This time of year, there are always lots of exciting happenings at school.
Here are a few that have taken place in the past week or so.
Last Friday, we visited The Portland Museum of Art and focused on seeing animals and their habitats in art.
On Monday, we took a bus to the Community Center to see the district art show. We got to admire the amazing art work of students in grades K-12. The kids loved seeing their own creations on display. The show is going on until midday Friday and open to the public if you'd like to see it.
Yesterday, the 3rd graders performed a very impressive music program. We got to see a musical representation of an old Japanese fable, "The Stone Cutter" performed by Mrs. Grady's class. Ms. Johnson's class entertained us with some spirited patriotic songs as well.
Finally, we are lucky to have a high school senior from Cape Elizabeth High School, Rachel Holmes, working with us this week and next week as part of her Senior Transition Project. Not only is she a big help with reading and giving extra support to the kids, but they also love the attention of a cool teenager.
We had a super time on our field trip today! The kids learned a lot about what different types of farm animals do for us. From the cow who gives us milk to different breeds of cows that we get our meat from, and draft horses that do the heavy work on a farm, we got to interact with many different kinds of animals. Although it was a bit chilly, we were lucky that the rain held off until we had just finished our picnic lunches. This picturesque farm with it's emerald green rolling hills is the perfect place to bring kids. It makes me so grateful to live in Maine!
We met the enormous draft horses that can be found pulling a wagon through the Old Port during the holidays in December.
We learned that hens aren't ready to lay eggs until they have both a wattle and a comb. We made our own wattles and combs with our fingers!
The hen house was one of the funniest places to visit. The kids got a real kick out of carefully walking among the hens. As you can see in the picture above, they even untied my shoes, thinking my shoelaces were worms!
Some of us had enough, and were happier watching the pecking hens behind the safety of a closed door!
Have you ever met a pig with curly hair?! Well, we did! These cute creatures even let us carefully touch their course, wiry fur. We learned that they make great bacon!
This shy, young cow will travel to the fairs in the fall, and much to the kids' dismay will be great beef for someone one day.
We had to be very quiet and calm to earn the trust of the 3 cute alpacas. They had recently been sheared. Not only are they great for their fiber, but they can also help protect the boundary of farms.
Just look at the eyes on this sweet calf!
The dairy cows were extremely friendly, and would have slobbered all over all of us if we let them!
The final treat of the day was meeting this adorable 7-day-old goat. Her soft fur and sweet eyes won over all of our affection!!
A quick picnic lunch before the drizzle started was the perfect way to end our fun, educational morning!
This spring the kids each researched a different Maine animal.
With Mr. Fleury's help, they researched their animal on iPads, and took notes on a graphic organizer.
After collecting their information, the students recorded the audio and chose photos for a presentation of their animal.
Also, students created a depiction of their animal in art class with Mr. Plourde.
The animals are posted bulletin board in the front hallway of school, with a "QR Code" that can be scanned, using an iPad, so that their presentations can be heard.
This has been a fun interdisciplinary project for the kids to learn more about animals.
You can view and listen to the presentations at home by clicking the following link:
Animal Research Projects
Enjoy!
