Kindergarten was back in full swing today. What a busy day we had! I made a few small changes to the classroom over the holidays, including moving the computer to student level. We'll be using it during our free choice center times. I didn't start today, as I had a prep during that time. It will be good to infuse some more technology into our learning!
We also have some new books on our math/science shelf. One student picked them up right away and found a page about fish in the Opposites book. So, what did I turn around to see? Our fish Goldie was reading that book! I was also informed that he/she was also doing our PWIM See, Say, Spell with us.
After our morning meeting was complete, we had a lesson on healthy habits with a long overdue conversation about hand washing! We read a story called William, Won't You Wash Your Hands?, which introduced us to the proper way to wash our hands. We also looked at a poster with all of the important hand washing steps, role played hand washing while singing the ABC song and other hand washing tunes, and then put our knowledge to the test with some real hand washing! We also discussed when we need to wash our hands and some things that germs would like and dislike (such as soap vs. a dirty garbage can). Germs beware- we are now germ detectives!
I have to say, while reading the book about William, I was pleasantly surprised that the lesson took an unplanned detour. One of the students pointed out that William's classmate was in a wheelchair. I decided to talk to them about a student that I had in a previous class who used a wheelchair and could not move or eat in the same way as us. They were pretty intrigued with how this student would eat or get around. So, we got in some important dialogue about diversity and acceptance!
Next, came some more very exciting reading that led to both literacy and math activities. It was time for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom & Chicka Chicka 123! There was also some unplanned fun at that time, as we ended up counting to 100 together for the first time!
First up was coconut math! Students had to roll a dice, count the dots, and then find the number on the coconut math sheet. We used bingo dabbers to colour the numbers. They were VERY excited to roll the dice and discover the number that popped up. It's always very inspiring to see what young minds are enthusiastic about! We played a similar game with the alphabet later in the day. Students took turns pulling magnet letters out of a bag and then would 'dab' the letter on their paper. We were able to practice letter recognition, talk about letter sounds, and come up with words that begin with each letter that was pulled. 
Speaking of unplanned events and enthusiasm~ who knew that practicing throwing balls at pylons could turn into balls & pylons creating imaginary ice cream cones and vacuums! I wish I had taken my camera to capture the fun that ensued in our gym class!
We also worked on our PWIM board by practicing our words with a see, say, spell and we read a fictional story about cows called Two Cool Cows. We also shared our prior knowledge about cattle and then read some interesting true facts. Our last class of the day was about maps. We explored the globe and then shared some thoughts on why we use maps. I was impressed with the answers!
We ended off that lesson by creating a map of our classroom. It was a bit tricky for them to understand the birds eye view perspective of a room, but it got a lot easier as they walked around the room to discuss the different parts of our room. We will be using the maps for a treasure hunt later in the week!
As usual, our day was complete with our talking circle. The students had a lot of ideas to share about the best parts of the day. It was great to be back together again and to hear them talk about all of the great learning that we experienced today. With all that we accomplished today, we are off and running in 2014!
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