On Friday, October 29th, we will be celebrating Halloween with a costume parade and a party! Children are invited to BRING their costumes to school with them on Friday (please do not send costume accessories such as wands, swords, etc., as they have a tendency to get lost!) We will change into our costumes before the class party and participate in a Kindergarten Costume Parade! If you are able to sign up to send a treat in for our party, it would be greatly appreciated! Follow the link below or send me an email to let me know what you can send in. Thank you in advance for your help!
Halloween Party Sign Up
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Our Many Colored Days!
We just wrapped up our exciting and fun "Color Week!" On Monday, we had a terrific field trip to the Flynn Theater to see Harold and the Purple Crayon. The show was filled with amazing actors, funny moments, and a sense of magical adventure and all of the children were thrilled to watch the show! Thank you to the parents who chaperoned the trip. We can't wait until our next field trip!
During Color Week, we completed many activities to learn about colors. We read some great books about colors, completed a painting activity to learn about color mixing, voted for our favorite colors (red was the winner in our class!), played Color Bingo, and completed a Color Scavenger Hunt. On Friday of last week, we finally enjoyed the greatly anticipated "Rainbow Jell-O." Each day, we made Jell-O in our color of the day. By Friday, we had a rainbow in our cups and our jiggly snack was so much fun to eat! Please enjoy the photos of our special snack here:
Thank you all for helping your children dress for our Color of the Day! We had so much fun celebrating some of the beautiful colors in our world and using them to create beautiful artwork!
During Color Week, we completed many activities to learn about colors. We read some great books about colors, completed a painting activity to learn about color mixing, voted for our favorite colors (red was the winner in our class!), played Color Bingo, and completed a Color Scavenger Hunt. On Friday of last week, we finally enjoyed the greatly anticipated "Rainbow Jell-O." Each day, we made Jell-O in our color of the day. By Friday, we had a rainbow in our cups and our jiggly snack was so much fun to eat! Please enjoy the photos of our special snack here:
Thank you all for helping your children dress for our Color of the Day! We had so much fun celebrating some of the beautiful colors in our world and using them to create beautiful artwork!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Our Busy Weeks at School
Wow! It is hard to believe that it is already almost the middle of October! We have been hard at work in our classroom learning and playing together. Your children are quite comfortable with our classroom routines and expectations and I am already amazed by the growth I am seeing, academically and socially!
Our literacy time is focused on learning what it means to be a good reader and practicing how to take care of books. We have learned many letters as a part of the Fundations program, including: t, b, f, n, m, c, a, i, and r. We practice these letters each day, learning what they are called, a special word to help us remember the letter, and the sound each letter makes. We also practice proper formation of the letter using our special lines: the "sky line," the "plane line," the "grass line," and the "worm line." Ask your child what these lines are and how to form some of the letters we have learned! Also during literacy, we are practicing recognizing and producing rhymes, as well as syllabication.
Math is a well-loved time of our day, with children often asking how long until we will begin this block! The children especially love the math workstations that we use. These workstations offer children a chance to explore with math manipulatives and practice the concepts that we have learned about with a number of games and activities. Some of current math workstations are: Pattern Blocks, Geoboard Shapes, Bucket of Bugs, Unifix Cube Patterns, Polydrons, and Which Bug Will Win?
Also during math, we have spent time making a class quilt. Our "Shoo Fly Quilt" is hanging outside our classroom if you would like to come and take a look. We used triangles to create the quilt squares and then discussed the patterns that we noticed. Please enjoy this photo of our beautiful creation!
