December Gingerbread Kids

We have had so much fun exploring and reading the Gingerbread Man books. We read 7 variations of the story! Can you believe there are that many? Below are some of our favorites!

 












During our social studies/theme time we read the books and then did various activities surrounding the  books. One of our favorite activities was reading "The Gingerbread Cowboy," making a beginning-middle-end chart and then building our own Gingerbread Cowboy. They turned out so great and the kiddos loved making them. We also worked on our writing skills during this time. I had the kindergarteners think about where their gingerbread man would run to first and then as a group we wrote about it. The sentence started out by saying, "He went to the..." The kiddos shared the marker and each wrote where their gingerbread man ran to. Some of the places were; the park, the lake, the toy store, school, the fox. They are getting so good at sounding out words!

To finish up our gingerbread unit we voted on our favorite book. It is a good chance for the kiddos to use their math skills to read data!

Little Red Hen

This week we started a small mini-unit on the "Little Red Hen." We first started by drawing and labeling a hen. To go with the draw and label we read "The Little Red Hen," by Paul Galdone.

On Wednesday we read an informational text (non-fiction) about chickens called, "The Chicken or the Egg?" We are working on answering questions using the text. It is an important skill for the kids to have and the earlier we start the better. Our question that we were trying to answer was, "What did the author say about hen's eggs?" We found out that hen's eggs are brown and white, they go to the incubator soon after they are hatched and brown and white eggs taste the same.


The following day we revisited "The Little Red Hen" by Paul Galdone and sequenced the story using pictures. The cut out the pictures and glued them in order.

Today we read a different version of "The Little Red Hen," by Jerry Pinkney. Then, we used a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the Paul Galdone version and the Jerry Pinkney version. We used sticky notes to write down our thoughts and then put them in the diagram.

Next week we will be reading two more version of the story, work with Venn diagrams some more, and make a special treat!

November 5 - November 7

I have been bad about updating this blog lately and I apologize. Here is a little insight into what we have been doing and what we will be doing!

Last week we ended our Monster unit and the kiddos had so much fun! We learned a song called the "Monster Stomp," described monsters, made Big Green Monsters, and created spooky number 8 spiders. It was a hectic week, but we managed to get through! The Kennedy Fall Festival was amazing and I'm so proud of the Kennedy PTO and my fellow teachers. We've go so much Kennedy PRIDE!

This week in reading we will...

• Draw a gumball machine
• Meet Crazy Camel
• Draw a cat
• Write about cats, using informational text

This week in math we will...

• Practice using the equal sign and not-equal sign
• Learn and practice making the number 9
• Solve math stories

We also started our "Exploring Friends and Jobs in the Community" unit this week. We first read a book called "Whose Tools Are These?" and we guessed which community member would use those tools. Then we made a web and discussed what we would see in our community. Some examples of what the kiddos said are; Toy Store, animals, shelters, people, grocery stores. We will be using informational text and narrative text to explore this topic. Look for writing, story maps, and art projects coming home!
 

Apple Stamping

Last week we had so much fun with apples, more fun than I think I realized! We read loads of books about apples, made small books about apples, did some apple stamping, and made applesauce. Wow. The kiddos really like making their own tree branches using apples and paint. I thought that their creations turned out beautiful and all of them were so unique. I had 4 tables and at each table there was a different color. It all worked out so well and I hope that you enjoyed seeing your child's artwork.

  

Here are some photos of us doing some apple stamping!

October 15th-October 19th

It is a short week, we do not have school on Friday. Also, our "Classroom Night" is this Thursday! Halloween is also coming up and that means a fall party, plus the Fall Festival. The fall party will be in our classroom and I would love to have some parent volunteers. If you cannot help, I am asking for healthy snacks, utensils, plates, napkins, and drinks. Please let me know if you can help in any way.

October 8th - 12th

This week in reading we will...

