Watchers in the Woods!

It's my favorite day of the week again - Woods Day!  Before we went to the woods this morning we talked about how we can be watchers.  It is interesting to observe students really creating bonds with one another and taking interest and ownership in their learning.  In the woods many boys and girls enjoyed working together to make seesaws from large logs, create princess castles out of trees and use magnifying glasses to observe nature up close!  The adults noticed how the noise and excitement of being in the woods is beginning to calm down and students are more interested in exploring, watching and building!  As we were walking into the woods one kindergartener noticed a large nest way up in a tree and this led to a discussion between a small group on whether this was a bird's nest or a squirrel's nest.  After lunch we did some googling and found out that it was indeed a squirrel's nest - they tend to be higher up and much larger!  I read the book The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri and we learned that squirrels are busy preparing for winter.  This afternoon while outside two boys found a squirrel nest and brought me to check it out - how cool!

Our brain is a muscle!

This morning at Morning Meeting we talked about how our brain is a muscle and the more challenging things we do our brain will keep growing stronger.  I read the book Everyone Can Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka to lead into this discussion.  We learned that the little girl tries again, and again and again and again...to ride her bike and does not give up until she gets it!  We then watched this short video:

and learned that our brains keep growing and getting stronger so it is important to never give up!

We played, ate snack and then Mrs. Guilmette came to visit us for Guidance and talked a lot about our feelings.  After Guidance we had math.  For math we talked about how numbers have different "hidden parts."  A cube tower of five can be broken into different parts: 2 and 3, 4 and 1 and 5 and 0.  After I modeled this kindergartners came up with different "hidden parts" for a cube tower of 6.  We then practiced saying the "hidden parts" as addition sentence: 2+3=5,..After this mini-lesson a new math game: Find It! was introduced.  This was another partner and dice game where you had to match the number of dots rolled on the dice to a dot combination on the board.  Some partners chose yesterday's game "Roll and Build" and some played the new game "Find It!"



For Reader's Workshop I read another book about Fall: Fall Leaves Colorful and Crunchy by Martha Rustad.  This book taught us some BIG words: veins and photosynthesis.  Kindergartners found it interesting that leaves have veins just like us except leave veins carry water and people veins carry blood!  The day ended with Art with Mrs. Hawkes.  

Leaves, Math Games and Computers!

Kindergartners have noticed that the leaves outside are changing!  This morning during morning meeting we had a conversation about what we have noticed with the colorful, changing leaves.  We read the book My Leaf by Monica Wellington and learned how we can identify the different leaves that we find.  The book also showed us how to make leaf rubbings with crayons and leaf prints with paint which we can try later this week.

When we were lining up to go outside this afternoon one kindergarten friend asked "how come we didn't do math today!?"  I laughed and responded that we did but we were having so much fun with our math game 'Roll and Build' that you didn't even realize you were doing math!  After practicing our subitizing I introduced a new math game "Roll and Build."  Partners worked together to take turns, roll one die and build a tower with the corresponding number of cubes.  The game is over when the game board is full.  This game while fun and simple works on a lot of math skills: one to one correspondence when counting, numeral identification, fluency and subitizing!

To kick off reader's workshop I read the book The Watcher by Jeanette Winter which tells the story of Jane Goodall.  We learned that when Jane Goodall was 5 years old (just like Kindergartners) her family called her a "watcher" because she was always looking closely at the world around her.  We learned that Jane Goodall later traveled to Tanzania to observe and help protect chimpanzees.  Through this book we made connections to our time in the woods and brainstormed a list of animals we might find in our woods if we too become watchers.  

After I finished reading I introduced a new "Work Board" for Reader's Workshop.  Students will always have the job of reading privately or with a partner during Reader's Workshop but now will have a day where they will meet with me in small groups AND a day where they get to use the computer to read and listen to books!  Right now we have four students a day using our two computers to read or listen to books using the website:  https://www.getepic.com/.  This is also available as an app for a tablet or smart phone.  Epic is free for educators but there is a fee associated if you want to use this at home.  It is often referred to as "The Netflix of Book" and is a great resource for accessing more books for your child at home!

