Our Mystery Science last week was all about the heart and what an incredible muscle it is!  We spent sometime listening and counting heartbeats on ourselves and on a partner.  We also counted resting heartbeats together and found our that we have a resting heart rate of about 45 beats per 30 seconds!  We logged our counting, used our fist to determine the size of our heart and made a special valentine!  What a “heartwarming” experience!

Last week we had a very special visit from Mrs. Wagner’s little dog, Choppa!  Choppa was a rescue dog from the Animal Humane Society six years ago and is one of the sweetest and most compassionate dogs you will ever meet!  Choppa recently lost his sister, an English Bulldog named Aggie.  Aggie and Choppa were inseparable and the loss has been very difficult for him.  He joined us for a day in kindergarten and the kids LOVED him!  We did a big lesson on empathy where we did some role playing on understanding feelings and emotions and what it can be like to walk in someone else’s shoes.  My students are very eager to have Choppa back, so we will try to have him visit once a week to read with kids, play and be a friend to listen too!