Throughout the year the children have enjoyed having "special readers" such as parents and former students visit our classroom.  Their literacy skills have developed and they are now able to read to one another.  There's nothing better then getting cozy with a friend and sharing a book!

One of our Learning Center choices include a sorting activity where the children can use the information they have learned about animals to identify, sort, and classify various animals into groups: Mammals, Fish, Birds, and Reptiles.

After visiting the Moiliili library during our fieldtrip excursion, the children selected a reptile that they would like to learn about. During their homework assignment, they researched their reptile's habitat and features. This week, we began making our shoebox diorama of our reptile's habitat. Reptiles live in various environment from the ocean to the desert to the jungle to the grassland. The children had to be creative using materials from our art center to best represent their habitat.

Can you guess what reptile might live in this habitat?

For the past four months we have been learning about animals from mammals, to fish, to birds and finally to reptiles. This week, one of our friends brought their pet "Fifi," a jackson chameleon for a visit. Fifi eats crickets and loves to hang out on his branch. He has scaly skin and he is cold blooded. We took him out in the sun to see how his body changes color when absorbing heat.

Seeing live animals is always fascinating for children. Children are always curious about the living things around them. It helps them to understand their world much better and explore their different senses.

This week, we introduced the story of the Little Red Hen using flannel board pieces. After hearing the story, the children had the opportunity to retell the story to their friends. We then, added some props in our dramatic play area for the children to act out the story.

Felt board storytelling helps children to explore new roles. It also helps to develop their brain and expand their memorization and sequencing skills. It allows children to build their self esteem and most importantly to use their imagination and creativity.  See if there are familiar stories that you can act out with your child.

We had quite an exciting week full of Easter festivities. We colored and hunted Easter eggs, made Easter baskets, visited with the Easter bunny, and saw bunnies and hamsters at our Spring Event.

We want to wish everyone a blessed and happy Easter!

This week the K-9 Team came to visit us at our school.  The children learned about gun safety along with the duties of a sheriff officer. The children also were excited to see how Rico was able to find the toy chicken, which was hidden inside one of the three suitcases, using only his keen sense of smell!

On March 14^th the children had an opportunity to watch a show about The Great Kapok Tree, which was performed beautifully by the children of Room 9. The Great Kapok Tree is a story of a young man who begins to chop down a kapok tree in the Amazon rainforest. First, the young man hits the tree a few times with his axe, then sits down to rest and falls asleep. While he sleeps, several rainforest animals whisper into his ear the importance of the tree in their lives and beg him to not chop down the tree. When the man awakes, he leaves his axe and walks away. 

On March 6^th we had a live concert performed by the Spring Wind Quintet. The children had an opportunity to see orchestral instruments as well as hear “Paka’a,” a wonderful Hawaiian story with classical Hawaiian music composed in 2011 by John Magnussen. The children had a chance to learn and recognize the sounds of the woodwind instruments such as the oboe, the clarinet, the bassoon, the french horn, and the flute.

"Hinamatsuri (Doll's Festival)" is on March 3rd. This is the day families pray for the happiness and prosperity of their girl’s health. There is a superstition about hina dolls. If a girl does not put away the dolls quickly after the Doll Festival, then she will not get married for a long time.

As a snack the children made mochi “cherry cake” and tasted hina arare, rice crackers.