We also earned 100 Cat Cards today for positive behavior expectations!  The class voted to wear pajamas to school so if you would like your child to wear pajamas to school tomorrow they may!

Trip to Shelburne Farms!

What a beautiful and exciting day at Shelburne Farms.  Kindergartners were broken up into different groups and had an opportunity to explore the farm.  We hiked up a big hill, listened with 'big ears' to the sounds of the forest, searched under logs and trees, built our own fairy or animal houses, ate lunch outside and visited many animals in the barn!  What a fun and busy day we had!

Thursday in the Thistle!

Thursday has become my favorite day of the week as it is the day we go to the woods!  This morning Officer Difranco and Ms. Mellencamp came to our classroom and told us that we were going to have a lock down drill.  Officer Difranco explained that a lockdown drill is to practice in case there was anything unsafe going on in our school.  He made us laugh when he told us about a school that had a moose running loose in the halls!  Soon after we practiced quietly and quickly coming to our safe corner until Officer Difranco came to check and Ms. Mellencamp told us the lockdown was all through.  Kindergartners did an excellent job staying safe and quite during this drill!

After we had an abbreviated music class with Mrs. Hurley and then went to the woods with Mrs. Slack's class.  There was some building of fairy houses and students created their own see-saw - SO COOL!



This afternoon we talked a little bit about why trees are so important for us - they help make oxygen so we can breath, can be used to make things like furniture, shelves and paper towels, and are also home to many different animals and insects.  Afterwards we read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems (one of my personal favorites), practiced partner reading and had time to play and explore in our classroom.

Wonderful Wednesday!

It was a wonderful Wednesday in Kindergarten.  This morning we reviewed the letters introduced so for: b. f, and t and introduced m and n by listening to these letter songs:

Tomorrow we will add m and n to our: "These are letters chart."  Mrs. Guilmette joined us for Guidance this morning and talked to us about understanding our feelings.  After having time to explore and eat snack we enjoyed another math lesson on sorting and learned a fun counting game! Today we worked on sorting items based on the weather: sunny, snowy and rainy.  

Our read aloud for Reader's Workshop was The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone.  Many Kindergartners were familiar with this classic tale and enjoyed helping out with the reading especially when the goats went over the bridge and went "TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!"  After our read aloud I modeled partner reading: sitting side by side, putting one book in the middle and "see-saw" reading when one partner starts and the other partner continues.  

Lots of sorting going on in Kindergarten!

Today was a terrific Tuesday in room C-7!  This morning we watched a quick video about Antarctica as many questions were asked after reading Mr Popper's Penguins yesterday.  Students were surprised to see so much ice, snow and penguins make up the South Pole!

In math we continued our conversation on sorting.  I added numbers up to 7 to our set of subitizing cards and then I displayed the following image from our Eureka Math series on the board:

I didn't read the directions but asked how can we sort these pictures?  Every day I am constantly surprised at the creative and thought provoking student responses.  The creators of this worksheet were looking for a "correct" answer of animals that fly and animals that do not fly but Kindergartners engaged in a much deeper conversation sorting the animals into black and white and not black and white, animals with some white on them and animals with no white, animals that you would find in a forest and animals you could find in a house.  Amazing!

This afternoon for Reader's Workshop we read another non-fiction book Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies (she writes some GREAT non-fiction!) and students were excited to learn more about bats.  After reading and learning another fancy word, echolocation we watched a (silly) video about echolocation.

Starting off Week 4!

It was a busy Monday in Kindergarten.  We started our day off with a Morning Meeting and then continued our work on oral storytelling.  This morning we read the book Sally Goes to the Beach by Stephen Huneck and learned that this author writes lots of stories about adventures with his own dog, Sally.  Some Kindegartners then chose to tell us some stories which helps in building ideas for our writing and drawing books to come.

