Under The Sea

We had a visit from Angela, the Marine Biologist today. We met in the kitchen where she read us the Eric Carle story A House for Hermit Crab and then showed us some live creatures from the sea. The children were well behaved and really enjoyed Angela.

We saw and touched a Hermit Crab, a Green Crab, an Atlantic Rock Crab, a Horseshoe Crab ( which isn't actually a crab), a sea star, a lobster, a sea urchin and some clam shells. At the end of the presentation the kids got to put their hands in the touch tank and explore some more.

Enjoy the photos. I apologize beforehand for the photo quality. I forgot my camera this morning and had to use my phone to take the photos.

Under The Sea from Tracy Lydon on Vimeo.

The Pledge

Listening to the kids say The Pledge of Allegiance is something I never get tired of listening to. Enjoy!

The Pledge from Tracy Lydon on Vimeo.

Legos.... they are not just for building anymore

What a day, what a day. First of all, thanks to Miss Kathy for taking all the photos for us today. My hands were too full to man the camera.

We decided yesterday to cook today. I brought in my pasta machine to make spaghetti and we took all 11 parts and put the machine together (kind of like a big puzzle). When it was all together and we were ready to weigh the flour and crack some eggs, I realized that I had left the most important piece of the machine at home. So..... after some brainstorming, we decided to try and use things we had on hand in the classroom to make due.

Legos saved the day !

The pasta was delicious, the kids were great, and I am reminded of a friend of mine who always taught his kids to "use what you've got".

Legos..... they are not just for building anymore from Tracy Lydon on Vimeo.

March 18th

Well..... the leprechaun project took on a life of its own in our classroom the past two weeks. A one day project of making leprechaun traps turned into a weeklong extravaganza. We learned that to attract a leprechaun to your trap you need gold, rainbows, and shamrocks. If you are lucky enough to catch a leprechaun you need to:

#1 Never take your eyes off him or he will disappear and...

#2 Make him laugh and he will take you to his pot of gold.

Unfortunately none of us caught a leprechaun yesterday but one did visit our room. He messed up all the toys, sent us on a scavenger hunt with crazy clues, and left each one of us a gold coin and a string of green beads.

~enjoy the video, it is a long one.

Leprechaun Traps from Tracy Lydon on Vimeo.

Lobstering in March

We had a wonderful time this morning at the PSO Kinderconcert. It was called Strings: Strings at Sea. We met Lobstering Laura, heard beautiful music, and learned a lot about lobsters and lobstering in Maine.

The kids were well behaved, polite, and seemed to really enjoy the performance. Thank you to Laura Libby who came up with the idea to take the children to the concert.

March 4

Miss Kathy came in today and gave us a wonderful Science lesson about Space. After reading a book and demonstrating how the space shuttle works, she left us with astronauts and space ships to play with, a huge solar system puzzle to put together and a planet project which she set up in the writing center. It was a great day!

Space from Tracy Lydon on Vimeo.

and meanwhile in the Vet Center......

Vet Center from Tracy Lydon on Vimeo.

Space from Tracy Lydon on Vimeo.

Valentine Day Party

Excitement.......Excitement........and more Excitement. We had a week packed full of Valentines Day activities. On Tuesday the children created hats to wear to our party. On Wednesday we decorated cookies to give as gifts to our families. Yesterday we did heart shaped marble paintings and wrapped and made cards for our cookie packages. Finally at 11:00 everything came together and we had a wonderful celebration. Enjoy your vacation, rest up and I will see you in a week.

Untitled from Tracy Lydon on Vimeo.

Preparations

We spent the past week preparing for Valentines Day. The children made their Valentine boxes, learned 3 Valentine songs and had a couple of great games of Valentine bingo, created cards in the Valentine Factory, and played lots of Post Office in the pretend area.

December

December is just a blur at this point. We had a very busy month making Christmas decorations, gifts for our families, and wrapping and unwrapping presents in the pretend area. Family gingerbread house making was a perfect way to end our month of celebration. The sharing of everyones family Christmas traditions is always a high point for me. Thank you for taking the time to send those special show and tells to school.

Fall

This is my first solo attempt at making and publishing a slideshow. I hope you enjoy it.

Let's play outside

I had a computer lesson from Luc's Mom this morning. She is a wonderful teacher. Together we made this blog which will show you photos that I have taken of the kids this year. I will not ever use the kids names. If you prefer that your child not be shown on Discovery Notes, let me know and I will be sure to omit their photos.

This is the first video slideshow that I have to share. It was a very fun morning on the playground.