Octopus Come to Kindergarten...

We learned about the octopus a few weeks ago. Today, Mrs. Blakely surprised us by bringing three of them to school. They were not alive but they were REAL! There were two babies and one REALLY BIG one. We were all thrilled, and a little scared. We paired up with a friend and took turns looking at, touching and holding the octopus! Mrs. Varava came in to take pictures for us. You can see the excitement on all of our faces:

Thanks to Mrs. Varava for taking all these wonderful photos!

We Know Fish....

We have been learning about FISH! We know that...

• fish breathe out of gills
• they are cold-blooded animals
• fish are all different colors and sizes
• some fish have fake eyes
• fish don't have eyelids
• they sleep with their eyes open
• fish that live deep in the bottom of the sea can sometimes light up
• clown fish live in sea anemones
• most fish have a skeleton or backbone
• lung fish can breathe out of the water
• swordfish have a nose that looks like a sword
• fish must live in water
• Mom sea horse give the eggs to dad to hold onto
• some fish have weapons
• some fish make nests
• some fish hold their eggs in their mouths
• some fish eat other fish
• if a fish has sharp teeth then you know they eat other fish
• sharks have rows and rows of teeth
• the biggest fish of all is the whale shark
• the archer fish can spit water to catch his food
• salmon can go in salt water or fresh water
• you can get a cut from shark skin
• some fish go to cleaning stations
• big fish let little go in their mouths to clean their teeth
• some fish live in fresh water and some live in salt water
• sharks are fish
• some fish use camouflage
• some fish are blind
• if sharks and rays stop moving they will sink

We know LOTS more about fish. Take a look at the pictures we made of fish using the Paint program. We drew the fish and labeled the parts....gills, eye, mouth, fin, & tail.

A Hermit Crab Visits....

We have been learning about all sorts of interesting sea animals. We learned about hermit crabs. We know they live in shells and as they grow, they will move out of one shell and into another.
A few days ago, Jake (a former Kindergartner, now in 5th grade) shared his pet hermit crab with us. He showed us what it eats and the tank he brought it to school in. His crab's shell is painted to look like Lisa on the T.V. show "The Simpson's". We thought that was pretty funny. We  recently read the book A HOUSE FOR HERMIT CRAB by Eric Carle so having a real hermit crab visit us was a treat! Jake passed it around and many of the kids were brave enough to hold it. Others chose to just look. Either way, it was neat to see it up close! Thanks Jake for sharing!

Spring Sing '09...

On May 6th, we had our Spring Sing. We got to go on the stage at Bartlett High School to perform for our families and friends. We were both nervous and excited! Miss Byker taught us songs to sing. We did a GREAT job!