Today at school we had a fire drill. We practiced getting ourselves and our friends safely out of the building in case there is ever a fire. We did a great job using walking feet and quiet voices. We got ourselves quickly out of the building without getting our belongings and/or shoes. We felt proud of ourselves.
Today we did an activity where we envisioned a certain scenerio. Then we drew a picture of how we would feel in that situation. We brain-stormed how we would feel in four different situations and we came up with lots of great feeling words. We used words like ‘joyful’, ‘devastated’, ‘excited’, and ‘frustrated’.
At recess today we noticed that the pumpkin seeds we planted last year grew into large pumpkins. We can’t wait to go to the pumpkin patch in a few days!
Our star of the day today was Ewan. We studied the letters, sounds, and syllables in Ewan’s name. We also got to ask Ewan some interview questions.
-Ewan’s favorite food is black beans.
-Ewan likes light-up shoes.
-He likes dogs.
-His favorite holiday is Halloween.
-Ewan’s favorite game is Lego Mario
-Ewan’s favorite color is turquoise.
Every morning after circle time we do a movement activity. Our movement activity today was so much fun! We rotated to different exercise centers. We spent a couple minutes exercising at each center before rotating to the next center. It felt great to move our bodies!
During our whole group math lesson today we used tangrams to create different designs. We had to problem-solve when we didn’t have enough shapes for our creation. Some of us worked together to create designs.
A small group of students played Dominoes with Ms. Sarah during center time. During the Domino game students discussed numbers, matching, and counting concepts.
In the atelier we had the opportunity to create Aboriginal paintings. We used pine needles, sticks, and leaves to paint our rocks. We also viewed photos of Aboriginal art created by other other artists.
Today’s Star of the Day was Joaquin. We studied Joaquin’s name in great depth. Then we had the chance to ask Joaquin interview questions. Here’s what we learned about Joaquin:
-His favorite food is watermelon.
-He has 2 dogs and a cat.
-Joaquin’s favorite animal is a guinea pig.
-He likes Legos.
-His favorite video game is Lego Indiana Jones.
-Joaquin likes his soccer shoes.
This week we are learning about feelings. During circle time we played a feeling game. We each shared about a time when we felt a certain emotion. Here are some of our responses:
“I felt sad when I didn’t collect all the hula hoops during recess.” ~ John Michael
“I feel happy because I have dogs.” ~Jack
“I feel bad and sad when I’m sick.” ~Joaquin
“I felt squished when I went to the carnival and my mom squished me on this one ride called ‘The Scramble’. She really squished me.” ~Kaleb
“I feel excited about my play date.” ~Lola
“I feel excited ‘cause Lola is coming to my house.” ~Brendan
“I feel happy ‘cause my Papa is going to come to my house.” ~Ella
“Sometimes I feel a little confused when somebody comes over and I don’t know who it is. That means I feel a little scared too.” ~Lily
“I love when my mommy is coming over.” ~Whitney
“I feel scared. I watched a movie called Back to the Future. I was scared because the car was on fire. I felt scared because he could get killed.” ~Ewan
“I feel happy when it’s my birthday.” ~PJ
“My mom never gets me in a long time and I never saw her in a long time. I haven’t stayed with my mom that long because she was in Mexico. I was sad.” ~Ronin
During centers today students were hard at work on various projects. Outside two students worked together to construct a bear trap out of logs. Inside several students used Tinker Toys to construct wings for their imaginary play.
During Writers Workshop each day we have a mini-lesson, writing time, and then a closure meeting. Our mini-lesson today focused on using detailed illustrations to tell a story. During Writers Workshop we don’t just draw pictures of things that we know how to draw like hearts and hands. Instead we draw detailed illustrations that tell a story. Sometimes we label our pictures with words. During most closure meetings students have an opportunity to share their writing pieces with a writing partner.
Today students admired our Human Race bulletin board. Please ask your child to show you his/her hand on the bulletin board!
