Today we began the day with reading books at our tables, instead of Center Time. After that, we had a short afternoon meeting, and then wrote two invitations as a class - one to Mr. Wold, and the other to Mrs. Wold. A couple of the kids brought them to their rooms, and after we read a couple of books, we had a surprise for Mr. and Mrs. Wold - and we gave them the baby advice book that we made (each child wrote a page of advice for the parents-to-be) and the fleece tie-blanket that we made for the baby. They were very surprised.

Then we headed up to the computer lab for our time there.

After that, we finished up a "secret project" and then watched a slideshow of all of the photos that I have taken so far this year while we ate popcorn. After that, it was time to pack up and go home.

Enjoy your breaks, and have a very happy, peaceful, and joyous holiday season.

See you next year! (That's a kindergarten joke that never gets old on the last day before Winter Break...)

Today was the first day when we were back to "normal" in kindergarten, after the 12 Days of Winter projects. We began the day with reading at our tables, and then had morning meeting. We worked to finish up a couple of projects that we had lingering, and met a new High Hat friend in our phonics program -- Eddy Elf. We learned about the short /e/ sound (/e/ as in ten). We also did a bit of work with a new word family - words that end in -en, such as ten, men, Ben, hen, etc. We then we headed to the gym for our time there with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.

When we got back down to the room, we we had Choice Time, and then went back up to the library to check out books. Then, it was back down to the room to clean up, pack up the sugar cube igloos (look for them in your child's backpack today...), and then it was time to go home!

Today was the 12th (and last) day of Winter in our series. Today, the book page read, "On the twelfth day of Winter, my teacher gave to me: 12 treats for tasting." Yikes! We had 12 different snacks to sample, and the kids did a fill-in-the-letter activity for each snack. It (along with any snacks that they had left over) should be in their backpacks today. The kids also brought home their 12 Days of Winter books today -- check them out and see what we have been up to.

After the snacking, we worked on a project. One I can't tell you about it, though -- it's a secret. We then had a low-key Choice Time, and ended our day.

After all of that, it was time for us to bundle up and head home.

Today was the 11th (whew!) Day of Winter in kindergarten, so today we read, "On the 11th day of winter, my teacher gave to me: 11 cubes for gluing..." We made igloos out of sugar cubes by gluing them on to styrofoam balls. They took some doing, but turned out really nicely. I think that they MIGHT be dry by Friday, if we are lucky... :-)

After our craft, had a little bit of time to practice the letter sounds that we have learned in our High Hat phonics program, and then we headed up to the computer lab for our time there. When we got back down to our room,we worked on a surprise writing project - ask your child about it -- it is pretty fun, and turned out very well.

After writing, we got all bundled up and headed home.

Today was our 10th day of the 12 Days of Winter. Today, the page in our book said, "On the 10th day of winter, my teacher gave to me, 10 holes for stitching." We made mittens, that turned out very cute, if we do say so ourselves... The kids used large needles and yarn to stitch around the outsides of the felt mitten cut-outs, and then decorated them with buttons and pompoms. Check out their creation in their backpack today (some of them are going to finish them tomorrow - our time was a little short today).

After our sewing, we headed up to the music room. When we came back down, we then read two "mitten" books - The Mitten, and The Missing Mitten. Today, we also met a new high Hat friend - Zoo Zoo, and talked abou the /z/ sound, especially that fact that both z and s can make that sound (liek in zebra and in eyes). We then read our new Star of the Week poster (nice job, Julia!). After all of that, it was tie to bundle up everyone and head to home or to Spanish class.

Stay warm!

Today was day number 9 in the 12 Days of Winter. Today, "my teacher gave to me: 9 worms for watching." We "worms in dirt", which was gummy bears and chocolate pudding in a cup. the kids had a good, and remarkabbly un-messy, time. After our treat, we colored in our 12 Days of Winter Books, and then read two wormy books - Diary of a Worm, and Worm Family. We then headed up to the computer lab for our half hour of math and reading practice there.

After the computer lab, we celebrated Adele's half birthday - her Dad came in to read Popploetin to us, and we sang Happy Birthday to her. After that, it was time for a short Choice Time, and then out the door.

TGIF - enjoy your weekend!

Today was day number 8 in the 12 Days of Winter. Today, "my teacher gave to me: 8 bells for jingling." We made jingle bell bracelets, which I'm sure that you have seen (and, perhaps more to the point, heard) at home today. After our craft, we went down to the gym for the Family Fun Run with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. It was really fun -- the kids all ran for 15 minutes, some of it with the lights down and the disco ball going. The kids thought (and many of the parents, I suspect) thought that it was pretty cool. In case you were wondering, I also ran for 15 minutes.

