Busy Thursday in Kindergarten!

On Thursday we have our 30 minute music class with Ms. Schwerin before lunch and PE with Ms. Souliere after lunch which makes for a busy day!  Thankfully the rain stayed away and we were able to have two recesses - at the beginning and end of the day.  Today I read the book A Quiet Place  and we talked about how sometimes our body, or 'engine,' may be running too fast or too slow and an energy break may help our body return to 'just right' which allows us to learn.  This is something we will continue to talk about as we work on figuring what helps out our bodies feel just right sometimes it's 10 deep breaks, a drink of water or some jumps up and down.

Happy Picture Day!

There was lots of smiles today as Kindergarteners got their pictures taken including a class photo. We did not get outside to recess, unfortunately, due to the rain but enjoyed sometime to play in our classroom this morning.  After lunch Kindergarten had their first library class with Ms. Beth and Ms. K.  Kindergarten did not check out books today but will next week.  For the first few weeks we will keep the books in our classroom and as students get more comfortable with the routine they will be allowed to go home.

Today we talked about our 3 big school rules which are to be safe, responsible and respectful.  Together we decided that to be safe means to keep your hands and feet to yourself, to be responsible is to take care of each other and our classroom, and to be respectful means listening to the person who is talking.  It is important to do this things so that we are all safe and are able to learn!  These rules will be posted in our classroom and Kindergarten will sign a 'contract' agreeing to follow them. 

This afternoon I read a book How to Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka and we talked about how some things may be tricky but it doesn't mean we give up.  We need to try again and again and again and again...until we get it!  We connected this to the ideas that our brains are muscles and the more we exercise them or try tricky things the stronger we get and the more we learn!  We also watched this short video:

First Full Day!

Happy first full day of Kindergarten!  Thankfully the rain stopped for a bit this morning so we could get outside to recess for a bit this morning.  After recess we ate snack and had morning meeting.  During snack we listened to the book Leo the Late Bloomer and talked about how sometimes we might feel sad  or upset that we can't do something (Leo the tiger couldn't write or read or eat neatly) but as we grow up we'll learn how to do more things!  Mrs. Guilmette, our school counselor, visited for Guidance and talked about how her job is to keep us safe and happy at school.  We practiced what lunch would be like with Mrs. Dolson in the cafeteria and then had our first Writer's Workshop.

Before students starting recording their stories with pictures and words in their special 'writing and drawing books,' I read a book and talk about how authors and illustrators write and draw about what they know and love.  Today I read The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin and talked about how Grace Lin was able to write this book because it was about something she knew a lot about - growing Chinese vegetables with her mom as a child.  I then told a story about helping my grandma cook a special dinner for Christmas Eve when I was little.  Oral storytelling helps students think about stories that can then be recorded in pictures and words.  We will take our oral stories and begin to record them on paper in the coming weeks once all students have the chance to orally tell a story.

We also had our first P.E. class and had did some independent reading practicing choosing one book from a bin and quietly reading for 5 minutes.  We will continue to add time throughout the school year as our stamina increases.

 

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday and First Day of September!  This morning we started our day outside at Recess and then came in for Morning Meeting.  We greeted our friends with a fist bump, shared an answer to: Why do we come to school? and then did our first song from GoNoodle - Rollercoaster.  GoNoodle’s movement videos and games help to keep us moving inside the classroom. It makes it easy to be active, the kid way – silly, energetic, playful, and fun! “Research shows even short bursts of movement deliver big benefits for brain health and academic performance, relative to sitting quietly.” -Dr. Laura Chaddock-Heyman, research scientist specializing in movement and the adolescent brain. You can also play GoNoodle at Home!  Go to www.gonoodle.com, click sign-up and pick parent or kid to create an account.

After that it was time for snack and a story, Stellaluna and some word work.  We worked with our names again today and created some beautiful name mosaics practicing using scissors and glue sticks correctly!

Day 2!

We enjoyed a busy second day of Kindergarten!  For our greeting this morning we did a handshake practicing shaking hands with our right hand which I marked with a green stamp.  There was some debate on what sea animal the stamp was a walrus, manatee or crawfish were some ideas.  After morning meeting we ate snack and did some word work.  We practiced reading the names of our classmates and then wrote our names and drew a picture of ourselves!  After that it was supposed to be recess but due to rain we played for a bit in the classroom.  Some students chose to play with play-doh.  There was a break in the rain and we took a quick recess, followed by a read aloud, Wemberly Worried,  and then we met our music teacher Ms. Schwerin  We had a switch and our 30 minute music class will be at Thursday at 11:00 instead of Wednesday at 11:00.