During movement time today we did a relay race with Mr. Danny. We ran across the grass and tagged a friend’s hand. That friend then raced across the grass and tagged another friend. We tried the relay race running forwards, backwards, and sideways. It was fun to run on a team with our friends.
During our classroom meeting we discussed our thoughts and ideas regarding the clean-up problem in our classroom. Yesterday students felt that clean-up time was stressful because it took a long time to clean the room and because some children were not helping. Yesterday we tried two solutions, but the issues were not resolved. (See yesterday’s blog post). This morning students discussed and analyzed ideas about how to make clean-up time more efficient. Some students suggested not using the creative play room or certain toys because it was too messy. Other students wanted to continue to use the materials, but wanted to have a student time how long it takes the class to clean-up. After voting students decided to try using a timer. During clean-up time one student used a timer and two other students were researchers while the rest of the class cleaned the room. The researchers used clipboards and pencils to record data about how the clean-up was going. We tried the strategy of using a timer and having researchers collect data during all three of our clean-up times today. Our researchers announced that most students were helping with clean-up, although about five were not. The timer noted that our clean-up times today ranged from four to six minutes. During our afternoon class meeting we decided to continue doing research during clean-up time so that we could collect data before trying other solutions.
During Writers Workshop we found a new tool in our writing toolboxes: a date stamp! We now use a date stamp to date our writing each day. It will be so exciting to see our growth in writing this year. Families can expect to see Writers Workshop papers come home approximately every month.
This afternoon several students worked with Mr. Danny to create aboriginal art. Mr. Danny showed us a book full of aboriginal art and some examples of art he had done. During atelier time students had the opportunity to visit the art center where they created their own paintings on rocks. Students used leaves, pine needles, and sticks to paint their rocks. At the art center students enjoyed finding Australia on a globe, admiring authentic aboriginal art, and creating their own art. This center will be open again next Tuesday and/or Thursday when Mr. Danny returns.
Yesterday we finished our “The Colors of Us” project. Check out our project poster that is hanging in our classroom. Each of us came up with a name for our own skin color. Here are some of our skin color names:
“Cinnamon Marshmallow” ~PJ
“Cinnamon Fire” ~Joaquin
“Cookie Dough” ~Lily
“Mr. Brownie” ~Ronin
“Cinnamon with some Chocolate Brownie” ~Kaleb
“Pinkalicious” ~Ella
“Chocolate Dots on an Ice Cream Sundae” ~John MIchael
“Peanut Butter” ~Lola
“Choclate Brown” ~Ewan
“Super Fire” ~Brendan
“Brown Ice Cream Cherry” ~Jack
“Cookie Dough” ~Whitney
We also did an activity called “Torn Heart” yesterday. We discussed put-downs and put-ups. Then we read story and analyzed whether comments were put-downs or put-ups. We discussed how put-downs make us feel and talked about how unkind words hurt our hearts, or our feelings. We watched a music video of a song called “Don’t Laugh at Me” and talked about how the lyrics made us feel.
During our class meeting we dicussed how several students felt stressed out during clean-up time because they noticed some children not helping with clean-up. We brainstormed and discussed solutions. The first solution we tried was having the whole class clean up one center at a time. After analyzing how that went students decided that stratgety didn’t work. During another class meeting we discussed and voted on other solutions. We decided to try having everyone clean up their own centers and then go help a friend. After trying that solution we decided that part of the solution worked, but some students were still not helping the community. We decided to think about more ideas and then meet back for a class meeting Thursday morning.
We start our mornings with a good morning song. Then students have an oppurtunity to share news with the class. After sharing we read the morning letter together and we do a movement activity. Today we did the wiggle freeze dance, which is one of our favorites. Click on the video below to view a 12 second clip of our wiggle dance! We also did stretching exercises with Ms. Sarah.
