Kindergarten Collaboration Projects are Out of This World!

It can be bittersweet when students move from the ECC into our Lower School. The friendships our Littlest Stars and Suns build from PK2-JK are truly relationships that last a lifetime.

Even though the boys and girls may spend their days in a single gender classroom once they reach Kindergarten, their teachers Miss Jamie Lassandrello and Mrs. Kelly Mungle love to collaborate, which brings these sweet boy and girl friends together for special projects.

Recently our KinderStars and KinderSuns completed their annual solar system project, which teaches them basic research skills and report-writing with complete sentences, as well as an introduction to public speaking. It is their first opportunity to present before an audience outside of their own class.

Their research begins at school with books, videos and reading short facts about each planet. Then, after picking the planet they want to report on, students look up facts with their parents at home. The students are so enthusiastic, their teachers often catch them writing facts during free play and center time! To conclude the project, each student presents their planet project to students in other grades.

Miss Lassandrello and Mrs. Mungle shared, “We absolutely love our Solar System project! There’s nothing better than watching the kids light up when they get to choose their very own planet to research. The excitement and ownership they feel makes the learning so meaningful and fun.

One of our favorite parts is seeing how much their confidence grows—especially when they proudly present their projects out loud to other grades. It’s amazing to watch them transform into little experts, sharing their knowledge with big smiles and brave voices,” they added.

The next SAA & SDS Kindergarten report and public speaking activity will focus on Presidents and First Ladies during their Great American Unit in March. Our Stars and Suns are ultimately working towards their Nursery Rhyme Show, where the boys and girls will recite nursery rhymes with costumes and props in front of ECC-6^th grade. They will take the stage in the Hook Theatre in late April. It is a show that is not to be missed!