The Last Day of School!

What a great year we had in kindergarten!  The children worked so hard on their reading skills and it paid off in a big way because they were able to read quite well by the end of the year!  They did great on their other skills too.  Along the way, we had such a fun time learning and doing special activities!  I will miss these wonderful, little people and I look forward to seeing them in the fall as they are across the hall in 1st grade.  Have a great summer everyone!

Last Day Photos

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Mother's Day Cards

The Last Day of Lunch in the Lunchroom

Bird Gifts!

On the last day of school, I gave each of the kindergartners
a bird paper airplane of their choice and a painted, clay
bird figurine from Guatelmala from the Urquietas.  The
kids loved them!

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Bird Figurines

Years ago, a man from Ogallala, NE used to take these lightweight, hand-painted bird figurines into the 5th grade classroom each year to teach the students about local birds. I was told that he placed the birds around the school yard, in the trees, or in the habitat where children might see them. The students had worksheets to fill out while going around the yard to find and identify the birds. Now that he is retired, a friend of his suggested he pass them on to me. That was very thoughtful! These birds are not only unique due to the material they are made of, but one side is painted to be the male and the opposite side is the female plumage. I showed them to the kindergartners on our last day of school and they knew all of them. They thought they were wonderful...as did I! You'll need to click on the pic to see the full picture.

Random Photos

This was a cool Peregrine Falcon kite that he got from
Fairway Seeds.  The kids loved it!

I had so many birds coming to my feeders, so I brought
the kindergartners over on one of the last days of school
to spy on them.  They got good looks at some pretty birds!

The kids enjoyed making Earth Day art.
They could make it into any animal.  Check
out the pointers.  Is there anything you can
do to help?

Y Sticks - Finding Nature

AHS Graduates Celebrated!

Each year the AHS graduates come down the hallway to be celebrated!  All of the elementary kids line the hallways to clap for this terrific accomplishment!  It is so wonderful and it brings me to tears every year.

New Armour Shirts All Around!

The Skills USA group tried a new project.  They made 

t-shirts for all of the students.  Each grade had their 

own color.  Very nice!

A Visit From a New Puppy!

There aren't many things as cute as a new puppy! 
This girl brought her sweet puppy to school for
"Show and Tell".

April Journal Pages

Our Bird Book is Published!

Birds, Birds, Birds!

Click here to purchase a copy of your child's book!  It costs $8.30 plus shipping and handling.  I thought the book turned out very nicely!

Working on Their Bird Field Guide

The kindergartners have worked hard on their bird book
and tried to do their best work.

The Kindergarten Field Trip to the Dam

The kindergarten field trip on Friday was awesome! The kindergartners got to see many life birds! Birds they had only previously seen in a book, were seen. On the drive to the Fort Randall Dam, I was able to pull up to ponds and they saw lots of different ducks, American Coots and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. They marveled at the colors and were surprised at how small Blue-winged Teal and Buffleheads were. At one point we came across 200 American White Pelicans resting. They were on both sides of the road, so the kids could see them. I slowly drove up and we watched them.  Soon they flew off right in front of the vehicle. The kids were cheering! They were shocked at how huge they were.

When we got to the dam, I took them on my favorite trail.  A Spotted Towhee came close to show-off by spreading its tail and wings, while singing. The kids were impressed! We saw other birds like a Wild Turkey, Bald Eagle, Forster's Terns, Eastern Bluebird, Western Kingbirds, and many more. There were smiles all around! I was very happy that they were able to use their binoculars and able to see the birds more easily. They also heard Northern Cardinals, which is a song they knew. They know about 30 bird songs, so they were able to recognize a few songs. I heard a Yellow Warbler, but we couldn't find it. We also did a lot of exploring and checked out other things such as: web worms, caterpillars, fungi, flowers, Yucca plants, trees that a beaver chewed on, a tiny nest, an enormous {empty} Bald Eagle nest, acorns and cool rocks!

Later we had a picnic in a shelter where the Barn Swallows kept trying to come in. Then they played on the awesome playground before traveling to another playground to fly kites and play some more. We made pine cone bird feeders too. Then we had birthday cupcakes to celebrate Cait's summer birthday. It was a quiet ride home as some were sleeping. I didn't know it was possible to wear them out!  It was such a wonderful day that we will not soon forget!  Thank you to our chaperones, Cheri V. and Jim W. for helping us out!