Butterflies!!!!

We arrived this morning to discover that all 5 of our chrysalis had hatched over the weekend to become beautiful, healthy Painted Lady Butterflies.

 We had hoped to entice them to sit on our fingers once we took them outdoors using sugar water. However, I think they were far more interested in escaping their small habitat and getting some real food, and they quickly took off!

There it goes!

We were able to look at the empty chrysalis. 

some unexpected visitors!

Several months ago while on bus duty, I looked down on the sidewalk and saw what looked to be a chrysalis of sorts on the sidewalk. I took it into the classroom and always meant to ask someone what it was. I never really got around to it! It looked a bit like this.

On Tuesday morning we arrived to discover our desk was covered with small, crawling insects, they looked a bit like ants. We put as many as we could find in an aquarium, and even the students helped us to locate a few more. It was evident fairly quickly that they were baby praying mantis'! We have continued to watch them hatch and grow all week. 

How fascinating...you just never know what is going to happen day to day!

Congratulations Blue Group

You may recall some time ago seeing a post about how we were encouraging positive behaviour, kind interactions and manners by rewarding students when we saw or heard such behaviours. Each time, the student was recognized and a rock given (blue for the blue group, green for the green group). The blue group has finally achieved the goal of filling their bucket!

Hurray!

As a result, today we had a small party. According to their wishes, we had a popcorn party (mixed with a handful of sweet treats), some drinks, made a "superstar medal" and watched a movie. 

We enjoyed the festive atmosphere. Congratulations on all their hard work. The green group isn't far behind. Hopefully, this will serve as some inspiration😀.

Today's Field Trip

We had a super day today at the National Gallery. 

Going to visit "Maman", the famous spider sculpture. 

We started off by going on our guided tour. Our tour guide showed us some sculptures and we looked at different pictures, sometimes trying to locate individual colours within the paintings. 

A tree sculpture from China.

We finished our tour by making our own masterpieces, using what we had seen as some inspiration!

Relaxing and enjoying our picnic lunch.

We returned to the Gallery to complete a scavenger hunt during the afternoon. Based on the number of sleepyheads on the bus ride home, it was fair to say that a great day was had by all! A HUGE thank you to our parent volunteers. As always, we couldn't do it without you and we are very appreciative.

Field Trip Reminder

Just to remind you...tomorrow is our field trip!!!! Students will need to come to school with their regular snacks and lunches.  Weather permitting, we will try to go outdoors for lunch, so a sun hat and sunscreen would be helpful. Parents who are able to assist will meet in the classroom at 9:15.  Thanks so much!

Caterpillar update

We simply cannot get over how fast our teeny, tiny caterpillars have grown since last Friday. We hope that they form a chrysalis soon, as they won't fit inside their little container soon! Hopefully, they will emerge into their chrysalis stage before the weekend. 

Concert

Thank you so much for coming out to our Spring Concert and enjoying all our efforts! The students were SO excited, and did a fabulous job! If anyone has a good photo of the class holding up the "light sabres", I would really appreciate you sending it on.  I would like to share a photo with the Home Depot who donated the wood.
I forgot to thank our hardworking teaching partners who were working behind the scenes, and did such a super job...we couldn't have done it without them.  Thanks to Ms. Byrne, Madame Behnke and Miss Kathryn!
I found this poem that gave me a chuckle.  Hope it puts a smile on your face too!

The Kindergarten Concert

Related Poem Content Details

BY ROBERT POTTLE

The kindergarten concert was an interesting show. 

Peter walked onto the stage and yelled, “I have to go!” 

Katie was embarrassed, but she had nowhere to hide. 

She raised her dress to hide her face. Her mother almost died. 

Keith removed his tie and said, “It’s ugly, Dad. I hate it!” 

David picked his nose on stage. What’s worse is that he ate it. 

They sang their song, and Wyatt burped. Then he did a dance. 

Michael fell while spinning ’round. Peter wet his pants. 

The music teacher at the end said, “There, I’m glad that’s done.” 

The kindergarten bowed and said, “Let’s sing another one!”

Final library book exchange

Just to let you all know, that today is the final time this year that we will visit the library for a book exchange. The library will be used for grade 3 and 6 EQAO testing, and then the library is closed for regular inventory. Please have your child return his or her book as soon as they have finished reading it. Thank you!

More new life

We currently have the caterpillars from a painted lady butterfly. These are teeny tiny black caterpillars right now. We have already noticed them growing since yesterday! They should form a chrysalis within the next 10 days. It will be so fun to watch their progression and development as they undergo metamorphosis. A HUGE thank you to the Lemire family who arranged for this amazing experience!

In case you are wondering, here is what a painted lady butterfly should look like.

Step Gently Out

Today we read one of my favourite books: Step Gently Out.

It is a beautiful book using actual photographs of the insects and spiders that we might find if we look carefully.

After reading the book, Madame Behnke took the students out who were interested in looking attentively to their surroundings and attempting to find some crawling buddies. Here are the results.

A spider.

A centipede.

An ant.

It would be our hope that the students be a bit more aware of their surroundings and the creatures that we share the earth with!

Magic Potion!

Our students had a lot of fun today mixing and stirring up some "magic potion"!  They mixed up some special ingredients such as vinegar, salt, dish soap, water with food colouring, etc. they were so excited to measure out their unique potion, and then make up a purpose for their potion. We heard about potion to make you sleepy, potion to make you stinky (a class favourite), potions to make you friendlier, etc

Next step, we will be labelling their potions, encouraging the students complete meaningful writing.