After the Fun Run, we had math class. We're beginning to talk about measurement. The kids built a measuring stick out of unifix cubes (they look like this), and then measured things that were shorter and longer than that, and recorded their findings on the page that they brought home today.

After math, we were off to the library to check out books, and then back down just in time to pack and go home.

Today was the 7th Day of Winter for us, and today "my teacher gave to me: 7 flakes for snipping" -- we made tissue paper snowflakes! They turned out really nicely - ask your child if they can teach you how to make a six-pointed snowflake!

After our craft, we had a quick clean-up time (picture 25 kids all making tiny tissue paper scraps at the same time). Then we had a reading lesson that used word families again to make words. We used the letter sounds that we have learned about in our phonics (High Hat) series to add on to word endings -op, -an, -it, and -at. When we finished with that, we did our monthly self-portrait to hang on our portrait wall.

When we finished with our portraits, we read a snowy winter book by Jan Brett called The Three Snow Bears, which is an arctic version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

We finished our day with Choice Time, and then packed up to go home. Whew!

P.S. Don't forget that tomorrow is the Family Fun run -- please join us if you can. It will be in the gym from 12:55 - 1:50, and it will be great fun!

Today was day number 6 of the 12 days of winter - "On the sixth day of winter, my teacher gave to me: 6 socks for stuffing, etc...). We made sock snowpeople, using bird seed to fill the bottom, and fiber fill to make the two upper parts. It was great fun - and the kids got to take home the snowpeople today.

After our craft, we had a short version of Afternoon Meeting, read a winter book (Dear Polar Bear), and then we headed up to the computer lab for our half hour there.

Back down in our class, we had a short reading lesson, in which we talked about word families again, and then we had a bit of an extended Choice Time, since we didn't have any yesterday. The kids were excited to play in the Puppet Theater and to make paper bag puppets at the art center.

After all that, it was time for us to pack up and go home!

Today we continued with the 12 Days of Winter -- today was day number 5 - "5 gold stars." We cut out small stars, covered them with gold foil, and pasted them into our books. It took a (un)surprisingly long time for all of us to cut and paste and cut again -- but the pages in our books turned out remarkably well.

After our craft, we headed up to the music room for music class with Mr. Hofmann. When we got back to the room, we had a very short Afternoon Meeting (it's the 60th day of kindergarten already!!), and we read our new Star of the Week poster (nice job, Lili!). Then we met a new High Hat friend in our phonics lesson - Ollie Octopus (the short /o/ sound, like in 'octopus.' We also talked about a new word family - words that end in -op, like hop, mop, pop, top, and stop. Then we had a special visitor, Scientist Kristy (Kristy Quinn, a kindergarten parent who is also an astrophysicist at the U of M). She gave an very interesting presentation about stars and our sun in particular -- ask your child all about it!

The kids also discovered that the new dramatic play area is a Puppet Theater - and they are very excited to play there tomorrow!

Today was day number 3 in the 12 Days of Winter - three penguins. We made a cute little penguin from construction paper to glue into our books. The kids traced and cut, and then assembled them. (Thanks to Christine Fraser, who cut out all of the little tiny feet and beaks for the penguins!)

After our craft, we headed to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. After that, it was up to the Media Center for book check-out. when we got back to the room, we read a funny book, just for fun, called Big Chickens. Then, it was Choice Time, and then packing up to go home!

Today we continued with the 12 Days of Winter sequence. On day 2, "my teacher gave to me: two teddy bears, and a bird feeder in a snowy tree." Today we colored another page in our 12 Days of Winter book, and the added a hibernation cover for the bears on the page. We read a couple of books about hibernation (The Bear Snores On and Time for Sleep). We also played a hibernation game, in which the kids covered their eyes and pretended to 'hibernate'. While they were all 'asleep,' I covered one of them with a sheet. Then I said "Springtime!" and they opened up their eyes and had to try to guess who was still hibernating. It was great fun!

After our 12 Days activities, we had time for Afternoon meeting, and then we had our second (and final) Art Adventure Lesson of the year. Katie Cronin came in again, and we saw four new pieces, and then made a self-portrait, which I hope you found in your child's backpack. The Art Adventure program, once again, is from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. (for more information on the MIA, click here, and to see some of the works that we looked at, click here -- we saw the portrait of the woman by Vigée-Le Brun, the Hmong ceremonial skirt, the Ojibwa beaded cape, and the wedding portrait from 1920s Harlem).

