Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Hot Chocolate
Last week, we made a graph answering the question, do you like hot chocolate. Then we recorded our observations of the graph!! Here are the results:
Monday, November 28, 2011
Holiday Gifts!
I have a few recommendations for holiday gifts this year. And a blog with a ton of great ideas!!
Books!! Any and all! A few of my favorites are:
Pete the Cat (there are 2: I Love My White Shoes and Rocking in my School Shoes) by Eric Litwin
Little Blue and Little Yellow (an old but great book) by Leo Lionni
Terrific by Jon Agee
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Ted by Tony Diterlizzi
...and anything by Mo Willems (my favorites are Leonardo the Terrible Monster and all of the pigeon books). I could go on and on about books!
Here is a great list by Parents Magazine of the best books by age. The Preschool and Big Kids sections have some great classics and new books!
Games! Any games to encourage your child to read, count, take turns, interact, socialize, use vocabulary, or have fun!! One of my favorite, not as well game is Zingo. It is a great way for kids to have fun, use vocabulary, and interact! They also have a math version, Zingo 1-2-3 that is a bit more educational and just as fun!!
Mom Colored Glasses, an amazing blog edited by a teacher at our school, also put together a wonderful list of Holiday Gifts! There are gifts for kids, parents, and even pets! Some of my favorites for kids are Illustory (kids can write, illustrate, and have published their own story), Color Your Own Castle, all of the books (of course), Box Play for Kids (stickers that turn your recyclables into something extraordinary), Very Silly Sentences, and Rory's Story Cubes (roll the picture cubes and tell a story using all of the pictures!)
Books!! Any and all! A few of my favorites are:
Pete the Cat (there are 2: I Love My White Shoes and Rocking in my School Shoes) by Eric Litwin
Little Blue and Little Yellow (an old but great book) by Leo Lionni
Terrific by Jon Agee
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Ted by Tony Diterlizzi
...and anything by Mo Willems (my favorites are Leonardo the Terrible Monster and all of the pigeon books). I could go on and on about books!
Here is a great list by Parents Magazine of the best books by age. The Preschool and Big Kids sections have some great classics and new books!
Games! Any games to encourage your child to read, count, take turns, interact, socialize, use vocabulary, or have fun!! One of my favorite, not as well game is Zingo. It is a great way for kids to have fun, use vocabulary, and interact! They also have a math version, Zingo 1-2-3 that is a bit more educational and just as fun!!
Mom Colored Glasses, an amazing blog edited by a teacher at our school, also put together a wonderful list of Holiday Gifts! There are gifts for kids, parents, and even pets! Some of my favorites for kids are Illustory (kids can write, illustrate, and have published their own story), Color Your Own Castle, all of the books (of course), Box Play for Kids (stickers that turn your recyclables into something extraordinary), Very Silly Sentences, and Rory's Story Cubes (roll the picture cubes and tell a story using all of the pictures!)
Native American Feast
Last week, we had our Native American Feast! The students loved wearing their "deer skin" vests and feasting on the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash) along with fish (gummy and cheese). Here are some pictures from our feast!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Pete the Cat
Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes is our class' new favorite book!!
We used the story in our Gratitude assembly and sang the song to the school! (click the link on the book title to download the words to the book and the song)
It is a great story about Pete the cat who love everything he has, no matter what! He has white shoes and sings about how much he loves them. Then he steps in strawberries and they turn red! Is he mad? Goodness no! (a line from the book :) ). Then he sings about how much he loves his red shoes! The story continues like this with Pete singing about how he loves his shoes, no matter what the color. It is a good reminder to be grateful for what we have no matter what!
I encourage everyone to download the book/song, borrow it from the library, or buy it...I promise it will be a favorite! Most of the kids can read the story by heart now too ;) There is also another story about Pete rocking in his school shoes!
We used the story in our Gratitude assembly and sang the song to the school! (click the link on the book title to download the words to the book and the song)
It is a great story about Pete the cat who love everything he has, no matter what! He has white shoes and sings about how much he loves them. Then he steps in strawberries and they turn red! Is he mad? Goodness no! (a line from the book :) ). Then he sings about how much he loves his red shoes! The story continues like this with Pete singing about how he loves his shoes, no matter what the color. It is a good reminder to be grateful for what we have no matter what!
I encourage everyone to download the book/song, borrow it from the library, or buy it...I promise it will be a favorite! Most of the kids can read the story by heart now too ;) There is also another story about Pete rocking in his school shoes!
Harvest Parties!
We had a great time at our Harvest Parties! Thank you again to everyone who helped plan, came to help, or sent in items at the party; we couldn't have done it without you!! Here are a few pictures...I didn't get too many....I was having too much fun!
More Pets!!
We have some new pets!! I may be a bit pet crazy (as my husband says), but I got a grant from PetSmart that covered almost the entire cost of a 10 gallon aquarium! The kids love it already and are making some great scientific observations about the fish and their behaviors!
First, we have Bones the Ghost Catfish. Bones is very shy and likes to hide. The kids love to find him!! He is very neat because he is almost entirely clear and you can see his bones!
Then there is Fin and Gill who are GloFish. Fin is blue and Gill is red. They have jellyfish genes which make them actually glow under a black light!!
First, we have Bones the Ghost Catfish. Bones is very shy and likes to hide. The kids love to find him!! He is very neat because he is almost entirely clear and you can see his bones!
Then there is Fin and Gill who are GloFish. Fin is blue and Gill is red. They have jellyfish genes which make them actually glow under a black light!!
