Today we began the day with reading books at our tables, instead of Center Time. After that, we had a short morning meeting, and then wrote two invitations as a class - one to Mr. Wold, and the other to Mrs. Wold. A couple of the kids brought them to their rooms, and after we read a couple of books, we had a surprise for Mr. and Mrs. Wold - and we gave them the baby advice book that we made (each child wrote a page of advice for the parents-to-be) and the fleece tie-blanket that we made for the baby. They were very surprised.

Then we had art class with Ms. Gilman -- the kids made sculptures with modeling clay.

Then we finished up a "secret project" and then watched a slideshow of all of the photos that I have taken so far this year while we ate popcorn. After that, it was time to pack up and go home.

Enjoy your breaks, and have a very happy, peaceful, and joyous holiday season.

See you next year! (That's a kindergarten joke that never gets old on the last day before Winter Break...)

Today was the first day when we were back to "normal" in kindergarten, after the 12 Days of Winter projects. We began the day with reading at our tables, and then had morning meeting. We worked to finish up a couple of projcts that we had lingering, and then we headed up the computer lab for our time there.

When we got back down to the room, we met a new High Hat friend in our phonics program -- Eddy Elf. We learned about the short /e/ sound (/e/ as in ten). We also did a bit of work with a new word family - words that end in -en, such as ten, men, Ben, hen, etc.

After our phonics work, we had Choice Time, and then packed up the sugar cube igloos (look for them in your child's backpack today...), and then it was time to go home!

Today was the 12th (and last) day of Winter in our series. Today, the book page read, "On the twelfth day of Winter, my teacher gave to me: 12 treats for tasting." Yikes! We had 12 different snacks to sample, and the kids did a fill-in-the-letter activity for each snack. It (along with any snacks that they had left over) should be in their backpacks today.

After the snacking, we went to the gym for our class there with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. When we got back, we worked on a couple of projects. One I can;t tell you about -- it's a secret. The other was the Take-Apart Center with Nicholas' dad once again. The last was a writing project, that is something of a secret -- ask your child the people for whom they wrote advice today. Not everyone got to do it, but everyone will have written a page for the book we are making by tomorrow.

After all of that, it was time for us to bundle up and head home.

Today was the 11th (whew!) Day of Winter in kindergarten, so today we read, "On the 11th day of winter, my teacher gave to me: 11 cubes for gluing..." We made igloos out of sugar cubes by gluing them on to styrofoam balls. They took some doing, but turned out really nicely. I think that they MIGHT be dry by Friday, if we are lucky... :-)

After our craft, we headed up to the library for our time there with Mrs. Hennen. When we got back down to our room, Nicholas' dad came in to run the Take-Apart Center. he also brought in some worker safety equipment to show all of us, and then we drew names to go to the take-apart center to dismantle an electric drill.

After Choice Time, we got all bundled up and headed home.

Today was our 10th day of the 12 Days of Winter. Today, the page in our book said, "On the 10th day of winter, my teacher gave to me, 10 holes for stitching." We made mittens, that turned out very cute, if we do say so ourselves... The kids used large needles and yarn to stitch around the outsides of the felt mitten cut-outs, and then decorated them with buttons and pompoms. Check out their creation in their backpack today!

After our sewing, we headed up to the computer lab for our time there for reading and math practice. When we came back down, we had a very short Morning Meeting, and read our new Star of the Week poster (nice job, Sasha!). We then read two "mitten" books - The Mitten, and The Missing Mitten. After that, we had Choice Time, and then it was time to bundle everyone up and go home.

Stay warm!

Today was day number 9 in the 12 Days of Winter. Today, "my teacher gave to me: 9 worms for watching." We "worms in dirt", which was gummy bears and chocolate pudding in a cup. the kids had a good, and remarkably un-messy, time. After our treat, we colored in our 12 Days of Winter Books.

After our craft, we had art class with Ms. Gilman in our classroom - the kids worked with clay today.