Here are some of the observations that the children made about our quilt:
Monday 10/11: RED Day
Tuesday 10/12: ORANGE Day
Wednesday 10/13: YELLOW Day
Thursday 10/14: GREEN Day
Friday 10/15: BLUE Day
Monday 10/18: PURPLE Day
Tuesday 10/19: BROWN Day
Wednesday 10/20: BLACK Day
Our literacy time is focused on learning what it means to be a good reader and practicing how to take care of books. We have learned many letters as a part of the Fundations program, including: t, b, f, n, m, c, a, i, and r. We practice these letters each day, learning what they are called, a special word to help us remember the letter, and the sound each letter makes. We also practice proper formation of the letter using our special lines: the "sky line," the "plane line," the "grass line," and the "worm line." Ask your child what these lines are and how to form some of the letters we have learned! Also during literacy, we are practicing recognizing and producing rhymes, as well as syllabication.
Math is a well-loved time of our day, with children often asking how long until we will begin this block! The children especially love the math workstations that we use. These workstations offer children a chance to explore with math manipulatives and practice the concepts that we have learned about with a number of games and activities. Some of current math workstations are: Pattern Blocks, Geoboard Shapes, Bucket of Bugs, Unifix Cube Patterns, Polydrons, and Which Bug Will Win?
Also during math, we have spent time making a class quilt. Our "Shoo Fly Quilt" is hanging outside our classroom if you would like to come and take a look. We used triangles to create the quilt squares and then discussed the patterns that we noticed. Please enjoy this photo of our beautiful creation!
Here are some of the observations that the children made about our quilt:
“It’s in a pattern. It goes orange on the inside, green on the inside.”
~ Aidan
“It’s like stairs. Orange, orange, orange.”
“The stairs are diagonal." ~ Sam
“It’s a pattern on each row.” ~ Mario
“There’s different rows and different colors and I like the pattern a lot.”
~ Connor
“The pattern can go across and upside down. The quilt is a rectangle.”
~Thomas G.
“The orange triangles are touching in a special way.”
~ Calder
“It’s like an elevator. It goes up and down.”
~ Nolan
“I noticed if you turn your head a little, you see a square.” ~ Sophia
“We made our quilt squares with triangles. Some look like upside down triangles.” ~ Desiree
We have also spent a great deal of time sorting objects be one or more attributes. We started exploring this concept using shapes and recently moved to sorting bugs by a characteristic. Here is a photo of the poster that we created when we sorted bugs into groups of bugs with spots and bugs with no spots.
Thursday we were able to visit the Hinesburg Fire Station to celebrate Fire Safety Week. We had a wonderful time exploring the fire trucks, meeting the firefighters, and learning about how to stay safe if we are ever in a fire.
On Friday, we took a top secret trip to peek in the windows of our new classroom! The room is looking wonderful and should be ready any day now! The children were impressed to see a sink and our very own bathroom attached to the classroom! We are so excited to move into our new space and make it our own.
Monday 10/11: RED Day
Tuesday 10/12: ORANGE Day
Wednesday 10/13: YELLOW Day
Thursday 10/14: GREEN Day
Friday 10/15: BLUE Day
Monday 10/18: PURPLE Day
Tuesday 10/19: BROWN Day
Wednesday 10/20: BLACK Day
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Shelfari
I enocurage you to take a look at the bottom, right-hand corner of my blog. Here, you will find my Shelfari Book Shelf. This is an online tool that I have added to my blog to showcase some of the books that we are reading in the classroom. Some of the books are our story bit books, some are read alouds that support our social science themes, and some are just my personal favorites that I enjoy sharing with the class! If you would like, you can sign these books out of the school or town library to share them again with your children. Remember: you can never hear a good book too many times! Happy reading!
The First Few Weeks of School
Wow! It is hard to believe that we have been in school for almost four weeks already! I am happy to report that I am lucky to be working with an energetic, curious, and capable group of kindergartners! They have already become very comfortable with the school, the classroom, the routines, and the expectations of being at H.C.S., and the learning has already begun! We spend time each day engaged in literacy activities, math exploration, and discussing various social science themes. Currently, we are learning about a favorite fall treat: apples! We enjoyed the autumn story, Lucky Leaf, as our story bit last week. Ask your child to retell this funny story using his or her cutout leaf story bit to remember what happened.
