It was a weird weather day today.  We did get outside for morning recess.  We did lots of letter and number writing and read the book Sally Goes to the Vet.  

Rainy Day Paintings

This morning we learned how to properly grip a pencil.  We learned how to pinch a pencil with our thumb and pointer finger and rest the middle finger underneath.  We started with small golf pencils as they are smaller and lighter for small hands. 

This afternoon I read the book When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart and we talked about what animals do when it rains.  We also looked at the book from the viewpoint of artists and then used the crayon resist technique (white crayon and watercolor over) to make rainy day paintings. 

We are weather watchers!

On Friday I opened up our Art Easel and students enjoyed painting on the easel.

Today we started Literacy Stations during Reader's Workshop.  Students are placed in groups and for now will have one station they move to each day.  Today students used mini black boards to practice letters we have learned so far: s, a, t, i, p, n, made letters with play dough, read books from our class library and used iPads.  Students will go to one station a day and will get to all of them by the end of the week.  A new iPad app we are using this year is the Jolly Phonics Letter Sounds App.  It is an app you need to pay for but I think that it is worth the price!  It moves through the letter sounds as we are learning them and students practice forming the letter, choosing the sound and then blending words.  

This afternoon we also started Artist Writer's Workshop combining writing and our first science unit on weather.  We watched a Mystery Science video were we learned that when we talk about weather we want to think about whether it is sunny or cloudy, how we dress if it's hot, warm, cool or cold, if it is dry, rainy or snowy or if it is windy or not.  A lot to consider as weather watchers!  I read the book A Letter to Amy and students experimented with water color paints to paint a storm sky. 

Thursdays always seems so busy!  Students have Music in the morning and PE in the afternoon.  During Math today we worked on different strategies for counting.  I arranged some teddy bears in a circle and accidently counted around the circle twice!  Students helped me out by thinking of ways to arrange the teddy bears so that I would remember to stop once all were counted.  Some ideas were to move them so there is a gap in the circle so I'll remember to stop.  We also noticed that there was only one red teddy bear so if I started with the red and remembered to stop counting before I touched it again we would have the correct amount.  I read another book from our new favorite series, Sally's Snow Adventure, and students had some more time to explore with letters with wooden pieces, gems and play dough. 

Happy Wednesday

This morning at morning meeting we played a new game "People to People" and it was a big hit!  Students chose a partner and then I called out different combinations like hand to hand or back to back.  The partners do the move until I called out People to People and then they switch partners. 

In Math we worked on writing the numbers 1-4.  This was tricky for some students but we talked about how when we practice things that are tricky it makes our brain stronger!  Students also played a roll and dot number game and used play dough to make the number on their mat.

I read another Sally book Sally Goes to the Farm and two second grade students visited to read Yo! Yes?

     

Tuesday in the Trees

Today was our first Tuesday in the Trees!  We visited the Woods with Mrs. Tourin's class.  Today we did a nature walk and learned where the boundaries, or stopping points, are.  Students also worked with a partner to check off different things that they saw in the woods.  Students then had a few minutes to play and explore before we ended with a closing meeting on our meeting log.  Every week I will take a picture from our meeting spot and we will discuss how the woods change over time.  When we returned to the classroom students shared what they noticed about the woods this week and I added their words with text.  Each week we can look back at this and notice how things change.

Students were also excited that some more Sally the dog books arrived in our classroom today!  Today I read Sally Gets a Job.  The series is becoming a classroom favorite. 

After PE I read Lines that Wiggle and students tried making letters with big lines, little lines, big curves and little curves and play dough. 

 

We are watchers in Kindergarten!

This afternoon I read the book The Watcher by Jeanette Winter.  It is a story about Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees in Tanzania.  However, the message of the book is that we can all be watchers.  It starts with Jane at 5 years old watching hens in the hen house and worms in her backyard.  The book encourages children to watch what is going on in the natural world.  This will be our focus in the woods this year.  Tomorrow morning we will go out to the woods with Mrs. Tourin's class, walk the boundaries and practice being watchers!

In Math today I introduced the game "Roll and Build."  Students worked with a partner to roll one or two dice, count how many and build a tower that corresponded to the amount rolled.  I also introduced a fancy math word, subitize, and explained that subitizing means knowing how many with your eyes or seeing a group of objects and knowing how many without counting 1 by 1. We practiced subitizing with dice and big cards with dots on them.

Cat Cards!

This morning I introduced "cat cards."  Cat cards are given to students at CP Smith who are doing an awesome job following school rules which are being safe, responsible and respectful.  When the class earns 100 Cat Cards we will have a celebration!  Today we simplified this into a class contract: "In Kindergarten we are kind, we keep hands and feet to ourselves and we listen to everybody."  We then all dipped our thumb in an ink pad and signed the contract agreeing to try our best.  We also talked about how even though we agree to try our best sometimes it can be hard.  I read the book When Sophie Gets Angry, Really Really Angry and we talked about how sometimes we all get upset or make a poor choice and it's okay to need to take a break.  Tomorrow I will unveil a poster and talk more about what taking a break looks like.          

