Dear families,
What an exciting week we have had in Trillium! We returned from spring break to the final countdown of our incubated chicken eggs. In preparation for our chicks, we talked about what our chicks will need once they hatch. Will they need a nest? A box? Gravel? What kind of food will they eat and how will they stay warm? After much discussion, we decided we need a large box, preferably with wood chips, a heat lamp for warmth, fresh water and food for baby chicks. On Wednesday we had our first pip, which is the first break in the egg shell that a chick makes when hatching. It also allows the chick to start breathing. After the first pip, it can take the chicks up to 24 hours to finally break out of the shell. By Thursday morning we had our brooder set up and ready for our babies, and we were greeted in the morning by a fluffy chick. The children were so excited to greet the new baby and began taking their roles are chick parents very seriously. We have since welcomed a total of 9 chicks, with more pipped eggs in the process of hatching. It will be very exciting to see how many we are up to on Monday morning.
In addition to our baby chicks, we packed a lot of learning into our 4 days of school. We continued to work on our letter sounds and handwriting practice. We’ve discovered we have a class full of authors and illustrators in Trillium, and beautiful books are being created. We’ve had picture books, informational books, and books about our new chicks, dinosaurs, flowers, etc. The students have loved working on these books and are eager to share their work with the class. They have also started categorizing their books by the number system we use in class. It has been very exciting to see our class library grow with their work.
In story workshop, we’ve been learning about nests and eggs. Students were able to create nests out of clay, paint nests on our easels, sketch nests that we have in our classroom, build nests out of our blocks and we’ve started creating a large nest outside. We also spent some time walking around campus looking for nests. We found spider nests, bird nests, and a few mystery nests. It has led to great questions about nests and eggs that we are looking forward to finding the answers to. Do all animals that make nests lay eggs? Do all animals come from eggs? Do squirrels lay eggs? We will update you with our findings!
On Friday, April 1st, Mr. Luke and I enjoyed playing a little prank on our classes. Our students arrived on Friday to find that their chairs had been switched! You can find pictures in our latest album. The poor Cedars don't fit in our little chairs very well!
Student led conferences are coming up this Thursday and Friday, and we will be spending this week preparing our portfolios. Student led conferences are a favorite of mine, because we get to hear from the students what they have learned, what they have enjoyed, what their goals are and what they want to improve on. Sign-up sheets for conference times are outside the front office. Let us know if you have any questions.
The auction is also coming up fast, with less than two weeks to go! Our class basket is looking great. It isn’t too late to bring in any last minute additions to our pet basket. And don’t forget to purchase your auction tickets! There are so great items available, including the Trillium art project. Lori and I are also offering a student sleepover at school as our teacher time! We will have limited spots so make sure to get yours while they are available. The Trillium sleepover was a hit last year and we are looking forward to making it even better this year.
Enjoy the beautiful sunshine and have a wonderful week!
~Shannon
What an exciting week we have had in Trillium! We returned from spring break to the final countdown of our incubated chicken eggs. In preparation for our chicks, we talked about what our chicks will need once they hatch. Will they need a nest? A box? Gravel? What kind of food will they eat and how will they stay warm? After much discussion, we decided we need a large box, preferably with wood chips, a heat lamp for warmth, fresh water and food for baby chicks. On Wednesday we had our first pip, which is the first break in the egg shell that a chick makes when hatching. It also allows the chick to start breathing. After the first pip, it can take the chicks up to 24 hours to finally break out of the shell. By Thursday morning we had our brooder set up and ready for our babies, and we were greeted in the morning by a fluffy chick. The children were so excited to greet the new baby and began taking their roles are chick parents very seriously. We have since welcomed a total of 9 chicks, with more pipped eggs in the process of hatching. It will be very exciting to see how many we are up to on Monday morning.
In addition to our baby chicks, we packed a lot of learning into our 4 days of school. We continued to work on our letter sounds and handwriting practice. We’ve discovered we have a class full of authors and illustrators in Trillium, and beautiful books are being created. We’ve had picture books, informational books, and books about our new chicks, dinosaurs, flowers, etc. The students have loved working on these books and are eager to share their work with the class. They have also started categorizing their books by the number system we use in class. It has been very exciting to see our class library grow with their work.
In story workshop, we’ve been learning about nests and eggs. Students were able to create nests out of clay, paint nests on our easels, sketch nests that we have in our classroom, build nests out of our blocks and we’ve started creating a large nest outside. We also spent some time walking around campus looking for nests. We found spider nests, bird nests, and a few mystery nests. It has led to great questions about nests and eggs that we are looking forward to finding the answers to. Do all animals that make nests lay eggs? Do all animals come from eggs? Do squirrels lay eggs? We will update you with our findings!
On Friday, April 1st, Mr. Luke and I enjoyed playing a little prank on our classes. Our students arrived on Friday to find that their chairs had been switched! You can find pictures in our latest album. The poor Cedars don't fit in our little chairs very well!
Student led conferences are coming up this Thursday and Friday, and we will be spending this week preparing our portfolios. Student led conferences are a favorite of mine, because we get to hear from the students what they have learned, what they have enjoyed, what their goals are and what they want to improve on. Sign-up sheets for conference times are outside the front office. Let us know if you have any questions.
The auction is also coming up fast, with less than two weeks to go! Our class basket is looking great. It isn’t too late to bring in any last minute additions to our pet basket. And don’t forget to purchase your auction tickets! There are so great items available, including the Trillium art project. Lori and I are also offering a student sleepover at school as our teacher time! We will have limited spots so make sure to get yours while they are available. The Trillium sleepover was a hit last year and we are looking forward to making it even better this year.
Enjoy the beautiful sunshine and have a wonderful week!
~Shannon