Your child is coming home with a heavy backpack today! I sent home all the supplies from their cubbies and let each child choose 2 books from my bookshelf to keep. They are super excited about the books! We tried to do a cutting a gluing project on the life cycle of the butterfly but in the middle of it, I realized that they had their scissors in their backpacks so I modified the project a bit. Tomorrow when you are here for the program, don't forget to pick up your child's last art project which is hanging in the hall. It is your child dressed as a graduate. Each child autographed everyone's picture and I laminated it so it could be a keepsake. Thanks for sharing your precious child with me this year. Have a great summer!

We rehearsed our performance in front of the 1st and 2nd graders this morning. We had difficulty with the sound system so students could not hear the music, but they still did a nice job. It was a teachable moment, proving the importance of rehearsal to the students. Several students volunteered to read aloud to the class today so I don't think I actually read a book. Some 4th graders did bicycle safety reports and presented them to our class in the afternoon. See if your child can remember any of the tips they learned.

We had a great outing with our big buddies today at Rose Park. We ate a picnic lunch on the grass and then played, played, played! Students had PE afterward, so your child is bound to be worn out tonight. We lucked out with perfect weather!

This morning we went to Mrs. Paulson's room to watch her first graders perform Frog and Toad plays. They were funny and I think the kindergartners enjoyed themselves and will look forward to doing the same thing next year. I think the only halfway "normal" part of our day was center time. After school today, Mrs. Manfredi and I chose a day for our classes to go on a picnic together, so on Tuesday the kindergartners will go with their big buddies to Rose Park for a picnic and some play time. I'll send home a reminder tomorrow. Tomorrow is Ava's birthday! It's supposed to be pretty cool tomorrow so please send jackets!

Your kids are awesome at sign language and I can't wait for you to see them perform on June 1st at 11am! I did a second assessment of the whole class on their ability to create larger shapes using pattern blocks. Most were successful. We read a book about a bear pressing his ear to the wall to listen for a sound. I told the class that you could use a drinking glass pressed to the wall and now they all want to spy on you, so this is a heads-up! As I'm working on report cards, gathering all the notes of observations I've made of these guys all year, I reflect on how fast this year has gone by. I can't believe the year is almost over and they will be big first graders in just a few months! They sure grow up fast, which I'm keenly aware of now that my BABY is going off to college. I'm keeping is short and sweet tonight because I have to events to attend. See you tomorrow.

Students finally got to present their animal puppet shows today, with the help of their big buddies. The big buddies also recited their favorite poems to us. Those kindergartners who presented today took home their scenery and sock puppet. I had a 5th grader video the whole thing and it's on my school laptop. I'll try to upload the video for you.

Since this is Ava's VIP week, she brought some beautiful and delicious cupcakes to share with the class. Pete the Cat has a new book that just came out, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, so I borrowed it from the library. It was perfect timing since I wanted to review subtraction and that's exactly what the book is all about. Of course it also has a catchy song that goes along with it that we just had to sing. If you go to harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/ you can listen to the song. We also brainstormed words with the _ug chunk and then students highlighted those words in their Bugs! book. In social studies, we talked about leaders and what it takes to be President of the United States. Boy, did I hear some political views! I also read a book about Barack Obama and his family. Students also used a secret ballot to write down the names of two students in our class that they think show leadership skills. The four students with the most votes (and my agreement) will have a special lunch with me on Friday. I didn't tell them about the lunch so they wouldn't just vote for themselves, but I will reveal the results tomorrow.

Our day started our dark and quiet. The power had gone out in the building just before 8am this morning so students worked by natural light. It was amazingly quiet while they worked (maybe I'll leave the lights off more often). The power came back on around 9am. We learned some consonant blends today (fr as in frog, sl as in slurp). Our math review included making predictions, counting coins, and filling in missing numbers between 30 and 50. Students worked with their big buddies to complete the scenery and sock puppet for their animal presentation. The plan is to put on the plays next Tuesday. We will not have space to accommodate visitors, but I will video the whole thing and send you a link. I also wanted to encourage you to check out the lost and found table outside the library. The piles of clothing are substantial. Everything that's still unclaimed by the end of the year will be donated.

I think the students were as happy to see me as I was to see them! Our day definitely had less structure than usual today. I pulled out a reader's theater script and students took turns reading the three parts. They also worked a little more on scripts for their puppet shows and some more groups performed today. It was so hot at recess that I really tried to have us stay inside to watch a movie, but the majority of the class voted to go out.

We practiced coin recognition today. Students worked in pairs to play a coin exchange game. They took turns rolling a die and then putting that many pennies onto a mat. When they had 5 pennies they could trade them for a nickel. When they got 2 nickels they could trade for a dime. You get the idea. The first child to get a quarter was the winner. My husband visited at story time to share the children's book he's written. Half of the pictures are still black and white as the illustrator is still working on them, but they were able to get the gist of it. Students worked with their big buddies to finish their scenery and begin making their sock puppets. I don't think we'll wait until next Thursday to start putting on the puppet shows--we need to get the show on the road! Thanks for the donation of socks. We have exactly what we need!

We got a little number writing practice with another math game. Students worked in pairs to take turns rolling a die and then tracing the number that turned up. The person to fill their sheet first won the game. In the afternoon, some pairs of students put on their puppet "shows." I video taped them and showed them how they appeared to the audience in hopes that they would be able to identify parts they needed to refine, but it backfired. They thought their silly, unscripted ramblings were hilarious. Oh, well. Tomorrow they work with their big buddies to build a puppet and draw scenery for an animal show in which their animal puppet will give information about the animal each they researched.