We were glad that the rain stopped and were able to get out to recess this morning!  During Math today we played a game: Pop!  Our "pop number" today was 3.  We counted around the circle from 1-5 and when someone said 3 they 'popped' up.  The game is over when everyone is standing.  We then did a picture sort with items that you would wear or use during sunny, snowy and rainy weather.  We reviewed the sounds we have learned so far: s, a and t and learned that knowing these sounds allows us to write/read the words sat and at.

This afternoon students went to PE and we practiced what it looks and sounds like to choose and read a book.  Students also drew a picture of something they can do to be kind.  Some things students drew were: giving my sister a hug, giving my dog a bath, listening to a story, and sharing toys with classmates.

Sorting!

Our school counselor Mrs. Guilmette visited for Guidance this morning.  She will visit every Monday morning at 9:15 for a half hour.

In Math we are working on sorting.  Last week we sorted students into a group of those with shoe laces and those with 2 pieces of velcro.  Today students worked to sort letters by those with holes and those with no holes, bugs by the type of bug and making their own sorting rules with gems, pom poms and buttons!

Our sound this morning was /t/ and we reviewed /s/ and /a/.  Tomorrow we will practice writing a t. 

This afternoon students met our art teacher, Ms. Stagner and we talked about we can all read books!  I showed Kindergarten a book I hadn't read to them before, There's an Alligator Under My Bed, and using the pictures they read me the story.  Tomorrow we will practice choosing books from the classroom library and a good spot to read. 

A busy Thursday!

The day started out rainy but we were glad to see the sun at the end of the day!  We started the day by having some inside play and then going to Music with Ms. Schwerin.  After Music I read the book 3 Little Firefighters.  The little firefighters in the story were having trouble finding buttons for their jacks that matched.  They had to sort through the buttons to find ones that worked.  They could sort by color, shape or size and ultimately decided to choose 4 buttons that were large, medium and small for their jackets.  We then looked at a group of objects and discussed how we could sort by color, size, length, animal or not an animal.  We will continue working on sorting and matching in math over the next few weeks. 

During Writing I shared some books that last years' kindergarteners wrote and read Mama Elizabeti the second book in the series about Elizabeti.  Tomorrow we are going to take a look at a map to find Tanzania, Africa where the story takes place! 

Students also went to PE and then we had a conversation about what we all need to do in order to be sure that we can all learn, play, have fun and get smarter this year.  We decided two big ideas: be kind and listen to anybody who is talking.  Lots of students said listen to the teacher and while this is important it's equally as important to listen to anyone in our classroom who has thoughts to share. 

  

Happy Wednesday

Before going outside this morning we brainstormed: why do you come to school?  Kindergarten said: to learn, to make friends, to play together, to learn new names, to help people.  Tomorrow we will use this chart to begin creating rules for our classroom.  After recess and morning meeting we practiced writing the letter s.  Kindergarten learned that all letters start at the top.  Tomorrow we will work on /a/ a.  

I read a silly book today The Napping House by Audrey Wood.  We all laughed and counted how many people and animals were napping!  After that we did math stations.  Kindergarten loved rolling a dice and dotting a color on a coffee filter for how many they rolled.  We then turned it into a butterfly! 

After lunch I read Elizabeti's Doll a book which takes place in Tanzania, Africa.  A little girl wants a baby of her own and pretends that a rock is her baby doll which she names Eva.  It was nice to "visit" a different place in the world!  We ended the day with a visit the library and a second recess. 

I've been having some tech difficulties lately so hopefully will have some classroom photos uploaded later this week!

First Full Day of Kindergarten!

Today was an awesome first full day of Kindergarten!  Believe it or not the day flew by.  We started the day outside and then came in for morning meeting and our first Jolly Phonics Lesson.  Jolly Phonics is a new phonics program that we are piloting this year.  It is a fun, multisensory program that focuses on teaching the 42 letter sounds.  Our letter sound today was /s/ "s."  If you are looking for more information on Jolly Phonics you can find it here: https://www.jollylearning.co.uk/jolly-phonics/.

We started our math block by talking about how our brains are muscles and that the more we challenge ourselves the stronger our brain gets!  We watched this video to learn more about this idea:

Today was the first day Kindergarten ate lunch in the cafeteria.  It is a work in progress following through the lunch line but Kindergarten was happy to learn that every Tuesday is pizza day!

After lunch we had some quiet writing and drawing time and then I introduced writer's workshop.  I read the book The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin and discussed how writers write about things they know and love.  Grace Lin wrote about growing chinese vegetables with her mom because it is something that she knows a lot about.  Before Kindergarten begins writing and drawing we will work on orally telling stories because we all have stories to tell!

Yesterday was my birthday and other teachers brought in a special treat to for Kindergarten to celebrate and enjoy :)