Today was such a beautiful day! We've talked about how all the rain is important in spring to help the flowers grow, but we certainly enjoyed the first sunny day all week!
Today we read Sky Tree by Thomas Locker and discussed the changes that take place in a tree over the four seasons. This book has beautiful paintings that show the tree through all the seasons and in between. We read the short stories for each tree and then discussed the pictures, noting how things have changed and discussing which season must be represented and why. After we finished this we did this week's graph: Which season do you like best: Fall, Winter, Spring, or Summer. The majority of our class likes summer because they like to go to the beach! A few people chose spring because they like to plant flowers and also enjoy seeing the flowers when they grow, and one chose winter because she likes to play in the snow!
Then we did our Let's Find Out for the week. We learned about the life cycle of a Dandelion. We learned that Dandelions start out as yellow flowers before they turn into the puff balls that we love to blow! We discussed other ways that the seeds could be blown such as the wind and animals walking by. Then we learned that the seeds go into the ground and the whole cycle starts again. I was really impressed because as I describe it the children said "It is a cycle!". They remembered that from science class :)
We also worked on a poem called Invite the Wind. We read the poem together and then discussed it. First we looked for rhyming words in each section and then we discussed the symbolism of the poem. In the poem it talks about asking the wind to come and play and asking the wind to say your name and we talked about how the wind can do these things. The children all had great ideas about the wind playing by moving things and blowing and the wind being able to say your name when it whistles by. Then the children got into groups and did "poem puzzles". I had cut the poem into pieces and the children worked together in groups to match the poem puzzles to the print out of the poem. Then we colored the poem picture. These poems will be in your children's poetry books that I will send home at the end of the year :)
The day flew by with all of our fun spring activities! I'm looking forward to next week when we start talking about eggs. We'll start on Monday by reading Hedgie's Surprise by Jan Brett and on Tuesday the children are each to bring a surprise in their eggs. The children will use vocabulary words to describe the things and we will all guess. Then we will look at different eggs and what animals lay them in the book An Egg is Quiet and also in our Let's Find Out. We'll also explore eggs in a poem, Batches of Hatches. Then after spring break we will actually be getting a shipment of Painted Lady Butterfly larvae to observe!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
This Week's Centers
Alphabet: The children are using the word family eggs from last week, but this week they have to write the words that they make in their journals. After they write them down, they have to read them to me.
Math: The children are writing down the numbers that they make using their making number eggs from last week. After they complete four eggs, they read the numbers that they made to me.
Puzzles: In the spirit of spring, the students are working on a puzzle that matches up baby animals with their parents. This is leading into our life cycles unit that we will be starting after Easter.
Listening: This week the children are listening to There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick and filling out a listening center sheet about it. They have to write the title, draw a picture, and write about their favorite part. This book is hilarious and the children have enjoyed reading all of the Old Lady books!
Math: The children are writing down the numbers that they make using their making number eggs from last week. After they complete four eggs, they read the numbers that they made to me.
Puzzles: In the spirit of spring, the students are working on a puzzle that matches up baby animals with their parents. This is leading into our life cycles unit that we will be starting after Easter.
Listening: This week the children are listening to There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick and filling out a listening center sheet about it. They have to write the title, draw a picture, and write about their favorite part. This book is hilarious and the children have enjoyed reading all of the Old Lady books!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Everything We Learned ABC
This week we have been working on an alphabet book.
On Monday we read Library Mouse which is a story about a mouse who lives in the library and decides that he could write a book. The children all want to meet him so he makes a box that says "Meet the Author". When the children look in the box they see themselves in a mirror and then they all write their own books. I used this story to open up a discussion about who can be an author or an illustrator. We decided that anyone could be an author or an illustrator!
Then we started talking about what kind of book we were going to make. The children got to look at several different kinds of alphabet books, including many different ones by Jerry Pallotta (My FAVORITE alphabet book guy!). We read The Furry Animal Alphabet Book and Kindergarten ABC together and decided what to write our book about. The children came up with the title Everything We Learned because it is going to be a hodge podge of different things that we like and have learned about at school or at home or anywhere really!
Each child will make two pages for our book. We assigned the letters on Tuesday and completed one page each today. We'll finish up tomorrow and put our pages in order. Then we will get to read our very own book written and illustrated by us on Friday! Be sure to stop by and check it out :) So far it is REALLY awesome!
On Monday we read Library Mouse which is a story about a mouse who lives in the library and decides that he could write a book. The children all want to meet him so he makes a box that says "Meet the Author". When the children look in the box they see themselves in a mirror and then they all write their own books. I used this story to open up a discussion about who can be an author or an illustrator. We decided that anyone could be an author or an illustrator!
Then we started talking about what kind of book we were going to make. The children got to look at several different kinds of alphabet books, including many different ones by Jerry Pallotta (My FAVORITE alphabet book guy!). We read The Furry Animal Alphabet Book and Kindergarten ABC together and decided what to write our book about. The children came up with the title Everything We Learned because it is going to be a hodge podge of different things that we like and have learned about at school or at home or anywhere really!
Each child will make two pages for our book. We assigned the letters on Tuesday and completed one page each today. We'll finish up tomorrow and put our pages in order. Then we will get to read our very own book written and illustrated by us on Friday! Be sure to stop by and check it out :) So far it is REALLY awesome!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Dollar Store Find of the Week!
While I was at the Dollar Store (my very favorite place to find things for school) over the weekend I found two really awesome deals.
The first was a game of spider jacks. Same game as regular jacks, only instead of jacks it is spiders! I have had jacks on my shelf all year and they have been played only a handful of times... several different children wanted to play spider jacks today! Use it for hand-eye coordination, counting, number sense, etc...
Non-fiction animal books. These books were too great to pass up! I got Giraffes, Zebras, Lions, and Elephants. They are non-fiction with great, real-life photographs of the animals and sentences that even beginning readers can read!