I think the highlight of the day was that students made sock puppets to go along with the stories they wrote with their partners. Tomorrow they will put on their puppet show. I have to laugh because the stories they wrote mostly consist of two characters that each say "hi" and then the story ends. It will be a short show, but maybe some of them will get inspired to write more dialog so we can put on a performance for some other classrooms. We will need more socks for Thursday, when students make animal puppets for their animals they researched with their big buddies.

We played a very challenging math game today called Silent Movement Math. As you've probably already guessed, it was anything but silent, but at least we moved and practiced math. Students walked around the room, to 30 different numbered math problems and recorded answers onto a long answer sheet. They spent from 30 seconds to 1 minute at each math problem, calculating one more, one less, ten more or ten less than a particular number on each of 30 cards taped to the tables. If they recorded an answer beside the wrong number, they really got off track. For those who were really careful, though, it worked well. I should have done this on a day that we had our big buddies, but I still thought it was fun and I think the students enjoyed it. For social studies, we learned about caring for pets. We also talked briefly about the characteristics of mammals, which we'll cover in more detail tomorrow during science. Tomorrow is "tennis shoe Tuesday."

Happy birthday, Sophie!!

It was a muy loco day! We started by practicing sign language with the other kindergarten class. Next, students played a coin concentration-style card game. With their buddy, each student researched an animal, finding out where they live, what they eat, who their enemies are, and 3 interesting facts. Next, they worked on drawing scenery or the animal's habitat. Next Thursday, they will create a puppet of their animal and then begin working on a show to present their information to the rest of the class. After music, we went to Mrs. Holland's classroom for a fiesta to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I read a story while Mrs. Holland fried sopapillas and then Mrs. Holland read a Skippy John Jones book as students ate. It was lots of fun, but left us with only a few minutes to pack up to go home. Enjoy the 3-day weekend!

Several students have asked if they could read a book to the class. I think it's a fabulous idea. My thought is that it would be best if they brought a book from home so that it's a story they've heard many times and are able to practice it a few times before reading it in front of everyone. Abby read If You Give a Moose a Muffin today. She did a great job. The book gave me an idea. In the story, the moose gets distracted by making a sock puppet and scenery. It made me think about how difficult it is to get some of the students to write, so this afternoon I announced that students can work with a small group to write a story, make sock puppet characters, draw scenery, and put on a performance for the rest of the class. The kids want to invite other classes to watch our shows, but we'll need to practice first. I will definitely video the performances. The enthusiasm level (and along with it the NOISE level) is very high for this project. If you are able to buy a pack of white athletic socks (size: Youth) we will need 22 socks or 11 pairs.

Tomorrow's lunch will be a Fiesta! I'm not sure if it's mentioned on the lunch menu, but the lunchroom staff told students about it today. Our class will be eating homemade sopapillas on Thursday with Mrs. Holland's class! Yum! Today we read about different kinds of houses in different parts of the world. We also read The Salamander Room and a book about Komodo dragons. We also looked at pictures of Komodo dragons on the internet.

We learned more of the signs for the song The Power of One and practiced some of the other songs we plan to perform for our families at the end of the year. Students read our book, "Seeds," to 3 classmates and they should read it 3 more times this weekend. They made a flower out of seeds for art today.

Today students practiced counting mixed coins. Those who can count by fives and tens had a much easier time with this. With their buddy's help, students used a dictionary to look up the meaning of a new vocabulary word that was from the book The Odious Ogre. In writer's workshop, I'm trying to take students through the entire writing process, from brainstorming topics, to generating ideas, to pre-writing, editing and re-writing a clean copy. This has been VERY difficult. So far only 4 of the 22 students have finished their final copy and some of the more "social" students are still coming up with details. Yikes! The writing standards for next year are going to be far more demanding and I want to prepare them for it.

In sign language, students learned signs to go with our new shared reading called "Seeds." We also learned the beginning of a new song "The Power of One." We're gearing up for a sign language performance on the last day of school. Students worked with table-mates to play a coin recognition game. I also showed students a one dollar and a five dollar bill. They noticed that Abraham Lincoln is on the five dollar bill. I was impressed that they recognized the Lincoln Memorial on the back. Please help me out by making sure your child keeps toys and anything that could be a distraction at home. Thanks so much for supplying the seeds and birdseed!

For a little coin review, we played a game in which each student was given a coin. In the center of the rug, I put index cards with values written in different ways (5 cents, .05, five cents). Students took turns telling the name of their coin, its value, and then they chose an index card with the matching value. They did very well! I had great fun reading The Odious Ogre. The book has lots of big words, but I basically act out books, so the class really understood what was going on. I know this because many of them chose to act out parts of the story afterward, when we were discussing it. On Thursday, each student will be assigned one of the big words to look up in the dictionary (with the help of their 4th grade buddy). On Friday, I will re-read the story and see if they understand it any better.

Today we worked on the _ake chunk. Students brainstormed words such as make, lake, flake, etc. Next, students received Bingo-style game boards with _ake words. They listened as I called out words and covered them. We reviewed the names and values of the penny, nickel and dime, then learned about the quarter. Here are the rhymes we use to help us remember. Penny, penny easily spent. Copper, brown and worth one cent. Nickel, nickel thick and fat. You're worth five cents. I know that! Dime, dime little and thin. I remember--you're worth ten. Quarter, quarter big and bold. You're worth twenty-five I am told.

