K Buddies on Thursday's

12/ 8   Mrs. Carpenter began this week's K Buddies with a story that cracked us up ( well, not really, our bodies didn't actually break into pieces....) anyway, entitled Even More Parts  by Tedd Arnold.     Ironically, Kindergartners had also listened to More Parts by the same author at Circle Time earlier in the week.  Both stories interpreted words and phrases (about the human body in particular) in a very literal way.   Kindergarten, First, and Second Graders then selected some of their favorite books to read to the each other seated around the classroom and  under tent structures.

 

         The following Thursday, December 15,  Mrs. Carpenter read a beautiful story about a family tradition that is similar to one she shares called   Night Tree by Eve Bunting.  Mrs. Carpenter explained that her own family desired to extend her family's holiday tradition of buying and decorating a Christmas Tree for weeks into the new year.   Her family, like the one in the story, decorates an outdoor tree (she uses her discarded tree)  for birds and other animals to enjoy.  

Kindergartners were then led through a decorating activity by the, now expert, 1st/2nd graders.  They had been making  decor previously for their "Adopt A Bird"  service project.  We strung cheerios and cranberries;  and slathered shortening on pine cones then rolled them in a generous amount of bird seed.  We them hung them outside of the Kindergarten Classroom for all to see the fruits (and seeds) of our labor.   On Friday, we observed a very plump and apparently grateful squirrel feasting  at the tree.   

 

  

On Wednesday, Kindergartners also heard a similar story to Night Tree entitled A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe.  The latter story's tree, however, was not decorated by humans but by some grateful forest friends.