Kindergarten Exhibition Night

So Alyssa's class has been studying birds all year - every grade level at Anser Charter School focuses on one topic and they work the majority of their lessons (reading, math, science, etc) around that topic, they call it their "expedition."  Anyway, the kindergartners have a bird expedition.  Alyssa has been learning all sorts of interesting bird facts - she can tell you the different kinds of beaks and feet the birds have and why those adaptations work for that bird.  When we go to the zoo she can look at a bird and accurately guess its primary food, just by looking at its beak and feet - its pretty impressive.

A few months ago the kids were assigned individual birds and some of the older kids (somewhere between 6th and 8th graders) became their bird buddies and helped them research their birds to come up with bird facts.  They put all those facts together and presented them at their exhibition night.

The night started with a slide show of pictures of the kindergartners learning and studying birds throughout the year.  Then the kids performed three songs for us (one in Spanish and another using sign language).

 
(Alyssa is the one in purple, with pink pants - my daughter has an interesting fashion sense)

Then they presented the science portion, they introduced themselves and their bird, explained their bird's features and what they eat, had an interactive segment where we got to guess their bird's type of beak and habitat and then they provided some interesting facts about their bird (like how many eggs they typically lay, wing span, whether they migrate, etc) and then they showed us their final scientific drawing of their bird.  The families started out at their own child's station, but then rotated through two more.  So all the Kindergartners presented their bird to multiple groups of strangers.  Alyssa did a really good job presenting the Merlin.  Super proud of that girl!

And finally we had the art portion of the evening.  They had set up a little gallery using the cafeteria tables, so the kids could show us how their art progressed.  They had four drafts of their bird and they explained why their final draft was their best draft.

We have the option of buying note cards with the final draft of our child's bird drawing on them (so don't be surprised if you get Merlin cards in the future, I'm sure we will buy a few - the proceeds go to bird conservation in Idaho).