Engineering, therapy dogs, and flash mobs...what a day!

Today was a VERY eventful day in Kindergarten and at CP Smith School.  For our monthly whole school positive behavior celebration the teachers tricked the students into thinking we were having a boring assembly and then broke out into dance to the song "We Are Family" it was a fun time had by all.  We didn't go to the woods today due to all of the mud and water but we did have some fun constructing a marble maze.  We talked about how engineers are people who make plans, build buildings and then fix them if they observe problems.  Kindergarteners enjoyed working together to build various marble maze constructions.  First we worked together and followed the plan, or directions, then after some time exploring Kindergarten talked about changes they could make and made them.  It was not only fun but a great lesson in teamwork and engineering!

After Reader's Workshop where we focused on locating sight words and rhyming words in a shared poem, we visited the library to meet Ms. Lessard's, the district's literacy coach, therapy dog Zero!  Kindergarten was very interested in learning about the different tests Zero had to go through to become a certified therapy dog and then had a chance to pet him.  It was a wonderful day!

Happy to be Back

While I am still not feeling 100% better it was definitely nice to be back in Kindergarten today!  Wednesdays always seem to fly by with the day ending a bit earlier but we were able to get a lot done today. Kindergarten enthusiastically asked me to read more of our chapter book Gooseberry Park after Morning Meeting.  So far the characters we met are Stumpy a squirrel, Kona a Labrador, Gwendolyn a hermit crab and today we met a new character in this book Murray the bat.

Mrs. Guilmette visited for Guidance this morning and taught students some strategies for solving small problems (i.e. a classmate is humming and you would like them to stop or someone cut in line) and the importance of telling an adult when their is a big problem (someone is being unsafe or bullying).  After Guidance we worked on solving some number bonds together altogether and then began our Social Studies Unit on Community Helpers.  Kindergarten learned that a community is a place where people live and work together and community helpers are people who make communities cleaner, better and safer.  Today we read the non-fiction text Helpers in My Community by Bobbie Kalman and over the next few weeks will learn more about specific helpers in our community.  On Wednesday we also go to the computer lab after lunch.  Kindergarten did an excellent job logging in and off of the computers all by themselves!

Woods and Where the Wild Things!

Today was a busy and exciting day!  The woods were especially beautiful this morning with the fresh snowfall.  We recovered a drill accidentally left by Mr. D's class and some students enjoyed exploring and drilling holes in logs.

This afternoon Ms. Gunnarsson read Where the Wild Things Are before we headed over to Hunt Middle School for CP Smith's students performance of this classic book.  It was a wonderful treat!

Snowy Wednesday

This morning after we enjoyed some time outside we had morning meeting, snack and practiced building and reading words with -at and -an.  Kindergarten was excited to read 17 words!  We have been practicing s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g out the sounds and putting them together to read new words.

In Math today Kindergarten worked with Ms. Gunnarsson on new number books!  Students are practicing writing numbers 1-20 in different ways: the numeral, the number word, tally marks, 10 frames and on a dice.  Students worked with me to answer story problems with math drawings and played a new math game: Snap!  Students worked with a partner and used a stick of 5 cubes and when their partner said snap they broke the stick into two parts, kept one part hidden behind their back and showed the partner the other partner the partner then had to figure out the hidden part.

We went to the computer lab again today for Reader's Workshop.  Students are still getting used to using the computers to read and listen to book on Raz Kids.  I also read the second chapter in Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant which I started last week.  Students are getting used to listening to a chapter and forming the picture in their mind.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

I apologize for  the lack of posts lately we have been busy with Valentine's Day, birthday celebrations, the 100th day of school last Friday and a Cat Card movie celebration for all of the positive behavior spotted in Kindergarten!  Ms. Gunnarsson and I have also been busy finishing up Math and Literacy Assessments as marks close for the second term this Friday.

 Last week we had fun using on the 100th day of school using an app called 'aging booth,' to make Kindergartners look 100 years old.  Kindergarten then worked with their 5th grade buddies to write what they will do when they are 100!  They are hanging in the hallway before they go home and are quite cute silly.  Mrs Gregory our substitute Math Interventionist also came back to Smith for a special visit last Friday and did a Valentine's Day craft with us!  It was fun and they came out beautifully.

