Thursday, September 30, 2010

What We've Been Up To: Sept. 27- Oct. 1

We are still reviewing the letter Aa and Mm. Cillian has beautiful handwriting
and he shows off his handwriting skills in the picture above.
Writing our numbers and Aa and Mm in shaving cream!




Number 1








We made cool sticker art that is displayed in the hall to show our
numbers 1-5. Check it out!





Sandy plays a math game.



Rachel colors in how many worms she sees.
This week we talked about community helpers, reviewed Aa and Mm and worked on counting/identifying/writing numbers 1-5. We also made applesauce and it was delicious!







Making Applesauce













Homemade (or in our case, classmade) Applesauce Recipe:
1. Cut up a variety of apples into small pieces
2. Pour apples into slow cooker and add sugar
3. Cook on high for approximately 4-6 hours (stir occasionally)
4. Mash apples
5. Add more sugar or cinnamon to taste
6. Let cool and eat!

Star of the Week & Birthday Girl





Sepehr was our star of the week. Here he is showing the class his Star of the Week book. We learned that Sepehr loves pizza, singing and pancakes!





















Big happy birthday shout out to Sandy, who turned 6 on 9/26!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Topic 1 and Topic 2 Math Test Super Stars

Congrats to the following students for receiving a 100 on their math tests! Way to go!!

Topic 1
Elliott

Topic 2
Kamryn
Nathalie
Brianne
Elliott
Ella
Austin
Sandy
Cillian
Hayden

Monday, September 27, 2010

News for Week of Sept. 27-Oct. 1

We are reviewing the letters /Mm/ and /Aa/. Our passwords for the week are and it and be. In math we are reading, writing and counting up to 10. Our Social Studies theme is Community Helpers.

Important Dates:
10/11 - Teacher/Parent Conference Day

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Important Info for Week of Sept. 20-24th

password: the
focus letter: Aa

Poem: (tune BINGO)

There was a tree that grew a fruit
and APPLE was it's name-oh
A-P-P-L-E
A-P-P-L-E
A-P-P-L-E
And APPLE was it's name-oh

Important Dates:
Thursday, Sept. 23rd is school picture day. Send your child in their Sunday best. You may bring clothes for them to change into if you wish.

Also, please send your child to school with an apple by Wednesday. We will be doing an apple taste test and if enough apples are brought we will make homemade applesauce! Mmm, delicious!

Friday, September 17, 2010

A Sneek Peek into Our Week

Practicing our position words (under and over).









Mm Show n Tell





























Our focus letter this week was Mm. We went on Mm word hunts, wrote the letter Mm, read My Mm Book, read If You Give a Moose a Muffin (and made a class book), practiced writing the letter Mm, made a list of words that start with the letter and so much more. We even talked about alliteration during Show and Tell when someone brought a Minnie Mouse magnet. Please continue to reinforce the skills taught at school with your child so they can be MAGNIFICENT!

Star of the Week 1: Ella



Ella was our first Star of the Week. We celebrated by learning how to write her name, learning about her and by illustrating a book for her.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Welcome Back Dinner

Don't forget tonight is the Welcome Back Dinner starting from 5-7pm. The Bookfair will also be open (it closes tomorrow at 12pm). I'd love to see you there!!!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Week of Sept.7-10

Nathalie's illustration of Jack and Jill. I love how Jack is falling down the hill and Jill is tumbling after!

Sandy and Austin write their "I am in the ___" sentences in their journals.



Brianne reads the sentence to the class.




Due to the rainy weather we had indoor recess. Here are some of the boys playing with "robots."




Enjoying home center.







Stamp art





Puzzles








Playdoh









Practicing our math vocabulary, inside and outside.










ABC Centers





























































Ella and Daniel play teacher and read the "I" book to the class.



































Playing "Uncover the Letter"


















We wrote & illustrated "I am wet." on that super rainy Wednesday!
















