Snake Lake

checking out the pond critters that live at Snake Lake

this toad really wanted to get up close and personal with our Ladybugs!

our first field trip on the bus

designing a new mode of transportation using geometric shapes

putting the design on paper

Another busy week in the Ladybugs!   We visited the nature preserve at Snake Lake and learned about the animals and birds that live there.  It was our first trip on the school bus this year and that was pretty exciting too!  We wrote two class books this week and during our collaborative learning time, we designed vehicles using geometric shapes.

Wacky wheels and other adventures!

graphing our wheels

could this be any more fun?

brothers working together on the road map

One of our Ladybugs is on the cross country team!

During our collaborative learning time with the Superstars and Sharks, we have been learning about different modes of transportation.  We have been comparing and contrasting transportation with wheels, wings, feet and those used in water.  We have been sorting and tallying, drawing plans for airports, roads and port docks.  We have been talking about rules that govern roads, waterways and airports; why we needs these rules and what kinds of signs are used to remind us of the rules.  Wacky wheel day was a fun way to have the children work together to make the rules, draw the road and add tally marks as we graphed what kinds of wheels came to school that day.

Group time with kindergarten and 1st grade

Sorting and classifying different modes of transportation

This week we added tubing and funnels to our water system

Math can be so fun!

A little color mixing to go with the book "Mouse Paint"

working together

This has been a very busy week in the Ladybugs.   We are working very hard to learn the routine and the class expectations.  We are making friends and learning how to negotiate for what we want.  Sharing and getting along with your classmates is very hard work!  We started working on reading, letter sounds and writing our names.  Math time is lots of fun and we have several children who really like working with math concepts and numbers.  We also started our collaborative learning time with the kindergarten and first grade classes.  Our topic for this trimester is "Transportation".   We are looking at different types of transportation and how they are similar and different.  We will also be talking about why we need different modes of transportation.  The children are very excited about this group time.  To finish out the week, Sadie, the dog, joined our class on Thursday!

Jumping into school with both feet!

math activity

working together

our 1st French class

patterning

The Octopus class constructed a waterway for us.

exploring how fast the water flows down the gutter

geo-boards, one of our favorite activities

a picnic to end the week!

There is not a minute wasted in the Ladybug class.  The children are engaged in many different activities throughout the day.  We have started our math program with math tables every morning.  Right now, we are working on shapes and patterning. The children are so proud of their achievements. Today we started reading readiness activities.  We have also been working on physics on our playground using gutters and water.  We are having lots of fun together!