September is Off and Running!

We are well into September and we are finally getting into our routine and learning how to follow school rules.  We are working on our fine motor skills, like coloring and cutting.  We also are working on sharing and being Bucket Fillers :)

Here are some of the things we have been working on so far!

We completed this cute First Day of School booklet made by Sara Connell.  It was nice to have the children go home with something to tell their parents about!

 Free Choice time was loved by all.  We worked on sharing our supplies in our classroom and being cooperative!

 Look what finally arrived!!!  I got the iPad from Donors Choose!!!  I am just waiting to get it hooked up to our network and then I can put the kids on it during Daily 5!!  I plan on having them log into amcmouse.com and also read books on it during this time.

 We read about being a Bucket Filler and not a Bucket Dipper in our classroom.  Bucket Fillers make people feel good and happy.  Bucket Dippers make people feel sad inside.  

 Here are the posters we made and hung outside of our classroom to show everyone how we are Bucket Fillers!!

 During Investigations Math, we are exploring our math materials and finding different ways to use them.

 We added these "Color Me Special" pictures to our bulletin board with our best coloring :)

 We have begun our Daily 5 routine and the kids love it!!  These children are doing "Read to Self" in different areas around the room.  

 They all chose a Book Nook and read quietly the WHOLE time and stay in one spot.  We have built our stamina up to 10 minutes so far!!!  I am so proud of all of them!!

 They have also started doing "Read To Someone".  They either take turns reading the same book or read a different book to each other.  We are working on listening to our partner read and showing understanding about what they read to us.

The "Listen To Reading" area is a favorite!!  We are working out the kinks with a working radio, but I think we've got working for now :)

 The children are working on a Nursery Rhyme booklet that they will be taking home soon!

 We have also started Fundations!  We have learned the letters t, b and f.  We are working on forming the letters properly and knowing the sound of each letter.

I cannot believe the improvement in writing that has already happened this month!  Some of the children came to me not knowing even the first letter of the name and are now writing their WHOLE name independently!!!  Keep practicing!!  We will continue to work on our coloring and reduce the amount of scribble we are handing in :)

Please feel free to comment below and also follow me on Bloglovin.com!!

Aimee

We're Back!!!

I am so excited to be back for another year in Kindergarten!!  I have been working all summer to make a few changes to my classroom and get ready for another fun year!!  Mrs. Dunn will be with me again this year, so it will be nice to jump right into our routine!  I am so excited to meet all my new little friends next week!  Here are a few pictures of what I have been up to this summer :)

 

The rest time drawers are ready and labeled for my new friends.  This is where their blanket and stuffy will be stored each day!

 



Free Choice manipulatives are bleached and ready!  We got rid of some old toys and added some new ones!

 



This was one of my summer projects.  I was so excited to make these new seats for my listening center!  Way better than sitting on the bottom of a milk crate!  I think the kids will be fighting to sit on these :)

 



Here is the Library area!  I found an extra laundry basket at home for the kids to sit in during Read to Self time.  I added a cute ribbon to dress it up a bit :)  My milk crate bench is also a favorite area to sit!  Now where did I put that pillowcase??

 



My reading table needs a few more circles stuck to the table!  I use these during reading groups instead of white boards!  They love to "write ON the table"!!

 



This is my new CAFE board!  This will be used during Daily 5 and will help me develop mini lessons for reading.  The children can use the information on this board to help them become better readers!!  I am very excited to introduce this!

 



This area isn't new, but has a new look!  I took the legs out of the table, added a few throw pillows and made it easier to access during Work on Writing!!  I think the kids will also love this area as an alternative way to sit while working!

 



Each table is set with a supply bucket in the middle.  We have crayon boxes for each student, scissors, pencils and glue sticks!  Since we sit at tables, each student has a pocket on the back of their chair that will hold their math and poetry notebooks (another new idea for this year) and all of their Fundations materials.

 

I hope you will enjoy watching what we do throughout the year!  Please join this site on the left of the screen or follow me on bloglovin! (On the top left of the screen)

Have a great school year!!!

April Showers bring May Flowers!

I can't believe it is already almost Easter!!  The kids are having so much fun and don't want this year to end.  Neither do I!!  Here are some of the things we have but up to lately!!

Mrs. Dunn did a couple of lessons on Clouds.  The children made a Cloud Finder and used it every day in March.  They would look outside and identify what kind of clouds we had that day.  March ended up being a very cloudy month!

We ended our Weather unit with reading "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs".  Mrs. Dunn made some homemade meatballs and sauce and I whipped up some spaghetti!  Everyone loved it!!  We eat well in our room :)

We read "The Mixed-Up Chameleon" by Eric Carle, then made these ripped rainbows.  The children decided what their favorite color was and two things that were that color.  They completed a poem to go with their rainbows. (Forgot a finished product picture!)

Once spring arrived on March 20th, we celebrated The Hungry Caterpillar's birthday!  We made pictures of the Hungry Caterpillar like Eric Carle.  The children loved the Hungry Caterpillar that hung around for the week on top of our door :)

The children are loving the new "white" board circles I put on our reading table!!  Much easier than hauling out white boards every day!

We also talked about "Me On the Map".  We made a flap book beginning with themselves and ending with the world.  We discussed where they live and practiced our addresses.  I was impressed with how many children know their address by heart!!  Some need some practice :)

Our Flower Shop opened at the beginning of April!  We have been making deliveries every day to teachers around the building. (and the office!) They have graciously accepted the flowers from the very excited Kindergartners :)

Some of the math games we have been playing are "Copying Cubes"...

"Toss the Chips" (Great game to practice addition!!)...

"Matching Faces"- The children matched the Geoblocks that had matching faces.  They were very curious to see what blocks actually matched up!

And "Six Tiles in All"  It was great to see them follow the specific rules to make the Six Tiles in All.  At least one edge had to be fully touching and the could ONLY use six tiles.

We talked a lot about different community helpers.  We made 3 Two Column Notes posters comparing Police Officers and Fire Fighters, Teachers and Librarians and Doctors and Paramedics.  They also wrote a story describing their beloved teacher :)

We have been talking a lot about planting.  We made this Top Down Web about plants and used this labeling activity afterwards.

We planted some grassy hair :)  This grass grew so fast!!  So we had to give them a haircut!!

By the next day, they had already grown back an inch!!  Can't wait to see how much they grew over the weekend!

We forced some forsythia to grow and learned a poem called "First Forsythia".  The children colored the branches on blue paper before they saw the blooms open, then when they did open, the kids glued small pieces of tissue paper onto the branches.  They really had to work those fine motor skills ;) 

We also planted some sunflowers...kid sized, not 10 foot tall ones :)  We don't have a lot of sun in our classroom so they are taking a while to blossom, but one student ended up with a mystery sprout...right at the edge of the cup????

We did an experiment with lettuce leaves and colored water.  It was interesting to see which colors would show up best in the veins of the lettuce.  Blue and purple were the most vibrant!

Lastly, we started our next unit in Fundations!!  We are now working on digraphs!  They loved this new game!  They got to be Digraph Detectives!!  I am so proud of my whole class and how hard they work in Fundations!!  18 our of 20 of my kiddos got 90% or higher on the last end of unit test!!!  We continue to be the class that knocks their (Title I teachers) socks off when testing for Fundations!!

**PARENTS-

We have a half day on Friday in observance of Good Friday.

I hope everyone enjoys their week off and look forward to a nice week off with my own children as well!

-Aimee