After art, we met a new high Hat friend - Zoo Zoo, and talked abou the /z/ sound, especially that fact that both z and s can make that sound (liek in zebra and in eyes). After that, we had a short Choice Time, and then packed up to go home!

TGIF - enjoy your weekend!

Today was day number 8 in the 12 Days of Winter. Today, "my teacher gave to me: 8 bells for jingling." We made jingle bell bracelets, which I'm sure that you have seen (and, perhaps more to the point, heard) at home today. After our craft, we had a short morning meeting, and then headed up to the computer lab for our half hour of math and reading practice there.

After the computer lab, we had math class. We're beginning to talk about measurement. The kids built a measuring stick out of unifix cubes (they look like this), and then measured things that were shorter and longer than that, and recorded their findings on the page that they brought home today.

We then had Choice Time, and then packed up to go home.

Today was the 7th Day of Winter for us, and today "my teacher gave to me: 7 flakes for snipping" -- we made tissue paper snowflakes! They turned out really nicely - ask your child if they can teach you how to make a six-pointed snowflake!

After our craft, we headed down to the gym for the Family Fun Run with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. It was really fun -- the kids all ran for 15 minutes, some of it with the lights down and the disco ball going. The kids thought (and many of the parents, I suspect) thought that it was pretty cool. In case you were wondering, I also ran for 15 minutes.

After gym, we had a quick clean-up time (picture 25 kids all making tiny tissue paper scraps at the same time), and then Ryan E.'s mom, Ms. Barb cam in to read to us again. She read Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, and The Mysterious Giant of Barletta. After all of that, it was time for us to pack up and head home!

Today was day number 6 of the 12 days of winter - "On the sixth day of winter, my teacher gave to me: 6 socks for stuffing, etc...). We made sock snowpeople, using bird seed to fill the bottom, and fiber fill to make the two upper parts. It was great fun - and the kids got to take home the snowpeople today.

After our craft, we headed up to the Media Center for our weekly time there with Mrs. Hennen.

Back down in our class, we had a quick version of Morning Meeting, and then Lisa Mellas (a fellow kindergarten parent) came into to present Art Adventures again. The Art Adventure program, once again, is from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. (for more information on the MIA, click here, and to see some of the works that we looked at, click here -- we saw the fresco from Italy, the beaded crown from Africa, and the transformation mask from Canada). The kids also made a transformation mask of their own out of a paper plate, whcih they also brought home today.

After all that, it was time for us to pack up and go home!

Today we continued with the 12 Days of Winter -- today was day number 5 - "5 gold stars." We cut out small stars, covered them with gold foil, and pasted them into our books. It took a (un)surprisingly long time for all of us to cut and paste and cut again -- but the pages in our books turned out remarkably well.

After our craft, we headed up to the computer lab for our time there. when we got back to the room, we had a very short Afternoon Meeting (it's the 60th day of kindergarten already!!), and we read our new Star of the Week poster (nice job, Sebastian!). Then we met a new High Hat friend in our phonics lesson - Ollie Octopus (the short /o/ sound, like in 'octopus.' We also talked about a new word family - words that end in -op, like hop, mop, pop, top, and stop. Then we had Choice Time - and the kids discovered that the new dramatic play area is a Puppet Theater - they had fun doing and watching puppet shows. There were also paper bags on the art center for puppet making as well.

Today was day number 3 in the 12 Days of Winter - three penguins. We made a cute little penguin from construction paper to glue into our books. The kids traced and cut, and then assembled them. (Thanks to Regan Hartney, who cut out all of the little tiny feet and beaks for the penguins!)

After our craft, we had Morning Meeting, and then it was off to the computer lab for our half hour there. when we got back to the room, we worked on math with the 100s chart, and then had a little bit longer Choice Time than usual, since we have missed it for the past 2 days.

Today we continued with the 12 Days of Winter sequence. On day 2, "my teacher gave to me: two teddy bears, and a bird feeder in a snowy tree." Today we colored another page in our 12 Days of Winter book, and the added a hibernation cover for the bears on the page. We read a couple of books about hibernation (The Bear Snores On and Time for Sleep). We also played a hibernation game, in which the kids covered their eyes and pretended to 'hibernate'. While they were all 'asleep,' I covered one of them with a sheet. Then I said "Springtime!" and they opened up their eyes and had to try to guess who was still hibernating. It was great fun!

