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!