• Learn the letter "Hh"
• Draw a hat
• Learn the sound "Ar"

This week in math we will...

• Work on math stories
• Find groups of 6-10

This week in handwriting we will...

• Practice making the letter N
• Practice making the letter M

This week in science/social studies we will...

• Describe an apple
• Make apple stamps and create a picture
• Put the apple cycle in order
• Make a delicious treat!

Apples

October is a month full of activities and events in and out of the classroom. Last week we started our apple unit and a BIG thanks to everyone who sent apples! On Friday we had an amazing time having a taste test. I first cut up 3 different kinds of apples and then I didn't tell them which bowl had which kind of apple. The kiddos each got a clipboard and then went to each bowl and had a taste. After they had a taste from each bowl, they chose which bowl they liked the best. Then we graphed the results and they were just so excited about what we found. Turns out, 7 people like bowl 3 the best and that was the green apple. Coming in second was bowl 1, the yellow apple. Last was bowl number 2, the red apple.

This week we are going to make something really yummy with all those apples! We will also do some apple stamping on Thursday. They will also be putting the apple cycle in order and making a book to go with it.

Painting with M&Ms???

We are nearing the end of our five senses and the kiddos have learned so much. Some of the things that we have done are; made a graph of all our eye colors, put Mr. Potato Head together, listened to a tape of different sounds and decided if we would hear the sound outside or inside, talked about our favorite foods and graphed them, painted with M&Ms. 

On Thursday I had about 10 cups of water and in each cup I put the same color of M&Ms. We talked about how we would use all of our senses to eat M&Ms; smell, touch, see, taste, hear. 

 The kiddos made some beautiful paintings and had such a great time doing it!

Sept. 24 - 28

A quick peek at our week!

In reading we will...

• Draw a dad
• Learn the letter "T"
• Draw a top
• Learn the letter "S"

In math we will...

• Draw a scene of one...A SELF-PORTRAIT
• Graph our self-portraits
• Take the MAP test
• This is a test that all K-5 students take, at their level. We use the information to help us see who might need some extra support. 

In science we will...

• Put together Mr. Potato Head
• Paint with M&Ms
• Make a 5 senses book

Math Mats

In math I am starting to teach the kindergarteners some math games. Eventually they will be playing these games by themselves during our math intervention block. There will be 3 rotations of 10 minutes each. A sample rotation may be: Mrs. Mitchell, math tubs, and Mega Math on the computer. It is an independent time and when we get into the full swing, great things will happen during this half an hour. Here is a picture of the math game that we played today.

Sept. 17 - 21

This week we are moving into the 20s! 20 days of school that is. I am so proud of all that they are doing and how hard they are working. We are moving right along with Daily Five. So far we have done Read to Self, Word Work, and Listen to Reading. It is an independent time when the kiddos are working to improve their literacy skills. I am beyond thrilled at what they can do already. It makes me so excited to think about what they will be like by December. Wow! Here's a sneak peak at our week...

In reading we will...

• Learn the letter "A"
• Draw an ax
• Learn the letter "D"
• Draw a dad

In math we will...

• Use shapes to show a number
• Practice completing dot-to-dots

In science/social studies we will...

• Continue our 5 senses unit by exploring taste, smell, and sound
• Discuss the American flag and what it means
• Discuss the pledge of allegiance

Kindergarten Corner

Sept. 12, 2012

Mitchell's Mathematicians

The kinders are making some great progress in math already. We are working on talking about the why's and how's of math, instead of just the what. For example, we know that we add one more clip to our clip collection everyday, but why? I want the kids to understand and be able to verbalize the answer, which is, "because it's another day, so another clip!" They are also using words like equation and add. For only being in school for 17 days, that is pretty awesome!

When we work on putting objects with a given number, we do it in a variety of ways. One way is to use manipulatives like tiles, centimeter cubes, or pattern blocks. Today we used our shape cards, that we colored and cut, to show a number.

September 10th - 14th

This week in reading we will...