Happy First Day!

It was truly a wonderful first day of Kindergarten!  We started our day by drawing a picture of ourselves and then posting it on a chart to share how we were feeling: nervous, happy, shy or excited.  Happily most students said that they were feeling excited!

Then we had Morning Meeting which will follow the same pattern every day:

1. Greeting
2. Share
3. Activity
4. Morning Message

We greeted the person next to us with a high five, shared one thing we are excited about, passed a ball around the circle and said our name and favorite animal and finally I read our morning message!  After Morning Meeting we had snack and listened to the book The Kissing Hand and then we went outside for Recess!  After Recess I read another book Countdown to Kindergarten, took a tour of the school and then had a little time to play in the classroom.  I look forward to another exciting day tomorrow!

Welcome!

Hello Families!

Welcome to Kindergarten in room C-8 at CP Smith!  I have been busy preparing for your arrival and look forward to meeting many of you at our Kindergarten Orientation this Thursday evening (August 24th) from 6:00-7:00PM.  This is an opportunity for you to meet the Kindergarten teachers, learn a little bit more about our year ahead and get a sneak peak into the classrooms.  Childcare will be provided.  Below you will find a little bit more information about the start of the year.

Kindergarten will begin with half-days from Wednesday, August 30th to Friday, September 1st. Dismissal will be at 11:30 (you are welcome and encouraged to re-enter school and have lunch with your child after dismissal). Full school days will begin after the Labor Day Weekend on Tuesday September 5th.

In preparation of the year:

• Please send in an extra pair of clothes, including underwear and socks.  Accidents will happen in Kindergarten, but that is easily fixed. These clothes will be kept in your child's cubby.
• Children should have sneakers everyday for P.E. (Tuesday and Thursday) and outdoor play daily. If you prefer, you can send in sneakers with your child to change into prior to PE and outdoor play.
• Each child will have a hook in the classroom for backpacks and coats as well as a cubby for additional belongings.
• Snack will be provided by the school.  If you are nervous about your child eating the provided snacks, you may send them in with a snack as well.
• School provides lunch for free to all students. Children will be offered an entree, with peanut butter and jelly or deli meat sandwiches as an alternative.
• Please label everything that your child brings to school, including clothing! We will do our best to keep everything together, however that will be increasingly tricky as the cold weather settles in.
• Toys are not allowed at school as they can not only be a distraction but oftentimes get misplaced or broken throughout the day.
• During drop-off and pick-up, please try to establish a consistent routine with your child to help ease the transition each day.

Please check into this blog regularly for more information and feel free to comment!  I will post updates on the happenings of our classroom Monday-Thursday and occasionally on Friday.

Below is a draft of our schedule (subject to some tweaks but specials Art/Music/PE/Library/Guidance will stay the same).  Know that this is also the schedule that we are working towards by the end of Kindergarten and our focus the first half of the school year will be on building a community and learning to work together - there will be lots of time to play, explore and wonder!   We have several social studies and science units that we will work on throughout the year and will be built into our reader's and writer's workshop times. 

TILLEY	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:05-8:45	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Whole School Community Meeting
8:45-9:00	Morning Meeting (MM)	MM	MM	MM	MM
9:00-9:15	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
9:15-10:00	Writers Workshop (WW)	Guidance 9:30-10:00	WW/RW	Visit Ethan Allen Woods with Mrs. Slack's Class!	WW
10:00-11:00	Readers Workshop (RW)	RW	Music 11:05 (30)		RW
11:05-11:35	Lit Intervention	Lit Intervention		Woods Reflection	Lit Intervention
11:40-12:05	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
12:05-12:20	Quiet Time (OT)	QT	QT	QT	QT
12:20-12:30	Math mini-lesson	Math mini-lesson	Math mini-lesson	Math mini-lesson	Math mini-lesson
12:30-1:15	Art	PE	Library 12:15-1	PE	Music
1:20-1:50	Math Inter	Math Inter	1-1:45 Math Inter		Math Inter
1:50-2:20	Math Stations	Math Stations	(1:50 dismissal)	Math Stations	Math Stations
2:20-2:50	Pack Up/Outside	Pack Up/Outside		Pack Up/Outside	Pack Up/Outside