Thursday, August 30, 2007

What I did to get ready for Kindergarten...

We started our day with Attendance and a trip to find out where the office is. When we came back to class we worked on the daily calendar routine and practiced our Days of the Week song (sung to the tune of The Addams Family). We read Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten and created our own artwork of what we did to get ready to Kindergarten. These illustrations will be bound into a book and it will be our first Class Book that students will have a chance to bring home.

We talked about birthdays and filled in our Birthday Balloon Chart with everyone's birthdays.

After recess we learned the rules for using the Trikes (tricycle/bikes) out on the playground. Afterwards we had a short resting time while listening to Owl Babies.

Finally, students were given an opportunity to write down all of the letters, numbers, and words that they knew. This was an eye-opening assessment that has given me a better idea of where students are at and we will begin to do more 1-on-1 assessments in the upcoming weeks.

Thursday folders were sent home with students. Please remember to send this folder back with your student tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

"Bubble Bubble, Toot Toot. Chicken, Airplane, Soldier"

Today was a longer day, which was an adjustment for many of the students. First thing this morning, we opened up the Mystery Box and found that there were personal pencils for each student to take home. We read aloud the story Owen and students were given individual blanket pieces, just like the character in the story.

We joined Ms. Stryker and her class on the playground to get introduced to the structure and rules for the yard. Children practiced sliding down one at a time, with their bottoms on the slide, and feet going down first. We also practiced taking turns at the drinking fountains and also were given a tour of the bathroom. Students learned that they should:
1. Go into the bathroom
2. Shut the door behind them
3. Use the toilet
4. Flush the toilet
5. Wash and dry their hands
6. Quietly walk back to class

The majority of the morning was spent on the story Froggy Goes To School. We began by reading the story aloud, then completing an art project -- coloring, cutting, and pasting together a Froggy puppet. After these were completed, students returned to the rug where we did an interactive activity and reread the story.

Together, we had a class discussion about class expectations and rules. As a class, we've come up with the following rules. Please help to encourage your students to practice these type of behaviors, as it will help our class run more smoothly and be a safe learning environment for all students. Here is the list we've created:
1. Help Each Other
2. Be Quiet When Others are Talking
3. Sit Down with your Legs Crossed
4. Take Turns
5. Play Nicely Together
6. Raise Hand and Wait to Be Called On
7. No Pushing/Hitting

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

1st Day of School

At 8:15am this morning our year officially began. Although there were some tears, most were excited and ready to start Kindergarten in Room 4.

Parents helped their students find name tags and take a seat on the rug. We started the day with Calendar then got our energy out by dancing to "The Freeze". Students passed around the Mystery Box and took guesses as to what is inside. Ideas included: toys, chocolate, pencils, scissors, and a puzzle. Then we read The Kissing Hand and students who sat quietly through the story (everyone) got a stamp of a heart on their hand to remind them of the story.

Children then created self portraits using crayons and wrote their names on these with a pencil. We took a short walk to the bathrooms, so students would know where they were (in case the need arose). At 9:30 we headed out to the Yard where we met back up with parents and enjoyed some popsicles courtesy of the PTA.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Ready for the 1st Day!




Over the last week, Room 4 has been transformed from an empty room to a Kindergarten Classroom. The only thing missing is 20 children to fill the colorful carpet dots.



I'm very anxious and excited to start the 2007-2008 school year, and am hopeful that our class will have 180 fun, productive, and enriching days.

-Miss Wagenaar