THANK YOU! June 2008
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I just want to take a moment to say a great big thank you to each and every kindergartener and their family. It has been such a pleasure to teach your children. I am really going to miss every one of them. I hope everyone comes back to visit me in the fall. You can also email me at ----------------- and I will try to check my mail at least weekly even while I am out of town. I hope you all have a terrific summer and a great experience next year. It has truely been my best year ever and I will miss you all. |
Happy Father's Day June 15, 2008
Dear Dads, We hope you enjoy the Voicethread presentation that we created for you this week. Love . . . your kindergarteners
Webchat June 4, 2008
We met with our new first grade friends at 2:30 for our webchat. They were in Mrs. Melnyk's classroom in Northbrook, Illinois. Prior to our chat, the children went with Mr. Foster during their tech time and took pictures (by themselves) of things in our school they wanted to share. We created a bubble share so that Mrs. Melnyk's class could see our school. We posted it at http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/394811/overview. We learned that the Cardinal is their state bird and the violet is their state flower.
This was actually our second webchat. We visited with Mrs. Atwood's kindergarten class in Crowley, Texas in May. The children compared information about our classrooms, schools, states, weather and time. The children learned that the Texas state bird is the Mockingbird, to which virtually everyone asked, "What's a mockingbird?"
Our webcam was a gift from Marti's family. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and technical difficulties, we were unable to arrange a chat, but hopefully we will reconnect first thing next year.
Field Trip to the Cultural Center and Farmer's Market May 22, 2008
The children really enjoyed the all day field trip.
*They created an ecosystem in a bottle at their hands-on science activity at the L.
*They watched the planetarium show "Our Place in Space" .
*After lunch in the S. Museum, they participated in the hands-on social studies activity "Grandma's Trunk".
*After that, we went a half a mile down the street to the farmer's market. We found several items made in Michigan to bring back to our classroom. We bought soap made from goat's milk. Bread, honey and apples to eat for snack the following day, as well as a beautiful flower for our classroom.
I imagine that they all slept well that night, or at least all of the parent chaperones did!
Happy Mother's Day May 11, 2008
Dear Moms, We hope you enjoy the Voicethread presentation that we created for you this week. Love . . . your kindergarteners
Seussical The Musical was Fantastical! May 6, 2008
The children (and adults) loved our field trip today! We went to see Seussical the Musical and it was fantastic. The children wrote all about it in their journals and drew their favorite things on KidPix. Ronnie spent a lot of time on his picture as you can see, he drew the Cat in the Hat as well as some of the Who's dancing with their umbrellas. Just for fun, the children and I went making a list of describing words to describe the play. My favorite was Kiersten's "Fantastical", I thought it was very appropriate. Here's a few more things they had to say about the play:
"I liked the Seussical the Musical. I rode in Jack's car. We ate outside." Ellinor
"I liked then the doctor fell down and when Doctor Seuss was riding the tricycle." Ronnie
"I liked when the Cat in the Hat was riding the tricycle. I liked the Cat in the Hat. I liked when Horton sat on the nest." Jack
"I liked when the Cat in the Hat was riding the tricycle in Seussical the Musical. It was loud. It was funny." Carter
"I liked when the Cat in the Hat did a funny part of the show. I liked the show of the movie (Horton Hears a Who). I liked the part where it sang songs." Chiara
"Seussical the Musical was fun. I loved the Cat in the Hat. And I loved the Cat in the Hat riding on the tricycle." Reese
"I liked when he was riding the tricycle. And I liked Horton. My favorite part was when they were singing." Andrew
"I liked when the Cat in the Hat was shaking his booty" Kiersten
"Seussical the Musical was fun. I liked when the Cat in the Hat was riding the tricycle. It was too loud." Braden
Buggy about insects! April 29, 2008
Insects have been the hot topic in the kindergarten room. Last week on Thursday's centers, Jack's dad came in to help. He read The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle. Then the children studied our class crickets (Diego's food) with magnifying glasses and looked at a labeled picture of a cricket. The children then each drew a picture of a cricket using details they observed.
