The leaves and blossoms on the trees have started to come out, which provided us with some nice shade this warm spring week.  It was wonderful to run and play with our friends, and then take breaks at the picnic table and in the sand box.

During circle on Tuesday we made some predictions about what we might see at the bog/pond on Thursday.  Some children predicted that we would see frogs, tadpoles, trees, and various bugs. It was also predicted that we might see some wildlife, like bears, coyotes, and dolphins.  We had a brief discussion about the differences between ponds and oceans, and how different animals can live in fresh water ponds, while others live in large salt water oceans.

We celebrated our friend’s sixth birthday on her last day with us.  She brought a delicious cake to share, which everyone enjoyed.  It was sad to see her leave on Tuesday afternoon.  We wish her all the best on her trip back to Russia and her move to Texas.

We learned about Cinco de Mayo and broke open our piñata filled with candy and peanuts.  Zeanny told us that in Costa Rica, the piñatas are usually filled with mostly peanuts and only a little candy.  She shared a book with us about how peanuts grow, are harvested, and turned into peanut butter.

Everyone had a great time on our field trip to the bog/pond.  A green frog who joined us on our trip was released into the pond, and seemed to enjoy his new home.  We walked along an old beaver dam, saw some little minnows, and visited a new beaver dam.  Everyone was anxious to find some frog eggs, which we finally did in the ditch on the side of the road.  There were plenty to go home with anyone that wanted them.  We gathered some to keep in our tank at school, where we will watch them for the rest of the school year and see how they change.

When we returned to school, we checked our list of predictions to compare it with what we did see.  We found that we saw many of the things we had guessed, but others, such as dolphins and bears, were nowhere in sight.  We also added some things to our list that we had not predicted, then we took turns looking in the microscope at a tadpole.

Friday students were busy all day.  They spent some time examining the tadpoles, listened to Gerrie Scott read us a great story about mud, then went outside before the rain came.  They gathered flowers for mother’s day and had fun playing tag.  When we went in, the children set up a flower shop for mother’s day.  They needed money, so they decided to make some.  They were not sure how they should look, so we examined a five dollar bill and a one dollar bill.  We held them under a light and found some water marks and a safety strip on the five dollar bill, and found little red and green fibers all over both bills, so we knew they were real.  Later in the afternoon they set up the pillows and practiced frog hopping – they could jump really, really far!  It was a wonderful, warm, Friday.