The jazz band from Lewis and Clark visited our school and played some great music. The best part of their performance was that the band director showed students each instrument and gave us an example of what sound each makes.

Some of the students have really taken the Earth Day message to heart -- they've given up their recesses to pick up garbage. Wow! We had a guest reader today, Joshua S.'s grandpa. We learned about the dime and practiced counting mixed coins. This is difficult because it requires students to switch counting methods. For example, to count 1 nickel and 3 pennies they have to count by 5s then switch to counting by 1s. This will require lots of practice for many students so work on it at home as much as possible. I tell them to begin counting the coins with the highest value. Since we've been learning the parts of a plant, students made flowers in art. They cut and glued petals, stems and leaves.

38 more days of school!

Happy birthday, Joshua S.! Today we reviewed pennies and learned about the nickel. We used a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two coins. We learned that Thomas Jefferson is on the nickel and that his head is turned the opposite direction than Abraham Lincoln's head on the penny. We reviewed the difference between questions and statements and the punctuation that goes with each. We picked up garbage with our big buddies. I was pleasantly surprised to find very little garbage in the field and in the playground (with the exception of dog poop--yuck!).

Today we learned about the penny. We learned that Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, is on the front of the penny and that the Lincoln Memorial is on the back of the penny. Tomorrow we will learn about the nickel. Speaking of tomorrow, we will be picking up garbage with our big buddies as an Earth Day project so if your child has gardening gloves they may wish to bring them. Otherwise, I have lots of plastic grocery bags that can be used as gloves.

I guess the cat is out of the bag now. If you were at last night's PTA meeting you heard that I will not be teaching again next year. I am in search of a brand new adventure.

This is Joshua S.'s VIP week and he shared his poster with the class this morning. In math, students worked on a Venn Diagram, comparing and contrasting telling time on an analog versus a digital clock. Tomorrow we will start learning about coins. We read the story "Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday" about a boy who spent his money on some pretty useless stuff that he thought he "had to have." From the story, we learned the words "absolutely" and "positively." Mrs. Craven read a story to students after lunch and we also used the computer lab to work on the XtraMath web site.

There's no school for students on Monday. See you on Tuesday. Don't forget to turn in your book orders Tuesday.

Today students learned to tell time to the hour. They learned the names of the parts of an analog clock (face, hour hand, minute hand), and, the best part of all, they used small clocks to show me different times that I called out. We read Eric Carle's "The Grouchy Ladybug." When our big buddies arrived, students painted a half paper plate red and used black thumbprints to make the dots. They also wrote about what makes them grouchy. Their big buddies took pictures of the little kids making a grouchy face to be the head on their paper plate ladybug. I have to say they are adorable!

Jasmin is an awesome addition to our classroom. I think she had a good day and I know the rest of the class was excited to have her there. We learned signs for this week's shared reading, "Colorful Eggs." We started our unit on time by talking about AM and PM and what those letters mean. We also learned the difference between analog and digital clocks. Jenasee shared her VIP poster with the class.

Our seats at Alberta Bair were amazing. Last time we went, we sat in the nose bleed section. This time, we were probably 8 rows from the stage. The students were well behaved on the bus and during the show. Our schedule was "off" so students never got to work at centers which bummed them out. Jenasee shared some yummy birthday treats with us. We are getting a new student tomorrow! Her name is Jasmin. I can't wait to meet her!

The letter of the day was S. I read "The Sandwich Swap," a book about learning to try new foods before you decide that you don't like them. We started a new social studies unit on caring for our planet. We talked about the 3 Rs- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. We also watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy video about recycling.

Have a happy Easter and a restful Spring Break. See you on the 10th!

Today was Jenasee's 6th birthday. We were sure busy for it being a half day! Our letter of the day was R so we made rainbows. We learned the order of the colors on a rainbow. Some students added cotton clouds and I saw that a few students drew pots of gold. Since we've been learning the difference between 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes in math, I thought it would be fun to make some origami shapes. I showed the students how to make a paper balloon, which looks like a cube, and many of them sat down with me to learn to make it. As a whole group, we made origami ravens, like the character from "How Raven Stole the Sun." Students also filled out an April calendar. The purpose of filling out the calendar is to practice counting and writing numbers. We're working hard on getting our numbers facing the right direction.

Our letter of the day was Q. We made get well cards for Quinn, who had his tonsils taken out. Students read their "Happy Easter" books to 3 classmates. For math, I gave each student 2 small square pieces of paper and asked the kids to cut one into a rectangle and the other into a triangle, glue them into their math journal, and label each shape. Some students had a difficult time making the shapes, which really surprised me. We'll have to work on more transformations.

After students left today, the class pictures arrived so I will send those home on Monday. Have a great weekend and thanks for taking the time to attend your child's conference!

Our letter of the day was P. Students read the poem "Popcorn" and found all the Ps in the poem. We continued our review of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes. Grades K-3 watched the 5th and 6th grade choir in the dress rehearsal of their musical performance. Yo-yos will be on sale in the conference room again tomorrow beginning at 8:05am. Don't forget -- tomorrow is another half day.

Wednesday was Mrs. Swanson's last official day with us. She promises to come back for a visit or two. We were able to help her celebrate her birthday before she left. Her final lesson was based on "How Raven Stole the Sun," the play we will see on April 10th. Mrs. Swanson read the book and held a great class discussion about it. She also gave each student a box onto which they drew scenes from the story. I thought the box made a great re-telling piece.

