We had a wonderful end-of-year school trip to Johnnycake Mountain Farm! Mr. Harris graciously invites us to visit each and every year. We learned all about the workings of a cattle farm. A highlight of the trip was the fun hayride. We meandered in and around the pastures as we made a few stops to help Mr. Harris call the cows and cute baby calves from the fields. As we reached the top of the mountain, one of the highest points in Hartford county, we looked out over beautiful scenery and distant hills. One of my students remarked - "This looks like heaven!"

Mrs. Lamb and her kindergartners are so appreciative for all the ways our wonderful PTA enhances our Lake Garda education. This year we enjoyed an enlightening Cultural Day, a fascinating science demonstration, a relaxing yoga lesson, an exciting Barnes Nature Center visit, an informative and fun-filled Science Learning Festival, a brand-new Boundless Playground, an interesting author's visit, and a delicious teachers' appreciation luncheon! WOW!!!

Guest readers visited Lake Garda School on Read Aloud Day. Mrs. Judy Bechard, our wonderful school secretary for many years, was the special guest reader in the AM class. Mr. Brennan Glasgow, our terrific K-5 math consultant, was the special guest reader in the PM class. Thanks to the Burlington Chamber of Commerce, the new read-aloud book was donated to our classroom library!

For the next few months, our AM class will meet with second grade students for Book Buddy literacy activities. We will focus on characterization, comparison/contrast, and author study.

The Science Learning Festival is one of the many wonderful programs sponsored by our PTA. Two of Mrs. Lamb's students proudly presented their terrific science projects at the school science fair.

Cooperation in Kindergarten

In addition to strengthening our academic skills throughout the school year, we also focus on our social skills. We learn how to work together and do our best!

Concepts about print are fundamental understandings that support reading acquisition. Big Books are a wonderful resource to use when teaching these skills to emergent readers. Concepts of print include awareness that:

• Print carries a message.
• There is a one to one correspondence between words read and printed text.
• There are conventions of print such as directionality (left to right, top to bottom), differences between letters and words, distinctions between upper and lower case, punctuation.
• Books have common characteristics (e.g. author, title, front/back).