After our adventures in art, we had Choice Time, and then packed up to head home or to Spanish class.

Today, we started our 12 Days of Winter celebration. We are basing the next couple of weeks on the picture book The Twelve Days of Winter, and doing a craft or activity each of the next 12 days. Today we made (as you probably discovered in your child's backpack) a pinecone birdfeeder. It was really fun, and a surprisingly small mess.

After our craft project, we had our afternoon meeting, and started a short writing project about winter. Connor, our Star of the Week, also read his poster (nice job, Connor!) --we ran out of time to look at his pictures though -- we'll do that tomorrow. We then headed up to the computer lab for our time there with math and reading practice.

When we got back to the room, we had a guest reader! Ms. Cori, who is the bilingual resource aide at Burroughs, came in to read one of her favorite books - Peter Rabbit. Then, we had a short Choice Time, and packed up to go home.

Today, after Center Time and Afternoon Meeting, we read a couple of books about Thanksgiving. One, Thanksgiving Day, told the story of the Pilgrims, and the other, Gracias, The Thanksgiving Turkey, was a funnier book about a turkey and a family in New York City (the turkey is meant for dinner, but the family happily ends up eating chicken). Then, we were off to the Computer Lab for a half hour.

When we got back to the room, we talked about our Penny Pal donations, and counted out a dollar of each type of coin. Each child made an estimation of how much money was in the bucket -- they ranged from $1.75 to $4,000,000.87. I'll bring it to the coin counting machine at the bank and see how much it is actually. We spent some time reviewing the letter sounds that we have learned in phonics class thus far, and practicing writing some simple words with those letters. Then, since it was a pretty nice day (there's no wind on our playground), we went outside instead of having Choice Time. After that, we were off to Spanish, pick-up, or the buses.

Today, after Center Time, we had a special guest. Christine, Adele's mom, came in to present a music lesson that is a part of the BRAVO! program. In this program, the kids will be exposed to classical music, composers, and gain an appreciation and understanding of the elements of music. It was really fun - ask your child all about it.

After our music lesson, the kids each made a self-portrait for our classroom wall, and then had Writer's Workshop, in which the kids learned a bit about the revision process. We spent time reviewing all of the writing that they have done thus far, and thought about ways to revise and expand the writing that they have already done.

After Writer's workshop, we did a math assessment/activity using 100s charts and even counting by 2s. We finished up with Choice Time, and then bundled everyone up to go home.

Have a great weekend - stay warm!!

Today, after Center Time and Afternoon Meeting, we had a phonics and reading lesson before gym class. We met a new High Hat friend - today was Noisy Nan (the /n/ sound - she has issues with nutcrackers - ask your child all about it). We also talked about new 'word families' that we can write now that we know the letter 'n' - words that end in -an and words that end in -in.

Then we went down the hall for gym class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson - who were both wearing roller blades, to our surprise. I got to the gym a bit early to pick them up, and ran a couple of laps around the gym with them -- kindergartners are faster than they look, but then you all probably already knew that...

After gym we hustled up to the Media Center for book check-out, and them back down to our class where we had a short math lesson about counting. We practiced counting by 10s, by 5s, by 2s, and backwards from both 20 and 10, all using the hundreds chart.

The day finished up with Choice Time. Then, after all were properly bundled up, we headed to Minneapolis Kids or home.

Today, after Center Time and Afternoon Meeting, we worked on reading and writing. We talked about three sight words that we are learning (I, see, and like). We used a page that had sentences that started with either I like or I see, and the kids took their page around the room and wrote words that they saw in the room to finish the sentences. The kids then practiced reading what they had written (to read their own writing and the sight words as well).

After writing, we had a special visitor -- Katie Cronin, who is a kindergarten parent, came in to run the Art Adventure program. The program is sponsored by the Minneapolis Institute of Art (here's a link for info about the program, and here's a link to see the works of art that the kids will see). The kids get the chance to see prints/photos of works that are in the museum, and talk about them. They saw a really cool mask from a Native American tribe in the Pacific Northwest, and then they made a mask out of a paper plate, which they should have in their backpacks today.

I didn't have a chance to put their homework packets in their backpacks today, so I will send it home tomorrow.

Today is the 50th day of kindergarten -- time flies when you're having fun, I guess!!

