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.)