Poetry Project #2

Thank you to all who donated cans for our project this week! As you see below, we have transformed them into keepsake containers decorated with a favorite poem and illustrated by the students. This involved a lot of cutting, drawing and careful planning as the kids had a small space to work with. The finished products look amazing - we are impressed with their creativity! The kids are already planning what to keep in their creations - the ideas ranged from paintbrushes, colored pencils, pens and markers to rock collections, hair scrunchies, and small toys.  

The most frequent question we are getting now is, "When can we take them home?". The good new is - soon. These projects, as well as a personal poetry anthology that includes poems the 1-2 kids selected, poems from our study, and their own poems that they wrote, will all be going home next Thursday, after our Poetry Celebration! We hope to see you there. In the meantime, here is a preview. 

Enjoy the pictures below of the finished projects, kids at work designing their masterpiece, and the completed covers before they were wrapped around a can. 

Signs of Spring

This week the 1-2 kids have been excited to see (and feel) some signs of spring! We took the iPads out so each child could snap a picture of a sign of spring they noticed. Then we projected the images, back in the classroom, and had each child talk about what they were trying to capture in their photography. 

Some students were quick to spot the many sources of green growing up from the ground - daffodils about to sprout, rose campion, iris and other plants in our pollinator garden, even the poppies have started to leaf out down the hill though it will still be some time before their bright red blossoms emerge.

Other kids took advantage of the cloudy sky and sprinkle of rain that was coming down - rain being a hallmark of the spring season. It was trickier to capture the rain as a standstill image, but resourceful minds figured out that by taking a picture of a puddle, the ripples were evidence of the falling rain. 

Canada Geese, returned from migration, were another favorite subject for the pictures. We have been seeing more and more geese grazing on green grasses of Sargent Field, something we have not seen since last fall. Definitely a sign that spring is here!

Beautiful purple crocuses in bloom were a final sign of what is to come as this season of renewal unfolds, though our favorites were the accidental image of kids running joyfully in the warmer spring temperatures. Enjoy the pictures below, taken by the 1-2 kids.