The first was a game of spider jacks. Same game as regular jacks, only instead of jacks it is spiders! I have had jacks on my shelf all year and they have been played only a handful of times... several different children wanted to play spider jacks today! Use it for hand-eye coordination, counting, number sense, etc...
Non-fiction animal books. These books were too great to pass up! I got Giraffes, Zebras, Lions, and Elephants. They are non-fiction with great, real-life photographs of the animals and sentences that even beginning readers can read!
Friday, March 27, 2009
The rain isn't getting us down!
Despite the chilly rain, we had a great day today!
This morning we had our March Community Dialogue. First Mrs. McCachren's fourth grade students presented their Shakespeare masks that they had made in Dramatic Art and also did a short performance that explained Shakespearean theater. The masks were awesome and I think the children really enjoyed the performances because the fourth graders had put them together, so of course they were silly at times!
This afternoon was the Mr. Al concert! I had never heard of Mr. Al... I've been missing out! The children were really excited to get to "ride on the school bus" and head to Barium Springs to hear Mr. Al. We got there and we were the only group there, which meant much more audience involvement! Mr. Al did all kinds of songs and the children got to do all kinds of dancing. The children got to reach in their pockets and pull out "their groove" and do all kinds of wild dancing!
After Mr. Al we got back in school just in time for ice cream :) Overall, a fantastic rainy day!
This morning we had our March Community Dialogue. First Mrs. McCachren's fourth grade students presented their Shakespeare masks that they had made in Dramatic Art and also did a short performance that explained Shakespearean theater. The masks were awesome and I think the children really enjoyed the performances because the fourth graders had put them together, so of course they were silly at times!
This afternoon was the Mr. Al concert! I had never heard of Mr. Al... I've been missing out! The children were really excited to get to "ride on the school bus" and head to Barium Springs to hear Mr. Al. We got there and we were the only group there, which meant much more audience involvement! Mr. Al did all kinds of songs and the children got to do all kinds of dancing. The children got to reach in their pockets and pull out "their groove" and do all kinds of wild dancing!
After Mr. Al we got back in school just in time for ice cream :) Overall, a fantastic rainy day!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Spring has Sprung!
This week we are talking about Spring! We're all glad it is here :) We're loving the warmer weather!!
This afternoon we did a lesson that incorporated Math, Science, Music, and Art. Basically... Everything!
We started out discussing what season we are in and what the different seasons were and the order, etc... Then we sang a song, "The Seasons Song" that described each of the four seasons and then had the chorus:
"Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
I like ____________ Best of All
Winter, Fall, Summer, Spring
_________is the one that makes me sing"
After we listened to the song in pieces and discussing each different season and the differences in each one (for example: In Summer you put on your sandals, in Spring you put on your rain boots), we listened and sang the whole thing. We talked about how each season had cool things that we could enjoy and brainstormed some of those.
Then I gave each child the chorus of the song in a poem and they had to choose which season was their favorite (it was hard for some of them because there are such good things in all the seasons!) and write the word in the blanks and make a picture of their favorite season inside the seasons border--They were illustrating the poem.
They did a fantastic job with these! (They will be sent home at the end of the year in their poetry books we've been working on).
We are going to continue talking about Spring this week with a Spring mini dictionary and then talking about the story When Will It Be Spring using a retelling cube. We tried out the retelling cubes last week and really liked them. This activity helps the children not only retell the stories, but also with their language and higher order thinking skills.
This Week's Centers:
ABC: Hatch-a-word. In this center the children are pairing up and reading eggs put together with different word families. For example, an egg might have "at" on it and then you turn the egg to make "Cat, Bat, Rat".
Math: Hatch-a-number. Similar to hatch-a-word. Eggs with the number families 1's-90's are in the bucket for the children to sit and read the numbers to each other.
Writing: Students complete the writing prompt "I wish I could grow". They copy this and then use inventive spelling to finish the sentence. I did not help the group today with any of their spelling and they all did a fantastic job! I'm going to try not to help the other two groups either
:-p
This afternoon we did a lesson that incorporated Math, Science, Music, and Art. Basically... Everything!
We started out discussing what season we are in and what the different seasons were and the order, etc... Then we sang a song, "The Seasons Song" that described each of the four seasons and then had the chorus:
"Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
I like ____________ Best of All
Winter, Fall, Summer, Spring
_________is the one that makes me sing"
After we listened to the song in pieces and discussing each different season and the differences in each one (for example: In Summer you put on your sandals, in Spring you put on your rain boots), we listened and sang the whole thing. We talked about how each season had cool things that we could enjoy and brainstormed some of those.
Then I gave each child the chorus of the song in a poem and they had to choose which season was their favorite (it was hard for some of them because there are such good things in all the seasons!) and write the word in the blanks and make a picture of their favorite season inside the seasons border--They were illustrating the poem.
They did a fantastic job with these! (They will be sent home at the end of the year in their poetry books we've been working on).
We are going to continue talking about Spring this week with a Spring mini dictionary and then talking about the story When Will It Be Spring using a retelling cube. We tried out the retelling cubes last week and really liked them. This activity helps the children not only retell the stories, but also with their language and higher order thinking skills.
This Week's Centers:
ABC: Hatch-a-word. In this center the children are pairing up and reading eggs put together with different word families. For example, an egg might have "at" on it and then you turn the egg to make "Cat, Bat, Rat".
Math: Hatch-a-number. Similar to hatch-a-word. Eggs with the number families 1's-90's are in the bucket for the children to sit and read the numbers to each other.
Writing: Students complete the writing prompt "I wish I could grow". They copy this and then use inventive spelling to finish the sentence. I did not help the group today with any of their spelling and they all did a fantastic job! I'm going to try not to help the other two groups either
:-p
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Ms. O is back!