Early this week, as a part of building our classroom learning community and establishing rules and expectations, I asked each child to identify his or her "Hopes and Dreams" for this school year. Please enjoy reading through the varied responses that I received!
My hope and dream for this year is:
*to meet a lot of people!
*to go on the swings!
*to earn stars!
*playing games with my classmates!
*playing with people inside and outside!
*learning about a T-Rex!
*to learn more about my family!
*to make necklaces!
*sledding down the hill near the park!
*learning my ABCs!
*to enjoy the sunshine!
*to share a book at the library!
*to write home!
*learning more new letters and numbers!
*to learn about dogs!
*to get a lot of stars!
*to learn about wildlife!
I explained to the children that, if we all work hard to follow our classroom rules, we will all be able to achieve the "Hopes and Dreams" that we came up with!
By now, you have probably heard about the "Be A STAR" program. This is a way for children to learn and remember our school-wide behavior expectations. Be A STAR stands for:
Belonging
A
Sharing
Trust
Accepting Responsibility
Respect
Adults around the school spend time each day "catching" children practicing these core values. If a child shows one of the core values, he or she may earn a star: a paper voucher for a special sticker to be placed on the giant poster in the main hallway. I have found that this program encourages adults to be more positive and proactive in their approaches to managing student behavior, and children are encouraged to behave appropriately in all areas of the school. So far, I have an amazing group of "star" students who are earning more stars than I can count! Take a peek at the cool photo that was taken at last week's Be A STAR celebration:
I look forward to an exciting year with your little superSTARS!
Early this week, as a part of building our classroom learning community and establishing rules and expectations, I asked each child to identify his or her "Hopes and Dreams" for this school year. Please enjoy reading through the varied responses that I received!
My hope and dream for this year is:
*to meet a lot of people!
*to go on the swings!
*to earn stars!
*playing games with my classmates!
*playing with people inside and outside!
*learning about a T-Rex!
*to learn more about my family!
*to make necklaces!
*sledding down the hill near the park!
*learning my ABCs!
*to enjoy the sunshine!
*to share a book at the library!
*to write home!
*learning more new letters and numbers!
*to learn about dogs!
*to get a lot of stars!
*to learn about wildlife!
I explained to the children that, if we all work hard to follow our classroom rules, we will all be able to achieve the "Hopes and Dreams" that we came up with!
By now, you have probably heard about the "Be A STAR" program. This is a way for children to learn and remember our school-wide behavior expectations. Be A STAR stands for:
Belonging
A
Sharing
Trust
Accepting Responsibility
Respect
Adults around the school spend time each day "catching" children practicing these core values. If a child shows one of the core values, he or she may earn a star: a paper voucher for a special sticker to be placed on the giant poster in the main hallway. I have found that this program encourages adults to be more positive and proactive in their approaches to managing student behavior, and children are encouraged to behave appropriately in all areas of the school. So far, I have an amazing group of "star" students who are earning more stars than I can count! Take a peek at the cool photo that was taken at last week's Be A STAR celebration:
I look forward to an exciting year with your little superSTARS!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Goodbye Kindergarten...Hello First Grade!
It is hard to believe that it is finally here....the very last day of kindergarten! It seems like just yesterday that your bright-eyed, curious, somewhat nervous children joined me in September to begin their school experience. We have spent the past 180 days working, playing, learning, laughing, problem-solving, and growing together. We have created a bond similar to that of a family and it was incredibly hard saying goodbye to each one of them this afternoon. Each child has brought amazing skills and strengths to our group and added to the cohesiveness of the group as a whole. I have spent time this year documenting our experiences through photographs and I created a photo story to share with all of you here. The children had a chance to view it with me, and can fill you in on what was happening in each of the photos. I hope you enjoy watching the slide show as much as I enjoyed creating it!
I hope you all have a wonderful, fun, and safe summer with your FIRST GRADERS!!!! Thank you so much for sharing them with me this past year!