This morning we started our Name Study Unit. Each day we choose a “Star of the Day” so that we can study his/her name. Today’s Star of the Day was Isabela. We studied Isabela’s name in great depth. We counted the letters, clapped out syllables, and discussed letter names and sounds. We used the white boards to learn how to form the letters in Isabela’s name. Tomorrow we will choose a new name to study!
During center time today we were excited to find new supplies in the Writing Center. We now have cards, stickers, and other Creation Station materials in our writing center. We discussed equitable ways to share and use the limited supplies. Then we began creating beautiful cards, notes, and drawings.
During Writers Workshop today we discovered that we now have writing toolboxes. Writers use important tools like pencils, markers, and papers to do their writing. There are three writing tables in our classroom: orange, blue, and green. Each table has its own toolbox, which allows our authors to have easy access to supplies. Our authors were hard at work labeling their illustrations and learning how to use the writing toolboxes today!
This afternoon we got to celebrate Isabela’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Isabela!
This morning during circle time a student used our projector to share a digital image of her sunflower. She planted a sunflower seed last year when she was in Ms. Laurel’s class. Now the sunflower is several feet tall. She told us that she used worm poop and water to help her plant grow.
Here is a block structure designed by one of our talented engineers.
During Writers Workshop we learned how to label our drawings. We are working at saying words very slowly so that we can hear the different sounds in the words. Then we record the sounds that we hear. We used our “When I’m Done Poster” to figure out what to do when we’ve finished a writing piece. After Writers Workshop we shared our stories with a writing partner.
This afternoon we went on our first community walk. We discussed how to keep ourselves safe during community walks and field trips. Then we walked across campus to the site of the Chalk Art Festival. The festival took place this weekend and we got to admire the beautiful artwork that was on the sidewalk. Some of the students in our class showed us the art they drew for the festival.
After our walk we got to celebrate PJ’s birthday. We gave PJ a special card and then ate yummy cupcakes. We love celebrating our friends’ birthdays!
This morning we used our large motor muscles to navigate through an obstacle course. The obstacle course was a great way for us to move our bodies and practice important gross motor skills like crawling, hopping, jumping, running, and balancing. We practiced using spatial terms such as “under”, “over”, and “through”.
During centers we practiced using our iPod listening center. We are getting to be experts at turning on the iPod, navigating through the menus, following along in a story, and putting the center away when finished. We can’t wait to read many exciting stories in the listening center this year!
During atelier time a small group of students worked with Mr. Danny to design and construct complicated marble runways. Through this process students were learning how to make a plan and implement their design plans. Students also worked together to solve problems that arose during the construction. Students used their knowledge of basic physics and gravity to create marble structures that kept the marble on the track and rolling.
A group of students were engaged in a game involving a pretend campfire during recess today. The students decided that it would be fun to have a campsite on our playground. Students used papers and markers to begin planning the campsite. They recorded what items they would need in their campsite and made a plan to bring the necessary items from home.
This morning a student brought in some beautiful shells and rocks to share with the class. We discussed the difference between rocks and shells. Several students think that shells are always bigger than rocks. We will have a rock and shell center open soon so we can explore these ideas.
During Writers Workshop today we talked about what real authors do when they finish a piece of writing. We decided that when we finish a piece of writing during our writing time we will do one of three things:
1. Add more to the picture
2. Add more words
3. Start a new piece
These ideas worked well today and we spent our entire writing period working hard on our stories. We ended writers workshop by sharing our writing with a partner. We have new folders in which we keep our writing pieces.
During Treasured Reading Time several students enjoyed reading and discussing our class book. They loved looking at their friends’ pages and discussing what they had in common. Other students were very interested to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear in different languages. Students compared the English version of this book to ones written in Albanian and Spanish.
We have been reading books about children from around the world. Today we read a story called The Colors of Us. Then we closely examined our own skin colors. We decided that we each had a unique skin color. In the atelier we mixed special paints to create a shade that matches our individual skin colors. Then we named our skin colors. More pictures from this project will be posted later this week.
