The kindergarteners learned about shapes this week! We started the week by reading The Dot and making our own dot art. On Tuesday, we played shape jeopardy where the students demonstrated their knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes. On Wednesday for the early release day, we made shapes out of play-doh and played shape tag in the gym. On Thursday, the kindergarteners used tape and paint on canvasses to make abstract shape art. Finally, on Friday, the students discovered which shapes are strongest to build with as they constructed towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows. They also enjoyed the warmer weather and additional outside time. It was certainly an awesome week!

This week, the kindergarteners focused on women’s history month! On Monday, we read a book about Anna Strong, the first American woman to be a spy, and the students created their own codes in the journals. On Wednesday, we watched videos about Sally Ride, the first American woman to go to space; and on Thursday, the kindergarteners created their own inventions after learning about Beatrice Shillings, a WWII engineer. Finally, on Tuesday and Friday, the students learned about many famous women athletes ranging from the Williams sisters to Mia Hamm. We ended the week practicing soccer and basketball in the big gym. They certainly learned a lot!

In kindergarten this week, we learned about Black History Month! On Monday, we read about Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to congress. The students then wrote in their journals about a law they would create. On Tuesday, we read about George Washington Carver, his work with the peanut, and his childhood secret garden; the kindergarteners then used water colors to paint their own secret gardens. After reading about Jackie Robinson on Wednesday, we practiced T-ball in the gym; it was a real hit! On Thursday, we learned about the underground railroad and freedom quilts, which we then created as a class. To end the week on Friday, we read Ada Twist, Scientist and made elephant toothpaste.

The kindergarteners worked on a week long art project to create the ocean. They learned about and made dolphins and whales, lobsters and crabs, fish and sharks, octopuses and squids, and jellyfish and seahorses. Some even added their own twist by making sea monsters, mermaids, and submarines!

In LEDP this week, the kindergarteners started the week learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We read about his work combatting racism and poverty and his dream for equality. The students wrote in their journals about their own dreams. On Tuesday, we did a science experiment with M&Ms and water. Though the M&Ms looked different on the outside, they were all chocolate on the inside; we related this to people looking different, but all being similar within. For the second half of the week, the kindergarteners learned about lunar new year! We talked about the countries that celebrate it like China and Korea. The students made red fans on Thursday and bunnies on Friday to celebrate the year of the bunny.

Kindergarten learned about arctic animals this week! We started off the week with a game of charades. On Tuesday, we made penguins; we also learned about the science of penguin feathers by putting water on crayon drawings. It rolled right off! They were excited for the mentors to help them make snowy owls on Wednesday. On Thursday, the students made foxes out of their hand prints. We then ended the week by making polar bears out of plates and playing polar bear tag in the gym. It was certainly a fun week! 

The LEDP kindergarteners have been learning about winter holidays this week! They started the week by making a list of the holidays and then drawing family traditions in their journals. In the middle of the week, we learned about more specific traditions for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. The kids enjoyed coloring Christmas trees, weaving mkeka mats for Kwanzaa, and playing dreidel for Hanukkah. To sum up the week, the kindergarteners made cards to wish their family and friends happy holidays.

The kindergartners have been learning about Massachusetts-born author and illustrator, Jan Brett! Many of her books, like The Mitten, The Hat, The First Dog, feature animals so many of activities and art projects have as well! The students became authors and illustrators and wrote alternate endings to a Comet’s Nine Lives. In the gym, we played zookeeper a tag-like game where the children act like animals that have escaped the zoo. Finally, the kindergarteners were scientists and made fossilized paw prints out of clay.  It’s been a fun and busy week!

This week in kindergarten, we’ve focused on space! We read books about astronomers Maria Mitchell, Edwin Hubble, and Galileo and learned a bit about each planet. The students used this knowledge in a week long art project where they created collages featuring astronauts, planets, and stars. In the gym, we relaxed with some space-themed yoga. Finally, the kindergartners also loved making glow-in-the-dark alien slime for our weekly science experiment. They certainly thought this week was out of this world!

The kindergartners celebrated Halloween with a bang! Using baking soda and vinegar, they made brains (made out of ice) explode! For the rest of the week, we’ve focused on food. We read about dumplings from China, breakfast around the world, farming vegetables in cities, and a fictional book about canning. The students thought about and drew their favorite foods for a journal activity, painted an assortment of cookies, and made collages of food on paper plates. The kindergartners certainly enjoyed this fun and delicious week!

This week in Kindergarten, we’ve been focusing on Halloween! We started off our week by reading a book about brown bats and making bat puppets. Many of the students added their own twist by making insects to tape to their puppets so that their bats had something to eat. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we learned what many of our friends were being for Halloween by playing 20 questions where the kindergartners thought of their costumes for the rest of the class to figure out. The kindergartners were also excited to use the big gym for the first time in LEDP! We played a spooky game of tag where the tagger turned fellow students into zombies. Finally, we ended our week with two more art projects: ghost lanterns and spider hats! The children had a fun week and are looking forward to Halloween on Monday!

Kindergarten has had a fun week focusing on apples! For science, we talked about density and tested which items would sink or float; the kindergartners were excited to discover that both apples and pumpkins float! In the gym, we learned how to play a new game called Apple Picking, where we divided into teams and tried to collect as many “apples” as we could from around the gym. Finally, we ended our week with an apple tasting! The students tried Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Cortland, and Fuji apples. In the end, they decided the best tasting were....drum roll..... Honeycrisp!