Monday, October 17, 2011
Fall Festival
Our Kindergarten Fall Festival is October 31st from 1:45-2:45 pm. Because this is on A Day and the entire kindergarten team will be participating together, our B Day friends are invited to attend the event and come to school for that one hour only. Students will be allowed to wear their costumes--please see the sheet I sent home in folders about appropriate Halloween attire. I am in need of volunteers. Let me know if you are willing to run a station, help set up, clean up, etc. We are really looking forward to this special event to celebrate Fall in kindergarten.
Fire Safety
Welcome to Fire Safety Week in Kindergarten!
Today and tomorrow both kindergarten classes will have a visit from the Hastings Fire Department. The firemen will be talking to us about how to prevent fires from happening at home and what to do in case there is a fire in your house. We learned that kindergarteners should stay away from candles, stoves, ovens, electrical outlets, lighters and anything else around the house that might be hot. We learned that every house has smoke detectors (show your student where the smoke detectors are in your home) and they go off when they smell smoke. If we see smoke, we should get on our hands and knees because smoke stays up high. We talked about safely feeling the door to see if has fire behind it. We talked about shouting loudly from a window if you are stuck, and to find a safe meeting place to meet family members away from the burning area. Many students suggested that we meet at mailboxes, neighbors houses or a specific tree in the yard. Talk with your student about fire procedures in your house and where your meeting spot is. We practiced calling 911 and talked about the important information to tell on the phone. It is never too late to start teaching students their address and phone number.
Students were each given a fire hat and a fire safety activity book. The book is an optional set of activities for you to work through with your student.
Additionally, please continue to read all white phonics books that come home in folders. We read them together many times at school so students should be able to read them easily at home. Have them point to each word as they read it so they make the connection with the text and what they are saying. It might be fun to create a special box or basket for students to collect and keep all white books so that they can read from them all year.
Check back later this evening for pictures from our fire safety presentation!
Today and tomorrow both kindergarten classes will have a visit from the Hastings Fire Department. The firemen will be talking to us about how to prevent fires from happening at home and what to do in case there is a fire in your house. We learned that kindergarteners should stay away from candles, stoves, ovens, electrical outlets, lighters and anything else around the house that might be hot. We learned that every house has smoke detectors (show your student where the smoke detectors are in your home) and they go off when they smell smoke. If we see smoke, we should get on our hands and knees because smoke stays up high. We talked about safely feeling the door to see if has fire behind it. We talked about shouting loudly from a window if you are stuck, and to find a safe meeting place to meet family members away from the burning area. Many students suggested that we meet at mailboxes, neighbors houses or a specific tree in the yard. Talk with your student about fire procedures in your house and where your meeting spot is. We practiced calling 911 and talked about the important information to tell on the phone. It is never too late to start teaching students their address and phone number.
Students were each given a fire hat and a fire safety activity book. The book is an optional set of activities for you to work through with your student.
Additionally, please continue to read all white phonics books that come home in folders. We read them together many times at school so students should be able to read them easily at home. Have them point to each word as they read it so they make the connection with the text and what they are saying. It might be fun to create a special box or basket for students to collect and keep all white books so that they can read from them all year.
Check back later this evening for pictures from our fire safety presentation!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Book Shelf
Hello Families:
We love to read books in kindergarten. On the right hand side of this blog is a bookshelf that I have filled with books that we have read so far in kindergarten. That way if your student ever comes home excited about what we read, you can find it. Feel free to check any of these books out of the library to read with your student at home. At the bottom of the bookshelf is an arrow scroll that you can press to see additional books. Happy Weekend!
We love to read books in kindergarten. On the right hand side of this blog is a bookshelf that I have filled with books that we have read so far in kindergarten. That way if your student ever comes home excited about what we read, you can find it. Feel free to check any of these books out of the library to read with your student at home. At the bottom of the bookshelf is an arrow scroll that you can press to see additional books. Happy Weekend!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Apple Orchard Visit
We had so much fun visiting the apple orchard. The weather was perfect on both days and the kids were so excited. They had the biggest smiles on their faces for the entire day. They needed to bring their backpacks with them to carry their lunches, apples and pumpkins and not one person complained:-) We have some young adults on our hands.
When we got to the apple orchard we took a ride on a tractor-trailer with Ms. Kay. She took us to a corn
maze.
We wound our way through the maze without getting lost once. We learned that if you flew over the corn maze and looked down at it from an airplane, it would be in the shape of a giant jack-o-lantern!
After the maze, we learned a lot about the different types of apples they grow at the orchard from Ms. Betty.
She showed us how much an apple tree can grow in a year...about one foot!
We watched Ms. Betty show us the special ladder they use for picking apples. Notice the pole...it makes it easier to go over branches and get closer to the tree.
After we became apple experts, we got to wander around rows of apple trees and pick Harelson apples. Yum!
maze.