After a wonderful week learning at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), I am back with my wonderful children!
I came back to a huge sign that said "We Miss You Miss Overcash!" with all of their names on it.
I got a positive report from the sub and was really proud of them!
This week we have been learning about St. Patrick's Day. We learned who St. Patrick is and a little bit about the country of Ireland. We completed a vocabulary/handwriting exercise on Monday where we learned several new words associated with St. Paddy's Day like "Shamrock", "Ireland", and "Rainbow".
We also got to read some really cute St. Patrick's Day books: The Night Before St. Patrick's Day and Looking For Leprechauns. We learned about those sneaky guys, but we never did get to see one!
With our buddies yesterday we completed a St. Patrick's Day graph and answered questions about it as well as writing in our journals about what we would do if we found a pot of gold! The leprechauns are still making messes next door, but I'm glad they aren't coming to see us :)
This week we are also learning about spring. We have been practicing our seasons and I am very proud to report that almost everyone is able to tell them to me in order! That's first grade work!
This week's centers:
Games: The children are playing "War" to practice the card and number skills that they learned last week while I was gone.
Math: The children are completing a book of missing numbers. This helps them to practice counting as well as writing numbers!
Technology: The children are playing an "I Spy" Game on the smart board. This is similar to the "I Spy" books that we have and the children love getting to play it in an interactive way.
Listening: The children are listening to Leprechaun On The Loose and completing a Listening Center report where they write the title, draw a picture, and finish the sentence "My favorite part of the story was..."
I came back to a huge sign that said "We Miss You Miss Overcash!" with all of their names on it.
I got a positive report from the sub and was really proud of them!
This week we have been learning about St. Patrick's Day. We learned who St. Patrick is and a little bit about the country of Ireland. We completed a vocabulary/handwriting exercise on Monday where we learned several new words associated with St. Paddy's Day like "Shamrock", "Ireland", and "Rainbow".
We also got to read some really cute St. Patrick's Day books: The Night Before St. Patrick's Day and Looking For Leprechauns. We learned about those sneaky guys, but we never did get to see one!
With our buddies yesterday we completed a St. Patrick's Day graph and answered questions about it as well as writing in our journals about what we would do if we found a pot of gold! The leprechauns are still making messes next door, but I'm glad they aren't coming to see us :)
This week we are also learning about spring. We have been practicing our seasons and I am very proud to report that almost everyone is able to tell them to me in order! That's first grade work!
This week's centers:
Games: The children are playing "War" to practice the card and number skills that they learned last week while I was gone.
Math: The children are completing a book of missing numbers. This helps them to practice counting as well as writing numbers!
Technology: The children are playing an "I Spy" Game on the smart board. This is similar to the "I Spy" books that we have and the children love getting to play it in an interactive way.
Listening: The children are listening to Leprechaun On The Loose and completing a Listening Center report where they write the title, draw a picture, and finish the sentence "My favorite part of the story was..."
Friday, March 6, 2009
We <3 Dr. Seuss!
This week we have really enjoyed learning about Dr. Seuss! Today in our Let's Find Out we talked about different characteristics of Dr. Seuss's books and realized that they usually rhyme and very very often have made up creatures with crazy names! At the end the children got to design a Fizzle-Top Hop-A-Lop! They did a great job! These guys are so creative!
Speaking of creative... yesterday we read Dr. Seuss's book, I Wish That I Had Duck Feet. We enjoyed reading about the different animal parts that the boy wished he had like duck feet, a whale spout, a long long tale, and even a trunk! Then I gave the children a big piece of draw and write paper and had them write "I wish that I had" and then draw a picture of themselves with the one or two animal parts they would like to have. The pictures were fantastic! Some children picked things like tiger tails and trunks like in the book, while others picked their own like cat fur, tiger bodies, and bunny rabbit ears! After they had drawn, I helped the children sound out the rest of their sentence. The children used inventive spelling to spell what animal parts they wanted. This is great because it teaches the children to rely on the sounds that they hear in the words and helps them learn to spell on their own without me telling them the answers!
This morning we read Green Eggs and Ham together. We thought it was so silly and we practiced the rhyming words by me reading part of the sentence and the children finishing it. After recess, we made our own green eggs and ham for breakfast! First, the children had to put the recipe cards in order so that we could follow it. Next, we followed the recipe. Each child got to crack an egg, put in a teaspoon of milk, and stir up the eggs. Once they were cooked- each child got to have a plate mixed with ham! They were DELICIOUS!
Then we made a Dr. Seuss rhyming hat. The children followed an AB pattern to color the hat and then we practiced saying the different words in the 'at' family. These are in their folders so they can practice with you at home!
Our graph of the week this week answered the question "Which Cat in the Hat character is your favorite?". It was a tie between the Cat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. I, of course, picked The Fish because he tried to keep everyone out of trouble! The children, minus 1, all liked the Cat and Thing 1 and 2 because they made messes and did lots of crazy stuff. Go figure ;)
This afternoon at ice cream we'll be watching the animated Cat in the Hat video.
Dr. Seuss week was so much fun! I hope that the children enjoyed it as much as I did :) I hope that we'll be able to do more author studies like this so we can learn about all of the great books that are out there!
Green Eggs and Ham Recipe
Serves 12 (change measurements for as many as you choose to make!)
(Prep: soak ham cubes in green food coloring over night)
1. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl
2. Add 12 tablespoons of milk
3. Add 1 teaspoon of green food coloring
4. Mix with a large spoon
5. Scramble eggs in skillet
Serve with ham chunks
Speaking of creative... yesterday we read Dr. Seuss's book, I Wish That I Had Duck Feet. We enjoyed reading about the different animal parts that the boy wished he had like duck feet, a whale spout, a long long tale, and even a trunk! Then I gave the children a big piece of draw and write paper and had them write "I wish that I had" and then draw a picture of themselves with the one or two animal parts they would like to have. The pictures were fantastic! Some children picked things like tiger tails and trunks like in the book, while others picked their own like cat fur, tiger bodies, and bunny rabbit ears! After they had drawn, I helped the children sound out the rest of their sentence. The children used inventive spelling to spell what animal parts they wanted. This is great because it teaches the children to rely on the sounds that they hear in the words and helps them learn to spell on their own without me telling them the answers!
