Vacation week is arriving just on time! Our classroom was bursting with excited energy, so we spent as much time outdoors as possible, including “running” sessions with Sue during morning work time. Tuesday brought us a late start due to the icy roads, but it also brought the best snow of the winter so far. We were finally able to build snowmen and make snowballs. We got out pretty quickly after arriving for the day, and stayed out for a long time to take advantage of the weather. The colder temps soon arrived, turning our playground into an ice rink, which the children also really enjoyed! We spent some time in the field out behind the school searching for animal tracks (which were nowhere to be found, as the snow had all been melted into ice), then we pretended to be different animals of the world – some semi-local, such as black bears, snowshoe hares, and lynx, and others from far off lands, including lions, jaguars, cheetahs, and parrots.
The Monday students were introduced to the artist David Hockney, who has had a long career creating a variety of art pieces. He currently creates enormous, colorful, works of art, using multiple canvases, usually depicting trees and natural scenes, which are the works of art that we examined. Each child decided how many “canvases” they wanted to work with, anywhere from 4 to 10, then created their own giant colorful works of art. 
We were happy to have our monthly Monday visit from Gerry Scott. She read us the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear by, Eric Carle, then gave each of us a new, hand-knit pair of slippers. We love them! Thank you Gerry!
Circle times were condensed to allow extra outside time, but we briefly talked about sheering sheep and spinning wool into yarn when we introduced the song “Sarasponda.” We took out the parachute on Thursday and had fun singing “Ring Around the Rosie,” bouncing yarn balls all around, taking turns running under and back out, and then sitting underneath all together to quietly sing “I Love the Mountains.”
Friday students began work on New Hampshire animal winter habitats. Each child decided which animals they wanted to include, then painted their shoe box to match that animal’s winter habitat. There were some bear caves, some winter woods for deer, and some snowy fields for snowshoe hares. We will continue work on our dioramas after vacation, and the rest of the class will also have the opportunity to make their own. 
Books we read this week: 
Toot & Puddle by, Holly Hobbie
No Moon, No Milk by, Chris Babcock
Gregory the Terrible Eater by, Mitchell Sharmat
From Head to Toe by, Eric Carle
The Lion and the Mouse by, Ian Andrews
Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by, Doreen Cronin
New Songs we learned: