Tuesday in the Trees!

It has been a few weeks since we ventured to the woods but were happy to get back this morning.  We typically find the woods to be much less windy than the playground in the morning.  Students immediately noticed that almost all of the trees were bare.  This led to a later discussion about evergreen trees and how their leaves stay green all year.

In Math today students enjoyed practicing 1 more by playing a 1 more Four in a Row.  Students rolled a die and then had to put a marker on the number or amount that was one more.  The first player to get 4 in a row wins!

Extravaganza!

It was a very busy Monday with the extravangza where students enjoyed shopping for special treasures!  It was such a busy day I didn't get any pictures.  Mrs. Guilmette visited for Guidance and talked more about being a bystander hero, someone who observes someone else being bullied and helps by telling the bully to stop or reporting it to a trusted adult.  This afternoon I read the book Not a Buzz to Be Found: Insects in Winter by Linda Glaser and we talked about what insects do and where they go to survive the cold and icy winter.  Kindergarten was most surprised to learn that many insects have a special antifreeze like substance in their bodies that keep them from freezing throughout the winter.  

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This morning we made Get Well Soon Cards for our Music teacher, Ms. Schwerin.  Unfortunately, Ms. Schwerin was in a car accident before Thanksgiving and will be out of school until after Winter Break.  She has assured us that she is okay but suffered a few fractures and is home with family healing, During Math today we acted out "picking" apples from a tree to practice counting backwards from 10 and identifying the number that is 1 less. 

This afternoon we went to the computer lab and learned a new sound ai. This is our first digraph (1 sound - 2 letters).  After PE we also practiced matching words that rhyme and enjoyed some independent reading. 

 

The Snowy Day!

It was a fun morning outside in the snow!  Lots of rolling big balls of snow for snow forts and snow people.  We also spent the morning working on writing and illustrating part of our All About the Woods book.  So far we have finished the cover, the first page: We listen for animals. and the second page: We play in the woods.  It has been a wonderful collaboration so far.

This afternoon I read the Snowy Day and we created some snowy day inspired art using water colors and tissue paper.

Puppet Delivery!

I hope that all who celebrate enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!  Sorry for the hiatus in posting but I was very busy writing report cards and conferring with families.  This morning we got a special delivery of 3 boxes.  Kindergarten was very excited to find out what was inside.  Many students guessed books or legos and there was even a couple of ninja suit guesses.  However, we soon learned that inside were new puppets thanks to generous donors from the donors choose community: https://www.donorschoose.org/J.Tilley

Students enjoyed having time this morning to play with their friends and the new puppets!  In a few weeks (December 11th I believe) we will be heading to the Flynn Theater to see a favorite story book character, Pete the Cat, live!  Today I read Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes and we will continue reading Pete the Cat books over the next few weeks. 

A new Math Game: Garbage!

Today during Math I introduced a card game that was new to most members of our class: Garbage.  It was quite a hit and students were sad when we had to stop and go to lunch.  I thought that I would share the rules in case your child wants to play at home (or you are wondering what they are talking about...)!  

Playing Garbage
3 players use 1 deck of playing cards A-10 are in play Jokers are Wild Cards Kings and Queens are Garbage which means your turn is over! 4 players or more use 2 decks of playing cards1) Dealing:Shuffle, then deal each player 10 cards face down, no looking!Like this (it looks like a ten frame!):
The remaining deck is placed in the middle.The point of the game is to line up your cards from Ace (1) through 10 before you opponents do.

2) Playing:
The first player draws a card from the center deck.  If it’s an Ace through a 10, place that card in its correct location.  For all remaining turns, each player chooses from the deck or the discard pile.Example: In this photo, I drew a 2, so I am flipping up the card in the 2 position…..

Whatever card you flip, may also be played!  I just flipped a 3 that I can use as well in the 3 position… 

Jokers are wild and may be played anywhere in your hand at any time.You keep flipping cards like this until you get a number you cannot use, then discard and your turn is over.

Example: Under the 3 position was an 8 I didn’t need because it was already filled with a flipped 8, so I discarded it and my turn was over. 

If you flip over a King or Queen you have "Garbage," your turn is over and the card goes in the discard pile.

3) Winning A Round:When a player has assembled all cards Ace through 10 in front of her, she wins that Round.
Remember, you can win with Wild Cards in place too! 

Tuesday in the Trees!

It was a gorgeous morning in the woods!  Students immediately noticed how the woods have gotten much "browner."  Lots of wondering on why it looked darker if there were less leaves on the trees.  Maybe the sun will come out by the end of the week!  Some students worked on using sticks and pine cones to make their names and they looked pretty awesome.

This afternoon we moved on from working on label writing to thinking about writing books!  We talked about how writers write about what they know and love and brainstormed a topic of a book that we could write all together.  We decided that we would write a book about going to the woods.  Tomorrow we will decide on a title and begin working on the cover page.  We will work on this shared writing over the next few weeks then students will begin working on individual books.  So exciting!

We played inside on this rainy afternoon.  Some students set up a Stuffy restaurant and made some money and used paper and clip boards to write orders!