On Friday, we read an interactive book about insects and discussed the difference between an insect and any old bug. The children then used a variety of materials to create their own insects. They made sure their insect had a head, thorax and an abdomen. Everyone's insect turned out different. The children also helped me make a four foot dragonfly, that is still a work in progress.
This week, to help the children remember the body parts of the insect we made up this song (sung to the tune of "Head and Shoulders")
Head and thorax, abdomen, abdomen, abdomen.
Head and thorax, abdomen, abdomen, abdomen.
Two antennae and six legs.
We have been continuing with our unit by doing some fun activities on kidpix. Look for a slide show soon.
Busy Week April 21, 2008
It's been a busy week and it took me a little while to download, edit and complile all the pictures I took. I picked my favorites - only 30 of them! They show our water bug exploration. The children loved looking at the water bugs I found for them. They used the nature guide to help them identify what some of them where. Then they attempted to collect their own. It was fun, but not very successful. |
BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.
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Non-Standard Units of Measurement - i.e. String! April 16, 2008
We have been enjoying our measurement unit. Yesterday we used unifix cubes to measure. Today we used string. We went on a measurement walk about the building and measured artwork, display cases, doors, fish tanks and anything else we could find. We finished up in the library by playing a timed games - the children had to the count of ten to find something shorter than their string, then something longer than their string, then something the same length as their string (that was a hard one). We had a great time!
Field Trip to the Butterfly House
March 13,2008
The kindergarteners along with the junior kindergarteners had a great time visiting the butterfly house at Oakland Mall. The children enjoyed learning about butterflies and playing a game of jeopardy. Then we visited the butterfly house and spotted the many painted lady butterflies fluttering around. Most of us even got a chance to hold one of the beautiful butterflies. After that, we created our very own butterflies that really flapped their wings in the craft area.
Since it was so close to Easter and the Easter Bunny was in residence, we even got to have our class pictures taken with the Easter Bunny. We finished the field trip with lunch in the food court and then returned to school. It was a great day!
Blubber Experiment March 12. 2008
We wrapped up our winter activities with a blubber experiment. We had been learning about arctic animals and how they keep warm. We put Crisco on a plastic baggie and then lined it with another one. Then the children placed both hands into some icy water - one inside the bag. They noticed the drastic difference in temperature. The children really like the experiment.
100th Day of School!
February 21, 2008
We celebrated the 100th day of school on Thursday, February 21st. The children created and counted groups of 100. We counted by ones, twos, fives and groups of tens. We worked on 100 piece puzzles – very hard, played with 100 little animals, read books about the 100th day of school, created 100 day masks and even read about and counted to 100 with an interactive program on the computer. The children also created portraits of themselves at 100 years old – complete with wrinkles.
Mary Had A Little Lamb and It Followed Her WHERE? - A Voicethread Project
January 18, 2008
Our Symmetry Walk - A BubbleShare Album
January 16, 2008
BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.
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Today the kindergarteners were introduced to the concept of symmetry. We took pictures of their faces and they each used yarn to show the Line of Symmetry. Then the children suggested we go on a symmetry walk to find things that are symmetrical in the school. After that we put the pictures up on a slide show on our classroom TV. We used yarn to show the line on symmetry on each picture. |
Off We Go! Animal Reports - A Kindergarten Podcast
January 2008
Does A Kangaroo Have A Mother Too? - A Kindergarten Podcast
December 2008
Santa Lucia Day Celebration - A Bubbleshare Slideshow
December 2008
On December 13 the Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten and 2nd graders gathered together to learn about and celebrate Santa Lucia Day. Our three Swedish students dressed in costumes, sang songs and taught us dances. We sampled some traditional treats. The kindergarten children loved learning about the holiday and draw and wrote about what they learned on KidPix. |
BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.
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Kindergarten Patterns - A Bubbleshare Slideshow
October 2008
BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.
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The children began the school year working on patterning. During our technology time, the children were introduced to KidPix. They worked on using picture stamps to create patterns. |