Day 87 - Kindergarten Visits Aquarium - Mrs. Hoyt - Pine Glen Kindergarten

This post first appeared on Mrs. Hoyt's Blog

We had a wonderful day exploring life sciences today at the New England Aquarium!  Students used all their senses as they listened to touched, smelled and saw a wide range of reptiles, fish, birds and more.  

We traveled to the top of the giant tank to see Myrtle, the 90-year-old sea turtle. 

Students rolled up sleeves and dunked hands in the giant touch tank.  They were able to touch sting rays and sharks!

Students were lined up and mesmerized by all they witnessed!

We even saw the skeleton of a giant whale!

Aquarium staff helped us to explore the creatures found at a tide pool!

A special thank you to the Pine Glen PTO!  The PTO supports the kindergarten program by supplying us with t-shirts to wear for our trips and helped to offset some of our transportation expenses!

Day 42 - Gleeful To Have A Gecko - Mrs. Hoyt - Pine Glen Kinderagrten

This post first appeared on Mrs. Hoyt's Blog

Room 103 welcomed Ms. P back to visit with us today!  She arrived with a gecko!

Earlier this year Ms. P visited and gave us a tarantula so we could have a pet animal visitor.   When it was time for Ms. P to take Tornado the tarantula back we were disappointed.  So, we decided to write Ms. P some persuasive letters asking her to bring another pet.  We were very convincing and conveyed to her that we understood living these has special needs and that we were prepared to properly care for whatever she brought!

Ms. Ryan helped students ask for a guinea pig.

Ms. Miliano and students wrote about a gecko and Mrs. Hoyt and friends wrote asking for a corn snake.

Like the owls we learned about yesterday, Bonnie, the gecko is also nocturnal!

Ms. P was a supportive and encouraging teacher........she invited each of us to hold Bonnie.

Bonnie loved us and snuggled right into everyone's laps!

We promised to take good care of Bonnie and provide for all her needs.   Students will help Mrs. Hoyt and Ms. Miliano to ensure that she has food (mealworms and crickets), water and shelter!

Day 9 - A Few Observations and Photos After Our First Couple of Days - Mrs. Hoyt - Pine Glen Kindergarten

This post first appeared on Mrs. Hoyt's Blog

The start of the school year can be very busy, tiring and a bit overwhelming. Everyone is doing quite well.  That said, we would like to share a couple of observations and thoughts to help the positive energy continue.

1- Eat a big breakfast.  It may be difficult but we do encourage you to get a good meal into your children in the morning.Even after our morning snack, some students say they are hungry. PLEASE BE SURE TO PACK YOUR CHILD"S SNACK IN A SEPARATE BAG and PLEASE SEND IN A WATER BOTTLE.  
We eat lunch at 11:00 am.  They are all quite hungry again by the time we go to the cafeteria. Please be sure to send plenty to eat at lunch time!

2- Pack an extra water.  There is a water fountain down the hall from our classroom but it is not conveniently located for a quick drink.  At times we are quite thirsty.  If students had a water bottle from home in their back pack they could have a quick sip at the ready.

3- Rest, rest, rest - We are quite busy the entire time we are at school.  The children have done well thus far but we are noticing that many are tired (especially during the last hour).  Tuesday we had a couple friends ready to put their heads down for a little rest!  The second half of the week will be a little more challenging for all in terms of stamina and staying focused for a school day.  If possible, we recommend tucking everyone into bed a little earlier the next few nights.

Note:  All these recommendations apply to the teachers as well.  We are trying to eat a healthy breakfast to give us the energy to work through the morning.  We are packing lots of water bottles to have on hand and we are certainly trying to get to bed early!

Friends have to work together to make the friendship machine work!  Pine Glen's substitute teachers, Ms. Tully and Ms. DeMarzo are some of our new friends.  They joined us during morning meeting!

Faces lit up when the energy of their connections made the friendship machine light up!

We made connections while making connections!!

Friends were eager to get busy making puppets so we can recreate the story of the Three Little Pigs!

Many also enjoyed the flexible seating option of the standing table when they worked on illustrating the nursery rhyme about Peter, Peter.

Day 171 - You Read To Me and I Read To You! - Mrs. Hoyt - Pine Glen Kindergarten

This post first appeared on Mrs. Hoyt's Blog

A day that starts with dancing is going to be great!

We are a community of readers!  Our Friday started with a room full of guest readers!  Parents, community leaders, teachers from other classes and school administrators kindly agreed to meet and read with us.  Like any polite kindergarten, hosts would do we invited them to get comfortable by introducing themselves.  Of course, we then invited them to dance with us!   All of our visitors were great sports as we worked our wiggles out.

Students then broke off into partner groups to read.  The student and the adult each had books in hand and took turns reading.  Some kindergartners could not help themselves and offered to read the books the adults brought as well!

After awhile we switched partners and read with other friends!

We ended our visit as we end many of our activities....with more smiles and dancing!  Everyone joined in the adventure dance of Going On A Bear Hunt and then we said goodbye with high fives and hugs!

 After our guests departed we reflected on how fun it can be to read with different people and in different places.  Students utilized our writing time to make a list of all the great places we hope to read this summer!

We can read in a box, we can read in a bed, we can read at Nana's and at our friends!

We can read while we are camping or at the ice-cream shop.  We can read in the bathtub or in mom and dad's bed!

We can read at the library and on the couch.  We can read in the car or on an airplane.

Our list is inventive and extensive!  Mrs. Hoyt and Ms. Miliano look forward to learning about the great books everyone is reading in all the wonderful locations!  Remember to share with all your room 103 friends by submitting photos and writing to the summer blog!