A Forest Luncheon

This free slideshow made with Smilebox What a wonderful celebration we had today!  The children had a wonderful, healthy lunch.  Everyone enjoyed all of the forest foods that were served.  Many thanks to all of you for your endless contributions of time, energy, patience, donations of supplies, and food.  I really enjoyed watching the children sitting together for a meal.  Wonderful table manners also!

Type To Learn Jr.

 We have been visiting the technology lab to learn about how to type.  Typing helps us learn where the letters are on the keyboard so when we use a computer, iPad or other device with letters we know where the letters and numbers are.  This program is helping us learn our letter names and sounds too!  One of the levels on this program helps us spell simple words also.  Yesterday a few of the children made connections with things we are learning during our "Echo Time".  After our holiday break we will begin using a another keyboarding program called,"Type To Learn 4".  This program will also be available for you to use at home!

Gingerbread Houses!

What a wonderful afternoon we had creating and designing our "gingerbread houses".  Thanks so very much to all of you who donated your time, energy and contributions for this project.  

I loved listening to the children describe their ideas as well as notice the sides, edges and corners of some of their designs.  The connections that children make through hands on projects seem endless.  This is a great way to watch and listen to the authentic learning that occurs when children have an opportunity to design their own ideas.

Our Walk To The Williston Food Shelf

 
The children learned how some of the food was organized at the food shelf.  We also learned that many generous farmers donate fresh produce too!

What a wonderful walk we had this afternoon to the Williston Food Shelf.  The children did a wonderful job dropping off the food we collected as a class.  We learned what a food shelf is, what it does for the community, who can visit and the items that they need.  The children enjoyed the tour and asked some wonderful questions.

Yoga With Ms. Molly!

 We did a great job creating the yoga move tree.  We discovered that we have pretty good balance!

Miss Molly taught us some new yoga moves on Friday.  Yoga is a great way to relax and take a break in Kindergarten.  We are learning about how to be aware of where are bodies are in Kindergarten.  It was fun!

ePals! We Earned A Smithsonian Star!

Smithsonian Stars!

I included a link below for you to check out the scientific drawings that
your children did!  I joined ePals 2 years ago.  It is a safe, global
community that supports collaboration and making connections with other
teachers, students and schools.  One of the projects this year that I am
participating in is Smithsonian Classroom.  I am uploading writing and
drawings that the children are creating and designing that focus on the
natural world.  When you go to the link, *click on Natural World*, then you
will be on another page, then *click on student work.*  Here is where you
will be able to see your child's work as well as other students from all
over the world who have contributed.  When I was sharing this, this morning
the children were making comments about how the work was similar and
different.  Later today we will be looking on a map/Google Map to see where
some of these students are from.  This might be a nice activity for you to
do at home also.

http://www.epals.com/projects/info.aspx?divid=smithsonian_home.

SMARTboard Awesomeness!

Representation

A child making connections and observations while others are interacting with the SMARTboard!

 I love the SMARTboard!  This genius tool offers endless opportunities for children to interact with their thinking and also to reflect about what they are exploring and noticing with different cognitive ideas.  During our exploration time the children are able to make lots of choices around what they would like to explore.  One of our stations in kindergarten is the SMARTboard.  It offer lots of different tools for the children to explore with.  On Friday the children explored with dice.  It was great to observe what they discovered!  The children were taking turns, subitizing numbers with each roll, creating representation for how they new what they new, making connections with numbers and the dice, taking turns listening to each others observations and having fun while they were learning.

Animationish!

 The other great feature about Animationish is that the kids can "get inspired" by listening to a short video of Peter Reynolds.  Be sure to ask your child about what they experienced today while exploring with this great tool!

Today the children began exploring a wonderful web tool called; Animationish".  The program is very interactive and has lots of neat ways for the children to create and design what they want too!  We will be creating the life cycle of a tree using this great technology tool created by Peter Reynolds.  He is the author and illustrator of many children's books.  One of his most popular is, "The Dot".

Creating A Forest!

The children have started to create and design a forest within Kindergarten.  We are creating deciduous and coniferous trees.  The children began looking through a variety of non-fiction texts to get ideas about what lives in the forest as well as how a tree grows.  Stay tuned as we continue to explore new scientific ideas.

Visiting The Technology Lab!

The children are now able to log on and off the computers by themselves.  Today we visited the technology lab where we were able to think mathematically using a program called,"Quilts and Patterns."  This is part of our Bridges math program that we use in Kindergarten.

A Walk To The Williston Fire Station!

Creating and Designing Dragonflies!