After our game, we headed down to the gym for our time there with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson. When we got back, we read Ryan M.'s Star of the Week poster (nice job, Ryan!!), and them Ms. Barb, Ryan E.'s mom, came in to read to us. She read There's a Wocket in my Pocket and Paddington Bear. By the time she finished, it was time to pack up and head home!

Today, we started our 12 Days of Winter celebration. We are basing the next couple of weeks on the picture book The Twelve Days of Winter, and doing a craft or activity each of the next 12 days. Today we made (as you probably discovered in your child's backpack) a pinecone birdfeeder. It was really fun, and a surprisingly small mess.

We spent the first part of the day doing that, and it went right up until it was time to go to the library for Media with Mrs. Hennen. After media, we came back down to the room, and Lisa Mellas (a kindergarten parent from Mr. Wold's room) came in to teach an art lesson as a part of the Art Adventure program from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. (for more information on the MIA, click here, and to see some of the works that we looked at, click here -- we saw the portrait of the woman by Vigée-Le Brun, the Hmong ceremonial skirt, and the Ojibwa beaded cape). Art Adventure is a really cool program that brings works that are a part of the permanent collection at the MIA to schools, and invites kids to really take a close look at the works, and think about them. The kids also had a chance to make beaded bracelets, to get a sense of how the beading on the vest worked.

By the time we finished all that, it was time to pack up and head home!

Today, after Center Time and very short Morning Meeting, we had a special visitor - the Minnesota Sinfonia (a mini-orchestra) visited Burroughs today. One of the musicians, a cellist, came to our room before the concert to share her instrument with us. After her talk, we headed down to the gym for a really nice concert. After the concert, we talked about our Penny Pal donations, and counted out a dollar of each type of coin. Each child made an estimation of how much money was in the bucket -- they ranged from $1.75 to $4,000,000.87. I'll bring it to the coin counting machine at the bank and see how much it is actually.

We then read a book about thanksgiving, which told the story of the Pilgrims. Tomorrow we will talk about things that we are thankful for. We finished up with Choice Time.

Today, after Center Time and morning Meeting, the kids each made a self-portrait for our classroom wall, and then we had Writer's Workshop. The kids learned a bit about the revision process. We spent time reviewing all of the writing that they have done thus far, and thought about ways to revise and expand the writing that they have already done.

After Writer's Workshop, we headed up to the Media Center for our time there with Mrs. Hennen. When we got back to the class, we had a special guest. Jessica, Linnea's mom, came in to present a music lesson that is a part of the BRAVO! program. In this program, the kids will be exposed to classical music, composers, and gain an appreciation and understanding of the elements of music. It was really fun - ask your child all about it.

We were out of time for the day , we bundled everyone up to go home.

Have a great weekend - stay warm!!

Today, after Center Time and Afternoon Meeting, we had a writing lesson, in which we practiced three 'sight words' (words that the kids will just automatically know when they come across them, and not have to 'read'): I, see, and like. The kids filled in a writing page in which they completed the sentences "I see ___." and "I like ____." using words that they either knew or found in the room.

At 9:30 we headed up to the computer lab for our math and reading practice there. After the computer lab, we had a special treat - Mr. Fairbanks, who is the art teacher, invited the kids into his room as we were walking by to see what the art room looks like.

When we got back down to the room, we had a phonics and reading lesson. We met a new High Hat friend - today was Noisy Nan (the /n/ sound - she has issues with nutcrackers - ask your child all about it). We also talked about new 'word families' that we can write now that we know the letter 'n' - words that end in -an and words that end in -in.

After phonics and reading, we had a short math lesson about counting. We practiced counting by 10s, by 5s, by 2s, and backwards from both 20 and 10, all using the hundreds chart.

The day finished up with Choice Time. Then, after all were properly bundled up, we headed to Minneapolis Kids or home.