We tried something new today. Students took turns reading parts of a reader's theater play. They did a great job! I think we'll learn and practice a few plays that we can perform for families on the last day of school. Ask your child about the NED assembly that happened today. You'll get an information sheet about it in the backpack tomorrow. NED stands for Never give up, Encourage others, and Do your best. I've put a link to the NED web site under the Links section on the right side of the blog if you want to check it out. The program pays for itself through yo-yo sales, so you'll probably be asked (by your child) to buy a yo-yo.

We had a fabulous day and the students' behavior was awesome! We discussed cause and effect and then found some examples in the book Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. The class turned some incomplete sentences into complete sentences. If your child answers a question you've asked of them with a one word answer, please ask them to use a complete sentence instead.

Mrs. Concepcion is starting a school-wide behavior program. This week's focus is respect and manners. Students will be reminded to use words like please, thank you, excuse me, and to smile when greeting others.

Spring has definitely arrived and so has Spring fever. The kids were so wound up and LOUD this afternoon! In math learned about a different measuring tool--the thermometer. In art students painted bunnies. I'm keeping it short tonight because I still have to work on report cards. Please make sure your child reads their mini book called "Spring" to you sometime this weekend and that they continue to review books from previous weeks. Have a nice weekend.

Our letter of the day was M. We recited Little Miss Muffet and then students did a sequencing activity with pictures of Little Miss Muffet. Most of them turned their sequencing sheet into a "crown" and wore them on their heads. It was pretty cute. Mrs. Swanson left a package of erasers that fit onto the end of a pencils and I handed them out today. The students were so excited. With help from their buddies, students made mini kites that are decorating the classroom window. We sure enjoyed the warm weather.

This is such a fun time of year. I'm testing students for report cards and I'm seeing such huge gains. I am so proud of my students' progress! We did more estimating today. You'll see a worksheet in which students predicted how many pieces of pasta it would take to balance a scale. They're becoming better estimators every day.

We did an estimation activity today in which the student with the closest guess won the prize, which was a container of gum. There were 61 pieces and Luciana guessed the EXACT number! Way to go, Luciana! This week I've been writing messages on the easel with mistakes and students take turns to correct one mistake at a time. I've done things like start a sentence with a lowercase letter, put a period in the middle of a sentence, use uppercase letters randomly in words, etc. On Monday, many students had a difficult time identifying the mistakes, but they did better today.

In science, we did a short introduction to "parts of a plant." Mrs. Swanson already taught a lesson on what plants need, and when I showed the class words to a song about what plants need, they quickly noticed a missing "need" -- space! Plants need space in order to grow. They're so smart.

Happy Birthday, Alexander and Abbie!

Not only was it Alexander's birthday, but he was also the helper of the day! Abbie's birthday is tomorrow. Students learned about "capacity" in math. They wrote about their experience with kite-flying yesterday. There were some funny stories about getting tangled in string and tripping over other students! In art, we made leprechauns which are adorning the hall.

We did lots of hands-on learning today. Students used large paper clips to make a chain the same length as a partner, counted how many paper clips tall their partner was, and then switched roles. They kept saying, "I weigh 26 paper clips!" I had to correct them, reminding them that we were measuring height and not weight. We read a St. Patrick's story about the luck of the Irish and then students wrote about a day on which they were lucky. Afterward, we went outside and flew kites with our 5th grade buddies. Unfortunately, I bought the kites at the Dollar Store and they broke easily, but I think the students still had fun.

By figuring out how many of my steps versus how many of a student's steps it took to get from the rug to the door, we learned why a standard form of measurement was invented. We read a great book about measurement called Measuring Penny (Penny was a dog).

We learned more about the Statue of Liberty before students painted Lady Liberty. Did you know that she has 7 spikes in her crown to represent the 7 seas? Do you know what it says on the tablet in her left hand? (July 4, 1776) Ask your child what she is made of (copper) and why she's green (oxidation).

The word helper that we learned today was Flippy Dolphin. Flippy says that if you try one vowel sound, like the short a sound, and the word doesn't make sense, try the other vowel sound, like the long a sound. Our class rarely makes that mistake because they know the silent e rule: If there's a silent e at the end of the word, the vowel makes the long sound, like in "make." They also know that "when 2 vowels go a-walking, the first one does the talking, like in "hear."

Our big buddies went outside with us to teach the rules for playground games such as 4-square, tether ball, basketball, how to use the glider, and how to play double Dutch jump rope. Kindergartners tend to make up their own rules for these games (each individual plays by their own set of rules), so I hope this was helpful.

In sign language, students are learning to sign to the song What a Wonderful World. In math, we talked about how objects whose lengths you're comparing need to have a common starting place. We read some more versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In reading, students learned about the word helper "Skippy the Kangaroo" who says that you should skip over an unfamiliar word, read the rest of the sentence, and then go back and re-read the sentence to see if you can determine the meaning.

Happy Birthday, Rex!

Today was Rex's birthday. He brought ice cream sandwiches that we ate after lunch. We conducted a fun science experiment today. Since we are learning about the Statue of Liberty this week and she's made of copper that has turned green, we cleaned green (oxidized) pennies with a mixture of lemon juice, vinegar, and salt. Students who were paying attention should have come away knowing that the acid in the mixture cleaned the pennies. We are learning about measurement in math and right now we are comparing heights, lengths, and weights. I read a non-traditional version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We also compared the heights of students in our class: tall, medium and small.

Please be sure to check your child's Monday envelope. One of the papers sent home was a green form for requesting your conference date and time. Please return it by next Tuesday. I finally taught the dental health lesson that I had planned for February, which is actually dental health month! Each student brought home a toothbrush and a small sample of toothpaste.

