The Last Day

I love the last day of school because once I complete the progress reports I am able to reflect on how much each and everyone of your children has grown.  On the final day of school, even though they are so young the children sense that things will be different and they seem to cherish the bonds of friendship that have been formed over the year.  It is bittersweet, though, because it is time to say goodbye to the wonderful children who are heading to kindergarten.  I am so thankful that some will be with me another year.  It makes the final day easier.

Nancy and I end each year with our final circle.  As the children sit at circle, first I talk to each child to tell them what made them wonderful to have in class and reflect on each one's accomplishment.  Following this, Nancy shares what she will always remember about each one of them.  It is a memorable time filed with smiles, laughter and, yes, tears (from Nancy and me).

Our field trip to The Clark was delightful.  As a teacher it was so rewarding to walk into the first gallery that is filled with Frederic Remington and Winslow Homer's art and hear the children gasp with excitement and hear their electrified voices name the paintings that they saw.  The children were eager to share with the docent their knowledge of the artwork.  Over seven weeks, the children learned about so many paintings that they saw only a sampling of the art that we studied.  They are bringing home two gifts from The Clark, a postcard and a bookmark.  The bookmark is free admission for one adult to accompany a child into the museum.  The children were very excited to learn that you could bring them there for free.  I hope that you take advantage of the free admission. (If you go to The Clark, you may want to review with your child the artists and their artwork by looking at the slide shows that are on the right side of this post.  Just click on the name and it is a link to the slide show.)

It was a busy day, so I did not have a chance to show the children the video of Walk for WES.  Please look at it with your child.  Be sure to take a good look at it about 57 seconds into the video.  I think your child would enjoy reliving the fun of the Walk for WES which we participated in on Monday.  By the way, did you hear that the PTO raised over $5000?  Next year, the PTO will provided a lion share of our classroom budget which is used for supplies.  Thank you for your donations!

Finally, thank you for all of the support that you have given me throughout the year or in some cases two or three years.  I have best job in the world because not only do I have the joy to be with your children, but I also have the opportunity work with parents who value what I do. 

One Last Day of Learning

 Today the children enjoyed the slide show about Winslow Homer that is now posted on this blog on the right.  It was fun listening to them discuss what they knew about him.  Prior to learning about Homer, they wanted to know if he painted horses since they knew that Degas and Remington painted horses.  After they viewed the slide show, I heard the children telling each other that he painted horses, but he isn't famous for painting horses like Remington is.
Today, we harvested the lettuce that the children planted and grew. It is amazing how much it grew after the drenching rains we have had.  The children are going to have the lettuce in a salad with the pizza for tomorrow's lunch.  (A shout out to Jeanne who will pick up the pizza that I have ordered)

The class is excited about Friday's field trip.  This afternoon, we reviewed how to behave in the museum.  It was so delightful when one child said that we should write thank you notes to the guide after the field trip.  We talked that if there is a painting which they would like to look at longer or see a painting that we pass in the gallery, that they could let you know that they would like to go back to The Clark.

I read the following book to the children this afternoon, and they absolutely loved it.  It was fun reading it with them because they recognized the work of various artists that were highlighted in the book.  There were squeals of excitement as when they realized that they knew the artists and the works of art.  One child requested that I put the book on the blog.  So here it is...

The field trip is in the morning.  When we get back to school, we will have pizza and salad and sorbet for dessert. 

Fun Day

Despite the rainy morning, the children had a fun day for field day and Walk for WES.  Our intrepid principal and creative gym teacher came up with an alternative field day plan which actually was absolutely perfect for the preschoolers.

All of the preschoolers were brought to the gym from 9-9:30 for fun and games.    This time was dedicated to just the preschoolers.  They had fun in the bounce house and enjoyed choosing other activities.  Some of their choices were:  face/ arm painting, beading, scooter boards, jumping on mats.  The time was the prefect length of time.  It was also very nice that the children were with the children they know from Sherry's class and did not feel overwhelmed by older children (as in past years).

The rained cleared long enough for us to have Walk for WES at the end of the day.  The entire school walked in a big loop both in and out of the school.  If your child is a little tired, it is probably because we walked  and danced for a solid forty minutes.  We walked and danced the loop five times!  Donations are still being accepted.

Tomorrow, we have another activity planned to help the children who are moving to K with their transition.  Our entire class will have our morning snack in the cafeteria.  Lisa, our cafeteria manager, is planning  a snack for the children.  The class will go to the cafeteria and learn how to go through the cafeteria line.  Instead of lunch, they will pick up their snack.  The children will learn where they pick up utensils, where the kindergartners sit, and how to dispose of their waste.  These seemingly little tasks can be stressful for kindergartners on their first day of school.  I hope that this helps with the first day jitters.

Can You Hear It?

On Friday I began to read a book to the children that is called, Can You Hear It?, by William Lach, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The book comes with a CD and it pairs famous paintings with a short classical song played by European and American orchestras.  The book has questions that guides the children to listen for specific instrumental sounds that accentuates the action in the paintings.  The children loved this book and the songs on the accompanying CD.  As they listened to the music and looked at the pictures they used their imaginations to bring the pictures to life.  We will continue this book on Monday since we did not have time to complete the book on Friday.  Here is a sample of one of the paintings and song.  It is Frederic Remington's, On the Southern Plain and Aaron Copeland's Billy the Kid:  Gun Battle.

 

I am not sure what the rain plans are for Field Day and Walk for WES.  Even though the weather does not look promising for outdoor events, please dress your child for a day of activity in case there are creative minds planning alternate events.

Preschool Scientists

Preschool scientists using observational skills to compare and contrast

Using the sense of taste.

Observing the differences between weeds and lettuce.