• Work on noun substitution by singing the song "Skip to my Lou" 
• Learn the letter "X"
• Draw an ox

This week in math we will...

• Work with shapes
• Use fine motor skills to manipulate shapes and blocks

This week in handwriting we will...

• Practice making the letter "D"

This week in science we will...

• Begin our 5 senses unit

Wow!

Well, it was a short and very sweet week. On Thursday the school was told that at 1:45 there would be an assembly about the fundraiser for our school. Our class showed up, got seated and awaited the speakers. Our PTO president and vice president came up to the mic and gave a pretty lackluster speech and that's when I realized that this wasn't about a fundraiser.

Up by the podium stood Dr. Dole, our superintendent, and a woman that I recognized from KU Credit Union. Something was up. Dr. Dole came up to the mic and started talking about how we have great teachers at Kennedy (of course we do!) and went on to say that today one of them was getting an award. He then preceded to quote faculty members and our principal. When he got to my dear friend Ann Lounsbury's quote, I looked over at her and she winked at me. That's when I knew, this was an award for me. A huge wave of emotion came over me and I was fighting back the tears.

On Thursday at our assembly I won the Horizon Award. It's an award given to new teachers that show promise and exemplary teaching. I am incredibly honored that I was nominated and that I, out of the whole district, was chosen. When Dr. Dole said my name I came up to the podium, gave our principal a big hug and fought back the tears. I don't need an award to validate what I do, I really don't, but wow, does it feel nice. My parents and husband were also in the gym and it wasn't until Mrs. Anderson pointed it out that I realized. They made me get up to the podium and say a few words, but at the moment I really couldn't summarize what I felt, so I think I'll do that now...

Being a teacher is everything to me and it just "fills me up." I would be lying if I said it was easy or that my kids are angels. It is hard work and some days I have to muster everything I have to get through our day. They make me laugh and sometimes they make me cry, both out of frustration and out of joy. Last year was hard and I was mystified that no one told me just hard it would be! And then, just like my friend Mrs. Holland told me, it got better. The kids started to get it and I did too.

What I love most about teaching is seeing kids come to life. I love reading them a story and watching their faces fill with anticipation as to what will come next. I love listening to them congratulate a friend or help one of their classmates out who really needs it. I aspire to teach them, but I also aspire to show them that they are worth it, no matter where they come from or what they look like, that they are worth something. I strive to teach them that they can do what they thought they could not. I hope that they begin school with dreams of becoming something great and that they will continue through school thinking just that. No, my class is not full of angels, but in the end, if I have done my job, they are all learners and dreamers.

My deepest and most sincerest thank you to all who have supported me. And thanks to all my teachers over the years.

Kindergarten Corner

August 30, 2012

August 27th - August 31st

*Every week I'm going to post a sneak peek of what our class is going to do for the week.Sometimes I might come back and fill in missing parts :)

 READING:

• Animated Alphabet - 
• Monday: We are going to draw a pup and put together a mixed up sentence using the SMARTboard. e a math sheet
• Tuesday:  We are going to learn the song "Catch A Fish" and then write about what kind of animal we would catch! 
• Wednesday: We will be learning the letter "O" and meeting Ollie Ostrich. 
• Thursday: We are going to do a sort of the letters "O" "P" and "U"
• Friday: We are going to use fruit loops and make a colorful "O" on a paper plate.

MATH

• Math Expressions - 
• Monday:  We are going to continue to use our math manipulatives and work on showing a number with tiles and pattern blocks. Next we will be drawing a scence of 3.
• Tuesday:  First we will discuss our scenes of 3 using the document camera. Following that we will show amounts of objects by drawing with crayons. For example, "show 3 hats."
• Wednesday:

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL

• Solution Cards
• Share: We will read a book about sharing and talk about using our solution cards. 
• Get A Timer: Talk about using a timer to help solve problems with friends. 

The Year Has Begun!

