Week of April 22-26th

Getting the blog done early this Friday since my dogs decided to wake me up at 4:59 this morning!  I hate when my husband is out of town for this very reason!!

Anyway, we had another great week.  We learned all about insects, what they need to survive and their habitats.

In math, we are working on sorting and classifying objects by different attributes.  We are also doing some graphing and addition/subtraction review.

I sent the note home this week about the kids teaching the class.  Please read this carefully.  Every child is assigned a day to teach the class something, it can be how to do something, how to make something or just about something.  I told them they couldn’t teach something I already have, for example, we just finished insects, so they can’t teach about insects.    If they teach how to MAKE something, it’s much more fun if they bring enough supplies so the whole class can make whatever they’re teaching us.  Please make sure their lesson plan is approved 3 days ahead of time as I don’t want repeats of lessons.    I also know what works and what doesn’t.  The kids must also have a poster to help them teach and it is their responsibility to make the poster.  Yes, you can help them, but please let it be their work.  Everyone was assigned a day and it’s very hard to rearrange this time of the year.  Each child is required to do this activity.  Our first group goes next Friday.  They love to see what the other kids teach them and this is a great way to practice our leadership skills!

Speaking of leadership, we are working on eye contact this week and having polite, respectful manners.  We have talked ALL year about problem solving.  Please continue to have these conversations at home.  I always tell them if it’s a little problem, they should try and solve it with kind words instead of making it a bigger problem.  I DO give them the opportunity to try and solve it first.  These are important life skills to learn now. We’ve been having some trouble with this in class lately.  Kids are just “reacting” instead of problem solving, so we are revisiting this quite a bit.  We are also having lots of issues (especially the girls) having hands on others.  They are constantly draped on each other which is hurting feelings and being a distraction in class.  They need to always have hands to themselves.  Thanks for helping with those reminders at home.

Our field trip is next Thursday and this morning, I saw 70% chance of rain.  We will make a decision by Tues. when we have a better idea of the forecast.  IF it’s rained out, we will plan to go the next Thursday, May 9th.

We will be sending speaking parts home for our kindergarten celebration on the last day of school.  The kindergarteners will be doing a short musical program and have speaking parts.  Thanks for helping them practice their lines at home.  This will be a day to dress up and we hope all parents can come and enjoy the program at 10:30 and dismissal will be at noon.  We will have muffins and a slide show afterwards to end the year on a great note!

I hope you’re enjoying the Goldiblox engineering backpacks!  Thanks for checking them for all the pieces before they’re returned! I know they’re having fun!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Week of April 15-19

This week we learned all about community helpers and the roles they play within our community.  Then the kids painted themselves as the community helper they want to be when they grow up.  We also did some writing to go with it and a class book which is coming home now.

We were lucky to have Brody’s dad, Captain Brooks, come and talk to us about fire safety and he brought his gear to show them what a fireman would look and sound like if they were to ever need to enter your home.  He also shared with the kids the importance of having a meeting place if there is ever a fire, and for kids to know their address and phone numbers in case of emergency.  This is something a lot of kids learn in preschool and then forget.  It’s important to review that safety information with your child.

In math, we are working on sorting and classifying objects by more than one attribute.  We have sorted by color, shape, and size, and will add some other attributes next week.

In second step and leader in me, we’ve been working on being honest and trustworthy and talking about and role playing what that means and sounds like in kindergarten.

The Goldiblox engineering backpacks have started coming home.  I have 3 different sets and we’ll just keep sending them out as they come back.  Thanks for always checking that all the pieces are there before it’s returned.  I know the kids are having a lot of fun with them!

Speaking of engineering, this afternoon we’re going to do an experiment to get the bunny down a zipline in the egg.  I haven’t done this one before, so I’m excited to see what the kids come up with!  They’ll have to keep the concepts of push, pull, friction, and motion in mind that we’ve already learned about.  I’ll be sure to put pics on Seesaw!

Our ant farm has lots of tunnels in it and the kids check it every morning when they walk in.  We got our ladybug larvae today and put them in.  We hope to watch them change and come out of their pupas in about a week or so.

Next week, we will celebrate Earth day on Monday and then start our insect unit.  We will continue to work on sorting and counting in math.

Hope you all have a great weekend.  Everyone is coming to my house for Easter on Sunday.  I’ll be glad to have the kids home for a few days!

Week of April 1-5th

This week we started our second Project Lead the Way module and learned about push/pull/force/motion/and collision.  We did a lot of fun experiments.  Today’s experiment was to get the marble down the tape but they could NOT touch the marble at all.  We had a long talk about how to work in a group, how to talk to others while working in a group and how to value everyone’s opinions and ideas.  They really did a great job and when it was time to clean up, I heard a lot of groans and “wait, we just need to try this!”  I think they’d have done this all day if I let them!   We will continue next week with the same concepts, but we will be doing some building of a farm for some pigs along with some other experiments.

In math, we are working on measurement, which has worked well with our experiments as well.  We’ve measured with all different tools, but I’m pretty sure the licorice was the favorite!

In second step, we’ve worked on handling name calling and appropriate ways to handle that problem.  We did a lot on problem solving and synergizing this as well with all the experiments.

Next Thursday is the fine arts fair/pancake dinner night.  A note went home yesterday about this.  I will be here from 5:30-6:45 and hope to see everyone!  There will be a blue bag drawing which I’ll explain to the kids next week.  If you come, there will be tickets on their table and they can put those tickets in bags around the building to win prizes and other things.  The K prize is lunch for 2 with the K teachers.  Make sure you check the bags as some bags are specific to a grade level/teacher.  There will also be a checklist to tour the building and be sure to turn those in by the front doors.  The classes with the most participation will win extra recess.  That night, you’ll get to come to the room and see the leadership notebooks, the frog trioramas, and the pig experiments.

Next Thursday, we will be celebrating my birthday.  Each year I buy pizza for the class and we eat in the room.  I will send a separate email about this for you to respond to.

We have an eaglet hatched!  IF you want to watch at home, google, decorah eagles and click on the raptor resource project.  We watched the video today of it hatching last night.  The next one should hatch in about a week.  It’s fun to actually see in real time the American symbol that we learned about in class.

Hope you all have a great weekend!  I heard 70 degrees…I can’t wait!