This week was full of many wonderful moments to share. On Monday we were welcomed to school with red mangrove propagules hanging in cups on the windows outside of our classroom. The children had many questions about them. We took a few cups into the classroom and located the parts of the propagule: stem, roots, and leaf. I showed a photo of a fully grown red mangrove and talked briefly about how a mangrove is a very specialized plant. Not only can it live in fresh and salt water, (brackish water), but it helps to protect the coastlines of Florida. We will keep the propagules on our window and replant them on Virginia beach in March or April. To learn more about the mangrove restoration project, you can go here: http://seas.fiu.edu/outreach/mangrove-restoration/
On Tuesday two older children shared drawings they made about plant life cycles. One researched the life cycle of a pumpkin and another looked at the life cycle of a Christmas tree. The pumpkin has more easily visible seeds, but we discovered that the pine cone's seeds had already been dispersed by the time we could examine it. We also looked at a variety of other seeds and leaves: Christmas palm seeds, rainbow eucalyptus and live oak leaves, and acorns from the live oak tree. During the week a few children began naming leaf shapes found in the botany cabinet to identify the leaves such as elliptical and ovate.
With so many special projects, parents often wonder whether or not the children have independent work time. Thankfully the projects that we present last no longer than 20 minutes and often add a new dimension to what we write about or research in our independent work time. Our worktime remains consistent with about 3 ours in both the morning and afternoon.
In our continued look at North America we have been practicing traditional American folk songs such as "I've Been Working on the Railroad", and "When I First Came to this Land". Our poetry festival will feature a poem composed by the kindergarten children and "The Thank You Song" by Gaye Adegbalola. The song can be downloaded by clicking here:
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Following the performance we will have a luncheon to wrap up the school year. Families are welcome to join us and share in the potluck luncheon at 11:30.
Finally, a great thanks to Friday's presentations of Mexico by a student that recently traveled with her family to help a grandparent move. The photos and stories helped the children see some of the wonderful parts to Mexican daily life and culture. Following this presentation we had a visit from Emma the Harris Hawk. Her handler, Steve from Canada, also gave us more geographical awareness as we could identify the two countries that share direct borders with the continental USA. Emma has been used in classrooms in both Canada and the US to share information about raptors and what falconers can do to help move birds from airfields. To learn more about the Harris Hawk, here is another link: https://www.peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/Harris%27s_Hawk
Next week is our final week of school before 2015. I look forward to getting the classroom clean and ready for the new year so please join us on Wednesday afternoon for a classroom cleaning from 2:30-4.
Have a great weekend,
Ms. Joanna Boone