This morning we read Green Eggs and Ham together. We thought it was so silly and we practiced the rhyming words by me reading part of the sentence and the children finishing it. After recess, we made our own green eggs and ham for breakfast! First, the children had to put the recipe cards in order so that we could follow it. Next, we followed the recipe. Each child got to crack an egg, put in a teaspoon of milk, and stir up the eggs. Once they were cooked- each child got to have a plate mixed with ham! They were DELICIOUS!
Then we made a Dr. Seuss rhyming hat. The children followed an AB pattern to color the hat and then we practiced saying the different words in the 'at' family. These are in their folders so they can practice with you at home!
Our graph of the week this week answered the question "Which Cat in the Hat character is your favorite?". It was a tie between the Cat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. I, of course, picked The Fish because he tried to keep everyone out of trouble! The children, minus 1, all liked the Cat and Thing 1 and 2 because they made messes and did lots of crazy stuff. Go figure ;)
This afternoon at ice cream we'll be watching the animated Cat in the Hat video.
Dr. Seuss week was so much fun! I hope that the children enjoyed it as much as I did :) I hope that we'll be able to do more author studies like this so we can learn about all of the great books that are out there!
Green Eggs and Ham Recipe
Serves 12 (change measurements for as many as you choose to make!)
(Prep: soak ham cubes in green food coloring over night)
1. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl
2. Add 12 tablespoons of milk
3. Add 1 teaspoon of green food coloring
4. Mix with a large spoon
5. Scramble eggs in skillet
Serve with ham chunks
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Snow Day and Dr. Seuss
Welcome Back to school after an unexpected long weekend!
I hope everyone had a fantastic *SNOW* day! I went sledding with lots of kids from school and had a blast!
This morning after talking about our calendar, we all wanted to tell what we did yesterday in the snow! We had time to share and then we got out our journals! The children drew a picture of what they did in the snow and then copied "On the Snow Day I" and then I helped them finish their sentence. It sounds like everyone had a really fun time sledding, building snowmen, and just playing outside in general!
The bad thing about the snow day is that we missed Dr. Seuss's birthday. The good news is that we can still do fun Dr. Seuss stuff the rest of the week! Today we're reading The Cat in the Hat and talking about our favorite rainy day activities.
The rest of the week we'll be doing more fun Dr. Seuss activities...
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday & Fox in Socks
Today we will be having crazy sock day! Students can wear crazy socks to school and we will have a sock-feet day in class. We will read Wacky Wednesday on the smart board and find all of the wacky things that happened on this particular Wednesday!
Thursday: I Wish That I Had Duck Feet
We will read the story and make a picture of what kind of animal parts we would like to have. We will have a large group discussion about what problems these might cause!
Friday: Green Eggs and Ham
We will read the recipe for Green Eggs and Ham and actually make Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast!
This week's centers also focus on Dr. Seuss.
Art: Students will make a multi-media Cat in the Hat using pipe cleaners for whiskers. They also must make an AB pattern for the hat.
Technology: Students will play One Fish, Two Fish matching at http://www.seussville.com/games_hb/game_viewer.php .
Writing: Students have a handout with all capital letters. They must copy the capital letter and then write the lower case partner.
ABC: Students will be given letters of the alphabet on Cat In The Hat cards to alphabetize. Each person has their own letters to put in order. This helps students practice their alphabet and awareness of where each letter goes.
I hope everyone had a fantastic *SNOW* day! I went sledding with lots of kids from school and had a blast!
This morning after talking about our calendar, we all wanted to tell what we did yesterday in the snow! We had time to share and then we got out our journals! The children drew a picture of what they did in the snow and then copied "On the Snow Day I" and then I helped them finish their sentence. It sounds like everyone had a really fun time sledding, building snowmen, and just playing outside in general!
The bad thing about the snow day is that we missed Dr. Seuss's birthday. The good news is that we can still do fun Dr. Seuss stuff the rest of the week! Today we're reading The Cat in the Hat and talking about our favorite rainy day activities.
The rest of the week we'll be doing more fun Dr. Seuss activities...
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday & Fox in Socks
Today we will be having crazy sock day! Students can wear crazy socks to school and we will have a sock-feet day in class. We will read Wacky Wednesday on the smart board and find all of the wacky things that happened on this particular Wednesday!
Thursday: I Wish That I Had Duck Feet
We will read the story and make a picture of what kind of animal parts we would like to have. We will have a large group discussion about what problems these might cause!
Friday: Green Eggs and Ham
We will read the recipe for Green Eggs and Ham and actually make Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast!
This week's centers also focus on Dr. Seuss.
Art: Students will make a multi-media Cat in the Hat using pipe cleaners for whiskers. They also must make an AB pattern for the hat.
Technology: Students will play One Fish, Two Fish matching at http://www.seussville.com/games_hb/game_viewer.php .
Writing: Students have a handout with all capital letters. They must copy the capital letter and then write the lower case partner.
ABC: Students will be given letters of the alphabet on Cat In The Hat cards to alphabetize. Each person has their own letters to put in order. This helps students practice their alphabet and awareness of where each letter goes.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday!
This morning we had a wonderful treat at Community Dialogue! The 5th graders have been learning about landforms. One group came up with drama to go along with each land form and the other made up a song and dance. It was really great and funny too!