Linda Wagner had the children entranced as she told them they were scientists and that they needed to use their observational skills and five senses to compare and contrast spinach and lettuce.  The children looked a the leaves carefully and talked about their observations.  They smelled the leaves and even tasted the leaves.  Nancy and I were shocked when we saw children who have told use that they don't eat green food munch on the spinach and lettuce. Mrs. Wagner read them a book, Growing a Rainbow.  She talked about how each colored vegetable has different nutrients.  At the end of the lesson, the children used their observational skills to weed the garden.

Upcoming Events

This time of year is always filled with events that seem to mark the arrival of summer and the end of the school year.  This week seems to be the beginning of the end. 

• Monday was our last library visit.  Mrs Lynch read books about summer to the children.  The library closes in June so that Mrs. Lynch and her trustee group of volunteers have time to inventory the book collection.  The children looked around the library when she told them that and exclaimed that there must be one hundred books in the library.  (Clearly, number sense to 100 is not part of the preK core curriculum)
• Monday was also our last Chinese class.  Ms Wan told them a Chinese story about some tadpoles.  The story was illustrated with classic Chinese paintings.  It was a nice way for the children to be introduced to Chinese art.  Ms Wan sent a link to a You Tube video of the story that you might like to view with your child.  You could find the video on the right side of this blog.
• Tomorrow, the children will end the day at the concert performed by the Orchestra, 4th Grade Band, 6th Grade Band.  It is the final concert of the year.  We will not be at the Youth Center at the end of the day, but I will dismiss all of the children from the back entrance of the school.
• Thursday is also our final garden lesson with Ms Wagner.  The children have enjoyed each of the lessons that she has done with them.  The lettuce that is in the garden was planted by the children.  Of course, the weather does not always cooperate with the best laid plans. Originally we were going to harvest the lettuce for the children to eat, but the lettuce did not grow enough for that plan.  Ms Wagner has a special lesson planned for the children instead.
• Monday will be a busy day outside, so make sure you put sunscreen on your child.  We have field day and Walk for WES.  Your child will receive a t shirt for participating in Walk for WES.  This is a major fundraiser for the PTO.  The PTO supports the education of our students in many ways.  It provides money for supplies.  The PTO plans and sponsors enrichments such as Words are Wonderful and all of the authors/illustrators who come to the school.  The PTO also bought the shade structure for our playground and the tire swing on the large playground.  Please find the envelope that was sent home last week and think about a donation to the PTO so that it could continue to support our students.
• June 19th is our last day.  We will be going to The Clark with Sherry's morning class.  The Clark is providing a school bus to take us there.  This week, we will begin to talk about the field trip and practicing a museum walk.  The children will learn about the special museum walk tomorrow.  When we get back from The Clark, we will have a pizza and ice cream party at school.  This is my final treat to all of the children, so there is no need to send in any lunch on June 19th.

By the way, help your child review for the field trip to the Clark by looking at the slide shows t hat I made for them.  I have placed the links to the slide shows on the right.  They have viewed so many paintings that this would be a good way for them to review what they will see.  Who knows, they might be able to surprise you with some interesting tidbit of knowledge!

An exciting week!

The children were welcomed to school with the morning message telling them that it would be an exciting week.

Shortly after that two women in red capes with the logo SL on the back arrived.  They are the Super Librarians from the Williamstown Public Library who arrived to tell the children about the Summer Reading Program, Every Hero has a Story.  The summer reading program at the Public Library is filled with special activities to encourage children to read and come to the library.  I sent home bookmarks  that have information about the program.  Somethings that the caped Super Librarians shared with the children:

• The children are old enough to get their own library cards.
• Each week when they come to the library with their list of books that were read to them, they will receive a small prize and a raffle ticket.
• At the end of the summer reading program, there will be a raffle with all of the tickets for a big prize.
• All children who participate in the reading program will get a very colorful t shirt about reading.
• During the summer there will be concerts with musicians.
• Helping dogs who have been trained to work with people with disabilities will visit the library. 
• Art programs are planned, and there are still more programs that are in the midst of being planned.

Tuesday, June 9th, is our school's annual art show.  Each child in school has a piece of art displayed.  Parents and family members are encouraged to come.  It is opened all day tomorrow.  Please come and see your child's art work.  The art will be on view throughout the school day and after school.  See the artwork that the children have in the art show in Pages on the left.

Is it really June?

     Wow! The end of the year is upon us.  This morning when the rising kindergarteners went to the K orientation, it suddenly hit us how many of the children are heading off to new classrooms next year.  The children came back so excited about their visit to K.  Even though they are so familiar with the school, they have ridden school buses and they will play on the same playground, the K orientation is the turning point for them.  Suddenly it occurs to the preschoolers that there is life after Side by Side.  This happens each year.
     Today, I gave Sue Killam the thank you notes that the children drew to thank her for inviting us to MASS MoCA for the performance we saw on Friday, Everything is a Soundmaker.  When I asked the children to draw the thank you notes, I emphasized to them that it is  important that they take time to do their best work to let her know that they liked the show. If their efforts were any indication of how much they loved the show, it is clear that Sue provided them with a very rich experience.
    Even though we have had our study of Renoir broken up with the professional development day and the field trip, the children are still excited about learning about him.  This week he have looked for patterns in his work.  The children are noticing patterns in some of the portraits he painted.  In class they are making patterns with the pattern blocks, dominoes, and paper.  Some children glued strips of paper into a pattern.  Other children challenged themselves and tried their hand at weaving paper since weaving consists of patterns.  Can you find the patterns?
 
The last day of Side by Side is Friday, 6/19.  We will end the year and this unit on Art and Artists with a field trip to The Clark.