This morning we read our morning letter and helped Ms. Aja fill in missing letters. We read a story called All the Colors of the Earth. During center time we learned how to use the iPod to listen to stories. We listened to a story called Good Boy Fergus. It was a funny story. During center time some students used cubes to measure people and objects. We also used markers to decorate our Seat Circles for circle time. These circles will be laminated and we will use them to help us position ourselves during circle time.
After lunch each day we relax and listen to a story. Then we have the opportunity to read our own special stories from our classroom library. We call this time of the day “Treasured Reading Time”. We love to read!
In the atelier this aftertoon a small group of students worked with Mr. Danny to engineer marble runways.
Every morning when students come to class they find a colorful morning letter written just for them. We read this letter as a whole group. While reading the morning letter we discuss letters, sounds, and sight words. This is a great time for teaching literacy skills and letting students know what we will be doing that day.
This morning we read a story called Whoever You Are. This story is about children across the world. We discussed how people live in all different types of homes and have all different kinds of backgrounds and families. Then we began sharing our own “All About Me” pages. Each student created a page filled with drawings, photos, and other items that represents him/her. Each student shared his/her page and talked about his/her interests and families. Then students had an opportunity to discuss similiaries and differences between the students in our classroom. We each added our page to our class book called All About Us. A few more students will be adding their pages and then we will set the book out for families to look at and enjoy.
This afternoon we painted beautiful pictures of rainbows, robots, and houses. We discussed and practiced how we take care of our painting materials. Students successfully wrote names on papers, carried papers to drying racks, wiped their tables, and put away paints, brushes, and water cups. They are getting to be experts at taking care of our ELC community.
We also got to celebrate John Michael’s birthday today. We had so much fun singing songs, telling jokes, and enjoying a special treat. Happy Birthday, John Michael!
On Friday we had an opportunity to celebrate the first two birthdays of the year. Happy Birthday, Kaleb and Whitney! We used glitter and markers to create beautiful birthday cards for our two friends. During the birthday celebration we sang to them, presented them with cards, and ate yummy treats. What a great way to end our first week of school!
We had another busy, fun day. During morning circle time we sang to each friend and had an opportunity to share news with each other. Then we read If You Take a Mouse to School. We had fun predicting what would happen next. After circle time we reviewed ways to keep our friends safe on the playground. Then we went outside to enjoy the sunshine and have fun with old and new friends. We noticed that our apple trees produced apples over the summer. Many of us sampled a variety of apples. They were very delicious!
After recess we read The Kissing Hand. This is a story about a young raccoon, Chester, who is nervous to go to school. His mother tells him the secret of the kissing hand. She kisses his palm. Throughout the day if Chester gets worried he has his mother’s kiss to make him feel better. During centers several of us made our own kissing hands for special family members. Other students chose to create structures out of legos and blocks.
This afternoon we decorated and wrote a birthday card for Whitney. We are very excited to celebrate our first birthday of the year tomorrow. In the atelier we also worked with friends to design magnet structures.
At the end of the day we spent time in Creative play. Students worked together to create a rocket ship to the moon. The rocketship had several canisters of fuel and food for the astronauts. Other students were involved in creating and acting out a complicated superhero story.
Welcome to kindergarten! We had so much fun playing and getting to know each other today. We sang several songs, played games, and learned about our new classroom.
This morning we signed in and decorated our name tags. We learned the names of lots of new friends today!
We brainstormed ways to keep each other safe on the playground. Then we spent time playing with our new friends. We noticed that the vegetables and flowers we planted last year grew very tall over the summer!
During classroom centers we explored using different materials and supplies. We were also working on our social skills and negotiation strategies.
We sang new songs like “Shake Your Sillies Out”, “I’m a Writer Chicka Boom”, and “The Whale Song”.
This afternoon we visited the atelier and the creative play room. We engineered magnet structures and created sculptures out of playdough.
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