Then, as part of Black History Month, we learned a little bit about Jazz Music from Statesville's own Jim Calabrese. Jim is a Statesville legend in the music industry! He has performed in as well as conducted several bands including the SHS band in the 60's. He told us a lot about music and how important it is to us. He told us that it is as important as food! He also explained to us that music is anything pleasant to a person's ears, meaning that we can all enjoy different things! He told us about New Orleans and the jazz music that is played there. Along with Mrs. Rogers, he played several jazz songs for us on clarinet! It was absolutely wonderful! The kids knew some of the songs and were happy to clap and sing along.
We came back and had snack and then got to work! We read Moose's Loose Tooth and then did our graph of the week. Our graph of the week this week was "How many teeth have you lost?". 5 students have lost 0, 0 have lost 1, 2 have lost 2, and 2 have lost 3 or more. I told the students that we'll remember these numbers and graph it again when we're in First Grade to see how much it changes! I bet them that by then we'll have zero zeros!
This afternoon we'll have ice cream and enjoy The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss on DVD. This goes along with this week's unit of teeth and introduces us to next week's unit- Dr. Seuss!
Then, as part of Black History Month, we learned a little bit about Jazz Music from Statesville's own Jim Calabrese. Jim is a Statesville legend in the music industry! He has performed in as well as conducted several bands including the SHS band in the 60's. He told us a lot about music and how important it is to us. He told us that it is as important as food! He also explained to us that music is anything pleasant to a person's ears, meaning that we can all enjoy different things! He told us about New Orleans and the jazz music that is played there. Along with Mrs. Rogers, he played several jazz songs for us on clarinet! It was absolutely wonderful! The kids knew some of the songs and were happy to clap and sing along.
We came back and had snack and then got to work! We read Moose's Loose Tooth and then did our graph of the week. Our graph of the week this week was "How many teeth have you lost?". 5 students have lost 0, 0 have lost 1, 2 have lost 2, and 2 have lost 3 or more. I told the students that we'll remember these numbers and graph it again when we're in First Grade to see how much it changes! I bet them that by then we'll have zero zeros!
This afternoon we'll have ice cream and enjoy The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss on DVD. This goes along with this week's unit of teeth and introduces us to next week's unit- Dr. Seuss!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
TEETH!
This week we've been learning about our teeth. On Monday, we read some sections of The Tooth Book that told us all about teeth. We learned that animals have teeth; some have very strange teeth! We also learned that babies teeth begin growing as soon as they are born :)
We sang "This is the way we brush our teeth " and learned that we should brush our teeth twice a day, once after breakfast and once before bed.
On Thursday, we read another section that told us about healthy things to do for our teeth. We learned what kinds of snacks are healthy and that we shouldn't snack too often. We did a graphic organizer on the Smart Board where each child got to come up and pick a healthy snack for our teeth. Even though a few wanted to put soda on, we all knew that it was not a healthy choice for strong teeth! We learned that teeth need lots of vitamins and minerals to be strong.
Today we watched a video, Tooth Kingdom from http://www.colgate.com/. In the video, the children learn how to fight plaque to have healthy teeth! Then we each wrote "I take care of my teeth by _____." in our journals and drew a picture of something that we did. After drawing, I helped the children fill in their blank. They had great ideas : brushing, flossing, and going to the dentist!
Throughout the week we've been reading the chapter book Pearl Versus The Tooth Fairy. In the story Pearl wants to keep her tooth instead of giving it to the Tooth Fairy, but the Tooth Fairy insists on having it! They go back and forth, but in the end they agree. It was great predicting each day what would happen next and trying to guess if Pearl would give up her tooth or not!
Most everyone decided that they would give the Tooth Fairy their tooth in exchange for a treat!
We sang "This is the way we brush our teeth " and learned that we should brush our teeth twice a day, once after breakfast and once before bed.
On Thursday, we read another section that told us about healthy things to do for our teeth. We learned what kinds of snacks are healthy and that we shouldn't snack too often. We did a graphic organizer on the Smart Board where each child got to come up and pick a healthy snack for our teeth. Even though a few wanted to put soda on, we all knew that it was not a healthy choice for strong teeth! We learned that teeth need lots of vitamins and minerals to be strong.
Today we watched a video, Tooth Kingdom from http://www.colgate.com/. In the video, the children learn how to fight plaque to have healthy teeth! Then we each wrote "I take care of my teeth by _____." in our journals and drew a picture of something that we did. After drawing, I helped the children fill in their blank. They had great ideas : brushing, flossing, and going to the dentist!
Throughout the week we've been reading the chapter book Pearl Versus The Tooth Fairy. In the story Pearl wants to keep her tooth instead of giving it to the Tooth Fairy, but the Tooth Fairy insists on having it! They go back and forth, but in the end they agree. It was great predicting each day what would happen next and trying to guess if Pearl would give up her tooth or not!
Most everyone decided that they would give the Tooth Fairy their tooth in exchange for a treat!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Lerning LOTS in Kindergarten
Today seems like it has flown by in a matter of minutes! We had so many things to do that there didn't seem to be enough time in the day!
Mrs. Mangum is driving the bus for the 2nd grade swimming lessons this week, so instead of missing Science, I decided to continue with what she has been teaching... clouds.
We read the book Cloud Dance by Thomas Locker. This book is a very poetic story about different kinds of clouds. It explains different weather clouds, different seasonal clouds, and even different colored clouds! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and we were able to recall the different kinds of clouds and when we have seen them in our own lives. The children are doing a great job remembering which clouds are dry clouds and which ones bring snow and rain. After reading, we took a trip outside to do some observation. I explained to the children that science is a lot about observation and that observation is going out and seeing things. We spent a few minutes talking about what kinds of clouds we saw and then the children got to work drawing them. When we were finished observing, we came back in and looked at the different clouds in the book to figure out which ones we saw outside. Then the children copied "Today I saw Stratus and Cirrus Clouds. These clouds are flat and wispy" onto their papers.