Oh my, oh my, oh my! Our first week of kindergarten is over and our second week is about to begin. The kiddos did so well adjusting to a longer day full of big kid expectations. I for one came home every night exhausted, so I'm guessing my little ones did too.

To start the week off, we all reviewed the rules and expectations of our classroom. We have four rules that we follow and respect.

1. Keep hands, feet, and other objects to yourself.
2. Raise your hand to talk.
3. Listen and follow directions.
4.  Walk quietly inside of school.

All three kindergarten teachers have the same four rules for inside of the school. We also have recess rules, these are very similar, but there are some details about swinging and sliding on their bottoms, as well as keeping rocks and sticks on the ground. All in all, we want our kiddos to be as safe as possible so that they can learn and thrive in school.

Along with our rules we also started our Clip Chart on Tuesday.  Kennedy is a PBS school, which stands for "Positive Behavior Supports" and this means that teachers and staff focus on the positive doings of kids, rather than the negative. In my room I use our Clip Chart to encourage the kiddos to do the right thing first and then I reward them just for that! Every day the kiddos clips start on green (Ready to Learn). As the day progresses they aim to get to the top, which is red for OUTSTANDING! This week all of the kids were above green and were simply rockstars.

Red = Outstanding

Orange = Great Day

Yellow = Good Job

Green = Ready to Learn

Blue = Think About It

Purple = Teacher’s Choice

Gray = Parent Contact

Along with practicing routines and procedures we also learned two letters!, We started with the letter "P" and the character Polly Panda. Polly has her own story and song. We glued popcorn kernals onto purple p's and found words that start with "P" using our SMARTboard.

On Thursday we met Uncle Upton, who stands for the letter "U." Uncle Upton loves onion soup and he is an umpire, so we talked about our favorite sport and read "Curious George Plays Baseball." Friday we read the book "Aliens in Underpants Save the World." It was hilarious and really got the kids engaged. After reading the book we colored paper underwear and I strung it up around the room!

Please continue to send those BEE books and snacks! We appreciate all the help that we can get! 

Meet Me!

Meet the Teacher Letter 1

A Passion for Pinterest

It's official, I am pinterest obsessed. If you haven't seen or heard of pinterest, well then, I'm pretty sure you might be living under a rock or you have successfully avoided the social network community! I check pinterest quite frequently and I follow some pinners who consistently post amazing teaching ideas. My last post was all about math tubs and I must admit some of those ideas came from pinterest. But that is the beautiful thing, I AM NOT RE-INVENTING THE WHEEL!! Nope the wheel has been brought to me! I also have found ideas that I sort of like and then tweaked them to my needs and likeness. The next step is for me to start posting some of my own ideas, because we all know they are just genius :)

One pin I stumbled on today made me want to get right to work and make it! It's a big book about the teacher. Included in the book are pictures from when the teacher was little, growing up and adult life. The book also had a page with fun facts about the teacher and, my favorite, a page dedicated to the teacher's favorite books! I am definitely going to make this book over the summer and share it with my kiddos next year.

Math Tubbing It

One of my goals this summer is to make games for math tubs that will be used during our math intervention time. So far I have made three games and have two of three laminated. I'm hoping to have enough games made so that I can rotate games within the tubs every 1-2 months. I also want them to go with the themes that we will be studying; 5 senses, dinosaurs, ladybugs/insects, gingerbread.

Here are the games/activities I have made so far...

1. Crayon counting and matching

• There are 20 "crayon boxes" with a number on it. There are also 20 laminated "crayons" with a given number of dot stickers. The kids will match the crayon to the crayon box, e.g. 5 dots to the number.

2. Apples up on top

• I have made a set of 10 laminated "apples." The goal will be to put the apples in order. I think I'm going to add their pictures at the beginning of the year, so that they can stack the apples on top of their own heads!

