Saturday, April 25, 2009

Kinder News 2.31

WEEKLY HAPPENINGS
Literacy Centers:
-Starfall Dictionaries: Students added more words into their Starfall dictionaries, using vocab cards with pictures
-"What Is In This Egg" Mrs. Harris Book
-Sight Word Tales (Private and Partner Reading)
-Energenius Calendar Coloring
Writers Workshop: We wrote about our Spring Breaks and all of the fun adventures. On Earth Day we also wrote about what we could do to help the Earth be a better place.
Math: Students are beginning addition in Mrs. Chiappe's room.
Social Studies: We talked about Earth Day and the things that we can do to help the Earth. We read the Energenius calendar and Little Book and discussed options such as turning off lights and the tv.
Science: We discussed the seasons, and how they affect what a tree looks like. We drew a tree in each of the four seasons. Winter (bare) Spring (blossoms) Summer (leaves and small apples) Fall (leaves falling and apples)
Cooking: In honor of Earth Day we recycled crayons. We peeled, broke, and filled molds with old crayons. We put them in the oven at 250 for about 10 minutes and let them cool. Students loved to see their new crayons and some even experimented, using them to draw during Friday Funday. (This is a fun and easy activity to do at home, and a fun use of old crayons)
PE: Inspired by Earth Day, we played a game called "Cleaning up the Yard". This game puts two teams on opposite sides of the grass with fluffballs scattered throughout. The object of the game is to "clean the yard" by throwing any fluffball onto the opposite team's side. This is a fun filled game where the students are able to work on the skill of throwing.
Music: We practiced songs like "Each of us is a Flower", "The Worm Song" and "Mr. Sun" and learned the words and sign language for "This Land is Your Land".

NOTES AND REMINDERS
Hot Weather Reminders: Please remember to put sunscreen on your child before sending them to school, the Kindergarten yard has shady spots but for the most part is covered in sun on warm days like we had this week. It also is a good idea to send a hat in their backpack that they may choose to wear at recess and lunch. If you choose to send a water bottle, they may keep that in their backpack as well for access at recess and lunch.
Parent Volunteers: This week STAR testing begins in the Upper Grades and in an effort to create a more conducive testing atmosphere, parent volunteers are not allowed on campus for the duration of testing. So take the week off ;)

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Kinder News 2.30

WEEKLY HAPPENINGS
Literacy Centers:
-Sound Boxes: children move around cards to build three-letter words
-Made _an word family Fan
-Mrs. Harris book about morning activities on the farm
-Penmanship
Writers Workshop: We focused on the parts of stories (beginning, middle, end). Students switched from using packets, to including all of these parts on a single sheet.
Math: Students continued to examine and build 3D shapes.
Social Studies: We completed our student of the California Symbols.
Science: We discussed the seasons, and particular attributes of Spring (things are blooming, baby animals are being born, and weather changes). The students learned the phrase "April Showers bring May Flowers" and completed a writing and illustrating activity surrounding it.
Cooking: We colored eggs! Students used crayons and dye to create beautiful masterpieces. Some chose to bring their eggs home, while others enjoyed peeling and eating them at our Rabbit Party.
Healthy Play: We learned a new game called "Cookie Monster" where children are broken up into groups, name their group after their favorite cookies, then are chosen one cookie at a time to tag the rest of the children and bring them into the "cookie jar". Ask your child what type of cooking they were, we had some interesting groups (most notably the peanut butter blueberries).
1st Grade Concert: We had the opportunity to enjoy the concert put on by the first grade classes, which centered around life skills.
Music: We have restarted music with Miss Casellini's class. We are learning several songs about spring and the farm.
Spring Fling: Students from all classes, and a strong outpouring of parental help, enjoyed the annual Spring Fling. We toss out (paper) eggs that contain words. The job of the children is to pick up an egg, bring it to an adult, and read it. Once they do, they are handsomely rewarded with a jellybean. Students continued to collect and read eggs until all the jellybeans had been awarded.
Rabbits: This week had a bit of a rabbit theme. Early in the week, we created paper rabbits to decorate our classroom. Friday we had our Rabbit Party. Students enjoyed foods including sunflower seeds, carrots, celery, apples, strawberries, carrot cake muffins, and juice. Our buddies helped us make our bunny-ear hats and Miss Tabitha and myself used lipstick and eyeliner to finish off the bunny look with noses and whiskers.
Citizenship Gathering: Allie was the proud recipient of this month's Citizenship Award. Since joining our class a few short months ago, she has really jumped in and become an integral part of our classroom community. Congratulations Allie!


NOTES AND REMINDERS
Snacks: Our snack supply is finally dwindling down. If you are shopping during Spring Break, consider picking up a healthy snack for our class. (cereal, pretzels, granola bars, fruit, cheese, goldfish, snack mix, etc)
GIGANTIC THANK YOU: To all the parents who stepped up to donate, volunteer, or photograph our events on Friday. It's such a pleasure to have such an active parental community.

IMPORTANT DATES
April 13-17 NO SCHOOL Spring Break :)

Friday, April 3, 2009

Kinder News 2.29

WEEKLY HAPPENINGS
Literacy: Children learned how to play Word Family Bingo with words from the _at and _an family.
Penmanship: We practiced writing letters that begin with a downward stroke (T, I, L) and also practiced writing capital letters of the entire alphabet. We are going to focus on letter formation and neatness.
Writers Workshop: We focused on the parts of stories (beginning, middle, end). Students used packets with three sheets of paper and used one for each part of the story. This helped them to make sure they were stretching their story and adding plenty of details.
Math: Mrs. Chiappe is working with students to identify 3D shapes.
Social Studies: We shifted our focus to California State Symbols, rather than National Symbols. We also continued to talk about dental health, creating a toothbrush and learning good behaviors for brushing.
Tooth Fairy: We had a visit from the tooth fairy. She talked to all Kindergarten classes about foods that are good choices, how to brush your teeth, and confronted some myths about the tooth fairy.
Cooking: Wrapping up the dental health unit, we created "smiles" today in cooking. This was done using sliced apples, peanut butter, and marshmallows. The marshmallows served as the "teeth", the peanut butter were the "gums" and the apple slices were the "lips". The children had fun creating them, and even more fun eating them.

NOTES AND REMINDERS
Wishlist: Thank you for your generous contribution of gluesticks.
Snacks: Our snack supply is finally dwindling down. We are set for next week, but if you are shopping during Spring Break, consider picking up a healthy snack for our class. (cereal, pretzels, granola bars, fruit, cheese, goldfish, snack mix, etc)

IMPORTANT DATES
April 13-17 NO SCHOOL Spring Break :)