Kindergarten and Kindness

I couldn't ask for a more wonderful first week of kindergarten! The students have done a great job at learning our rules and classroom routines.  We know how to form and stay in a perfect, quiet line.

We can follow the rules for learning during carpet time.

We can follow directions in the lunchroom.

We can also recite the 5 rules of the classroom. And they are:
Rule #1: Follow directions quickly
Rule #2: Raise your hand for permission to speak.
Rule #3: Raise your hand to leave your seat.
Rule #4: Be kind to others.
Rule #5: Keep your dear teachers happy!

The students have hand motions to go along with all 5 rules and they're so cute when they do it!

Our biggest objective this week was to establish a kind and caring classroom environment.  I read the story "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" The story talks about how everyone has an invisible bucket that can be filled with good thoughts and feelings when others show kindness to us.  But we can also dip into each others' buckets when we choose to be unkind.  We discussed ways we can be kind to one another and the behaviors we want to avoid so we don't become a 'bucket dipper.'  We made a chart that is posted in our room to help remind us of this lesson.

We also did an exercise in kindness where we sat in a circle and rolled a ball to a classmate.  We then paid that person a compliment.  My goal is to have a classroom full of students who love and respect each other and who look for opportunities to make their classmates happy.

Every student is looking forward to their chance at being the daily superstar.  Each day, a new name is magically revealed (ok, it's a blue marker colored over a name written in white crayon - but don't say anything!) and that student gets to share 3 things about themselves. This activity builds early reading skills and sight word recognition.  And when the day is over, Mrs. Taylor laminates the chart for the student to take home. 

The students also learned how to operate the Smart Board (which is basically like a jumbo-sized ipad).  We use the Smart Board multiple times a day, everyday. We listen and watch instructional songs on Youtube and play fun learning games. We also do our classwork together.  The worksheet is on the board so I work through it as they work at their own tables. 

 Since we had a little rain this week, the students also got to see what inside recess is like.  We dance along with Kids Just Dance videos on the Smart Board and they get to play at the tables.  

All in all, it has been a terrific week.  We are making friends and having a great time.  I can't wait for next week.  Remember to have your child wear red on Monday!

Maybe These Cute Slideshows Will Make Up for Me Not Posting Anything Since January?

AM Class 2012-2013

PM Class 2012-2013

Hooray! Let's Celebrate the 100th Day!

Thanks to Riley's mom, Amy, for making us our 100 headbands!

This past week in kindergarten, we celebrated 100 days of learning, fun, and friends.  We began the week with the students bringing in their collections of 100 things.  We made a list of everything the students brought and hung the collections in the hallway.

 we had a writing prompt everyday about the number 100.  First, the students wrote about their collections of 100.  The next day, we wrote about what we would do with $100.  On Wednesday, we discussed what we would like to have 100 of. And for our final writing prompt, we told what we did NOT want 100 of.  We made a list as a whole class first, then the students worked independently in their journals. 

Our free centers were all about 100, too! In the math games center, the students matched number cards 1-100 onto a number grid. They tried to beat the clock and have all the squares filled in before center time was over.  In number work, the kiddos used teamwork and a spinner to get their game piece all the way to 100. Once they reached 100, they worked their game piece backward.  

 

Their mission in the word work center? To write 100 WORDS!  All of the students, in both classes, worked on this chart.  They put CVC word puzzles together and sight word puzzles together, then recorded them on the chart paper.

And finally, the most buzzed-about center of the week was the block center.  But for the 100th day, it became the 'Crazy Fun Cup Center.  Students were told to build a 100 cup structure.  Now this was FUN!

 Our final 100 project was our art project.  The students were given the numbers 1-0-0 and told to make something (besides 100) out of it.  They could use crayons to complete their picture. They let their imaginations take over and created some really great pieces! They are, of course, on display in our 100-themed hallway!

Working Through Winter

The last few weeks in the classroom, we have focused on all things WINTER. We learned about the signs of winter and the animals who hibernate in the winter. This week we learned about the states of matter and how they can change. We used snowmen and icicles as illustrations to show how and why matter changes. The students made some cute little melting snowmen and told why they had melted.

Last week they painted snowglobes.....

