Celebrations of light

The celebrations of light continue this week! We have learned abut many holidays including Kwanzaa, Diwali, Eid, Christmas, and Hanukkah.  Yesterday, we made lanterns for Eid with white crayon and water color - they turned out beautiful!

What ways do you celebrate your holiday? What traditions do you have at home?

More Polar Express

On Tuesday, we worked with our 4th grade reading buddies on making Polar Express train cars to get ready for our Polar Express day. Here is a snapshot of what we did!

Yesterday was Polar Express Day!

All week we are working on the theme "The Polar Express" We are doing Polar Express writing, math centers, literacy centers, and crafts! But yesterday, we got to wear pajamas, drink hot cocoa, and eat candy, just like the kids in the book The Polar Express! The whole day was a blast as the kids enjoyed the movie on their very on "train."

On Tuesday, we got to work with our reading buddies from 4th grade! We worked on some plump and perky turkeys and then read to each other. It was a blast!

Happy Election Day!!

Yesterday and today we discussed the President, his (or her!) jobs, and today's election.  We read about Barack Obama and Mitt Romney and then held our own mock election!

One little guy, when asked what the President does, said to me, "The President speaks to the Union." I loved it!

Hi everybody!!

The fun and excitement of Halloween is over and brings us into our Thanksgiving season!  In a few weeks we will our Friendship Feast! We will be discussing family, friends, and the importance of sticking together and helping others.  We will also be learning about the Native Americans and Pilgrims.  Here are some of the leveled centers we will be working on!

If you would like to gobble up these centers at home, please e-mail me and I can provide you with the link!

Happy Tuesday!

This week we are focusing on Fire Safety and to cap it off we have a field trip at the end of the week! Today we read a book about firemen and firewomen, completed our Scholastic on firemen and firewomen and watched a video on fire safety!

Tomorrow, we are going to make little fire alarms to hang up in our classroom and help us talk about what to do if we ever see a fire.

Happy October!

Fall is in full swing and we are going to be LOTS this month! Our themes are Fire Safety, Farm, Fall, and Halloween! Watch for field trip letters home!  Have a fantastic week - watch for picture updates! :o)

Reading centers are in full swing!

In this center, we are letter matching spoons! Upper and lower case letters are matched and the kids color in the box with the letter that they have found for accountability (Thanks Mrs. Jakusz!)

Using the same center accountability sheet, these two kiddos are tossing the tactile letter balls and reading letters to each other.  This center may get a little wild... :o)

Something else we do is play Race to the Top with letter dice (see the die in the top left corner?).

Students color in boxes to show which letters we have rolled.

I'm still working on creating center response sheets for all the centers I already have, but I am super happy with the start we already have! Whahoo! :o)

I also wanted to show you the letter books that our Kindergarten classes complete.  My team put together these books to provide the students with a multi-purpose alphabet book that they can keep for practice!

 This student is practicing writing the letter "Nn" using a dotted line "N" then independent practice.  If you can see that blue and red "Nn" picture on the bottom - that is what he colored.  He had to find the lowercase "n" letters to color blue and the uppercase "N" red. Nice work!

This lil lady is working on her picture of something that begins with "Nn" first.  She drew a "nut" and then wrote "nut" underneath!! So proud!

See that lowercase bold "n" on the bottom? When the students are finished drawing and writing, the trace those large letters with glue. When the glue dries, it becomes tactile practice! Whoo! :o)

We complete a letter page for each letter we learn.  We learn the letters in Jolly Phonics order, not alphabetic, so the alphabetic order of the books helps the children learn that order as well.  Its also a letter hunt to find the page we need to work on - they love it!

Anyone else do letter practice like this? I would love to hear some other ideas!

This week we are going to start a new center - letter box sorting! Students dump out the contents of a letter box and sort the objects they find inside.  They have to say the letter and sound as they put the objects back inside.  There is also a response sheet that goes with the letter boxes.  Here a little sneak peak at some of the objects!

Happy Monday!

Math Journals started out great last week and we will now continue them each week throughout the year!

This week, I am sending home alphabet and sight word rings. I will add letters and words as we learn them.  Please use these rings to practice at home.  Thanks for your support!

We are also starting reading intervention block full time this week.  Four days a week your child will switch rooms for 30 minutes to target a skill he or she needs to work on! Ask your child what he or she is working on in reading!

Have a fantastic week - I should be posting more pictures of activities soon!

Sight Words and Math Journals

This week we are beginning sight words.  Here are the sight words in the order we will learn them. 

We are also beginning Math Journals at the end of the day.  Students will work on a math question that I give them as they are waiting to go home.

Welcome to week 3 of Kindergarten! This weekend I created some Beach Ball letter centers! We're going to have a "ball" (ha. ha.) catching and shouting out the letters we feel! Here's how it works: Kids stand in a circle and toss the ball to each other. When a child catches the ball they trace a finger over one of the letters on the ball and shout it out.  There is a response sheet that goes along with the activity where the kids can write down the letters after they trace them with their fingers!

Children who are ready to move on can say the letter, sound, and word that the letter starts with! On their response sheet, the children write a word that the letter starts with.

Children who need more practice can trace the letter on the response sheet instead of writing it themselves. They can then move on to the next level when they are ready.

Hooray! A level for everybody and fun for all! I will upload pictures of the centers when we complete them - I am super excited!

Welcome to the new school year!

Hello parents and colleagues!

Welcome to our new school year! I am so excited to have 22 new bright faces in our kindergarten room! We have already completed one full week of school, and we are looking forward to another exciting week!

This week we will be starting our Apple Unit! Check back soon for pictures!

I will also be posting pictures of ideas you can use at home to help your child practice letters, sounds and words.  Please check in when you can!  If you have any questions, please e-mail me! :o)

Thanks! 

This week we will be starting to learn about spring! The kids are so excited to explore the outdoors and we are spending more time in our courtyard!

The quarter ends on Wednesday, which means 4th quarter starts Thursday! Can you believe we are in the last part of our year together? We are going to work harder than ever though, because now we are preparing for first grade! Thanks for your help at home!

Dr. Seuss's birthday is next Thursday, March 2nd! We will be celebrating in school on the second with centers and activities!

Here is the Seuss website if you would like to do some additional things at home!

http://www.seussville.com/

Red Snack Bag

Ok, I swear by the red snack bag. We have snack everyday in our class and a student brings a healthy snack for his/her 26 classmates. I have had this obnoxious, huge, red, bag go home with the students for two whole years and I am still usign the same one!! The bag is from IKEA and is seriously, HUGE! Whoever has snack the next day takes the bag home at night and fills it. Even if the students do not come back with it full, they still bring it back!

Now, of course, since I am singing about this, I am sure it will get lost in the next week. But, oh well, its lasted for 2 years!

Thank you, parents, for working with the snack bag! You rock!
And if you're a teacher in a similar situation, you need a snack bag, like a thneed. (Dr. Seuss)

:o)

Thank you everyone who came to technology night! It was a blast!

Don't forget the Valentine's Day mail boxes for Tuesday's celebration!

Week of January 30th

Weekly News January 30th

The 100th Day of school was a hit!!

We completed math and literacy centers, which the kids absolutely loved!

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day and we will be making a Groundhog craft that the kids will bring home.  Ask your child if the groundhog did or did not see its shadow!

Look for my 100th Day Literacy and Math Centers later this weekend! :o)

Welcome!

Welcome to my Kindergarten page!

The 100th day of school is Wednesday. Don't forget your t-shirt!!