Chicks!!

After that great field trip to Sandy Creek on Tuesday, we came back to baby chicks on Wednesday!  

 

We kept track of what was happening in our incubator throughout the day.  As you can see we had action throughout the day on Wednesday, with our last little friends arriving Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

By mid-morning on Thursday, we had all the chicks out of the incubator and ready to eat, drink, and play on their own.  

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The kids took time to hold and play with the chicks while, I got to clean out the cage!  (I think they got the better end of that deal!)

 

 

Thank you to all the families that took a chick!

Field Trip Fun!

Last week we had LOTS of excitement! 

First we went on our annual Field Trip to Sandy Creek Nature Center!  We had lots of fun learning about different plants and animals and their needs in the classroom and exploring nature on the trails around the nature center.  

First we got a little help from a friend to explore all the parts of a tree.

Then we got to touch, feel, and observe some of the attributes that make certain animals so unique.

Next was the nature walk.  We saw a snake, a mouse, lizards, and lots of cool insects.

Last--lunch!!

If you missed out on the fun, stop by Sandy Creek this summer and check it out for yourself!

It's a Farm in Here!!

We're growing all kinds of things in Kindergarten!!  We have been growing plants in our garden, and we're even growing CHICKS in our incubator!!

We had a slight mix up on set dates at the hatchery--we expected chicks this last week, but we haven't seen a crack or heard a peep!  But the good news is we have been taking great care of our little eggs, and they should have everything they need to make an appearance this week!  

In the meantime we have been learning all about chicks and how they grow and change.  We have read lots of informational books about chickens and other oviparous animals and created some informational books of our own. 

 

 

We have also done a few egg-vestigations.  We cracked a few eggs--don't worry, these eggs were from the grocery store--and got to see where and how the chicks live and grow while they are in the shell.  Then we explored just how strong and protective those shells are.

We found out that four egg shells could easily hold thirteen hardback books AND a whole box of reading materials even though just one book felt much heavier than a little egg!

But...four egg shells are NOT strong enough to hold a Kindergarten sized human! 

We have also had some not so informational experiences with chickens.  We have read classics like Chicken Little and The Little Red Hen, as well as new favorites with a fun twist.  We loved listening the The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza.  So, of course, we made a pizza!! YUM!

 

 

I will keep you updated on the hatch!  

Garden Update

What a difference a little time makes!!  We have been diligently watering our garden and keeping track of how our plants are growing over the past couple of weeks--and we have loved every minute of it!!  Today we broke out the rulers and did some more precise measurements of our favorite plants!

 

I am afraid that we are soon going to out grow our swimming pool!!

                                     

                                                         

You can check out the growth below.  The pictures on the left are from last Friday, and the ones on the right I took today!

How Does Your Garden Grow? In a POOL!

We have been busy learning about plants and how they grow!  

Before we left for Spring Break, we investigated sand, soil, and rocks.  We decided to conduct an experiment to determine if bean seeds would grow best in sand, soil, or rocks.  The kids wrote arguments to support their ideas, and we got our results after the break!

We checked out our sprouts, measured, and found out that SOIL is definitely the BEST for growing beans! 

                                      

So...we decided to use soil in our classroom garden!  We planted lots of vegetables and some flowers too!  We used popsicle sticks to keep track of where we planted, and we gave our little seeds, bulbs, and sprouts lots of water.  Hopefully we will have lots of new little plants soon!  Thank you to everyone who helped out with our garden!

 

 

In addition to all our planting, we have written about plants--teaching books and imaginary stories.

 

And after reading Growing Vegetable Soup, we made some vegetable soup of our own! 

 

It was good to the last drop!

Happy Easter!

We spent the week celebrating all things Spring and the Easter Bunny last week!  We read The Easter Egg by Jan Brett (one of my most favorite Easter Bunny stories), and created some prize winning eggs of our own!  

Then we got together with our reading buddies and spent some time looking for eggs!  Our egg hunt was more of a scavenger hunt, and our buddies were a big help!  They helped keep us organized and helped us make sure we had all the eggs we needed!  Thanks, buddies! 

 

 

Then we finished off the week with Easter egg painting, bunny making with shapes, and Easter s'mores!  You haven't had a s'more until you've had one with a peep inside!!  (Sorry no pictures!!  We were all pretty much covered in melted peeps from our elbows to our ears! )