Maine State Ballet, Mystery Trees,Puppets

May Merriment... and Memories!

Learning the song...

The entire first grade went on a field trip to Maine State Ballet where we were treated to some behind the scenes instruction- trying on costumes, learning fun facts about the masks and lighting techniques were just some of the aspects of our visit. Students learned some basic steps of ballet, tap and jazz...and then performed on stage! Even the most skeptical students were heard to comment on how much fun (and hard work) a dance show could be. When they heard the Patriots football player Gronkowski takes dance for coordination it drew a sound of surprise from the crowd...and so did the fun fact of a tutu costing thousands of dollars because they are so complicated and time-consuming to make! They then explained how this ballet company make their own tutus.  Check out some of our classmates dressed in some of their finest!

...learning the dance movements...

...and performing in front of friends.

Eddie the wolf

Grace the Rabbit

Drew the Mouse King from the Nutcracker Ballet

Everyone was very impressed to learn that the masks were made of paper mache...especially since we had made paper mache eggs during our Mexico study!  We were impressed with how smooth they were and how they hard it mus be to dance with them on!

It was a week of show stoppers!  Shadow Puppets with the Kindergarten Audience:  "The Three Billy Goats Gruff"

 

 
Many thanks to our back stage construction crew:  Sam (Ayden's mom) and David (Alex's dad)

 This was our first puppet production- we had 5 different stages so all of the first grade students could have a chance to put on their play for small groups of K students. The noise level proved to be a challenge with everyone putting on five plays at once; so after everyone had a turn we had one focus group perform so there were less distraction for the K student audience. We learned a great deal about shadows, light and working together as a group- and to cut back and just do one show per day! Problem solving was discussed and the last suggestion came from our reflection time in the classroom circle; it is always great to see and hear them talk about team work!

And speaking of teamwork... our science partners finally got a chance to see their mystery tree with LEAVES!
That made it much easier to match information and find out what kind of tree they had been sketching and measuring!
What we found out is most trees we picked behind the school were oak trees while only a few were maple and elm. Here are some work samples of our Super Scientists:

After reading some fact books on trees we matched tree seeds to our trees...and then began to sprout a few sunflower seeds and bean seeds.

Sprouting in our window- look at them grow!

After reading Jack in the Beanstalk, Jim in the Beanstalk, Kate in the Beanstalk as well as Jenny in the Cornstalk...our seeds sprouted! We watched and measured until they were big enough to take home.

As we end the year we find ourselves out and about the pond. On our last walk we saw 3 frogs !

Which leads us to the last few days of school and our last unit of study- POND LIFE !! 

Dates to remember:

June 7   Field day at USM in a.m.
             Sneakers and a LABELED water bottle

                        Book Swap in p.m.
            Bring in a book you're done with and trade !
 
June 9  Family Picnic, Trail Walk
              5:30-6:30  Bring a picnic and tick spray

June 10  Wear P.J. "Frog Prince/Princess Movie Day"
              
                  Kids wanted a PJ to School Day; and me being me I told them they had to earn it by
earning weekly points for good behavior, taking care of tools correctly and using inside voices. They have accomplished this for a week- so we will spend this Friday in our PJ's. We will also be reading different versions of the Frog Prince Folktale-and comparing it to the movie. 

It is "Pretend Summer Birthday Day" as well. This is a day where the summer birthdays (that did not occur during school) get to receive their birthday crown/ pencil from yours truly.

Benchmark student work samples from beginning of the year until now will be sent home in a large bag. 


June 13  Step Up Day in a.m.
                         Meet teacher for next year- come back to the room and "write a letter to her telling what you 
                         feel she should know about you...and what questions you may have about second grade."

                         Memories
               After reading "Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge" (about a little boy who helps someone    
                            who has lost their memories) we will share ONE special item that brings back a great  
                            memory. We will also write a small book of our own memories. Mrs. Lesperance 
                            will give out her memory gift bag to each student on this day as well.

                         End of the Year Assembly
                This is an assembly for grades K-5 to get together one last time to sing together, watch  
                              slide shows of the year together and honor those with great attendance. We also get our
                              final report card  to bring home.

June 14   Last Day   Half Day  Dismissed at Noon

I would like to thank all of you for the support this year, as well as having the honor to watch your child grow and become such strong students. Have a great summer full of reading, adventures and sunshine!   - Michelle