had the privilege of exploring the STEAM Room on Thursday with Ms. Jane Teague, the STEAM and technology specialist for the District.  STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math, and this room is PACKED with fun and creative tools for kids to use!  We look forward to many creative projects in the STEAM room!  Here the kids are at the Lego Table, and building marble mazes and building with life sized legos.

This is the Green Screen where we can make movies and add different backgrounds and special effects.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day by writing about what makes us feel lucky!  I feel lucky when I see my students' writing improve as much as I have this year!  

To celebrate the gold at the end of the rainbow, we learned more about how rainbows are created in science, and Sir Isaac Newton's genius rainbow experiment.  Then we worked on color analogies and created rainbow poetry to go on our Poet Tree.  Finally Spring has arrived on our tree!!! Let's hope the real leaves outside aren't far behind!

We had a St. Patty's Day party on Friday and several of the kids created a Leprechaun Trap to see if they could catch one over Spring Break!

Luck O' the Irish to ya, and have a wonderful Spring Break!!!