Today, after Center Time (new centers today!) and Afternoon Meeting, we had just enough time to read Rianna's Star of the Week poster (nice job, Rianna!) and finish the math lesson that we started yesterday before we headed up to the Computer Lab for our math and reading practice there. In math, we finished the "parts of ten" activity - your child should have brought it home today.

After computers, we came back down to the room and used the portable white boards and markers for the first time this year. Each child got his or her own mini-white board and we practiced the letter sounds that the High Hat friends have taught us this year so far. We also worked on 'stretching' words out to spell them, and all of the kids spelled three letter words on their boards.

At the end of the day, we finished up with Choice Time, and then it was time to go home.


Sorry for the late post - I just got home from a very successful Latino Parent Night at Burroughs - we had a potluck dinner in the cafeteria. As part of the bilingual team at Burroughs, I help with such activities throughout the year. It was great fun!

Today, after Center Time and Afternoon Meeting , we worked on math -- the kids used unifix ('linker') cubes to make combinations of 10, and labeled them on a page. They also are beginning to write the corresponding "number sentences" (6+4=10, for instance). After math, we met a new High Hat friend (to go along with the new one from last Friday, Wendy Watch). Today we met Dirty Dan, and learned about the /d/ sound.

After our phonics lesson, we went up to the computer lab for our time practicing math and reading skills. When we got back down to our class, we had time to preview the centers that we will have tomorrow (all new ones). that left just enough time for Choice Time. Then the kids were off to Spanish or home!

We also talked about the Penny Pals program that we are running here at school. If your child is talking about bring spare change to school, we will be using it to buy hygiene supplies for families that are currently living at the Harriet Tubman shelter in south Minneapolis.

Also, it's not too late to send in donations for our class basket for the Silent Auction - thanks for your generosity!

Sorry for the no posting yesterday - we had a good day. I had class last night, and was also getting ready for a presentation that I made at a conference.

If you are interested, here is a link to a flyer that describes the conference at which I presented today at the College of Saint Benedict - I talked about how I teach kids to be writers in kindergarten. It was a very good day, and, obviously, there was a sub in class today.

Have a great weekend!

After Center Time and Afternoon Meeting today, we continued with our genre study of fables. Today we read the story of the Fox and the Stork, in which the fox invited the stork to his house for dinner, only to serve the soup in shallow bowls that the stork, with her long beak, could not drink. The stork then invited the fox to her house for dinner, but served the soup in narrow, long-necked containers that only she could drink from. The moral of the story was "treat others as you would like to be treated" - a good lesson for all of us, I think. We talked about the plot as well as the moral of the story.

After we finished our genre study, we went to the computer lab for our math and reading practice there.

After the lab, we had a short reading and phonics lesson, in which we talked about our new High Hat friend Hairy Horse, and read another book that had lots of 'h' words in it (Hide and Seek Hippo) - and at the end of the book there is a picture in which we had to find all of the things that begin with the letter h. We projected the pages up on the big screen, which is always a hit with the kids. We then had math workshop -- the kids could either choose to work on their counting books, or they could play a game called "Grab and Count" using blocks. Ask your child which s/he chose!

We finished up with Choice Time -- having Choice Time at the end of the day is working very well -- it gives the kids something to look forward to throughout.

Have a great evening!

After Center Time and Afternoon Meeting today, we met a new friend of Mr. High Hat's in phonics class today. We read a story about "Hairy Horse" (which is obviously the /h/ sound), and then talked a bit about word families, and learned how to make rhyming stories -- we made words that all ended in -at and -it, and then wrote a sentence that ended with those words.

Then, we were off to the music room for music class with Mr. Hofmann. When we got back to the room, we worked on our counting books in math class again. We finished up the day with Choice Time.

Today, after a very short Choice Time, we talked about our new (and improved!) kindergarten schedule. Instead of Choice Time at the beginning of the day, we will start with Centers, in which the kids will work on a skill from either math or literacy in small groups. I will also run guided reading groups with the kids at this time. We talked about the centers for the week, and then had a chance to try one of them out. We will begin with Centers in the morning tomorrow (Choice Time will be at the end of the day now).

After our "Centers Practice," we had our Afternoon Meeting, and then had a little bit of time to read our Star of the Week poster (great job reading, Annie!). After Star of the Week, we worked on the counting books that we began in Math Workshop last week. We reviewed Anno's Counting Book, and then worked on our own books - they are looking nice! We also had a chance to read another counting book - We All Go on Safari - A Counting book from Tanzania.

