Getting Ready to Read and Write

This week we had discussions about the books we read and and made some whole group journal entries.  In a few weeks, the students will begin working in their daily journals.  This week we learned how to draw pictures to show meaning and how we can label our pictures with letter sounds to give more information. 

Another way the students are learning to write and read is through our daily Super Star time.  Everyday we have a new student super star and they tell us information about themselves as I write it down.  The super star reads their finished chart to the class, and the class reads the chart back to the super star. The sentences all have the same structure so the students are becoming very familiar with the direction we follow when reading and writing, recognizing words are separated  spaces (I use a "Space Man"), and finding the beginning and ending of sentences.  

Then the student gets to take home their chart at the end of the day!

We finally got to learn how to use our Book Buckets this week.  These buckets are filled with books the students have already read such as the letter books they've brought home and the color books which we make each Friday. We practiced today how to read quietly to ourselves using the Whisper-ma-Phones to amplify our soft voices.  We talked about building up our reading stamina.  The students' goal is to read for as long as they can without giving up. This may be just a few minutes at first but we hope to get up to 15 minutes by the end of the year.  They did FABULOUS with this today!  They will start using their Book Buckets during center time next week.

     Hmmmm, so what else did we do this week? 

Well, we learned the right way to ride a bus.  This was super-exciting to all of our non-bus riding students.  Just to get the chance to sit on a bus made their day!

We also had some super fun centers.  In math games, they had to "crack the secret code" by lacing pool noodle rounds with numbers written on them according to the secret code they selected.  In the word work center, they made capital letters on geoboards with rubberbands.

For our art project, the students practiced their cutting and gluing skills.  They cut out a picture of an egg and a frog and used little sticks of construction paper to form a capital E and capital F.  So simple - but it was such a hit with the kiddos.
We can always use extra hands during our art time. 
If you can ever come in to help on Fridays, we would be super appreciative!

Meet Ms. Groom!

We have a wonderful new addition to our classroom,our student teacher Ms. Katelyn Groom! She is an education major from Georgetown College and will be working in our classroom through December.  She visited my classroom last year, observing and teaching small groups. This semester she will be working with small groups of students at center time and will also teach the whole class for one of the weeks she is with us.  The kids already love her and really enjoy working with her!  

Little Blue and Little Yellow, A Little Tissue Paper and A Lot of Fun!

This week we read books about the primary colors and how they mix to make other colors. We played Curious George's Mix and Paint game on pbskids.org on the Smartboard.  To wrap up the week, today we read "Little Blue and Little Yellow" by Leo Lionni.  The illustrations are simple circular shapes that tell the story of two best friends who find out that when they hug, they turn green (and cause a lot of confusion for their families).  The students made artwork today using tissue paper cut into circles to retell the story.  The kids really enjoyed this activity and there will be many more fun art activites to come!  Every Friday we will make art in the room to go along with the learning themes of the week.

Kindergarten Rocks!

We are rolling right along! This week the students worked in centers for the first time and they did great!  Along with the letter work center where students used playdough to form letters Aa and Bb, the floor puzzle center, and the number work center, students matched upper and lowercase letters with ladybug letter puzzles,

 made fun pictures with tangrams,

 played with blocks, worked on our handwriting,

and read books and learned letters in small groups. 

The students also visited their specials classes this week.  They got a chance to play many different instruments in Ms. Moses's music class.  They used the bongo drum to beat out the syllables in their names.  In PE, they learned the game, "What time is is, Mr. Fox?"

The students also completed their first journal assignment.  After reading the book, "We Are All Alike, We Are All Different" the students drew a picture to show what makes them unique. They drew themselves, their families, where they lived, and their favorite kinds of food.

I am looking forward to next week and all the fun thats in store!

It Was a Very Good Week!

    It was a very good week, indeed!  This week we learned the rules and routines of our classroom.  We made four books for our book buckets; and alphabet book, a counting book, a book about school, and a book about the color red.  These books will stay in the classroom, but next week the students begin bringing home books for reading assignments.  I am excited to start the learning to read process!
    We began using our pin chart and the students are starting to the get the hang of how we behave and cooperate in kindergarten.  This week, we only sent home news if the students 'made it to the top' of the chart.  But starting Monday, behavior charts will be sent home in their backpacks and you will be able to see which level they were on each day.
   Centers will also begin on Monday. We have been itching to get these started as they are the core of our learning experience (and the funnest part of the day for the students- well, except for recess, of course)!  

Sing along with us!

I have posted some of the songs we will be singing while gathered at the SmartBoard this year.  Your child will LOVE them.  We have songs for learning letters and sounds, counting, calendar time, and many other skills.
In anticipation for the first day of school, I also wanted to share a song for the parents.  I know many of you may be having a little more trouble preparing for kindergarten than your child.  I heard this song the other day and knew it would bring a tear to your eye, but in a sweet way.  I hope you enjoy.

You and Me by Frances England