After playing and snack time it was time for Math.  Last week we discussed a very fancy math word: subitizing.  Subitizing is the ability to "see" a small amount of objects and know how many they are without counting like when you roll dice and instantly know how many.   Subitizing helps a child form mental pictures of numbers and to realize that a number can be representing in many ways.  We have been practicing with cards with dots on them different cards have the same amount but they are arranged in different ways.





This afternoon we read our first non-fiction, or "learn about the world" book, What do You do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Kindergartners really enjoyed learning what animals use their eyes, ears, feet, noses and tails for!  Last Friday we also started our first chapter book, one of my favorite's, Mr. Popper's Penguins and learned that penguins live in the south pole, or Antarctic, and polar bears live in the North Pole, or the Arctic.  Today Mr. Popper learned that he will be getting a special package from the South Pole and we are excited to learn what it is!  Many predicted it would be penguins but then we wondered how penguins could fit in a mailbox! We'll just have to read to find out!

Many thanks to those families who have returned the permission slip and payment (and even some extra) for our trip to Shelbourne Farms - if you need another permission slip please let me know.

Thursday in the Woods!

Wow, what an exciting day! This morning Ms. Beth from the library shared the book Press Here by Herve Tullet.  It is a fun, interactive book and everyone asked if we could read it again which we did this afternoon.  After Music with Mrs. Hurley, we walked to the woods with Mrs. Slack's Kindergarten Class.  It was VERY exciting.  Kindergartners had a lot of fun balancing on long logs and exploring the different areas of our woods.  When it was time to leave everyone asked if we could come back which will every Thursday as long as the weather cooperates!







After Lunch we joined in the celebration of International Dot Day and read the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds and discussed how we are all artists just like the character in the book.  After that we had time to paint with watercolors and regular paint.  At the end of the day all classes got a special Popsicle surprise from Mrs. Mellencamp!

 

Day 10!

Today was picture day and all kindergartners did a wonderful job smiling for their picture!  Writer's Workshop got cut short as it was time to take our pictures but we did watch a short video from author Grace Lin who wrote The Ugly Vegetables.  Grace Lin gave us two tips as authors to read lots of books to figure out what types of books we like and to draw or write our own stories about things we know a lot about.  We are building our identity as storytellers before we begin writing our own books!

 
After picture day Mrs. Guilmette visited us for Guidance and read Tacky the Penguin and talked to us about how we are all unique and special.  After Guidance we had time to play and due to the rain we went out to recess after lunch.  We also re-read the book Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells and shared our favorite parts.  We got in a quick recess and then ended the day with art with Mrs. Hawkes. Tomorrow we will visit the woods with Mrs. Slack's class!  The sun is supposed to be shining but please send shoes that are good for a walk in the woods.

Day 9 in Kindergarten

This morning after Morning Meeting I introduced Writer's Workshop.  We read the book The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin and discussed that authors tell and write stories about these that they know a lot about.  Grace Lin wrote a book about Chinese Vegetables because she would plant them with her mother.  I shared a story about having chicken soup on Monday nights with my Nonnie when I was little.  We will continue to use authors as mentors and tell our own stories in preparation of writing them in our writing and drawing books in coming weeks!

This afternoon in Reader's Workshop we talked about a BIG Kindergarten word: stamina.  And talked about how stamina is doing anything for along period of time without getting too tired or giving up.  We practiced finding one book, a comfy spot and reading quietly for 2 minutes.  We did this successfully and colored in two minutes on our chart.  Tomorrow we will try for four minutes!



We also traveled to England in our next National Geographic Are We There Yet? video.  Today we got to see Big Ben and the London Bridge!  We also visited Ms. Beth in the library.  We will visit the Library every Tuesday.  Students got to check out a book from the library and I gave them the choice of bringing the book home or keeping it in our classroom.  If the book came home please help to remind your child to bring the book back to school by next Tuesday.

Happy Monday!

We were excited to be back in school after the weekend.  This morning we learned that the letter t is a sky letter.  It starts up at the sky line goes down to the grass line and crosses on the plane line.  Everyone had a turn to come up to the white board and practice writing a lower case t. 