This was a fun way for us to integrate Science, Art, and handwriting all in one!
Today with our big buddies, we learned about our school's new sister school, the Sayulita School in Mexico. http://www.prosayulita.org/projects.aspx?status=new.
We looked at a power point that Dr. Frey sent us showing what Mexico and the school look like. We discussed how the school looks similar to ours and how it looks different. We also talked about the different things that we have in our school like smart boards, TV's, and computers and the fact that they don't have walls or air condition! The big buddies and little buddies worked together to put together a letter and picture of us and the things we do at school to send to the Sayulita School when Dr. Frey goes to visit later on in March. Each big buddy wrote the letter and the little buddies and big buddies worked together on the pictures. They did an awesome job! These will serve as our introduction to the students at the school.
After lunch, we had the opportunity to go visit the Science Fair at the church. The 3-5 grade students have been working very hard on Science projects over the past few weeks and this was a great opportunity for them to showcase this hard work! The students LOVED the dioramas of the solar system, electricity projects, and volcanoes! It seemed like we were in a museum! The children did an excellent job and I think it was great for our students to get to see the hard work that our older children have done and also to get to see how cool the projects turn out!
We did a lot of fun things today! I really do love when learning can be so fun :)
Mrs. Mangum is driving the bus for the 2nd grade swimming lessons this week, so instead of missing Science, I decided to continue with what she has been teaching... clouds.
We read the book Cloud Dance by Thomas Locker. This book is a very poetic story about different kinds of clouds. It explains different weather clouds, different seasonal clouds, and even different colored clouds! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and we were able to recall the different kinds of clouds and when we have seen them in our own lives. The children are doing a great job remembering which clouds are dry clouds and which ones bring snow and rain. After reading, we took a trip outside to do some observation. I explained to the children that science is a lot about observation and that observation is going out and seeing things. We spent a few minutes talking about what kinds of clouds we saw and then the children got to work drawing them. When we were finished observing, we came back in and looked at the different clouds in the book to figure out which ones we saw outside. Then the children copied "Today I saw Stratus and Cirrus Clouds. These clouds are flat and wispy" onto their papers.
This was a fun way for us to integrate Science, Art, and handwriting all in one!
Today with our big buddies, we learned about our school's new sister school, the Sayulita School in Mexico. http://www.prosayulita.org/projects.aspx?status=new.
We looked at a power point that Dr. Frey sent us showing what Mexico and the school look like. We discussed how the school looks similar to ours and how it looks different. We also talked about the different things that we have in our school like smart boards, TV's, and computers and the fact that they don't have walls or air condition! The big buddies and little buddies worked together to put together a letter and picture of us and the things we do at school to send to the Sayulita School when Dr. Frey goes to visit later on in March. Each big buddy wrote the letter and the little buddies and big buddies worked together on the pictures. They did an awesome job! These will serve as our introduction to the students at the school.
After lunch, we had the opportunity to go visit the Science Fair at the church. The 3-5 grade students have been working very hard on Science projects over the past few weeks and this was a great opportunity for them to showcase this hard work! The students LOVED the dioramas of the solar system, electricity projects, and volcanoes! It seemed like we were in a museum! The children did an excellent job and I think it was great for our students to get to see the hard work that our older children have done and also to get to see how cool the projects turn out!
We did a lot of fun things today! I really do love when learning can be so fun :)
Monday, February 23, 2009
Attack of the Germs!!
Apparently the germs are taking over our school! Last week we had students out of our classroom every day because they were sick. One day we had 7 students out, leaving us with only 5 in class. That has to be a record low! It seems like everyone is not quite all better yet, but we have more children today and I'm glad to see some sick friends back with us. I've been Clorox wiping and Lysol-ing EVERYTHING to try and get rid of these germs! I hope everyone gets feeling better and can be back with us later on in the week :)
This week we are studying about our teeth. February is Dental Health month. We will be learning about how to brush and take care of our teeth and also reading some funny tooth stories from Tooth Tales From Around the World.
This Week's Centers:
Technology: Students can learn about going to the dentist at http://www.ada.org/public/games/marty.asp. Students use the smart board to navigate through this tooth adventure!
Art: Draw a picture of the tooth fairy. This allows students to have a little creative and imagination time!
Alphabet: Fishing for Letters. Students take turns fishing out letters to make 3 letter words. After they fish out the letters, they write the words in their journals and sound them out. This activity reinforces handwriting as well as letter sounds.
Listening: At listening this week students are playing a rhyming game on CD. It is a bingo game where the CD calls out a word and the students look on their cards to see if they have a word that rhymes. This is reinforcement to go along with what we have been doing in phonics.
This week we are studying about our teeth. February is Dental Health month. We will be learning about how to brush and take care of our teeth and also reading some funny tooth stories from Tooth Tales From Around the World.
This Week's Centers:
Technology: Students can learn about going to the dentist at http://www.ada.org/public/games/marty.asp. Students use the smart board to navigate through this tooth adventure!
Art: Draw a picture of the tooth fairy. This allows students to have a little creative and imagination time!
Alphabet: Fishing for Letters. Students take turns fishing out letters to make 3 letter words. After they fish out the letters, they write the words in their journals and sound them out. This activity reinforces handwriting as well as letter sounds.
Listening: At listening this week students are playing a rhyming game on CD. It is a bingo game where the CD calls out a word and the students look on their cards to see if they have a word that rhymes. This is reinforcement to go along with what we have been doing in phonics.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Rhyme Time!