I was blown away this morning by your little smarties. I printed a sentence that was intended to be too difficult for them to read so that I could teach some strategies. The sentence was, "The magician waved his magic wand and made a rabbit appear." They read it without help and without having to pause and think!!!! Oh my goodness! I did tell them about Lips the Fish and Eagle Eyes, just so they'd know.

Students learned about probability in math. We used a spinner with 10 numbers on it and guessed which number we might spin most often. After 10 spins we identified 2 numbers that came up repeatedly, so we tried 10 more spins and sure enough, those were the same 2 numbers we landed on most often. We read a book called Don't Talk To Strangers and discussed stranger danger. I asked students to describe strangers in their journals. We talked about American symbols, including the flag, the eagle, and the Liberty Bell. Students made Liberty Bell pictures during art. Students had many questions about the Liberty Bell that I asked them to research at home.

Rusty the Counselor

The students are so jealous that I got to meet Rusty the Counselor. We watch him on the internet every day! He was at Rose Park this afternoon for staff professional development.

Our letter of the day was D. We read Danny and the Dinosaur. Students talked about the differences between numbers written on a number line versus numbers on a calendar. They noticed that the calendar does not have the number zero on it. They also noticed the orientation of numbers. Students filled out a March calendar. We had our popcorn party after centers. Students watched a video with two stories by our author of the week, Kevin Henkes. For writing, students brainstormed things that they can do. When our big buddies came to our room, the buddies helped the kindergartners make a poster about themselves, listing at least three things that they can do. We had a lockdown drill when the students were in music. They learned that sometimes the safest place to be is in the building.

Cole is a great addition to our class! He fit right in with the rest of the students and made some friends. Students learned signs for our shared reading this week called "Tails." We also learned signs to the song "What a Wonderful World." Students played a partner game at math in which each partner had to spin to get a number, build the number with connecting cubes, and use the greater than/less than sign to show the comparison.

Since it is leap day, students made a frog puppet. Inside its mouth, they had to find a picture of something that started with our letter of the day-C. Behavior at centers today was so awesome that the class earned another link on the behavior chain which happened to make the chain long enough to touch the ground. This means they get a popcorn party tomorrow! Yippee! Reading time: 100 minutes.

We have a new student starting tomorrow. Welcome, Cole! Students experienced Drop Everything and Read. Mrs. Concepcion made an announcement and we got out books and read silently. I was impressed with the level of enthusiasm for silent reading. We had fun with estimating in math. Students had to write their estimates, then we counted the actual number and used the greater than/less than sign to compare our estimates to the actual number. In science, students used balloons to experiment with static electricity. We were able to pick up small pieces of paper with a static-charged balloon but were unable to pick up paper clips. We gave ourselves crazy hair and made the balloons stick to our bodies. Today's reading time: 160 minutes.

Students practiced identifying the position of letter sounds in 3-sound words. We talked about the different sounds the letter A makes, mainly focusing on the short and long sounds. Students did a little estimating and I tried to emphasize that getting the exact answer is not the point. I read a couple of Dr. Seuss books and then we watched a Dr. Seuss video. Students worked harder at learning centers today. I added a written piece to many of the centers, requiring students to turn in their work. In social studies we talked about ignoring distractions. We tried singing Row Row Row Your Boat in rounds to illustrate how hard it can be to tune out distractions but how important it is to pay attention to what you are doing. Read-a-thon minutes: 120.

Students lost the privilege of having learning centers on Friday because they were so off task on Thursday! Instead of centers, I assessed students on their ability to write the alphabet in lowercase and numbers up to twenty. I am still seeing so many backward letters and numbers that it distresses me. I really need your help. If a worksheet comes home with any backward letters or numbers, please have your child work on them that night. I've been having students re-write them as I see them, so maybe I'll stop that for a week so you can see if your child still needs help with any.

I think the highlight of the day was making friendship bracelets with our big buddies. I am pretty sure the big kids did most of the braiding, but at least they worked together and have a keepsake from the experience.

Mrs. Swanson taught her very first lesson today and did an awesome job! Your child now knows the greater than and less than symbols and can tell you what they mean. Students worked in small groups to examine magazine pictures and draw conclusions about what might be happening in the pictures. I love to hear their thinking. They are such great detectives.

It was nice to get back in the groove today. We reviewed numbers 10-30 and did lots of counting practice, mainly on the math web site used during computer lab. Students practiced drawing conclusions. I related it to drawing a picture in your mind about what might be happening in a scene or deciding how a character might be feeling. We read a story about a young boy who received a letter from his grandma. He was too young to read the letter, but by looking at the picture grandma had included in the envelope he was able to draw conclusions about what was happening with his grandma. She had included a photograph of herself holding a cat and the boy knew that his grandma had a new pet. He didn't know how to write words, but drew pictures to send to his grandma to let her know what was happening in his life. It was nice to remind students that their thoughts and opinions are important and valid, even if they are too young to read or write.

Thank You!

I want to thank everyone for making such a nice Valentine's party: those who provided treats and those who came in to help. I think the students maintained an appropriate level of enthusiasm the entire day (they didn't get overly wild). I appreciated everything. A party is very difficult for a teacher to host alone and it's always fun to break out of the normal routine, even if it's only for an hour.

Thanks, also, for the fantastic response to the field trip forms that were sent home only yesterday. I was impressed with how many permission slips were returned this morning along with the admission money. You guys are on the ball!

Happy Valentine's Day! Tomorrow is a half day. Aahhhhhh....