Kindergarten has been busy working with number bonds in math, practicing taking whole numbers and separating them into two parts, writing numerals beyond 10 and counting out objects to 100.

Our book today was The Valentine's Bears by Eve Bunting and Jan Brett.

A Visit to the Computer Lab!

After some fun outside and more snow painting, we returned to the classroom to review vowel sounds, eat snack and have Guidance with Mrs. Guilmette.  Today Mrs. Guilmette talked with Kindergarten about how to deescalate conflicts.

After Guidance it was time for Math.  Kindergarten has been working over the last few weeks and there is lots of excitement around number bonds and addition!  I realized I did not get a picture but at one station, the groups worked to add up all of the dots on dominoes and sort them into groups by the total number of dots.

During Reader's Workshop on Wednesday's we will be visiting the computer lab.  Students will have a chance to listen to and read books on Raz-Kids while Ms. Gunnarsson and I pull small group for guided reading and differentiated literacy instruction.

Busy, Busy

We have been very BUSY in Kindergarten over the last few days!  Ms. Gunnarsson and I made some changes to the classroom environment to allow for some more open space for the children and more organizational space for us.  Kindergarten was surprised and excited to see the changes yesterday and today!

This morning we enjoyed the snow and brought out some 'snow paint' (water and food coloring) to paint the snow!  It was a lot of fun.

Today in Writer's Workshop we started a special writing project.  All students will be writing a list poem about themselves.  Oftentimes beginning writers struggle with what to write about and one of the best topics is what they know best - themselves!  It also helps with practicing writing sight words we are working so hard on.  This is the one kindergarten helped to write about me:

I am a teacher.
I am a girl.
I am a helper.
I am friendly.
I am awesome.
I am Ms. Tilley.

Lots of other suggestions such as rockstar and pop star (if only I could sing, haha....)  Our plan is after the poems are written we will make them into a piece of art and later into a multi page book. This work will continue over the next few weeks and we hope to invite families in to see the finished work after it is completed!

In Math we have moved on from weight and measurement and are focusing on writing numbers past 10, subitizing (or quickly recognizing an amount) and introducing addition and subtraction.  We started this work today with a number bond.  The number bond model helps students begin to understand the relationship between parts and wholes before moving into formal work with addition and subtraction.  An example of a number bond 2 and 3 are the 'parts' and 5 is the whole:

Our book yesterday was one of my favorites, How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham and today Ms. Gunnarsson read Beach by Elisha Cooper.  During Reader's Workshop students have been busy reading books, reading, making and writing sight words and using our leveled reading website/app to listen to and read books at their reading level!  You can access Raz-Kids at home on a computer, tablet or phone:

https://www.kidsa-z.com/main/Login

The login for our classroom is: blane2

Into the Woods...

It was very beautiful in the woods this morning.  Students enjoyed adding to structures built by Mr. D's class as well as searching for signs of animals.  We noticed a large hole in a tree and students predicted that maybe an owl or chipmunk lived in it. 

This afternoon I finished reading the book Scaredy Squirrel  by Melanie Watt which is always a favorite! Thanks to Mr. D we have two more iPads to use in our classroom!  Students will be learning how to access See Saw a digital portfolio app where they will be able to photograph, record and share their work!  Be on the look out for how to access See Saw at home in the coming weeks.  This afternoon you should have also received an e-mail for access to Raz-Kids.  Raz-Kids is an app and computer based program where students are able to read, listen to and record books at their own reading level.  We will be using this in the classroom and you will be able to access at home.  The e-mail will name the teacher as Beth Lane or blane2 who is our librarian in case you are confused by the teacher name. 

Happy Wednesday!

After enjoying some time out in the snow we worked on writing, Mrs. Guilmette visited for Guidance and continued talking about celebrating differences in our unique skin tones and had math stations.  Students worked with Ms. Gunnarsson to continue building number sense through counting and subitizing as we will be moving on to addition and subtraction in the coming weeks.  I worked with students to continue our conversation on volume/capacity.  Students were challenged to use play dough to build a container that would hold 15 beads.  After they completed this challenge tried to build a bowl that would hold as many beads as possible. 

Students have been taking much more ownership of our morning message and have been filling in the blanks with sight words and uppercase letters.