Over the weekend, I sent home the Rhyme Time bag with the first student. This is a fun way for us to practice rhyming at home and at school. Students are asked to find something to put into the bag and then fill out the poem with something that rhymes so that we can guess the item using other rhyming words. An example of this would be putting a car in the bag and finishing the rhyme with the word star. This gives the students practice at home by having them think up a word that rhymes with their object and then gives our class the opportunity to explore rhyming when we try to guess words that rhyme :)
Each student will get a chance to bring home the rhyme time bag, pick an object to go in it, and bring it back to school the next day.
I can't wait to see what fun things the kids come up with!!!
Each student will get a chance to bring home the rhyme time bag, pick an object to go in it, and bring it back to school the next day.
I can't wait to see what fun things the kids come up with!!!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
This Week's Centers:
Math: This week at Math Center students are practicing measuring using inchworms. They have a sheet that has places for four items and then they are to measure them with inchworms, record the number, and draw a picture. The children are measuring a packaged band-aid, a Froggy Book, Crayons, and a dry-erase marker. This is great practice for non-standard measurement and a follow up to the Saxon Math Lesson we did today that focused on measuring using linking cubes.
Writing: This week's Writing Center is something I like to call "sight word detectives". I have placed a newspaper cut-out in each student's journal. Using the "Words We Know" Chart, students have to highlight any sight words and then write them at the bottom. This activity helps students to be able to recognize words outside of isolation. The students have to be sharp to find the sight words mixed in with all the other words!
Games: At Games Center students are playing Trouble. This game helps students practice counting and taking turns. Playing any game is a great way for students to learn how to work together and solve problems!
Technology: This week at Technology Center I am introducing students to typing. One on one students are sitting down with me to type a story. I am introducing functions like "shift" to capitalize and how to use the space bar to make spaces. I am also showing students where to find letters and punctuation. After writing 2-3 sentences, the students will get to test out the different font styles and colors. Then I will show them how to print and after printing they will illustrate their story. This is great practice for spelling since I am only helping them sound out and spell sounds we don't know yet as well as good practice in learning their way around the computer!
Math: This week at Math Center students are practicing measuring using inchworms. They have a sheet that has places for four items and then they are to measure them with inchworms, record the number, and draw a picture. The children are measuring a packaged band-aid, a Froggy Book, Crayons, and a dry-erase marker. This is great practice for non-standard measurement and a follow up to the Saxon Math Lesson we did today that focused on measuring using linking cubes.
Writing: This week's Writing Center is something I like to call "sight word detectives". I have placed a newspaper cut-out in each student's journal. Using the "Words We Know" Chart, students have to highlight any sight words and then write them at the bottom. This activity helps students to be able to recognize words outside of isolation. The students have to be sharp to find the sight words mixed in with all the other words!
Games: At Games Center students are playing Trouble. This game helps students practice counting and taking turns. Playing any game is a great way for students to learn how to work together and solve problems!
Technology: This week at Technology Center I am introducing students to typing. One on one students are sitting down with me to type a story. I am introducing functions like "shift" to capitalize and how to use the space bar to make spaces. I am also showing students where to find letters and punctuation. After writing 2-3 sentences, the students will get to test out the different font styles and colors. Then I will show them how to print and after printing they will illustrate their story. This is great practice for spelling since I am only helping them sound out and spell sounds we don't know yet as well as good practice in learning their way around the computer!
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day was excellent in our Kindergarten class!
Even though we were having a dance in the afternoon, there was still work to do in the morning!
First we had Show-and-tell where we got to each share something that we love. Students brought in favorite stuffed animals, pictures of family, and favorite toys. Students who didn't bring in something were able to share something that they loved.
Then we worked on our Let's Find Out for this week. It was about what animals might say on Valentine's Day. It was silly, but it was cute. For example, a bunny might say "Hoppy Valentine's Day!" Then it showed us how to say "I love you" two different ways in sign language! Ask your children if they can show you at home :)
After this we did our graph of the week. This week's graph was "Do you like Summer, Fall, or Winter best?" I bet you can't guess which one almost all of the children picked.... SUMMER! We discussed each season and the different characteristics of each one and then each child had the chance to come and put their person on the graph and tell what they enjoy about the season that they chose. The season that got the most, Summer, had 10 children choose it. The season that got the least, Fall, had zero children choose it. Winter was in the middle with 1 child and Ms. O choosing it. I guess these guys are looking forward to Summer time!!
Then we had the Valentine's Dance. It was absolutely AMAZING! Everyone had the chance to wear their party clothes to school and they looked picture perfect! We headed over to First ARP where the parents did a fantastic job decorating the church- it looked like the prom! There were also very yummy snacks! The DJ knew exactly what the children wanted to hear! The children danced and danced to Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers! They can really move :) I could tell that everyone had a really fantastic time. Thanks to all of the parents that made this awesome event possible!
Even though we were having a dance in the afternoon, there was still work to do in the morning!
First we had Show-and-tell where we got to each share something that we love. Students brought in favorite stuffed animals, pictures of family, and favorite toys. Students who didn't bring in something were able to share something that they loved.
Then we worked on our Let's Find Out for this week. It was about what animals might say on Valentine's Day. It was silly, but it was cute. For example, a bunny might say "Hoppy Valentine's Day!" Then it showed us how to say "I love you" two different ways in sign language! Ask your children if they can show you at home :)
After this we did our graph of the week. This week's graph was "Do you like Summer, Fall, or Winter best?" I bet you can't guess which one almost all of the children picked.... SUMMER! We discussed each season and the different characteristics of each one and then each child had the chance to come and put their person on the graph and tell what they enjoy about the season that they chose. The season that got the most, Summer, had 10 children choose it. The season that got the least, Fall, had zero children choose it. Winter was in the middle with 1 child and Ms. O choosing it. I guess these guys are looking forward to Summer time!!