Today we reviewed patterns, specifically growing patterns. Here's an example using letters: ABCAABBCCAAABBBCCC... I am not moving into the next math chapter until the students are able to independently and consistently complete addition and subtraction problems. We read the book "Make Way for Ducklings" about a mother and father searching for the perfect place to raise their family. Students learned the word "horrid." See if they can give you an example of something that's horrid.

Students made their Valentine card holders today. They are pretty cute! Mrs. Swanson and I put together the basic structure and students decorated them. Tomorrow is the big day for bringing their cards. We won't pass them out until I have help (during the party) so I'm going to ask student to keep them in their backpacks even though they will be dying to pass them out immediately. I know you received the list of student names, but what I didn't tell you is the number of boys versus girls. We have 11 boys and 9 girls.

Happy Birthday Luciana

New Links

If you scroll down to the "Cool Sites for Kids" section on the right side of this blog, you'll find that I've added two new math web sites. Both contain free online games that will help your child with skills we are currently working on in class. I encourage you to check them out.

Weaving

We practiced identifying and writing the short Aa sound today. In math, students worked with a partner to find the answers to subtraction problems on a calculator. They had a rough start because they weren't clearing the answer before going to the next problem. I kept asking them to use logic by counting on their fingers to see if the answer made sense. They didn't know they could question the answer of a machine!

When our 5th grade buddies came in, they helped the kindergartners with a weaving project. Students made woven paper placemats and you're going to be so impressed with the results. They are hanging in the hall for now, but I will laminate them before our Valentine's party on Tuesday. After that, they can take them home.

We read about penguins and practiced the letter Pp. I was so impressed with the students' reading skills today. We walked into the music/art room, where we do sign language with Mrs. Hanson's class and the students automatically started reading the entire shared reading, BEFORE WE EVEN REVIEWED IT! They are so bright!

Mrs. Swanson came to work with us today. After lunch she read students a story about a little animal that lives in Glacier National Park called a pika. The name of the book was A Pika's Trail.

Today we read Sheila Rae the Brave. Our vocabulary words were: convince, fearless, and daring. We also read some fun Valentine's books, Woof, A Love Story by Sarah Weeks and Porcupining, A Prickly Love Story by Lisa Wheeler. We used both books to talk about nouns (people, places, and things). Each student also received a picture from a magazine that they had to put under the appropriate column on a "nouns" poster that will be displayed in the classroom.

Just as a friendly reminder, please send hats, gloves, and snow boots on wintery days. Students will always be outside for morning walk and for recess on days when the wind chill is above zero.

Mrs. Swanson joined us this afternoon for writing and social studies. I think she was blown away by the incredible sentences written by the kindergartners. We talked about using "I statements" when you have a problem with a peer. Instead of blaming someone else for the way you feel, such as "you made me mad," students should say, "I feel angry because..." We also talked about it being okay to tell the other person what you want them to do instead, such as, "I feel angry because you cut in front of me in line. I want you to go back to your spot." We also practiced letter formation and spelling.

Tomorrow is "tennis shoe Tuesday."

Students practiced turning word problems into math equations today. Can you believe how smart your kindergartner is? I'm noticing many backward numbers. I try to have the student re-write it the correct way when I notice it, but if you see any papers come home with backward numbers will you please have your child practice? Thanks! Have a great weekend.

We watched the recording of Puxatony Phil predicting the weather. We will have 6 more weeks of winter. If you ask me, it doesn't feel like we've had much winter to begin with! Students made a cute groundhog picture which I hung in the hall. We finished reading Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine. I think we have some new Junie B. fans. Students had fun sharing their show and tell with their big buddies. They drew a picture of the item that their big buddy brought and wrote 3 words to describe it.

We had a little fun this morning learning signs to go with our new shared reading, "In Winter." We learned signs for the types of clothing one would wear in winter. We also played a sorting game in which students were handed a card with a picture of an article of clothing. Students had to decide in which season the clothing would be worn by sorting the picture into the properly labeled basket.

Would any of you be interested in hosting a Valentine's party in the classroom? I'm looking for several parents who would be willing to decorate the room (if you wish), plan and supervise some games, and provide snacks. We can have the party during our normal lunch time, beginning at 11:05 and lasting until noon. This would mean having some tiny sandwiches and healthy foods in addition to party foods and would need to include drinks. Please email me if you're interested and I'll put all interested parties in touch with each other.

Please remind your child to bring a show and tell for tomorrow. (As if they needed a reminder.)

We read Rainbow Fish, discussed sharing and used the book as the focus for a lesson on addition and subtraction. Each student traced a fish onto a sheet of paper, adding underwater details. As they were drawing, I went around and gave shiny, silver scales to a couple of students at each table. They had to take their beginning number of scales, subtract the number of scales they gave away, and then tell the difference. Those who started with no shiny scales wrote an addition sentence. They started with zero, wrote the number of scales they added and then wrote the sum. This paper should be in your child's backpack so you can talk about it. We read "New Shoes for Sylvia." Our vocabulary words for today were: certainly, perhaps, and resourceful.

We will be spending time talking about describing words this week. On Thursday, the kindergartners and their big buddies will each be bringing an item from home, such as a stuffed animal, toy, or collectible, that they can describe.

