Measurement Unit - Making Play-Doh

As part of our study of Measurement, we made Play-Doh in our Math Groups last week.  The students measured out the ingredients and mixed them together to make their own homemade Play-Doh.  We had a blast! 

Newsletter for the Week of February 27 - March 2, 2012

Newsletter for February 27 - March 2_ 2012 -

Unit 4, Week 3 - One Little Mouse

     This week our Focus Story will be One Little Mouse, written by Dori Chaconas and illustrated by LeUyen Pham.  A little mouse is in need of a new, more spacious home.  This story takes us on a journey of trial and error as he searches for a new place to call his own.  
     Our Target Skill this week will be determining the sequence of events, or the order in which things happen within the story.  We will also continue to practice making predictions, retelling a story, and drawing conclusions based on evidence found within the story.  We do not have one particular letter of focus this week--we will instead be working on consonant blends.

Amazing Words:  woodland, nest, vale, hollow, comfortable, shadows

High-Frequency Words: one, two, three, four, five  (Please continue to practice all of our "Popcorn Words" at home.)


Thank you to www.tower.com for the cover image! 

Reading of The Lorax at Target Tomorrow

All Target stores across America will be hosting a Dr. Seuss Storytime reading of The Lorax this Saturday, February 25th from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.   Bring the kiddos and enjoy goody bags, book specials and more!

For more info, click here!

Newsletter for the Week of February 20 - 24, 2012

Newsletter for February 20 - 24_ 2012 -

Unit 4, Week 2 - My Lucky Day

     Our Focus Story this week will be My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza.  This is one of my favorite stories to share with the students--it is such a cute book!  This story illustrates the comical means by which a wily pig is able to escape from the grasp of his predator, the fox, and is able to avoid being turned into the fox's dinner.
     Our Target Skill this week is determining the causes and effects of certain events within the story.  We will also continue to practice retelling a story, predicting outcomes, and determining the plot of a story.  We will work to identify, form, and match the letter 'Ll' to its phoneme--/l/.

Amazing Words:  piglet, fox, lucky, filthy, cook, scrubber

High-Frequency Words: Please continue to practice the words 'are', 'that', and 'do', along with our other previous "Popcorn Words".

Letter: Ll


Thank you to http://www.scls.lib.wi.us/sun/ReadAloudPictureBooks.html for our cover image!

Grass Seed Progress and Our Feathered Visitor for "H" Week

Here is a look at the progress of the students' grass seed as of yesterday, Friday, February 17th:

Also, we had a fun visitor in our classroom yesterday for "H" Week--a hawk.  Mrs. Shartzer's brother stopped by before heading to the high school for a demonstration and introduced us to Greta, his hawk.  He usually takes Greta with him when he goes hunting, and had her show us a few of the tricks that she knows.  The students were certainly in awe!

Some couldn't take their eyes off Greta, others were more distracted by our guest's helper that was standing to my left and whistling for Greta's attention.  Still others were helping her whistle.  

Valentine's Day Party Pics 2012

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!  I'm sharing with you some of the pictures from our party this past Tuesday.  We had a special day, including rotations between the four Kindergarten classrooms--the students were able to participate in different skill-based Valentine-themed activities with each of the four teachers and rotate between the classrooms--and, of course, our party and the exchanging of Valentines.

Newsletter for the Week of February 13 - 17, 2012

Newsletter for February 13 - 17_ 2012 -

Bunny Day - Unit 4, Week 1

     This week our Focus Story will be Bunny Day by Rick Walton and Paige Miglio.  This story takes us through an entire day in the life of a fictional bunny family, teaching time to the hour along the way.
      Our Target Skill is determining the sequence of a set of events, or the order in which they happened.  We will also continue to practice making predictions, retelling a story and comparing and contrasting.  We will work to identify, form, and match the letter Hh to its phoneme--/h/.

Amazing Words:  chores, tidy, bustle, race, story, hungry

High-Frequency Words: are, that, do  (Please continue to practice all of our "Popcorn Words" at home.)