Today we also talked about our new system for behavior management in the classroom. Each child has a pocket on a chart in the front of the room. In the pocket is a green, a yellow, and a red slip of paper. Every child starts the day on green ("go - you're doing fine"). As a warning, if a child needs a reminder about their behavior, they will go to the chart and pull out the front (green) paper, which will leave the yellow tag ("slow - think about your behavior"). If there is another behavior incident, the yellow tag will be pulled as well, and read will be left (red = "stop"). If a kid reaches red, they will miss part of their choice time for that day. If the red card needs to be pulled as well, I will call home. I like this system because it is another opportunity for a conversation at home -- you can ask your child for a behavior update based upon their card color each day.

After our reading (we also read another counting book called Down in the Swamp), we headed up to the Computer Lab for our time there. We went a half hour later than usual, so by the time we got back down to the classroom, it was time for us to get packed up and head to Spanish class or home!

Today, after Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we started Math Workshop. This week we have been reading and thinking about counting books, and we read Anno's Counting Book on Wednesday. Today, we started our own counting book, by adding pictures of objects to pages that contain that number (on the '3' page, for instance, the kids drew three of every object that they added). We will continue to work on them next week - the books go up to 11, so we didn't get nearly done. At the end of Math Workshop, the kids all shared their work with two other kids in the class -- they were all very proud of their work.

As we finished math, we read a couple of books for a break - The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norman Juster and Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories by Laura Vacaro Seeger (both donations from the Book Fair - thank you!!).

The we started reading/phonics, were we reviewed the letter sounds that we have learned about from Mr. High Hat thus far, and started to make the connection between the sounds and spelling simple words (using the /t/, the /a/, and the /p/ sounds to spell 'tap," for instance). Ask your child what they used to write the words -- it's pretty funny!

At the end of the day, Will's mom came in to read one of Will's favorite books to us (he's the Star of the Week this week) - she read It's Not Easy Being Five, which seemed a very fitting end to a week of kindergarten... :-)

Have a great weekend!

Today I had a sub in the room for the afternoon, so here's what I had planned for her -- ask your child how their day stacked up to my plan!

After Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, the kids read a quick book with the sub. Then, they headed to gym, where they stayed inside today. Then, they worked on phonics - and met a new High Hat friend -- Apple Annie (the short /a/ sound, as in apple). They did a little work on story sequencing, putting the pictures from the High Hat story in order, and then writing and drawing words that begin with that sound.

They finished up with a couple of math activities that dealt with numbers and number words.

After Choice TIme and Afternoon Meeting, we had a little bit of time to enjoy what looks to be the last of 60 degree weather in November. We went outside for a couple of minutes to play on the playground!

After the short recess, we did Writer's Workshop. I taught a short mini-lesson about using speech bubbles again (something of a repeat of a lesson from last week). We read a book that used speech bubbles (Hug), and learned that we can use speech bubbles for "dialogue" (your child should know that word now) and we can use it for individual people in stories who are talking.

We then headed up to the Computer Lab for 1/2 hour. After the lab, we started a math lesson that we will continue tomorrow - we will be making counting books. To get ready, we read a very cool counting book - Anno's Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno.

Then, we were on our ways!

Another note - I sent home school pictures today - the kids were to leave them in thheir backpacks until they got home -- I hope that was the case!

Today, after Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we had a chance to get out the instruments and sing and play (a very loud) Happy Birthday to Lili. Lili also brought her Mom to read If you Give a Cat a Cupcake, which is one of her favorite books. We had a little bit of time to read our new high Hat Story (Copy Cat - /k/ sound). Then, it was off to the Music Room for music class with Mr Hofmann.

When we came back to the classroom, we had had a chance for this week's Star of the Week to read his poster to us -- nice job, Will!!

Then it was time for reading/phonics. We read two short books that emphasized the /k/ sound - one with the letter 'c' and one with the letter 'k.' At the end of each book, there was a picture that had many things that began with the sound. We projected it up on the projection screen, and together found all of the 'hidden' pictures.

Before we packed up to go home we got to eat the yummy cupcakes that Lili brought for her birthday.

Don't forget to vote today!

Orange Party!

Today, after Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we worked on a short art project, and colored and read a pumpkin book (which should have come home in backpacks today) - encourage your child to read it to you. We spent a some time working with the 100s chart as well in math.

We then banished ourselves to the playground while the parents (and grandparents) set up for the Orange Party. It was a really fun time -- thank you, thank you, thank you, to all who helped -- planning, working at the party, and donating supplies.

Have a great weekend!

