Groundhog Day

February 2…Groundhog Day.  And wouldn't you know it…that groundhog saw his shadow which means six more weeks of winter.  Ugh!  To top that off, we had inside recess again today because the windchill was below zero.  Mrs. Kurt could tell we were kind of wiggly, so she brought out a really fun project for us to do during inside recess.  We made groundhog puppets.  We colored a background for the puppet with a sun and a cloud.  The sun was marked with an "L" and the cloud was marked with an "E".  That was to remind us that if it was cloudy, the groundhog would not see it's shadow, which means we will have an Early spring.  If it was sunny and the groundhog sees it's shadow, spring will be Late and we have six more weeks of winter.  The kindergartners had so much fun with this project!

   

   

   

   

   

   

We read the story Gretchen Groundhog, It's Your Day! by Abby Levine.  It is a story about Gretchen Groundhog who has to go out and face the big crowds for her first official groundhog day.  She is very scared and does NOT want to do it.  She eventually changes her mind with some encouragement from her friend Hester and her Uncle Gus Groundhog.  We talked about the author's message for this book and decided that she was telling us that even if we are afraid to do something, especially the first time we try something, that it is OK.  We just need to try!  This was a great story to read before we went to gym for the Jump Rope for Heart event.  Some of us were apprehensive but then we remembered the story.  We all did our best jumping…we do the best we can and move on!  And it was not even that scary!