Next are Fin and Gill's best friends, Larry, Moe, and Curly, the Neon Tetras. They are love to school together!
Finally, there is Gilligan, the Gourami. Gilligan is a bit more red and orange than this picture with no blue, but he is fairly similar.
I am pretty sure these will be the last pets for the year...but you never know!!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Great Kindergarten Websites!
Here are some great educational websites for your children! If they are going to be playing on the computer or a video game, it might as well be educational!!
My favorite.
It is broken up into levels (ABC’s, Learn to Read, It’s Fun to Read, and
I’m Reading). Each level has tons
of neat activities that the students love.
Another part of starfall.com that has math concepts too.
Lots of great interactive games that teach multiple topics
at once.
This site has some great math and reading games. They are pretty simple and quick to
play.
This is the website that is connected to our math program at
school. It will let you choose the
grade level along with the topic (numbers, measurement, time and money, etc.).
A great site that answers many students’ questions about the
world around them. It has great
games, coloring pages, pictures and more!
If you have other sites that your kids love, let me know!! I would love to add to this list!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Fire Safety and a Give Away!
This week we had 2 Fire Fighters come in to talk with our class about fire safety! They discussed when to call 9-1-1, what to do if there is a fire in your home (get outside or if you are trapped inside, make a lot of noise so they can hear you), and what to do if your clothes catch on fire (stop, drop, cover your face, and roll). They also talked about what fire fighters do and then showed us his uniform and explained each part.
Then, he gave each child an "assignment" that I believe is very important. The first thing is to go with a parent to make sure that each smoke detector has a battery and is working. The easiest way to do this is to push the button on it and make sure it makes a noise. The second job is, as a family, talk about where your safe meeting place is if there ever is a fire. Decide on a place that everyone knows how to get to and that is far enough away from your house to be away from any danger.
So, because this is such an important assignment, I thought I would do a give away along with it. I have a Fire Book for one family. All you have to do is leave a comment stating that you checked all of your smoke detectors and state where your family meeting place is (next to the mailbox or under the big oak tree is fine). That's it!! I will be drawing a random winner next Friday, November 4, so make sure to do your fire homework by then!!
Then, he gave each child an "assignment" that I believe is very important. The first thing is to go with a parent to make sure that each smoke detector has a battery and is working. The easiest way to do this is to push the button on it and make sure it makes a noise. The second job is, as a family, talk about where your safe meeting place is if there ever is a fire. Decide on a place that everyone knows how to get to and that is far enough away from your house to be away from any danger.
So, because this is such an important assignment, I thought I would do a give away along with it. I have a Fire Book for one family. All you have to do is leave a comment stating that you checked all of your smoke detectors and state where your family meeting place is (next to the mailbox or under the big oak tree is fine). That's it!! I will be drawing a random winner next Friday, November 4, so make sure to do your fire homework by then!!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
You may have heard your child talking about filling buckets or being a bucket filler and been a bit confused. We recently read the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud and the students really took the book's message to heart.
The book states that everyone has an invisible bucket. Each bucket is to hold kind thoughts and actions from others. In order to be a "bucket filler" you need to say and do kind things to others. This in turn also fills your bucket as well. (There are such things at bucket dippers too, but we are of course bucket fillers in kindergarten!)
We have been practicing being great bucket fillers by using our manners, smiling at others, using kind words, and giving hugs. Ask your child what else they can do to fill someone's bucket!
We are so lucky at Knapp that the author of Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is coming to our school on November 15!! We will let you know what time the presentation will be; I am sure it will be great for all families to attend!!
So, don't forget to fill a bucket today!!
The book states that everyone has an invisible bucket. Each bucket is to hold kind thoughts and actions from others. In order to be a "bucket filler" you need to say and do kind things to others. This in turn also fills your bucket as well. (There are such things at bucket dippers too, but we are of course bucket fillers in kindergarten!)
We have been practicing being great bucket fillers by using our manners, smiling at others, using kind words, and giving hugs. Ask your child what else they can do to fill someone's bucket!
We are so lucky at Knapp that the author of Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is coming to our school on November 15!! We will let you know what time the presentation will be; I am sure it will be great for all families to attend!!
So, don't forget to fill a bucket today!!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The Apple Orchard!
Last week we had a perfect day for the apple orchard!! The weather was beautiful, the donuts were delicious, and the students were having lots of fun!!
Excited for the orchard!
Cider and donuts...a great way to start the day!
Petting the goats.
Playing in the corn silo.
Jumping into the pile of hay...then running around the barn to do it again!
How many kindergartners does it take to milk a cow? :)
Picking the perfect apple.
The AM Class.
Feeding the goats.
The Afternoon Class enjoying their snack!
Feeding the goats...surprisingly they were still hungry after all of the food that they got in the morning!
Walking through the apple trees.
Holding and petting bunnies!
We love the orchard!
Picking out some great pumpkins!
The Afternoon Class!
Thank you again to all of the parents who came with us! We had a great time!
Excited for the orchard!
Cider and donuts...a great way to start the day!
Petting the goats.
Playing in the corn silo.
Jumping into the pile of hay...then running around the barn to do it again!
How many kindergartners does it take to milk a cow? :)
Picking the perfect apple.
Found it!!
The pumpkin patch!!
The AM Class.
Feeding the goats.
The Afternoon Class enjoying their snack!
Feeding the goats...surprisingly they were still hungry after all of the food that they got in the morning!
Walking through the apple trees.
Holding and petting bunnies!
We love the orchard!
Picking out some great pumpkins!
The Afternoon Class!
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