Last Day!!

Thank you so much to all of you who contributed to our yummy brunch party yesterday, and to everyone who was able to join us for the morning.

I meant to take pictures at the party, to share with those of you who weren't able to make it, but I guess I was having too much fun and didn't get around to it.

Instead, here are most of the kids at the end of the day.  The big smiles on everyone's faces show what a great day we had!!

Thanks to all of you for making this such a special year.  Enjoy the summer!!

Friday Fun!

On Friday, the kids cheered on a group of SPHS graduating seniors, who had attended Small School. They were excited to congratulate them with a sign, and got a kick out of imagining that in 11 short years, they may be the ones marching down the Small School hallways!

 

In library, on Friday, Mrs. Mason provided the kids with 3 different building materials to build and create with.  This was a culmination to the last several weeks when Mrs. Mason read books about building and creating interesting projects. The focus in library has been "Makerspace." See below for the Wikipedia description of how libraries are creating Makerspaces.

"In a library makerspace or maker program, patrons of varying ages can work together, alone, or with library staff on creative projects. These spaces often give community members access to tools, technology, and social connections that may not be easily accessible otherwise. The goal of a makerspace is to allow patrons to learn through direct experimentation and from each other." (wikipedia.com)

The kids had a blast collaborating and tapping into their creativity with these fun materials!

Some of the Makerspace-themed books in the library

 

 

 

 

 

Maine Wildlife Park

We dodged the raindrops (mostly) and had a great trip to Maine Wildlife Park yesterday. Many kids were able to see the animals that they had done their animal research about. When we came back, we discussed which animals were their favorite. This was the perfect jumping off point to writing about opinions, which is what we'll be doing in writing this week!

Many thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers today, and to the PTA for funding all of our amazing field trips!

Favorite Book Characters

We had a fun day yesterday! It was so great to see many in our class dressed as their favorite book characters. I loved the creative outfits!

The whole crew with Rachel, a senior from CEHS

Peter as Jack from The Magic Tree House

Neil as Stink from the Stink book series

Lucy as Little Rabbit Foo Foo

Freyja, as Hermione from Harry Potter. Note the creative use of her wand to help her read!

Violet as Harry Potter

Jack as Bear

Jackson, from the I Survived book

The whole first grade got to hear about the summer reading program at the South Portland Library. Ms Kim helped get the kids very excited for some fun reading challenges.  I encourage everyone to check it out sometime after the last day of school!!

Busy Last Weeks of School

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. 

Pineland Farms

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!