3. Bowling Fun

• I have 4 sets of bowling cards. Each card has 10 bowling pins in the triangle formation with a number on each pin. The kids will draw a bowling ball card, that also has a number, and they will put a marker on the pin if they have a match. This is sort of like BINGO, but with a bowling twist.

So, that's what I've got so far!

Another goal this summer is organizing my reading games. I laminated each folder and made sure that the cards inside were laminated too. Then, I put all of the folders that taught the same or similar skill together in a crate. I think this will really help me during my guided reading time! I can identify the skill I want to work on with my group and find a game quickly AND it will look sooooo good!!!

The End

Well, our kindergartners have graduated and moved on. They will start next year as big time first graders. I am so proud of all of their progress they made this year. They are reading, writing, and doing all exploration with math. I love how their little brains work and the ideas that they come up with! I'm really looking forward to watching them travel through Kennedy over the next 5 years.

So...here are some ideas on what to do with the kiddos over the summer to keep those brains going!

Reading:

• Read with them everyday!!! You can read the newspaper, magazines, small books, big books, all of it.
• Start a series; "A Series of Unfortunate Events," "Harry Potter," "Chronicles of Narnia," 
• Play sound games in the car
• "I Spy Rhyme" : I spy something that rhymes with hat....cat!

May....

Can you believe that it is May and there are only 14 days of school left?!? The kiddos are very excited about "graduating" from kindergarten and becoming first graders. Everyone is excited about summer, but I am really really going to miss these kiddos. This group is my first class ever and I am sure that I will remember them forever. Sometimes I start thinking about watching them go through elementary school and then going to see them graduate high-school and I practically start sobbing. So, let me tell you, this year has been amazing and your kiddos are all truly special. Thank you for letting me be their teacher. Sheesh.

This week we will be having the Kennedy Carnival. Please come to the school on Friday, May 5th for an evening of fun and games. Bring some cash with you, so that you can purchase some tickets to play and eat. $1.00 will get you 5 tickets.

In class we are wrapping up our insect unit. Next week the kiddos will be switching rooms to work on various science ideas; magnets, water, health. In reading we are working on retelling by stating the problem, solution, characters, and other important parts of a story. I am also assessing the kiddos on their heart words, ability to blend and segment words, and their writing.

Thanks,
    Lauren

Insects are awesome!

This past week our class started our insect unit. Let me tell you, the kids are so into it! We started off by making a KWL chart, this stands for "what I know," "what I wonder," and "what I learned." I was surprised by how much they already knew about insects, but their questions were the absolute best. These kindergartners are scientists in the making. They wondered such things as, "What do insects live in?" "What do they eat?" and "Where or how do they sleep?" I was really impressed with their thinking. We read a couple of books about insects and then on Thursday we started our insect mural. I gave students pieces of a mural puzzle and also insect cutouts. We used water colors on the mural puzzle and markers or crayons on the insects cutouts. We put it all together and we have a masterpiece! It is so beautiful and the kids are so proud. Here are some pictures of us working hard and then the end result.

As you all know, we went on a field trip to the Prairie Park Nature Center on Friday. I hope you got a chance to talk to you kinder about it, because it was just a blast. We started off the day by going to the park near the center, eating lunch, and playing hard. Then we walked on the trail to the center, which was actually quite a long trek. Once we got their, we split the three classes into two groups. My group started off by going into one of the classrooms at the center and exploring insects. We actually got to touch a millipede, stick bug, and hissing cockroach. I am really proud of the kids for trying new things, because let me tell you, that millipede was big! After our classroom time we headed out to the field where we actually got to hunt for bugs! It was so much fun using the big nets and jars. Some of the bugs that the kids caught were; spiders, grasshoppers, butterflies, moths, leaf bugs.

Finally the kiddos got a chance to walk around the center and see some of the creatures that live there. I was quite a fan of the black footed ferret. Our leader told us that it THE most endangered mammal in this country, with only less than a thousand left. She was so cute! After that we headed back to school, quite late, but heading back nonetheless.

