123, 123...

Our first five day week and we are all still smiling...tired, but still smiling!!

123, 123...How many friends make 123? We enjoyed this literacy activity this week as we are still working on getting to know our classmates and practicing writing our names. We made it through our first five day week and what a busy week it was! We dove into our curriculum this week as we began Fundations (our phonics program) and Math in Focus.  

Students drew themselves and two friends.  They worked together to
spell and write each other's names.

  

During our Fundations orientation week, kindergartners learned about the lines

 they will write their letters in this year:  the sky line, the plane line, the grass line 

and the worm line. Every day we practiced writing on our new white boards.
Silly kindergarten fact: There was a ton of excitement when our new magnetic dry
erase erasers were delivered this week.  Most of the class thinks they smell like new sneakers!

 

Mrs. Palmer, our school's Occupational Therapist stopped by to help us
with our pencil grips.  We laid on our bellies to help us build up muscles that
that we need to become good writers.

We learned how to correctly write the numbers 1, 2 and 3 so
we would know how to write them when we worked in our math books.

Our class really enjoys reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
We practiced finding the word see in the book and highlighted
 it with highlighter tape.

We seem to be getting the routine down for using the iPads.
Students understand the many responsibilities while using them. Now
that we are comfortable using the iPads, we will visit the computer lab Tuesday.

Have you ever heard of Mat Man?  There's a really fun song about
Mat Man to help us remember all of the parts of a person
 when we draw. We worked with partners to build Mat Man!

After we completed making Mat Man, we drew him
in our journals.  Some of us even wrote Mat Man.

Our afternoons are full of activities that are meant to build and strengthen our classroom community.  Learning centers provide wonderful opportunities for just that!  Thank you to those that sent in play dough for our classroom.  It has been a huge hit!

The puppet show was a very silly center to be at!

Our classroom has been so much more comfortable this week with the
cooler weather.  We've had some extra chances to get outside
and burn off some energy!

One last thanks to all of our families that attended Open House.  This group of kindergartners was very excited to show off what they have learned and created in just a short amount of time!

Here are some shots of students with their ME projects.

Tyler and Max

Amelia and Owen

Makayla and Anthony

Jack and Oliver

Lilly Mae and Tabitha

Eloise and Beckett

Joab and Parker

Kameron and Tristan

Our First Few Days of Kindergarten 2015

The hot weather doesn't seem to be slowing us down a bit.
We are busy learning how to work as a team!

It has been a pleasure to be back at school with such a curious, caring and silly group of kindergartners!  It is going to be another great year of learning and growing.  We are taking the time to learn about one another and how to take care of our classroom. The focus of the first six days of school was building the foundation for a cooperative and caring classroom community. 

Mr. Carozza visited our classroom to help our class sing about the 3 B's.
The 3 B's are our school and classroom rules...
Be Safe
Be Respectful
Be Responsible

The first block of our morning is always spent on a class meeting and our literacy block.  During the first few days of schools, we completed projects during our literacy block.  We enjoyed reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and making our own Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees.  We watched a short Chicka Chicka Boom Boom video clip too (see video on right).  

Owen and Kameron help paint letters after reading
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.

Tabitha, Anthony, Amelia and Lilly Mae paint letters for our
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree.

Snack and recess are always a favorite part of our morning.  A great deal of time goes into teaching the routines of snack and recess.

Joab, Tyler, Beckett, Jack, Max and Anthony enjoy snack together.

After lunch, kindergartners head back to the classroom for some quiet time, usually lasting 30 minutes.  Most of this time is spent listening to a read-a-loud.  For most of September we will read different types of picture books.  As the year moves along, students enjoy listening to chapter books during quiet time.  The last ten minutes are spent reading quietly or on some days drawing.

Beckett creates in his quiet time notebook.

An important part of our afternoon is participating in learning centers.  During our first few days of kindergarten we spent time exploring different areas of the classroom.  It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about each other, classroom routines and expectations.

Eloise and Amelia explore in the dramatic play area.

Makayla prepares some food for friends to eat
 while in the dramatic play area.

Jack and Joab drive cars and trucks together.

Parker practices his name at the writing center.

Owen and Eloise work together to play a math game.

Did you hear about the library?  Our class had our first visit this week.  Everyone got to choose a book.  Books can be kept at home for up to a week but can be brought back to school sooner.  Your child's book should travel back and forth to school in the Cat In The Hat bag students received Friday.  In kindergarten, students may go to the library any day (or everyday) during our learning centers.   This month we will be teaching students how to use the library independently.  Once kindergartners get the hang of how to use the library passes and the book keys in the library, they will be able to go to the library with a buddy...no teacher!  It's pretty fun to see them skip down the hall the first time they are aloud to go with just a friend!

Mrs. Marino reads our class a story about how to
take care of books that you bring home from the library.

Tabitha and Jack wait patiently to sign their books out.

On a really hot afternoon students were introduced to TumbleBooks.  The TumbleBook Library is an online collection of animated, talking picture books that students love.  Harold Martin pays for a subscription to this website but you can use it at home too.  The link is on the right.  The username is: haroldmartin. The password is: hms.

If anyone is interested in sending in tissues, spoons or snacks for students who forget theirs, it would be greatly appreciated. We could also use a new batch of play dough. Please see the recipe below.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank everyone for their patience as we develop our classroom routine.  It takes time teaching four, five and six year olds all of the different parts of our day.  Soon they all will be very independent and know exactly the type of milk they drink and how they are getting home.  Until then, all of the notes and emails about where your child is headed after school are VERY helpful. 

I'm looking forward to a great year!

PLAY DOUGH RECIPE

2   cups     flour

1   cup       salt

4   tsp.       cream of tartar

2  Tbsp     cooking oil

2  cups     water

Food coloring

Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar in medium size pot.  In a separate bowl, mix water, oil and food coloring.  Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir.  Cook over low to medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes.  Keep stirring until the mixture forms a solid ball.  Place on counter top and gently knead warm dough until cool to the touch.  Cool completely before storing in a plastic bag or covered container.  This recipe can easily be doubled so you can have play-dough at home too!