Today during Math we talked about the importance of organizing objects when we count them.  We lined up a group of bears and remembered to use our finger to touch each one when we are counting. We also listened to a counting song the "Number Rock" that helps us count to 20!

On Friday I read the book The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza and I re-read it again today.  We discussed how readers re-read books and that every time you read a book you will probably learn or notice something new. This time many kindergartners joined in with the reading.  After reading the book we painted our own pizzas and added toppings!

Kindergarten Day 6

We has a busy morning this morning.  We practiced for our welcome ceremony tomorrow (8:10 in the gym/lunch room) and kindergarteners are excited to receive a flower from the fifth graders!  At the end of the school year kindergarten will return the favor and give fifth graders a flower at a moving on ceremony.  After that we had music with Mrs. Hurley snack and Ms. Mellencamp came to read us a book A Bus Called Heaven.  It will be a book we revisit to deepen our discussion on community and working together as a team.

After lunch we had our first "Reader's Workshop."  I did a first read of the book Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells and then students chose a spot to quietly read a book of their choosing.  After reading for a little bit we gathered again on the rug and shared out some of the things that we noticed in the books we read.  We then got to play inside and ended the day outside with a second recess.

   

A Busy Wednesday!

Today was a busy, sunny Wednesday in Kindergarten!  We talked about "Why do we come to school?" and some things students shared where: to learn new things every day, to make new friends, to learn letters, to learn to read, to play and from this list of things we began thinking of some rules we need to have in our classroom to make sure that we are able to do all of these things.  We will continue working on creating our rules together as a classroom community and will share them when the list is complete!

This morning we also had our first fire drill.  We talked about how the noise may be loud and it's okay to cover your ears, we need to be silent as we exit the building and to be sure we stay in a line.  When it was time for the drill Kindergarten students did an excellent job!  Because our morning was cut a little short by the fire drill we had time to play and explore after lunch and then had Art with our Art teacher Mrs. Hawkes.

Our First Full Day of Kindergarten!

Today was our first full day of Kindergarten!  This morning we read the book What do You do with an Idea? and discussed how we all have wonderful ideas to share and that our ideas can make the world a better place.  We connected this to a short video from the Kid President.  He gave us a "Pep Talk" asking us to think about what we can do to make the world more awesome and better for each other.

Before we went to play and explore, we discussed that sometimes in Kindergarten we will play with toys that come from store and sometimes we can use our ideas to build things out of supplies that we may have normally recycled or thrown away.  Today we used cardboard tubes, straws and hole punches to create!  Some things we created were a rocket ship and musical instruments.  We also did a little bit of math having time to explore with the math tools we will use this year.

This afternoon we talked a bit about where we live and watched the first of our "National Geographic Kids: Are We There Yet?" videos.  This is a great series where children are narrating as they travel to different parts of the world.  The videos are short and are in three part series for each country. Today we visited ancient pyramids in Mexico and we put a tack on our wall map to show us where Mexico is!  We also visited Ms. Beth in the library and got to choose a book to check out.  Books will remain in our classroom for this week and once we get the routines down will be able to come home to share.

Day 3 of Kindergarten!

Happy Friday!  What a wonderful first (short) week of Kindergarten!  We started our day with a new CP Smith ritual, a whole school community meeting.  We will gather every Friday from 8:10-8:30 in the gym so if you are able to join us please do!  We watched a video slideshow and learned our three school values: Safe, Responsible and Respectful.

We read two books today Pete the Cat Wheels on the Bus and Lacey Walker Non-Stop Talker and learned how to put books back in our classroom library bins by matching the colored stickers on the book to the basket it came from.  Some Kindergarten friends enjoyed visiting our school garden at recess and even picked some raspberries.  After recess we discussed visiting the garden next week and maybe picking some of our many fresh tomatoes.  We also had music again with Mrs. Hurley!  Have a wonderful long weekend!

Day 2 of Kindergarten

Today was a wonderful second day in Kindergarten.  We finished reading Interrupting Chicken which we all found to be quite silly, played outside and had our first music class with Mrs. Hurley. Tomorrow morning we will gather for our first community meeting as a whole school!