April 9th - April 13th

The weeks are winding down and the kindergartners are turning into first graders little by little! However, it is important for them to remember that there is still a lot of school left. Please help remind the kiddos that they need to do their best and show their PRIDE at school. They do a great job of doing this, but sometimes the sillies just work their way in :)

This week in reading we will...

• Continue working on our fairy tale unit by exploring stories, both traditional and non-traditional. 

This week in math we will...

• Create a teen number book with drawings.
• Work on subtraction.
• Work on equal and not equal.

Starting in two weeks we will also begin our ladybug unit in science and I am so very excited about that! We will also be going on a field trip, but more on that later this week, expect a note coming home. I am also planning on teaching a short unit on weather, which will begin as soon as possible too.

In other news, continue to send your kiddos to school with light jackets, because it can be quite cool during morning recess. Keep up the great work at home, by reading, talking, and just believing in your child!

April 2nd - April 6th

Well, it is quite an exciting Monday! First, it's April, how has that happened? And second, tonight the Jayhawks will play in the championship game! The kiddos seem pretty excited, but so far they are doing an excellent job of remembering that we still have a lot of school left in the day.

This week in reading we will...

• continue working on our fairy tale unit

This week in math we will...

• work on building numbers 1-20 with our ten sticks and centimeter cubes
• keep practicing recognizing and making partners

In addition to the things mentioned above, we will also be getting back into our writing. We will finish the Ideas trait this week and begin Organization. It has been so amazing to watch them grow as writers! I know that you would be proud!

St. Patrick's Day

We were so busy on St. Patrick's Day that I didn't actually get pictures of the kiddos, but I do have some photos of the activities that we did.

We started off our day by graphing Lucky Charms. It was fun to see how many different kind of marshmellow charms we had in our cups.

Later in the day we read a book about leprechaun gold and then wrote

about where we would hide a pot of gold.

Finally, we made "Leprechaun Snack Mix!" This is super special, because I was able to get a hold of the recipe from some leprechauns. This is their most favorite snack to eat!

March 26th - March 30th

Wow! Welcome back! I hope that you had a wonderful spring break full of muddy puddles and a little bit of sunshine. I know that I am very thankful that today was a sunny day, we went outside for an extra long time this afternoon.

I can't believe that it is almost April. I feel like I write that a lot, "I can't believe," but I really do feel that way. The kinders have grown up so much. I wonder if you see that too. In math we are revisiting a book that we read during the first week. You wouldn't believe what they noticed this time around and the things they were saying. I like to tell them that they have really "turned" into 1st graders, but that also makes me sad, because they will no longer be mine. Well, I have enjoyed this year immensely and IT'S NOT OVER YET!

This week in math we will...

• Create our own teen drawings 
• Revisit "Anno's Counting Book"

This week in reading we will...

• Define a fairy tale and decide what a fairy tale is made up of. 
• Read "Cinderella"
• Plot out "Cinderella"
• Compare "Cinderella" books (we might not have time, so we will do this next week)

We will also have the Junior Achievement program coming to our class this week. They will be working with the kiddos on money saving skills and other economic issues. Today was our first session and it went great.

Our writer's workshop has gotten a little off track due to spring break and St. Patrick's day (photos to come). I plan on getting right back on the ball with that as soon as possible!

March 5th - March 9th

Big excitement in our room this week, we have circled all of the numbers on the front of our 100 chart. Tomorrow I will flip it over and we will start with 121. We are well over the halfway mark for days left and with this beautiful weather I think that the rest of the year should be pretty easy. Now, we are dealing with some spring fever running amuck in our room, but I was expecting that! Please review the expectations with your child at home and keep sending them to school. We still have a lot of work to do and loads of new things to discover.

Speaking of discover, we played with Oobleck today. I am so mad at myself for not taking any pictures, because it was just so much fun!