Practicing writing passwords




































Homework Ideas

Story Time:
• Discuss the author & illustrator. Take a picture walk (look at the pictures before reading and talk about what is happening in the pictures). Make predictions about what will happen in the story
• Ask your child to retell a story in their own words
• Discuss story elements (title, author/illustrator, setting, main characters, problem and solution)
• Have your child come up with a new ending
• Look for the kindergarten passwords in the book
• Have your child draw their favorite character from the book
• Act out favorite parts from a book
• Read to your child every day

Language Arts:
• Go on letter hunts to look for different letters of the alphabet
• Make an exciting vocabulary list: (Ex: Instead of happy use elated or excited. Instead of sad use blue or upset)
• Practice Nursery Rhymes (read, act out, look for passwords)
• Make letters out of playdoh
• Practice writing name in shaving cream
• Paint name and passwords
• Build words out of magnetic letters
• Come up with a word for each letter of the alphabet (Ex. L is for lion)
• Practice the sounds that letters make
• Practice rhyming (man, dan, can, san)
• Discuss sequence as you do every day activities (EX: Unloading the dishwasher. First we take the clean dishes out. Next we put the clean dishes in the cabinets. Last we put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.)
• Use vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary!

Technology:
• www.starfall.com
• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
• http://pbskids.org/
• http://www.coolmath4kids.com/
• www.funbrain.com


The following are ideas you can use for homework to help your child learn their passwords:
• Make passwords out of playdog
• Encourage your child to search for their passwords in books, newspapers, magazines, etc
• Practice spelling passwords
• Use bathtub crayons to write passwords in the tub
• Write passwords in simple sentences (Ex: We can swim. I like the dog. I am in the park.)
• Quiz your child over the spelling of passwords
• Put passwords in a hat, bag or sock and have your child read the passwords as they pull them out
• Rainbow write passwords (use a different color for each letter in a word)
• Use magnetic letters to build passwords
• Play "I Spy" with passwords
• Write passwords in shaving cream

Math:
• Practice sorting objects into groups (by color, shape and size)
• Practice writing numbers
• Practicing counting to 20 and backwards from 20 (use objects to help)
• Practice skip counting (counting by 5s, 2s, and 10s)
• Count objects to 20 (or more of course)
• Use math vocabulary words to locate objects (Ex: Look above the table. Put your toys to the left of your bed)
• Go on a color scavenger hunt
• Use describing words to describe objects (big, huge, tiny, small, medium, heavy, light)

Science:
• Go on nature walks during the day and at night, discuss what you see around you

Just for Fun:
• Cook with your child
• Watch their favorite cartoon or tv show with them (Don’t read a book or do another activity – sit with them and watch it.)
• Talk them on a walk
• Ride your bikes together
• Go shopping together
• Play a board game (Candy Land, Hungry Hungry Hippos, etc)
• Play a card game (Go Fish, Uno)
• Work on puzzles
• Spend time together :)

Password Homework Ideas

Passwords for this 6 weeks: I, can, in, am, we, like, the, a, be, it

The following are ideas you can use for homework to help your child learn their passwords:

  • Make passwords out of playdog
  • Encourage your child to search for their passwords in books, newspapers, magazines, etc
  • Practice spelling passwords
  • Use bathtub crayons to write passwords in the tub
  • Write passwords in simple sentences (Ex: We can swim. I like the dog. I am in the park.)
  • Quiz your child over the spelling of passwords
  • Put passwords in a hat, bag or sock and have your child read the passwords as they pull them out
  • Rainbow write passwords (Ex: like)
  • Use magnetic letters to build passwords
  • Play "I Spy" with passwords
  • Highlight passwords in newspaper
  • Write passwords in shaving cream

Practice passwords daily - this will help your child become a successful reader! :)

Friday, September 3, 2010

Making Words











Fast Forward

Flying Saucer Game

Inside the Tummy

Car Game


Here are some pictures from the Fast Forward lab. We started the early levels today and we will continue the same three games next week. This is a great program designed to help your child start reading. We get to go to the lab every day for about 30 minutes.