Wow, what a busy day! Students met Mrs. Swanson and learned a little about her. She has 3 children who are ages 10, 12 and 16. Of course we had our field trip in the afternoon. We had previously read the book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and had watched a short video, but seeing an hour long performance was a vastly different experience. To make the play longer, characters and scenes were added that were not in the book and it confused many of the students. There were some funny dancing squirrels but because the students didn't understand their place in the story, I don't think they appreciated the humor. It was cute but long and at the end we had to wait FOREVER for our bus to arrive. It seemed like we were the last school to leave! We got back to school 5 minutes before dismissal time and students were unhappy that they did not get their last recess and their last center.

We invited the other kindergarten class into our room this morning for sign language because the room that we normally go to was being used by the first graders. We had fun playing teachers versus students and the students won! Students read their mini books to three peers before sitting down to color the pictures. Students also colored a special 100th Day badge which I attached to a "crown." Our vocabulary words for the day were: upset, refreshed, and satisfied. I was so satisfied with their behavior in the hall this morning that I gave the class another link on their good behavior chain. It's getting pretty close to the ground which means a reward is coming soon! Thank you Mrs. Siroin and Mrs. Goudy for helping with our art and clean up this afternoon. I couldn't have done it without you both.

I met this afternoon with Mrs. Swanson who will be doing her practicum in our classroom beginning Monday. She has a lot of experience with young children and will be a wonderful addition to our classroom. Don't forget that we go to Alberta Bair on Monday afternoon. For the parents going with us, please be at the school a little before noon. Our bus leaves right at noon and the show starts at 12:30. Have a great weekend.

We have been working on addition for a couple of weeks and today we started subtraction. Most of the students seem to understand the concept but I need to provide more hands-on activities to make it stick. I read a book called The ABCs of Jobs. It went along with our theme of community workers. For each letter of the alphabet, there was a job description and list of tools used on the job. Students learned about helicopter pilots, scuba divers and yoga instructions among others.

Thank you for helping your child remember to bring their 100 items today. I think they had a good time practicing counting with their big buddy. Students counted by 1s to fill up their 100s chart. Next, they put their items into piles of 5 and counted by 5s to 100. Finally, they counted by tens. The 4th/5th graders also randomly called out numbers and asked their kindergarten buddy to cover that number with one of their items. There was a whole lot of counting going on!

The students made some great connections during today's vocabulary lesson. I read Caps For Sale. The man in the story is a peddler and we talked about how that meant the same thing as a vendor, a vocabulary word from the past. Another vocabulary word for today was imitate, which the students related to the word mimic. Last week I pointed out onomatopoeia (the use of words to suggest a sound, such as "woof" or "hiss"). Onomatopoeia is used a lot in children's books. Every time I read a story with it, they shout the word "onomatopoeia." There was a guest teacher in the room next door who came to see me after school. She commented that things have sure changed in the kindergarten curriculum because she could hear the students using a word she didn't learn until high school. I thought that was hilarious! They do enjoy knowing and using big words.

Students had fun practicing addition on a mini calculator. We read stories about people in our community who help others, such as a mail carrier, a school crossing guard, and a police officer. We also read the fiction book Officer Buckle and Gloria, about a police officer who goes to schools to talk about safety along with his entertaining dog, Gloria. At recess, we filled 4 spray bottles with water and a couple of drops of food coloring and sprayed the snowmen that the students worked together to make. He was a tie dye snowman!

Happy birthday, Haley! We were so happy that the weather warmed up enough so that we could go outside for lunch recess! Yay! We read Dr. Seuss's My Many Colored Days and talked about how different colors make us feel (yellow-happy; gray-sad). Students wrote in their journals about how they were feeling, using colors to describe their feelings. We did a fun art project, cutting scrapbook paper to make a colorful snowman. The students wrote a sentence about how their snowman was feeling.

Hi, Sam! We miss you and hope you are feeling better! Tomorrow is Haley's birthday and I know a secret -- she's bringing treats! Report cards were sent home today. I hope you have had a chance to look over your child's report card. Hopefully you'll feel like celebrating their success by going out to eat at Fuddrucker's. I have never had a class with so many students at a reading level 3 this early in the year, so I'm very pleased with the progress, especially in reading. We had our 4th/5th grade buddies come in this afternoon to help with a glyph. A glyph is a picture that gives information. Students added details to a snowman picture to provide details about themselves. For example, if the student liked pumpkin pie they added a pipe to their snowman. Boys had their carrot noses pointing to the right and girls pointed their noses to the left. This would have been a difficult project without our buddies helping. We also got to see our buddies put on a short musical performance in the afternoon. Don't forget that your child is allowed to wear pajamas and/or a hat tomorrow, provided that they make a cash donation to the Make a Wish Foundation.

The students were very surprised to see that I had rearranged the classroom. My projector is now mounted to the ceiling so I no longer need to keep the table centered in front of the large white board. The classroom seems larger and more open. The students did a great job at writing today. I let them choose a coloring page of a girl or boy snowman. They colored the picture and then wrote about it. For example, Alexander wrote, "My snowman has a black hat." I think it helped that they had a subject to write about. Coming up with original ideas is difficult for most kindergartners. Their writing and pictures were so cute that I hung them in the hall.

I placed the Scholastic book order this afternoon. It will be at least a week before the books arrive. Report cards go home tomorrow. Please keep everything that's inside the report card envelope, sign the back of the envelope, and return it on Friday. Don't forget to eat at Fuddrucker's tomorrow night!

I will wait until tomorrow to submit the Scholastic book order. I didn't receive all the Monday envelopes this morning and I don't want you to miss your chance to order. Today students learned about the penny. They know that Abraham Lincoln is on the penny and that it is worth one cent. Mr. Besel, the school counselor, taught a lesson about being a "bully buster." He introduced the terms "victim" and "bystander."