Things to remember....

• Class pictures are on Monday, March 12th
• Spring break is from March 19th - March 23rd

February 27 - March 2

This week we are continuing our study of Presidents. We read two non-fiction books about George Washington on Monday and on Tuesday we will read a book about our current president, Barack Obama. To wrap up presidents we will be writing Barack Obama a letter!

This week in reading we will...

• meet Ping Pong who makes the /ng/ sound
• draw a king
• celebrate our characters
• start writers workshop

This week in math we will...

• work on partners of 10
• focus on subtraction in small group
• work on more and fewer

Please think of us when you at the grocery store and also when you are buying goods for the week. We have some dry erase markers and gluesticks, but I am concerned that they won't last till the end of the year. Our kinders love to practice their heart words on white boards with dry erase markers! Which, if you don't have a white board, I know you can find them at the dollar store or Wal-Mart for a cheap price. They are a great tool to help your child practice their writing!

February 20th - February 25th

Welcome back after a long weekend! I really enjoyed getting to visit with you about your kindergartner. They are doing such great things in our classroom and it is exciting to share. Spring break is right around the corner and we have a lot to accomplish before that week.

This week in reading we will...

• Meet Zeke for letter /z/
• Draw a prize
• Meet June and her mule for the sound /ue/, / u _e/

This week in math we will...

• Continue to work on partners of 10
• Work with more and fewer
• Make tiny tumblers. This is a way to see and work with addition.

Monday was also President's Day and this whole week we will be reading and writing about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. I was gone Monday morning and the substitute read a TIME for kids about the presidents and they filled out a KWL about presidents; what I KNOW, what I WANT to know, and what I LEARNED. Later this week we will make an Abraham Lincoln writing craft.

Celebrating 100th day

Recently we celebrated the 100th day of school! I cannot believe that we have been in school for that many days. It really just feels like yesterday that they were walking in our room with backpacks on their shoulders filled with supplies. It is a pretty amazing thing to watch them grow so much both academically and emotionally.  They really are students, friends, and great kids, but you already know this :)

Well, we started off the day by making 100th day hats, complete with label "I made it 100 days of kindergarten!" The hat had 10 strips of paper, with 10 stamps on each strip, totaling 100. Later in the day I gave them a 1, a 0, and another 0 (100). Then I asked them to make a picture with the numbers. The kids came up with some super imaginative pictures; a bee, a horse, giraffe, skateboard.

We also spent some time gluing 100 things to a 100 grid. It took a long time, but they turned out looking so neat. 

February 13th - February 15th

It has been a short and jam-packed week. Tuesday was Valentine's day and we had a blast. In small math groups we did a measuring hearts activity and during reading we put together a sentence, "It is a day for love." At the end of the day we passed out valentines and had a feast. Thank you for sending valentines with your kiddos and for helping out by sending snacks or just being another adult in the room.

This week in reading we...

• Drew a boy, focusing on the /oy/ sound
• Put together a sentence for Valentine's Day
• Met and colored the Whistling Whale, focusing on the /wh/ sound. This is a really hard sound for kiddos to grasp, but they did a great job with it.

This week in math we...

• Went grocery shopping. Using cut out fruit and veggies we worked on adding the items together! They did a great job drawing pictures to represent the objects.
• Talked about more, fewer, and extra.
• Played the "missing partner" game.

Here are some pics from the Valentine's party!

We do not have school on Thursday and Friday due to conferences.

Sunflowers, Tortoises, and Hares, OH MY!

Well I said it would be a crazy week and I did not lie! To celebrate and honor our great state of Kansas we have been learning about the different symbols. On Monday we made sunflowers and they are just so cute. I hung them up in our room to make a field of sunflowers.

Then on Tuesday, we traveled to the Lied Center to see a performance of "The Tortoise and the Hare," and "The Ugly Duckling." I wasn't sure what to expect and I was absolutely blown away by the performance. The company specializes in light display and puppeteering, so both of those were integrated in the production. The kids had a ball and did a great job of showing their Kennedy PRIDE whilst away from school.

