Wednesday, Wednesday, What Adventures Did You Bring?

After the long weekend, it was good to get back into the swing of things in our K class! This morning we discovered some really awesome felt boards and felt pieces that we could create pictures and stories with. What a great discovery! Almost all of the students created a picture using the felt pieces.

We had to cut our free choice center time a little short today, as we were going on our first adventure outside of the classroom; a visit to the public library! The students were very excited. We went with the Grade One class and I was very proud of my students for how well they walked down the street together. At the library, we learnt about Remembrance Day and an upcoming poster contest. Then, we did a craft activity to make a poppy using construction paper, a pipe cleaner, and coffee filter.  We were also treated to a little snack!


When we returned to school we realized that we missed recess so the students got a bit of extra time outside (even though it felt very chilly today!). Our Phys. Ed class was also cut short today by a late snack and team sports group photos. However, we had a fun time back in our classroom with retelling the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? Students were given a paper with a picture and the name of a character from the story. When it was their turn, they were to stand up. Students also practiced chiming in~ reading the story all together. We switched characters to do the activity a second time. Students were having such a fun time with it that we tried a third time, except we switched it up so that they had to create sounds and actions for their character. Here is a list of characters from a page in the book:

 

 

After lunch, we had a discussion about fire prevention and fire safety. Everyone shared ideas about what they've learnt or know already about the topic. Students each created a thank you note for the Fire Chief, who came to talk to us last week. After they finished, some students also coloured a picture to give to the Fire Chief or coloured a page from an upcoming class book about fire safety. 

 

In math, we talked more about the different types of patterns. We realized that patterns can have more than one colour and do not have to even be made of colours! Students then got to practice by creating patterns using either math manipulatives or drawing their pattern on paper.

 

It was a bit of a mixed up, but busy day. One more K day and it will be the weekend again! It feels like the weeks are flying by. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a fun Friday! We were treated to a healthy snack this morning~ fruit kabobs! They were yummy yummy (thanks to the SCC!).
We visited library and read a book called Giving Thanks, which is told from a First Nations perspective so it is mostly about being thankful for all of the animals and plants in nature. This brought up a good question~ what is nature? You never know what unexpected lessons will happy with young, inquisitive minds! The morning was topped off by a presentation from the fire chief, shared some great tips about fire prevention.



After lunch, we read a very funny book called The Plump and Perky Turkey. We shared our ideas of what we would do if we were a turkey on Thanksgiving. Again, a conversation that I did not expect to happen! Then we did an art activity. Students traced their hands twice on a piece of paper. One hand is traced lower, as some added features make it a turkey. The second hand is traced higher and it becomes a tree. Some students attempted to write "Happy Thanksgiving" on their pictures, while others opted to have me write it out for them. I think they turned out great!

Here are a couple of samples:

 

Next, we had a real adventure! We used shaving cream as "paper" and our fingers as pencils so that we could practice printing our PWIM words. It was good smelling, messy, fun! It also turned out to be a great opportunity for students who have a challenging time printing using a pencil. It was a great success and a wonderful way to end a Friday before a long weekend.

 

Something else that I have to share, because I think it is very cute and sweet. The students seem to think that our goldfish likes to read about other goldfish. So, if you come into my classroom, you may see this setup:

 

 

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend, filled with gratitude, loved ones, and perky turkeys!

Happy Thanksgiving :)

More lessons on Gratitude

Today was a fine example of always being prepared for the unexpected! It was a good thing that I was feeling over prepared for today, because I thought we were going to the public library. After talking to the Grade One teacher, I realized that we are actually going next Wednesday! Oops! :) We got in a lot of great reading and lessons today and still did not get through everything I had ready for the students. :) I love productive days!

This morning, we continued with our Thanksgiving theme of "Giving Thanks". We read Curious George Says Thank You, where George makes thank you cards for people who have helped him. So, our class made our own Thank You cards for the special people in our lives! I loved seeing the combination of creativity and sweetness that ensued. The students used blank cards that I had bought at a craft store and decorated them with pictures and stickers. They had the choice of trying to write "Thank You" in their card and then they dictated to me a specific message of thanks. My two favourites were thanks to a sister for her snuggles and thanks to parents for the hamburgers they make!

We also made a few more leaves for our bulletin board that shared our thoughts on what we are thankful for:

Most of the leaves express gratitude for friends, family, and toys.
 

For ELA we tried our first See, Say, Spell to practice our PWIM words. I also read The Mixed Up Alphabet, we practiced singings the Alphabet Song, and tried to think of different ways that we could make letter shapes with our bodies! We even got into groups to make different letters. It was a lot of fun! I'm also finding the students practicing the alphabet recognition game I Have, Who Has during their free choice centers! In Phys. Ed. we practice throwing and catching balls individually and in partners.




This afternoon we worked on creating and representing patterns using bears. It was VERY exciting today because the students discovered that they have patterns on their shoes and clothes!! We are realizing our 'big idea' in math: Patterns ARE everywhere! We also began to discuss fire safety, as it is Fire Safety Week. We read Clifford The Firehouse Dog and discussed what we already knew about what you do in case of a fire. We learnt about "Stop, Drop, & Roll." Then, we worked on a fire truck craft, where students had to colour shapes, cut them out, and the paste them onto another sheet that had an outline of a fire truck. I think they turned out great!

 

 

We will be learning more about fire safety on Friday, with a special visit from the Fire Chief!

As my students are learning, I hope that everyone expresses gratitude and says thank you to someone today (and everyday)! That's how we fill one another's buckets, including our own.