Today, after Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we had just enough time to squeeze in a little reading mini-lesson about word families (words that end in -ot, -in, or -op, for instance) and how just by adding a new letter to the beginning, it makes a whole new word. Hopefully some of these words will start to appear in their writing.

After that, we were off to the gym with Mr. Hill and a substitute (Ms. Dower). The kids went outside to play at the park. After gym, we hustled up to the Media Center to check out books.

Then, back down to our classroom, and on to Pumpkin Math - I brought in a pumpkin, and we made guesses about its circumference (the distance around the outside -- we tried to learn the big word today: we'll see if it sticks). The kids cut a piece of yarn to the length that they thought would fit right around the pumpkin. We then tried all of their guesses, and charted them on the wall. Ask your child all about it!

At the end of the day, we talked about the fact that even though it is Halloween (a fact that the kids won't let me forget...), we will not be wearing costumes in school. Don't forget to send your child to school tomorrow in their orange tie-dye shirt for our Orange Party!!

Today we had another busy day! After Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we did Writer's Workshop. Today, I taught a mini-lesson on using speech bubbles (like in the comics) to add characters' voices to the kids' stories. We read an very entertaining story that used nothing bu speech bubbles to tell the story -- There's a Bird on Your Head, by Mo Williems. Next time, we'll talk about adding the conversations to our writing. We wrote for about 20 minutes.

We then headed up to the Computer Lab for a half an hour, and then, back down to the classroom. We met a new High Hat friend in phonics -- Itchy Itch (the /i/ sound, obviously). We talked a bit about words that begin with that sound, and then had a a little bit of time to practice counting on the 100s chart -- forward and backward by 10s, and backward from 10 and 20.

Then, time to go home!!

Today after Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we had a little bit of time to read -- we read a
pumpkin book (since that's our theme for the week). We learned about how pumpkins grow, and how the plants develop thoughout the seasons.

Then we headed up to the music room for music class with Mr. Hofmann. When we returned, we had were able to work on some math -- making combinations of numbers that add up to 7. We are working hard on developing the number sense that will enable the kids to be even more successful in math - these activities, as I have mentioned before, form the basis for addition, subtraction, and the rest of arithmetic.

Today I also sent home the tie-dye shirts for the Orange Party on Friday. I think that they turned out pretty nicely -- let me know if there are any issues, and please send your child to school on Friday in their shirt!

This afternoon, after we had Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we had a little bit of time before we headed up to the Computer Lab again. We previewed the Ezra Jack Keats book for the day (Whistle for Willie) and then we looked again at our fish. We are working on making predictions and inferences about their behavior. The current question before us is how the fish know when there is food in the tank -- do they see it, smell it, feel it (via vibrations in the water), or hear it when it hits the surface. We're still working on that question.

We then went up to the Computer Lab, where we worked for 1/2 hour on reading and math (and how to log in...). After CCC Lab, we headed back down to our room, and worked on analyzing the plot and characters in Whistle for Willie -- ask your child all about it. They should know what "plot" means by this point (we say that it means "what the story is about"). After that process, we had a minute to read a pumpkin story (that's our theme for the week) -- we read a funny story called Too Many Pumpkins -- ask yourt child what Rebecca Estelle did with all of her pumpkins, and why she hated pumpkins in the first place!

After all of that, we packed up and went home!

Today was a busy, busy day in Room 145. After Choice Time, we were very lucky to have four moms in to help out with putting the rubber bands on our t-shirts for our Orange Party tie-dying. While some of the kids were working on that project, the rest were working on math -- we worked on making number combinations with unifix (liner) cubes that added up to 6. The page that we worked on should have come home with your child today.

After the adventure in tie-dying, we kept at our Author Study of Ezra Jack Keats. Today we analyzed Hi, Cat! looking at the plot and the characters. The kids are really getting good at making summaries of the action and thinking about the characters in the books -- this will really help them in their writing and the reading!

We then went off to the gym for our Book Fair Preview. The kids had a chance to look at all of the books that will be for sale at the Burroughs Book Fair on Saturday. If you haven't been before, it's great fun. There are snacks for sale, great (and pretty inexpensive) books -- like the ones on the book orders that I send home for sale, and a chance to socialize with other Burroughs families. Several of the teachers have volunteered to read a book at the fair, and, if you happen to be there at 11:15, you can hear me read (probably no great treat for your child, though -- they hear me read to them every day!).

