Math Teach-In, December 9, 8:30

Find out about our dynamic math curriculum by coming to school next Wednesday morning. After an information presentation in the Janet Root Theater about our overall math program, you will observe first hand in our classroom, featuring your child involved in our hand-on math activities.

Just send in your reservation to Dr. Bianco and come. We're looking forward to your participation!

Brainstorming Animals

Can you believe that in ten minutes our class was able to name 115 different animals? We even surprised ourselves! First we sat in a big circle. By going around the circle, each student had many turns to name an animal. For each animal named the students were given a Unifix Cube to hold. When the time was up, we combined all the cubes, and then counted them together. Yes, we really counted all the way to 115! Next, we practiced writing that great big number.

Here is a fun follow up activity. Challenge your child to name as many different animals as he or she can in one minute. Can they name at least ten? Next, let your child time other family members for the same activity. By using tally marks or tokens, your family's grand total can be counted. Please let me know what your total was!

Thanksgiving projects/celebrations!

Our class is very busy getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday. We are writing, reading, and painting about turkeys. We are even sewing cute little stuffed turkey pillows, thanks to our parent helpers.
On Monday we will be making jello to share with all our friends in the other K classes, as our part of the annual kindergarten Thanksgiving feast. All our parents are invited to join us at 11:20 on the deck outside the clinic. Children will not need to provide their own lunches for that day. Each class is making a dish to share and the room parents are providing the rest of the feast from our party fund. The children are asked to dress up for this special event.

Parent Survey/Poerty in the Park

Dr. Bianco is asking that all our parents complete this important survey. Here is the link:

http://surveybuilder.nais.org/SB/Questionnaire/login.aspx?SurveyID=687

Rain or Shine: Poetry in the Park (or in case of rain in the gym) tomorrow starting at 8:30. See you then! Our class is invited to bring one small stuffed animal to accompany our poem. This is optional.

How Animals Move

Children are very interested in learning about animals. This week the kindergartners are enjoying finding out the different ways animals can move. This week they sorted animals into several groups: those that walk/run, swim, fly, jump, and crawl. They also discussed which body parts help the various animals move. They learned that all animals can move in at least one way.

Reading in the Garden with a Grandfather

Early most mornings will find Mrs. Minke's kindergartners outside reading in their classroom garden. This Tuesday they were joined by one of the student's grandfathers who is a coach here at Shorecrest, Phil Hayford. Coach Hayford was able to hear many of the children read books to him. The class is eager for other parents, grandparents, as well as adult friends, to join them as they enjoy reading outside. They can't wait for the weather to be a little cooler.

Reading at School and at Home

The children are reading daily at school.We read individually, with partners from our class, with our second grade book buddies, with the teachers and visiting parents, in small groups, and as a whole class. We read many different kinds of books, as well as ones on many different reading levels.
Each day the children have been bringing home two books from our classroom. One is on a topic related to our discussions at school and the other is a class book that we have made. Thank you for reading each of these books nightly with your child and returning them each day to school. This is an important companent in our children's reading skill deveopment.
Once or twice a week the children will start bringing home a third book in an envelope. These books will be ones that we have practiced reading independently. Your child will be able to read these books to you with little or no help. Please praise all reading efforts. All reading is to be enjoyed and celebrated. Please return the book the next day in the envelope provided. There is a space on the back for you to sign.

Thank you for your assistance.

The Red, White, and Blue Kids!

We had so much fun wearing our patriotic clothes and singing our favorite song, "This Land Is Your Land," at town meeting this morning. The children did a super job. It was great to see so many of our parents there to cheer us on. We can't wait until it's our turn to present again. A special thank you to Devyn and Carly for announcing the Pledge and Motto for us.

"This Land Is Your Land"

Monday morning will find our class singing "This Land Is Your Land" for the entire lower division for Town Meeting at the flag pole a few minutes after 8:10! Be sure to wear red, white, and blue and be at school at 7:50 to get ready.

Parents: The children love this song and proudly sing, not not only the chorus, but also two of the verses. I hope many of you can attend to see what a great job our children do.

Reading in the Garden Each Morning

With the arrival of some cooler weather, and the decrease with all the rain, our class is enjoying reading in the garden each morning from 7:50-8:10 with some of our parents. I would like to have a least one parent each morning who will join us during this time to listen to our children read. Please let me know if this time is good for you, or just stop by and grab a chair. Students will eagerly join you to show off their great reading skills.

Common Courtesies in Kindergarten

How did our class earn 93 marbles in these early weeks of kindergarten? (Yes, we really did count all those marbles together!) Why, by "doing the right thing!" We can be very proud of all the many acts of kindness displayed by our students' behavior. We have been talking about the many ways we can show each other common courtesies, beginning with "thank you," "no, thank you," and "please." Being considerate and trying "to do the right thing" makes for a more pleasant atmosphere for everyone. Keep up the great work, everyone!

Since last week our class has been exploring how to make up stories using sequence cards that have no words. We are talking about studying the pictures for clues as to how the story might go. We need our stories to match the pictures. We are giving the characters names to help us with our storytelling. We use our imaginations to create stories, which is also a great language building activity. Developing storytelling skills is a great way to help us with both reading and independent writing.
Next, we will expand storytelling to include wordless books and pictures.

This Tuesday we started our writing workshop. Each day we begin with a mini-lesson which introduces the focus for that day's session. We brainstorm ideas from our lives. Once topics are chosen, the pictures are drawn next. Then the children are encouraged to either write a sentence or labels about their stories using phonetic spelling. The children are enthusiastically sharing their stories with each other. What great stories they have to tell! Stories about their pets have been most popular.

Day 6 of school finds us exploring the vast world of things that are round. As a class we have named and counted 59 round things! Now we are busy making our individual books about things that are round.
We have meet seven of the twelve crayon puppets and can't wait to meet the rest. So far Greedy Green is our favorite one; although, we have a lot to learn from Tan Tattle and Wiggly White!
We all look forward to our daily private reading time and are enjoying the many great books in our class library. We have learned how to study the pictures in books and that we can learn so much about books by "reading" the illustrations. Yesterday we shared books with partners, which was very successful. We'll do that again today.
"The Student of the Day" is a great way for us to learn about our classmates. We practice reading and spelling their names and discuss how their names are different and alike. So far, Genesis, Vinh, and Luke have had turns. Each child draws a picture of today's student and tells something about them after he or she has been interviewed. These are assembled into a book for that student. We wonder whose name will be picked today?

Our First Day of Kindergarten

Even though it was only a half day, we were very busy greeting old friends and meeting new ones. We had art class, drew pictures of ourselves, and played both on the playground and in the classroom. A special favorite was learning to march to the song, "The Morning Time March." We can't wait for Day 2 of kindergarten.

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Mr. Hutton and I can hardly wait to meet all of our students at kindergarten orientation this coming Tuesday, August 18, at 10:00. We have been working so hard to get our room ready for our students. The classroom looks terrific, but... it is so quiet without the boys and girls. Soon, the room will be bustling with activity as our 19 students arrive!
We are looking forward to a great year in kindergarten! See you soon!