Letter: Hh


Thank you to www.goodreads.com for the cover image!

Homemade Toothpaste for Dental Health Month

     Friday we made some homemade toothpaste for Dental Health Month (February).  This recipe included water, baking soda, vanilla flavoring, and salt (optional).  I explained the purpose of each of the ingredients and then reminded the students that it wouldn't taste quite like the Sponge Bob Bubble Gum toothpaste they have at home--that it would mostly taste like baking soda--but that the baking soda in their toothpaste would help to clean and whiten their teeth.  Most of the students (those that followed the recipe) actually liked it; some of the ones who added too much or too little of one or more of the ingredients had quite an interesting tasting concoction on their hands.  Either way, it was a fun experience!   A local dentist's office in Portland also donated toothbrushes--the students got to go home with a brand new toothbrush, which just added to the fun!    I never knew a child could be so excited about a new toothbrush!
     We have been talking about teeth (the parts of a tooth, the names of the different teeth and where to find them in our mouths, how many baby  teeth we have vs. how many adult teeth we will have, etc.)  and how to keep our teeth clean and healthy (what foods are good/bad for our teeth, how many times a day to brush our teeth, as well as how to brush our teeth).  We also graphed how many teeth our class has lost to this point and played a guessing game--Ms. Batte took pictures of all of our smiles and cropped away everything but the mouth and teeth, then we had to guess which smile belonged to each of our classmates.  It was a great week!

Grass Seed on Day 8

 Yesterday, we came back to school to discover that our grass had grown over the weekend!  Here are a couple views of the growth seen so far.  

View from the top

Close up!

From the front

Newsletter for the Week of February 6 - 10, 2012

Newsletter for February 6 - 10_ 2012 -

Unit 3, Week 6 - Hide, Clyde!

     This week our Focus Story will be Hide, Clyde! by Russell Benfanti.  Clyde the Chameleon has a problem--his brothers can change their colors to match their surroundings, but Clyde cannot. When his brothers become green to match the leaves, Clyde turns red.  How will he adjust when he suddenly ends up in a strange place with even stranger colors?
     Our Target Skill this week is identifying the Main Idea of a story.  We will also continue to practice making predictions, retelling a story, and identifying the plot of a story.  We will work again to identify, form, and match the letter "Oo" to its phoneme--/o/.  This week our focus will be on the long "o" sound.

Amazing Words: chameleon, jungle, pattern, skin, hide, scampered

High-Frequency Words: they, you, of  (Please continue to practice all of our "Popcorn Words" at home!)

Letter: Oo


Thank you to www.tradebit.com  for the cover image!

Fractions...in Kindergarten!!!

This week in my Math Group (Group 4) we learned about fractions--how to identify, write, and read fractions!  These kiddos did an amazing job and I wanted to display a little of their work to show how proud I was of them.  Pictured below are the "Fractionpillars" that we made this week.  Their job was to identify and write the fraction of the caterpillar's body that was each of the different colors.  Take a look!  

Super Bowl Predictions and Octopus Hot Dogs for Oo Week

Yesterday we predicted who we thought would win the Super Bowl on Sunday.  We talked a little about both teams, looked at a few pictures, and discussed their records this year.  (Ms. Batte had to throw in a little plug for Eli Manning, being the Ole Miss fan that she is.  So, that, and the fact that I was wearing my Eli Manning jersey, may have influenced the predictions, slightly...)  Below you will find our predictions (and yes, your child should be able to read that fraction!) as well as a few examples of the writing activity that accompanied it.  

Then, to put a fun touch on our study of the letter 'Oo' this week, we ate some "octopi" of sorts.  (Hot dog "octopi", that is!)

Groundhog's Day Pudding Treats

In honor of Groundhog's Day, we predicted whether Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow, then watched the video of his emergence this morning to check our predictions--shadow spotted, 6 more week of winter, says Phil.