After the Book Fair, we came back to the room to read another Ezra Jack Keats book, Whistle for Willie, which we will study more in depth on Monday. We also practiced various ways to count on the 100s chart (by 5s and 10s), and looked for more patterns on the chart. We also had a chance to look more at the fish in our room, and saw their reactions to adding weeds to their habitats -- ask your child what the goldfish did and what the guppies did!

Before we went home, we finished Esio Trot, and we'll begin a new book on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Once again, sorry for the late post. A meeting after school, and then a baby shower for Mr. and Mrs. Wold (the other two kindergarten teachers).

Today after Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we had Paco's mom into class to read a couple of Paco's favorite stories (since Paco is our Star of the Week this week). She read Oh No, Not a Ghost, Owl Moon (an old favorite of mine), and What I Be. They were all super books - thanks for sharing them! We also got a chance to feed our fish -- we watched how the goldfish found the food and then all went crazy eating -- they were hungry!

Then it was time for us to go to gym with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson (actually, Mr. Peterson and a sub - Mr. Hill was out today). The kids went to Lynnhurst Park to play.

After gym, we came back to the room and worked on another book by Ezra Jack Keats (our author study for the week). Today we read Hi, Cat! again, and talked about the plot of the book. We are really working on our skills at summarizing and figuring out which details are important ones. Then we worked on math - we figured out different combinations of numbers to use to make six - the foundation of addition and subtraction. Look for the page that we worked on to come home tomorrow.

Just as a preview of coming attractions, tomorrow we will go as a class to preview the Book Fair, which will take place on Saturday in the school gym. Several of the teachers have volunteered to read a book at the fair, and, if you happen to be there at 11:15, you can hear me read (probably no great treat for your child, though -- they hear me read to them every day!).

Sorry, first of all for the late post -- a series of meetings at school, and then a series of 'meetings' once I got home. At any rate, here goes.

After Choice Time and Afternoon meeting, we got the fish that we met yesterday settled in their new mini-aquariums in the class. We have guppies and goldfish -- your child hopefully came home tying to think of good names for them. Tomorrow we will try to name them and figure out a way to tell them apart. Wish us luck!

After the fish adventure, we had Writer's Workshop. We worked once again on "stretching" words and using that new skill to add text to the stories.

Then, we finally had the long-awaited trip to the computer lab. In the lab, your child will be working on an individualized program of math and reading practice that is suited to his/her level. After we got log-on issues resolved, we worked for about 20 minutes. In the future, the plan will be to go back to the lab once or perhaps twice a week.

When we got back to the classroom, we read another book byt Ezra Jack Keats (our author of the week). We read Hi, Cat!, which is a really funny book. We will do an analysis of it tomorrow.

At the end of the day, we had a bit of time to look at the fish again (they seem to be adjusting quite nicely, thank you very much), play a quick math game, and practice counting by 10s and by 5s.

Today, after Choice Time and Afternoon Meeting, we had a few minutes before it was time to go to music class with Mr. Hofmann. We got to read the Ezra Jack Keats book for the day, Pet Show. Then, we headed up three flights of stairs for music.

When we got back to the room, we re-read the book, and then talked about the plot and the changes in the main character throughout the book, just as we did yesterday for Peter's Chair. We are compiling our analysis on a chart -- when you are in the classroom next, be sure to check it out!

We also found out what it is that is going into the mysterious tubs of water that have been in our classroom for a couple of days. Yesterday, we predicted what it would be, and today we saw that it will be some guppies and goldfish!!! They will be in our room for the next couple of weeks for us to observe and learn from. (Don't tell the morning class, though -- they won't know until tomorrow morning... )

At the end of the day, we were able to play a math game that used the 100s chart, and read a little bit more of Esio Trot.

Welcome back after the long weekend -- I hope that it was a good one for all.

After choice time today, we had our morning meeting. Paco got to read his Star of the Week poster (nice job, Paco!!), and we were able to read a short book before Writer's Workshop today. Our reading project for this week will be an author study this week of Ezra Jack Keats (books like The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie, etc.). Today we read Peter's Chair, and talked about the "plot" and how the main character changed during the book. Stay tuned for updates on future books this week!

During Writer's Workshop, we learned about "stretching words" to sound them out, instead of the more staccato, sound by sound method (not buh-o-ah-t for boat, for instance). Ask your child if they can demonstrate it - they did a super job, and we got some of our best writing yet today.

We had an all-school drill today where we practiced what we would be in the case of someone suspicious in the school - we call it a "Code Red" drill, so the kids may come home talking about that. We lock the door, turn off the lights, and wait quietly in a corner of the room until Mr. Cadotte (the principal) announces that it is all clear.

