Newsletter for the Week of March 26 - 30, 2012

Newsletter for March 26 - 30_ 2012 -

Unit 4, Week 5 - If You Could go to Antarctica

     This week our Focus Story will be If You Could go to Antarctica by Fay Robinson.  With this story, the students will be introduced to the creatures and terrain associated with Antarctica. We will meet penguins, seals, and humpback whales, just to name a few--as well as discuss icebergs, the weather, and why most plants cannot grow in this region.
      Our Target Skill this week is learning to classify and categorize gathered information.  We will also continue to work on making predictions, sequential order, and identifying the main idea of a story.  The students will work to identify, form, and match the letter 'Ee' to its phoneme--/e/.  We will focus on the short vowel sound this week.

Amazing Words:  Antarctica, continent, icebergs, penguins, seals, whales

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

Letter: Ee


Thank you to www.scottsboro.org for the cover image!

Newsletter for the Week of March 19 - 23, 2012

Newsletter for March 19 - 23_ 2012 -

Unit 4, Week 4 - Goldilocks and the Three Bears

     This week our Focus Story will be Goldilocks and the Three Bears, retold and illustrated by Valeri Gobachev.  This is the classic traditional tale of Goldilocks and her adventure in the home of Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear.  We will follow her as she eats the Bears' porridge, sits in their chairs and attempts to find the perfect bed to nap in--each time coming to the realization that Baby Bear's belongings are just right for her.  We will then discover what the Bears reaction is to stumbling upon her in their home, asleep in Baby Bear's bed.
      Our Target Skill for this week will be identifying the characters within a story.  We will also continue to practice making predictions, retelling a story, and identifying the setting of a story.  We will work to identify, form, and match the letter 'Gg' to its phoneme--/g/.

Amazing Words:  bears, porridge, cottage, big, middle-sized, small

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

Letter: Gg


Thank you to Sam's Reading Blog (http://salinaghi.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html) for the cover image!

Lucky Charms Math

As St. Patrick's Day falls during our Spring Break, we implemented discussions/activities about March 17th into our Review Week this week.  Yesterday, we sorted and graphed Lucky Charms cereal (well, the marshmallows, anyhow).  I also tried to incorporate some addition, subtraction, number comparisons, and graph reading skills in there as well.  Below is an example of the sorting mat used, and a student example of the graph:

Newsletter for the Week of March 5 - 9, 2012

Newsletter for March 5 - 9_ 2012 -

Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration

Here are some pictures from our celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday over the past 2 days.  Most are from our rotations yesterday. In my haste to finish as much as I could before having to dismiss the kiddos early today due to the possibility of inclement weather, I was only able to snap a few pictures of the costumes and birthday cupcake decorating this morning.  

In my Rotation, we focused on Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  We estimated the number of Goldfish crackers in a goldfish bowl (607), read the story, and made red and blue Jell-O Jiggler fish.  

Then, the students visited Mrs. Brown's room, where the focus switched to The Cat in the Hat.  They read the story, made hats, and a Cat in the Hat cookie/candy treat.  

From there, the kiddos traveled to Mrs. Shartzer's room.  There they read Bartholomew and the Oobleck, discussed the states of matter (as 'oobleck' is both a solid and a liquid at the same time!), then made and played in their own "oobleck".  

For their last Rotation, the students visited Mrs. Holmes' room to read Green Eggs and Ham, and then sample the concoction to decide for themselves whether or not they liked them.

Group shot with their Cat in the Hat hats and bow ties...

Making their "cat" faces...

Aren't they precious? 

Pictures of the students icing and eating their cupcakes in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday:

March 2012 Calendar

March 2012 Calendar -

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!