 

The children were all able to create and design their own dragonfly.  The idea for this project was shared by 1 of our Kindergarten children who created something similar over the summer.  He brought it to school to share!  One of the things I love about teaching is how easily it is to become inspired by an idea.  Look at some of the wonderful dragonflies that were made.  I also loved how the children remembered to include all 3 body parts, wings and they even came up with a deign for the compound eyes!  You will be able to see every one's at our first Celebration of Learning on October14th, from 7:30-8:30 AM.

Learning About Kinesphere with Mrs. Macnee's Children!

We learned a new scientific word last week: KINESPHERE. We visited Mrs. Macnee's classroom where her children taught us a new song, what KINESPHERE is and how it helps us keep a safe body. Sometimes when we are in line, we have a small KINESPHERE and when we are playing outside our KINESPHERE is bigger. We practiced staying in our own space/KINESPHERE to a wonderful 'Mind & Body' song called 'Freeze It' by Jack Hartman. The videos give you an idea about what we were learning. Thanks so much to Mrs. Macnee and her class!

Creating and Designing The Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly!

This afternoon the children began phase 2 of our mobile project.  Each stage of the Monarch Butterfly's life is special.  We are creating each stage using a variety of materials.  The children are talking out loud about each of the stages while they are working!  Wonderful creations!  You will be able to see them at our life cycle open house in October.

Creating the egg and the chrysalis

Creating a Monarch caterpillar!

A New Morning Greeting!

This morning Miss Holly taught us a new morning greeting.  We sing hello and greet each other.  This was lots of fun and a great way to start our day!

A School Wide Celebration!

This morning we had our first school celebration! It was so exciting. As a school we celebrated how we are all kind, safe and responsible. We have been receiving warm buzzies whenever we are safe, kind and responsible. We fill up the Beehive with our buzzies. When the Beehive is full, we have a celebration recognizing all of our efforts. Each child created a special crown to wear at our celebration!

iPads!

This morning we introduced a new math station! iPads! The children are using an app called,"Finger Count." This is a great app to use as it helps us with our oral counting, number identification and the understanding of the concepts before and after! The sound is great as it gives feedback while the children are touching the screen. I have posted a few videos for you to check out. Amazing tool!

Mrs. Beele Visits Kindergarten!

Every Monday for the next 4 weeks Mrs. Beele, our guidance counselor will visit our classroom. Each week she focuses on a different topic. Today we talked a lot about our feelings and what it might feel like if we are in mud mind, clear mind or sparkle mind. Be sure to ask your child to explain the different types of minds we can be in. She also read us a wonderful story called,"The Way I Feel."

Exploration Time!

Exploration time is an opportunity for your child to make choices about what they would like to explore within Kindergarten. This time of day is really important for young children. It gives them another opportunity to make connections with others, practice oral language, problem solve and also an opportunity to design their own learning opportunities within any area in the classroom.

Math Workshop!

During Math Workshop time we focus on lots of different mathematical ideas. In the videos you will see the children making mathematical observations about bugs! It was interesting to see what the children noticed. Some counted legs, some counted legs and used different counting strategies, some made observations about the features that their bug had. During the beginning months of our math workshop time we are creating patterns, sorting, classifying and making observations.

Writer's Workshop!

During the beginning weeks of Kindergarten your children will learn about many different ways to express themselves. During our writing time the children will act out through creative play to communicate an idea and to learn about how writing helps us to communicate an idea. In the video you will see how children are beginning to experiment with different types of writing tools through creative play.
Today the children began exploring with paper and special writing tools during our writing time. Each child has their own special writing folder too!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

We have enjoyed reading the story,"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. In the story we made lots of connections with the caterpillar. Some of the children made a self to text connection because they also get a stomach ache when they eat to much too! During our Writing Workshop time we focused on becoming illustrators like Eric Carle. The children illustrated their own book. I loved watching the children talk about the story while creating their own colorful pages in their 1st book! Later during our Reading Workshop time we partner read with a friend! When we read with a partner we sit close, turn the pages carefully, read the story to each other and make observations about what we notice. Sometimes we make connections too!
I hope you enjoy the photographs and the slide show of your amazing children!

Math Workshop In Kindergarten!

This afternoon we explored some of the mathematical tools we will be using to explore our ideas. The children discovered patterns, created columns and noticed how some towers were longer or shorter than others.

During Number corner we began using the word Because to help us explain our math thinking. We use the word because when we are justifying our mathematical understanding.

***you can click on any photograph and it will get bigger!***

iPads In Kindergarten!

This afternoon we were able to use a new tool! We explored with iPads. This is what they children had to say;"wow! You can hear animals real voices, I can write letters, Look, I am tracing my name, I can see lots of numbers, this is so cool, I like this!" After we learn how to navigate the iPads, we will then begin using them in a safe and responsible way that supports our learning!