We are practicing addition a LOT these days without using any pictures to count. (If you missed the last post, I linked an online addition game that the kids LOVE to play) I teach the students the SMASH method. (I don't know if that's an actual trademarked method or not. I just call it that). The students say the larger number as they "smash" it, and then count up the smaller amount on their fingers.  IF I ever get the video demonstrating this to upload, I will link it here.  Apparently uploading videos from my phone isn't my area of expertise.  Here's my best shot at painting a picture with my words.

                      2+7     The student will say 7 out loud and then use their fingers to count on 2  more.

One of the fun ways we've been practicing our addition is in the math games center.  The students roll two dice and add them up.  The sum will buy them a piece to their snowman.  We play the same game on our SmartBoard each day during our calendar math time.

This week in the math games center, the students played "10 Snowballs Up on Top," a variation of Ten Apples Up on Top that we played in the fall.  The student pairs had to work together to fill all of the snowballs up by adding 1 or 2 more each time.  If the spinner landed on 'put back,' they got to see a little subtraction in action as they had to take one away.   

                   With all this cold weather, our friend River wants to remind you to BUNDLE UP!

 

 

Links to Sing Alongs and Online Games

We use lots of youtube instructional songs and videos to learn math concepts and phonics lessons. I have linked some videos here so that your child can continue to practice at home if they'd like and to keep you in the loop of what we're learning. We also play lots of games online to practice 2D and 3D shapes, addition, and sounding out CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant words).  I've attached links to those, too.

Flavor Flurry (Addition)

Shapes in Real Life

CVC Memory Game

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime!

 We combined my favorite holiday and favorite science unit into one AWESOME week of learning!  Each day we concentrated on one of the senses. We started with the sense of sight.  This was an easy one.  The students were told to look at the Christmas lights (which were turned off) and tell me what their sense of sight told them. Then I turned them on.  We talked about the words we use to describe things we see; shiny, bright, dark, their color, etc. The next day it got more interesting.  We explored our sense of touch.  The students reached into a special box with holes cut out of the sides and described what they felt.  Using only their sense of touch, they decided it was a cookie cutter - and they were right! 

    The next day we went on a smell hunt.  I held a cinnamon scented pinecone in my hands in a way that the students couldn't see it.  Then I had the students smell it.  They described how it smelled and we listed the descriptions on the board. All the while, Mrs. Taylor and Ms. Groom were hiding the pinecones all around the room. Then the kiddos went on a hunt to find where that smell was coming from. 

On Thursday we had a taste test!  The students were shown a red candy and were asked to make a prediction about its taste.  They chose between sweet, salty, sour, or spicy.  Most of the students thought it would be sweet like a strawberry or cherry.  Boy, were they surprised!

It was a Hot Tamale!




Our last day explored many senses at the same time.  The students made cinnamon dough ornaments with dough they could feel - it was squishy, see- it was brown, and smell- DELICIOUS! 
We also painted their hands to make a cute, little, non-breakable snowman ornament!

The centers have been very engaging the last few weeks, as well.  The students had to use their counting skills on the "Wheels of Christmas Senses" in number work, then pin the coordinating numbered clothespin to each amount. This week they have used the counting bears to make all kinds of connections and patterns with numbers.

As a nod to the sense of taste, the students played "Cookies on a Plate" in the math games center last week.  Students took turns rolling a dice (with numbers 1-3 only) and putting that amount of cookies on their plate.  When all the cookies were gone, the students counted how many were on their plates to see who won.   This week they played Trim the Tree addition. The students took turns rolling two die and adding up the dots.  They had to find that number on their Christmas tree ornaments and cover it with a matching counter. 

The blocks center also got a makeover last week.  A Christmas tree was placed in the room for the students to decorate however they chose.  This may have been their favorite center but word work was also a close contender. The kiddos reached  into Santa's Bag (ok, it was a ziplock baggie) and found some of the most in-demand Christmas wishes. They used letter magnets to spell the words on magnetic boards.  If you're looking for a good stocking stuffer, letter magnets would be agreat idea! They LOVE them.

 

And what about our beloved Snowflake?  Well, she was touched (gasp) but all is well. A letter was sent to Santa (thanks to a wonderfully gracious and cooperative parent) and, voila, her magic was back! Here are some of the places we've found her, and the tiny little letter she brought along explaining how she got her magic back.



You can just spy Snowflake to the top left of the bulletin board