January 30th - February 3rd

This week is going to be a very exciting one. On Tuesday we are heading to the Lied Center to see a production of "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "The Ugly Duckling." It should be a great afternoon! On Wednesday we will be celebrating the 100th day of kindergarten. I have a whole bunch of fun activities planned for the kids. If you haven't already, please try and remember to send your kindergartners bag of 100 things. It is neat to see all the different items that the kids have found and counted.

It is hard to believe that it will be February this week. The kids have really come a long way since August! It almost feels like two years rolled into one. The kindergartners that walked in the door the first day are definitely not the same kiddos today. They know the routines, the expectations, and they ALL have great Kennedy PRIDE!

On Thursday of this week we will meet "Orty Orsen." He makes the /or/ sound, like in store. We will draw a horn on Friday and continue to work on blending sounds together to make words.

We have also started Unit 4 in our math curriculum. This week we will look at the teens using bug drawings, talk about grocery store scenarios, and continue to use our "Math Talk." "Math Talk," in simpliest terms is kids talking about how and why they got the answer that they did. It is a very important skill for kids to have and I have been trying to help them work on this skill.

Additionally we will be doing some Kansas activities, because Kansas celebrated it's birthday on Sunday. On Monday we made sunflowers and they turned out so cute!

Have a great week!

January 23 - January 27

January 17th - January 20th

We are back after a very nice three day weekend!I know that sometimes it is hard to remind the kiddos why they had a three day weekend, but if you get the chance talk to them about it! On Friday before our weekend we talked about peace and how Martin Luther King Jr. worked really hard to get peace for everyone. We talked about how schools used to look a lot different and just because of how you looked you might have gone seperate schools. It can be a hard thing to talk about, but I think it is important for even the young ones to be exposed to.

We have also been doing a lot with our dinosaur unit. Look for some cool dinosaur fossils to be coming home with your kinder. They turned out so neat. Click here if you want the recipe for the salt-dough that we used to make our fossils.

Perhaps though, the highlight of the week was when we built and watched a "volcano" explode. I used sand, vinegar and baking soda. It was pretty exciting! We talked about how one theory that the dinosaurs are extinct is because a volcano erupted and sent dust and ash into the sky, which caused the sun to be blocked out. Kind of a hard concept to grasp, but watching a volcano erupt is super cool. I had as much fun if not more doing watching it explode!

Pure joy

Winter Party

We had such a great time at our winter party searching for the gingerbread man! We were unsuccessful in our quest to find him, but we did get some yummy gingerbread cookies. Here are some photos from our party. I especially love how different each decorated gingerbread cookie was. No two are alike :)

Here we are hunting for our gingerbread man.

Still can't find him!

No gingerbread man, but big gigantic gingerbread cookies. They iced them, put sprinkles on them, used gumdrops and mini m&ms. What a treat!

Happy New Year!

Welcome back and welcome to the new year, 2012! I hope that everyone had a lovely time away from school. I really enjoyed my time off. My husband and me went to Hays, Kansas for a couple of days, spent some time with my parents in Overland Park and then basically just took it easy for the rest of the break. But now it is time to kick it into high gear in our kindergarten room! Although elementary schools are on trimester schedule, we still do a lot of testing and measuring at semester. We are really hoping that most or all our kindergartners are reading at this time and are starting to put sentences together. Of course, not all kids are at that point and that is okay! We will keep giving everyone the appropriate support they need!


This week we are going to be focusing on remembering our routines and getting back into the groove of school. Wednesday will most likely be a review day. I need the review as much as they do! I am also going to start adding some more responsibility and choices into their literacy stations. We are also going to start our dinosaur unit this week. I have some really fun activities planned.

In reading we will...

• Learn the letter "W"
• Draw a well

In math we will...