 

 

Give Thanks

Leading up to Thanksgiving, we're spending some time this week on the theme of gratitude. We began today with The Thankful Book by Todd Parr. The kids loved this book! It's both silly and sweet. Everyone shared thoughts on what they were thankful for. Then, everyone represented their idea with a drawing in their journal. They practiced writing the date and the word "Thanks", as well. Then they dictated a sentence to myself or the EA. We also reviewed our Fall Leaves poem to discuss some colour words and the colours of leaves in fall. Each student coloured a leaf, told me something else they were thankful for, and I wrote the words for them. The leaves will complete our fall bulletin board. :)

I was so impressed on how well they worked in their journals today. It was only their second time this year!

Here is an example of a student journal entry.
 

We also reviewed last week's lesson on the importance of raising your hand and waiting your turn to speak. We will keep on working towards defeating Blurt Out Blue! The Speech and Language Pathologist had also introduced the idea of whole body listening, so I found a poster online to share with the students so that they have a visual to remember what whole body listening is all about!

 

In math, we worked on creating and representing snap cube patterns. It was Week 4 of our Pumpkin Observation today, too! They are finally starting to turn orange. We also learnt some new songs from Action Songs Kids Love, read Pinkilicious, practiced making letters out of play-doh, tried to find multiple ways to send and receive scarves during Phys.Ed, rescued TWO spiders (I do not know where all of the spiders come from! It seems like we are returning spiders back to nature every day!), worked on some turkey colouring sheets, and there was even a short lived wedding ceremony during our free choice centers! I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of the bride and her reluctant groom. Overall, it was a great start to a productive, fun week! I'm looking forward to what Wednesday and Friday have in store.

Fall Leaves

The fall season is truly here! It's so beautiful driving around town and the countryside.


This photo is from our small town, last week. I think most of the leaves have fallen off of the trees now!

 

Here is a photo of the poem Fall Leaves that I introduced to the students this week. We'll be practicing it more next week. Our students love choral poetry and action songs! :)



A Nameless Fish & a Superhero

Well, I was hoping that I could officially announce our class fish's name but after a discussion that included suggestions such as Nemo, Goldie, Orangey, Sparkley, Rainbow Fish, Herbert, and a full name of Nemo Orangey Goldie, we couldn't reach a final decision. The majority liked Goldie, so we may have to go with that! They were VERY excited to observe our finish finally swimming to the top of the water to eat. One student found the gold fish in Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?,decided that our fish would like to read that book, and propped it up beside his fish tank. We also decided that he liked to watch our dance moves to songs like Gummy Bear and the Bird Dance.

Other highlights of the day included our trip to the library. Today was extra special though, because we interviewed the librarian for the school newsletter! We also got to spend some time with the Speech and Language Pathologist. He came into our room to teach about social skills. Students learnt about the super hero Superflex and the 'bad guys' who try to distract us from our learning. There was a lot of laughs and a lot of learning, too. The main message today was to raise your hand and wait to be called on instead of blurting out or interrupting others who are speaking. If our class can remember to raise their hand for 20 minutes straight, then the SLP is going to bring us a treat! Here is the poster that will remind us of the 'bad guys' we have to watch out for:

 

In math we worked on AB movement and sound patterns, followed by a game called Pattern Trains. Students had to make pattern trains with snap cubes, following my instructions of what colours to put together. Then they had to decide if it was a pattern or not. Lots of fun! We also played I Have, Who Has to practice our letter recognition, read more of One Fish, Two Fish, Red, Fish, Blue Fish (which sparked a conversation about rhyming words), and had some time for our own individual discovery in the centers around the room.

 

 Something else that I don't think I've mentioned before: every morning the students answer the question "Do you have a ___ in your name?" So far we're at the letter K.

 

Well, there were only two days of Kindergarten this week, but I feel ready for a nap! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like.. Autumn!

It's hard to believe that we're onto month two of Kindergarten already! Today felt like a super productive day. It was great seeing the K's after not seeing them for nearly a week! When I was away on Friday, the substitute teacher read Miss Nelson is Missing. Here is the latest Kindergarten book, where students shared their ideas of where I was that day...

 

Students also read a great book The Rainbow Fish, in which rainbow fish shares his special, shiny scales with his fish friends. On Friday, students coloured their own rainbow fish and got a shiny sequin for each one. Today, we discussed how rainbow fish felt very happy when he shared his scales. Just like bucket filling, when rainbow fish filled their buckets- it filled his bucket too! I got the students to help me paint a large rainbow fish this morning and they each made a scale that shared an idea of how we can make others feel happy. Here is our bulletin board:

 

 

We also read a poem about Fall Leaves and worked on our first individual painting project: painting fall trees using our handprints and Q-tips as brushes to paint the leaves! I think they turned out wonderful and they're a very colourful, creative edition to our main bulletin board:

 

My intention is to add to this bulletin board in the next week as we discuss the importance of giving thanks.

Another sign of October: the students noticed right away that our behavior tree was different! It was time to make it look like a fall tree. Hopefully we don't have to switch it to a winter tree very soon!

 

 

We also completed our Week 3 Pumpkin Observations, worked on "This is Me in October" pictures, and did a pre-assessment on patterns. One of the most exciting parts of the day may have been our newest addition~ a goldfish!

 

 

With the hustle bustle of the day, we didn't get around to naming our fish today!

So, stay tuned for that announcement.

Meet you back here on Thursday for more of our Kindergarten Adventures :)