April in the Orca Class

We sewed little stuffed guys we call "Critters." Each one has a name and we know what they can do. We designed and then used the Make It box full of recyclables to build them homes, or a boat, submarine, igloo- whatever we thought our critter needed.

Then we wrote a book about our critters. These books, and others, are in the Orca library. We take turns being the librarian, checking in books, writing late slips, and helping our friends borrow a new book. The children have been making their own books for the library at home. We have one on space, one on Star Wars, one about how eggs are laid, and one that really teaches us a lot about the human body. We know if these books are fiction, or non-fiction. The next plan for our critters is to make a stop animation movie!

One of our friends lives across the street from our school. His neighbor has a small farm with sheep. In the spring the ewes always have baby lambs. One day we went to visit this farm. We got to pet a lamb.

The owner got the sheep to come across the pasture by shaking a pan with food in it. The sheep came running, and the lambs right along with them (dragging their tails behind them...).

After looking at the sheep, we climbed over the fence (an experience all by itself) and into our friend's backyard where we got to see his chickens. He often tells us stories about his chickens, one whose name is Chicken Pot Pie. We fed the chickens and looked at the eggs.

We had movie day in the Orca class! We brought a blankie or pillow to snuggle with, and we each had our own bag of popcorn. We watched a fascinating movie called

 Microcosmos

. It was all about the insects and creatures that live in a field. The photography is wonderful, and we learned a lot about the different insects just by watching. One of our favorite parts was when the two snails have a long, slimy "kiss" as Opera music plays in the background.