We learned that the corn that they grow at the orchard is used for animals to eat. It is really hard. That means that humans cannot eat it or we might have stomachaches. We could not believe how tall the corn was. It was above everyone's heads!
We wound our way through the maze without getting lost once. We learned that if you flew over the corn maze and looked down at it from an airplane, it would be in the shape of a giant jack-o-lantern!
After the maze, we learned a lot about the different types of apples they grow at the orchard from Ms. Betty.
She showed us how much an apple tree can grow in a year...about one foot!
She showed us how they give the apple trees a haircut. They call it pruning.
We learned that the apple orchard grows four types of apples...honey crisp, harelson, chestnut crab and an apple similar to the granny smith. We tasted several different kinds and decided we love the honey crisp the best. Ask us how we can tell the apples apart.
It was fun to look at the shape of the seeds inside the apple.
We watched Ms. Betty show us the special ladder they use for picking apples. Notice the pole...it makes it easier to go over branches and get closer to the tree.
After we became apple experts, we got to wander around rows of apple trees and pick Harelson apples. Yum!
We loved picking out a special pumpkin from the patch.
We sure had fun and were super exhausted by the time we returned to school. Ask us what our favorite part of the day was!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Look at What's Been Happening in our Room
Take a look at some of the many fun things we have been working on:
We had so much fun using math and reading comprehension to complete our VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR sheets:
We also enjoyed sorting math pieces by shape and color and counting how many we had in each group:
We enjoyed creating and "visualizing" number arrangements. We learned that there are many ways we can use square tiles to create groups of two, three, four, etc.
And we know we can read a book in three ways:
We had so much fun using math and reading comprehension to complete our VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR sheets:
We also enjoyed sorting math pieces by shape and color and counting how many we had in each group:
We enjoyed creating and "visualizing" number arrangements. We learned that there are many ways we can use square tiles to create groups of two, three, four, etc.
We also learned what it means to be a strong "self-reader" in our classroom.
We shop for a good book:
We find a quiet place to sit for the entire read to self time:
- We can look for letters and words we know
- We can look at the pictures
- We can look at the pictures and make up our own story
Our favorite part of the day is free choice. We love using the different toys and materials in our room in new and exciting ways:
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Week 4 Update
I hope that you enjoyed a nice long weekend. The weather was perfect for raking leaves, visiting the apple orchard and snuggling in pajamas. I certainly did all of those things!
We are off to a busy start this week. We are beginning to work on our handwriting---we practice on our whiteboards and then work with pencil and paper. Learning how to write each letter can be very tricky, so any help families can offer at home would be wonderful.
Ask your student to show you the sounds and signs we use to learn each letter. The same chart we use at school is in your red folder. The kids know that they use their left hand to make each sign. They giggle when I put a marker dot on their left hand each morning ( I tell them, "Please don't tell anyone I am writing on your hand with marker---shhhhhh I am breaking a teacher rule."). I will be sending home alphabet flash cards with every student by the beginning of October.
This week we are continuing to focus on the sight words I and CAN. This week in folders, I will be sending home sight word flash cards to practice. Continue to review I and CAN this week at home. Post them on the refrigerator, practice writing them, etc.
We played a fun game on our smartboard this week. The students pick a letter for us to write 3 times each on our white boards. After that, we get to figure out which pictures start with that letter. We know we got the correct picture when it lights up in color. Here is the website for you to try at home on your computer. I will also post the website link on the right hand side of the blog under the LINKS section.
We are off to a busy start this week. We are beginning to work on our handwriting---we practice on our whiteboards and then work with pencil and paper. Learning how to write each letter can be very tricky, so any help families can offer at home would be wonderful.
Ask your student to show you the sounds and signs we use to learn each letter. The same chart we use at school is in your red folder. The kids know that they use their left hand to make each sign. They giggle when I put a marker dot on their left hand each morning ( I tell them, "Please don't tell anyone I am writing on your hand with marker---shhhhhh I am breaking a teacher rule."). I will be sending home alphabet flash cards with every student by the beginning of October.
This week we are continuing to focus on the sight words I and CAN. This week in folders, I will be sending home sight word flash cards to practice. Continue to review I and CAN this week at home. Post them on the refrigerator, practice writing them, etc.
We played a fun game on our smartboard this week. The students pick a letter for us to write 3 times each on our white boards. After that, we get to figure out which pictures start with that letter. We know we got the correct picture when it lights up in color. Here is the website for you to try at home on your computer. I will also post the website link on the right hand side of the blog under the LINKS section.
Book Orders
1. Go to scholastic.com
2. Get to the book club part
3. Enter my classroom password: J3WZL
4. Complete your order!
Hopefully you will take advantage of Scholastic's wonderful offers. If you have any questions regarding the book orders, shoot me an email and I will help you through it. Also, be aware that you can browse all the Scholastic catalogues online! Happy shopping!
Thanks for your support!
I will be sending out October book orders next week.
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