I added a couple of events to the sidebar of the blog. One is Fuddrucker's Family Night this Thursday. If your family eats at the Fuddrucker's by Costco that night, part of the proceeds will be donated to our school. Hopefully you will feel like celebrating your child's wonderful report card that evening. I also noted the date of our 100th day of school. On that day, students may bring a collection or 100 items that will fit into a sandwich baggie. Please only send small items such as pennies, M&Ms, paper clips, beads, pebbles, etc.

No School Monday

Don't forget that students do not have school on Monday. They will need to wear their tennis shoes for gym on Tuesday. Book orders are also due on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend.

In reading we worked on putting animal names into alphabetical order. In math we played a game called "I have...Who has?" for practicing number recognition. It's hard to explain, but each student was given a card with two numbers. It would read "I have 12. Who has 23?" Then the person with the 23 would read their card, and so on. One of our vocabulary words today was "companion" and since the students love to write about their friends, I asked them to substitute the word companion for the word friend. The highlight of the day was when our 4th/5th grade buddies came to read Winter themed books. Each of the older students had selected a book to read to their little buddies. Then they asked their little buddy to draw a picture of their favorite part of the story.

We had a little fun with our study of The Mitten. I printed pictures of all the animals in the story off of Jan Brett's website and glued each to a paper plate to create masks. We pretended like my reading table was a giant mitten. I handed out masks and as we re-read The Mitten and came to their animal's name, the student with that mask would go under the table. At the end, the bear sneezes and all the animals come out of the mitten. The students loved it!

We read some fun books about animals in winter and it seemed like they all had the same characters -- a rabbit and a hedgehog! We also read "Who Pooped in the Park?" Students learned about tracks and scat of various animals that live in Yellowstone National Park. For science, we talked about why animals hibernate and how they find and store food. I made some frozen food for them -- mandarin orange slices inside ice cubes. I asked if they could smell the orange and they swore they could. I asked how they would get to the orange so they could eat it if they were an animal. Most said they would let it melt in their paws (just like it was doing in their hot little hands). Funny! We had more success with the laptops during computer lab today. Students did a counting game and then worked some more on their typing skills.

We read Jan Brett's "The Mitten." Students matched animal pictures to each animal's name. I taught 20 new animal signs and then gave each student an animal card. We went around the circle with the first person showing their animal sign. The second person had to do the 1st person's sign plus their own. The 3rd person had to do the 2 previous signs plus their own and so on. I was so impressed with how well students remembered all the signs.

We read a story about the plus sign. (Can you believe there's actually an entire book about the job of the plus sign?) Students learned the word "sum" as it's used in math. We also contrasted the meanings of "sum" and "some."

I wanted to clarify a couple of things inside your child's Monday envelope. There's a hundreds chart with a sandwich baggie stapled to it. Inside the baggie are instructions on a tiny piece of paper. Your child is supposed to glue the numbers 1-100 onto the chart. Talk with them about patterns that they notice and randomly point to numbers and make sure your child can correctly name them. There is also a book order form. The due date for any orders is next Tuesday the 17th. (Your child was supposed to write that at the top of the form, but I noticed some forgot.) Remember, if you do not order online I need cash and not checks please.

Students read their mini book to 3 peers and hopefully they will also read it to you tonight. After practicing letter and number formation, I asked each student to write their ABCs and as many numbers as they could fit on a sentence strip so I could assess their handwriting. Even immediately following instruction, I saw lots of backward letters and numbers. Please practice with your child if you notice this. Students enjoyed our shaving cream snowman art. The classroom smelled great! Taylor's family came for a visit at the end of the day and shared birthday treats with us.

As you can see from the slideshow above, we have new 4th/5th grade buddies. We will meet every Thursday afternoon with Mrs. Manfredi's 4th/5th grade combo class. Students got to know each other by making an "all about me" book for their buddy. When they finished, they used coffee filters to make snowflakes for our bulletin board.

After yesterday's pep talk, students really worked hard on their writing. I was so pleased with the level of work they produced today.

We're comparing and contrasting snowman stories. We're studying "voice" as it's used in books. Students wrote about what the boy in the story The Snowman might be thinking or saying when he's discovered that the snowman has melted. I noticed that many of the students copied my example off the board. I told them I was disappointed that with all their creativity, that they aren't giving me original ideas. After my brief talk, they really stepped up their writing. I need to give them a pep talk tomorrow, letting them know that school is a safe place to try new things. They are in a supportive environment where a caring adult is there to help. I need to let them know that mistakes are okay and that mistakes help them learn.

We are learning about quotation marks (aka "talking marks") and learning to spell the word "said." As you read to your child, ask them to listen for the word "said" and see if they can spell it for you. We read the book The Polar Bear and the Brave Little Hare. The vocabulary words from the story were warn, concerned, and embarrassed. In math, students worked with a partner to put into order index cards that were numbered either by ones, fives, or tens. The goal for this quarter is for students to count to 100 by any of these means so keep practicing at home. If you haven't already turned in your child's reading minutes from December, please do so as soon as possible so I can get your child his or her Pizza Hut certificate. Tomorrow is library day.

It was great to be back at school today. The students were excited to share all the fun things they got for Christmas. In social studies we talked about how to solve problems with friends. Students learned to calm down, talk things out, come up with a plan, and then try it out. When there's a squabble about who gets to do something first, we decided that rock-paper-scissors is the easiest way to resolve the problem. Students tried out their problem solving skills as they played a card game with a partner. They played Top-It (what is commonly called War, but we can't call it that at school).