Miranda
I hope you all have a wonderful, fun, and safe summer with your FIRST GRADERS!!!! Thank you so much for sharing them with me this past year!
Miranda
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Lovely Ladybugs!
Wow! What a whirlwind the last month has been (and I predict the next month will be just as wild!) We have had a vacation, started our final weeks of kindergarten, and done lots of great work, too! You have probably heard from your kindergartner that there will be some changes in the upcoming weeks. Due to the renovation of the Primary Wing, we will be relocating to the library for the month of June. The children have begun to see me packing boxes and organizing materials, as the classroom must be empty by May 28th to prepare for our move. They have had lots of great questions, but seem to be looking forward to our new adventure and I believe that we will be able to make the transition to our new space relatively smoothly. The kindergarten team is planning many fun activities and field trips so that we will not be spending too much time in the library, but we will also attempt to keep some sort of routine to our days, so that we can minimize anxiety and behavior problems. I will keep you posted about important dates and exciting happenings as we decide on them!
Since we returned from April vacation, our classroom has transformed into "Ladybug Land." We ordered ladybug larvae from a company in California called Insect Lore, and the larvae arrived on May 10th. We have begun our in-depth exploration of the life cycle of a ladybug and are enjoying observing the larvae. Yesterday, we found that our first larva has started the pupa stage of the life cycle! Within the next week or so, we will watch for signs that a ladybug will be emerging from the pupa. The children have been very engaged in this new unit and have shared their prior knowledge about these lovable insects and have asked many wonderful questions about them, as well. We have done and will continue to do many projects and will eventually release the ladybugs when they have all emerged from their pupas.
I have included here a slideshow of the ladybug number stories that the children wrote and illustrated during math. Each child created an addition or a subtraction story and then painted a gorgeous watercolor picture to accompany their problem. Feel free to stop by our classroom bulletin board to check out their work in person!
I have spent the last several weeks completing spring assessments with all students. I am truly amazed at how much learning and growth has taken place over the last nine months! Teachers are still working on placements for first grade. Families will be notified of your child's new teacher in early June.
Please mark your calendar for the following important dates:
Friday, June 4th: Shelburne Farms Field Trip
Monday, June 7th: Mt. Philo Hike (***Chaperones still needed!***)
Friday, June 11th: Move-Up Day
Wednesday, June 16: Last Day of School (1/2Day 11:30 Dismissal)
As always, please contact me by email (mjohnson@cssu.org) or phone (482-6205) if you have any questions or ideas.
Since we returned from April vacation, our classroom has transformed into "Ladybug Land." We ordered ladybug larvae from a company in California called Insect Lore, and the larvae arrived on May 10th. We have begun our in-depth exploration of the life cycle of a ladybug and are enjoying observing the larvae. Yesterday, we found that our first larva has started the pupa stage of the life cycle! Within the next week or so, we will watch for signs that a ladybug will be emerging from the pupa. The children have been very engaged in this new unit and have shared their prior knowledge about these lovable insects and have asked many wonderful questions about them, as well. We have done and will continue to do many projects and will eventually release the ladybugs when they have all emerged from their pupas.
I have included here a slideshow of the ladybug number stories that the children wrote and illustrated during math. Each child created an addition or a subtraction story and then painted a gorgeous watercolor picture to accompany their problem. Feel free to stop by our classroom bulletin board to check out their work in person!
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| Digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox |
I have spent the last several weeks completing spring assessments with all students. I am truly amazed at how much learning and growth has taken place over the last nine months! Teachers are still working on placements for first grade. Families will be notified of your child's new teacher in early June.
Please mark your calendar for the following important dates:
Friday, June 4th: Shelburne Farms Field Trip
Monday, June 7th: Mt. Philo Hike (***Chaperones still needed!***)
Friday, June 11th: Move-Up Day
Wednesday, June 16: Last Day of School (1/2Day 11:30 Dismissal)
As always, please contact me by email (mjohnson@cssu.org) or phone (482-6205) if you have any questions or ideas.
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