We also met a new friend of Mr. High Hat's from our phonics program -- Buzzy Bee. Buzzy, predictably enough, makes the b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b sound. We brainstormed words that began with that sound.

At the end of the day, we got to play a number game on the 100s chart in which I turned some of the numbers around (they are on little cards on a pocket chart) and the kids had to figure out which ones were turned around -- it goes right with the 100s chart work that the kids are doing on their weekly homework.

Picture Day!

That pretty much sums up our day today -- we had a bit of choice time to begin, and then we had to get organized for pictures. After we took our class and individual photos, we had our afternoon meeting. We once again had a short Writer's Workshop -- today we learned about what writers do when they are 'stuck' in the middle of a story and don't know how to write or draw the thing that comes next.

Finally, we went outside to choose our "class tree." We picked a nice one, I think -- we'll go back to it, throughout the year, and write about and draw it in the different seasons to see how it changes. (We put a sign on it, so if you are ever out back behind the school, you can see which one we picked.)

By the time we were done outside, it was time for us to get all packed up for the end of the day. We were liucky tpo have a bit more time to read Esio Trot, and then be on our ways home (or to Spanish class, for many of us.

Enjoy the long weekend!!

Today we had choice time to begin, as always. After we had our afternoon meeting, we had only a few minutes to briefly work on counting by 10s, and a bit more time to set up the phonics/reading lesson for later in the day.

We had music class today (all the way up on the 3rd floor -- quite an adventure) with Mr. Hofmann - apart from singing, they played an interesting game -- ask them all about it!

After music class, we had a phonics/reading lesson, in which we made another "magic book" -- see if your child can tell you how to fold it (here's a link to a webpage that shows how: http://www.makingbooks.com/hotdog.shtml). It's still pretty confusing to many of them. In the books, which the kids took home today, we glued words that began with our focus letter, /p/. The kids had to choose the words that began with the /p/ sound from a page that had many words on it, then cut and glue the words on their books. If they had time, I also asked them to write the word that they made on the same page in their books.

Finally, we got packed up for home, and read a little bit more of Esio Trot- it's getting to the main part of the story, and the kids are getting into it.

Monday, October 13, 2008

We began another fun (but short) week in Room 145 today.

After choice time, we had our afternooon meeting as usual. After our meeting, we read a short math book (Ten Black Dots, by Donald Crews) to set up our math time. Then we spent some time learning about the number 5 - and the combinations of numbers that add up to five. The kids put together 2 colors of linker cubes to make the number 5. This skill is an important one, as it leads not only to a better understanding of how numbers work, but also it directly corresponds to addition skills.

After math, we had Writer's Workshop. Today I taught a mini-lesson about what writer's do when they don't feel like they have a new story to tell -- they look back at old stories that they have written, and either re-work or add to them, or get a fresh idea from a previous story. Then, once again, we WROTE. The kids are really doing a nice job getting their ideas onto paper.

We also met a new friend of Mr. High Hat's today - Penny Put. the story and the sequencing cards are in your child's backpack today. Finally, we did some more work on counting by 10s, and played a fun game with the number chart. I turn several of the numbers around so that the card is blank, and then the kids have to figure out which number needs to be 'fixed'. At the end of the day, we finished up with a couple of pages from Esio Trot.

October 10, 2008

Welcome to the trial kindergarten blog. Feel free to leave comments, if you like. I'm going to try to post snippets of what we have done each day, in an attempt to give you some leverage as you ask "So, what did you do in school today?" (Especially if you have a kid like mine, who always says, "um, nothing much..." I can't promise that it will be workable, but I wanted to give it a try.

So, here goes:

Today we had choice time, as always - the pizza parlor is still up, and so is the painting easel, the writing center, and the art table. We had afternoon meeting. After meeting, we drew the October version of our self-portraits (we'll do one each month throughout the school year, and then compare them at the end). After our art project, we did Writer's Workshop, and learned about how some writers make the pictures before the words, and others make the words first. Then, we WROTE for about 20 minutes. After all of our hard work writing, we went outside for a bit of recess (can you believe the afternoon weather?). We got to be outside at the same time as Mr Wold's class!!! When we came back in, we had a short math time -- we practiced counting by tens, and talked about what counting by tens means using the number chart. After that, we had just enough time to get all of our things packed up and read a little bit more of Esio Trot by Roald Dahl (our end-of-the-day book) before we went home or to Minneapolis Kids.

Have a great weekend!!