Then we had the Valentine's Dance. It was absolutely AMAZING! Everyone had the chance to wear their party clothes to school and they looked picture perfect! We headed over to First ARP where the parents did a fantastic job decorating the church- it looked like the prom! There were also very yummy snacks! The DJ knew exactly what the children wanted to hear! The children danced and danced to Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers! They can really move :) I could tell that everyone had a really fantastic time. Thanks to all of the parents that made this awesome event possible!
Monday, February 9, 2009
This week we are learning about Valentine's Day. We all know that people like to make cards for each other and wear red and pink, but we're going to learn the history behind this day and how it originated.
I introduced the children to the original Alvin and the Chipmunks show last week when we couldn't go outside . They LOVED them! I loved the show as a kid so I wanted to share it with them and it was a hit! They couldn't stop laughing. We have two Valentine's episodes to enjoy later on this week :)
This Week's Centers:
MATH: Students have to look at hearts with different objects on either side, choose which side has the most, and color it red. This is great counting practice as well as identifying which set is larger or smaller.
WRITING: This week's writing prompt is "I wish I could become...". The children have to think about what they would like to become, draw a picture of it, copy the prompt and then I help them finish it and write one more sentence. Since we are still working on letter sounds, I am giving the children the sounds for the letters or telling them how to spell. Once we have all the sounds down, they will start using inventive spelling to spell on their own.
TECHNOLOGY: The students are using the smart board to go on to http://www.starfall.com/ and do some of the sentence and reading games. They start with a Valentine's game that lets them make Valentine sentences as if they were making a Valentine for someone and then they can choose to do some of the other reading games. This website is great for learning to read and I love how it is interactive and will read the words to the children if they can't read them themselves! The sentences or words often have silly pictures/actions that go along with them.
ART: The children are learning about making new colors. They have two hearts to color and then they mix them in the third heart. This is great reading and writing practice because they have to use the color wall to find which colors to mix and then they have to write the color that they have made.
I introduced the children to the original Alvin and the Chipmunks show last week when we couldn't go outside . They LOVED them! I loved the show as a kid so I wanted to share it with them and it was a hit! They couldn't stop laughing. We have two Valentine's episodes to enjoy later on this week :)
This Week's Centers:
MATH: Students have to look at hearts with different objects on either side, choose which side has the most, and color it red. This is great counting practice as well as identifying which set is larger or smaller.
WRITING: This week's writing prompt is "I wish I could become...". The children have to think about what they would like to become, draw a picture of it, copy the prompt and then I help them finish it and write one more sentence. Since we are still working on letter sounds, I am giving the children the sounds for the letters or telling them how to spell. Once we have all the sounds down, they will start using inventive spelling to spell on their own.
TECHNOLOGY: The students are using the smart board to go on to http://www.starfall.com/ and do some of the sentence and reading games. They start with a Valentine's game that lets them make Valentine sentences as if they were making a Valentine for someone and then they can choose to do some of the other reading games. This website is great for learning to read and I love how it is interactive and will read the words to the children if they can't read them themselves! The sentences or words often have silly pictures/actions that go along with them.
ART: The children are learning about making new colors. They have two hearts to color and then they mix them in the third heart. This is great reading and writing practice because they have to use the color wall to find which colors to mix and then they have to write the color that they have made.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Favorite things to do in the snow!
After our pretty snow on Wednesday, we did a graph today of our favorite things to do in the snow.
Before we made our graph, we talked about what season we are in right now and the things that we can do that are specific to Winter. The children brainstormed a list including things like drinking hot chocolate, sledding, ice skating, and making snowmen. One silly girl decided to say that we could go swimming and then immediately said "I said that on purpose, that is summer!". It was great to see that they are beginning to develop an understanding of the different seasons that we have.
After making our list, students got to choose between making snowballs, ice skating, sledding, and building a snowman for our graph. After each child came and put up a person for their choice, we discussed the most (ice skating) and the least (making snowballs). The children did a great job making and reading the graph!
We are going to begin doing a graph every week in Kindergarten. I got the idea from www.kellyskindergarten.com and I think it is fantastic! Each week we will have a topic ranging from seasonal questions like "which Easter egg is the prettiest" to choice questions like "which book is your favorite".
Our school has been focusing on improving math skills this year and by having a weekly graph, we can tie in math practice with a fun activity that the children love to do! They make graphs almost into a contest of whose choice wins!
These graphs help us to practice organizing and understanding data and also ties in with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study:
Objective 4.01 Collect and organize data as a group activity.
Objective 4.02 Display and describe data with concrete and pictorial graphs as a group activity.
I'm looking forward to implementing this fun strategy in our classroom while learning more about the children's likes and dislikes at the same time!
Before we made our graph, we talked about what season we are in right now and the things that we can do that are specific to Winter. The children brainstormed a list including things like drinking hot chocolate, sledding, ice skating, and making snowmen. One silly girl decided to say that we could go swimming and then immediately said "I said that on purpose, that is summer!". It was great to see that they are beginning to develop an understanding of the different seasons that we have.
After making our list, students got to choose between making snowballs, ice skating, sledding, and building a snowman for our graph. After each child came and put up a person for their choice, we discussed the most (ice skating) and the least (making snowballs). The children did a great job making and reading the graph!
We are going to begin doing a graph every week in Kindergarten. I got the idea from www.kellyskindergarten.com and I think it is fantastic! Each week we will have a topic ranging from seasonal questions like "which Easter egg is the prettiest" to choice questions like "which book is your favorite".
Our school has been focusing on improving math skills this year and by having a weekly graph, we can tie in math practice with a fun activity that the children love to do! They make graphs almost into a contest of whose choice wins!
These graphs help us to practice organizing and understanding data and also ties in with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study:
Objective 4.01 Collect and organize data as a group activity.
Objective 4.02 Display and describe data with concrete and pictorial graphs as a group activity.
I'm looking forward to implementing this fun strategy in our classroom while learning more about the children's likes and dislikes at the same time!
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