Today, after Center Time and Morning Meeting, we had a bit of time to sing a silly song with the guitar and play a math game with the hundreds chart. We also talked a bit about sight words and word families. Before we knew it, it was time to go to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.

When we got back from gym, since it is Wednesday, Ms. Barb (Ryan E.'s mom) came in and read two very good books to us: A Chair for My Mother, and Earthquack!. We finished up just in time to talk about the Penny Pals program, and get bundled up to go home.

Today is the 50th day of kindergarten -- time flies when you're having fun, I guess!!

Today, after Center Time (new centers today!) and Afternoon Meeting, we had just enough time to read Arthur's Star of the Week poster (nice job, Arthur!) and read a book (Bear Feels Sick) before it was time to head up to the music room for class with Mr. Hofmann.

After music, we came back down to the room and used the portable white boards and markers for the first time this year. Each child got his or her own mini-white board and we practiced the letter sounds that the High Hat friends have taught us this year so far. We also worked on 'stretching' words out to spell them, and all of the kids spelled three letter words on their boards.

At the end of the day, we finished up with Choice Time, and then it was time to go home.


Sorry for the late post - I just got home from a very successful Latino Parent Night at Burroughs - we had a potluck dinner in the cafeteria. As part of the bilingual team at Burroughs, I help with such activities throughout the year. It was great fun!

Today, after Center Time and Morning Meeting, we had Writer's Workshop. Today we started a new writing unit, called Small Moments. We worked on taking a "small moment" and stretching it out into a longer story by adding details. They kids got a 'book' (stapled paper) to write in instead of a plain paper.

After Writer's Workshop we had art class in our room with Ms. Gilman. The kids worked on art using shapes and a sort of collage. They should have brought it home today.

After art class, we worked on math -- the kids used unifix ('linker') cubes to make combinations of 10, and labeled them on a page. They also are beginning to write the corresponding "number sentences" (6+4=10, for instance). After math, we had a short Choice Time, andd then we were off to Minneapolis Kids or home.

We also talked about the Penny Pals program that we are running here at school. If your child is talking about bring spare change to school, we will be using it to buy hygiene supplies for families that are currently living at the Harriet Tubman shelter in south Minneapolis.

Also, it's not too late to send in donations for our class basket for the Silent Auction - thanks for your generosity!

Sorry for the no posting yesterday - we had a good day. I had class last night, and was also getting ready for a presentation that I made at a conference.

If you are interested, here is a link to a flyer that describes the conference at which I presented today at the College of Saint Benedict - I talked about how I teach kids to be writers in kindergarten. It was a very good day, and, obviously, there was a sub in class today.

Have a great weekend!

After Center Time and Morning Meeting today, we continued with our genre study of fables. Today we read the story of the Fox and the Stork, in which the fox invited the stork to his house for dinner, only to serve the soup in shallow bowls that the stork, with her long beak, could not drink. The stork then invited the fox to her house for dinner, but served the soup in narrow, long-necked containers that only she could drink from. The moral of the story was "treat others as you would like to be treated" - a good lesson for all of us, I think. We talked about the plot as well as the moral of the story.

After we finished our genre study, we went to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson.

After gym, we had a short reading and phonics lesson, in which we talked about our new High Hat friend Hairy horse, and brainstormed a list of words that begin with the letter h. We then had math workshop -- the kids could either choose to work on their counting books, or they could play a game called "Grab and Count" using blocks. Ask your child which s/he chose!

We finished up with Choice Time -- having Choice Time at the end of the day is working very well -- it gives the kids something to look forward to throughout.

Have a great evening!

After Center Time and Morning Meeting today, we met a new friend of Mr. High Hat's in phonics class today. We read a story about "Hairy Horse" (which is obviously the /h/ sound), and then talked a bit about word families, and learned how to make rhyming stories -- we made words that all ended in -at and -it, and then wrote a sentence that ended with those words.

Then, we were off to the computer lab for 1/2 hour of math and reading skills practice. When we got back to the room, we worked on our counting books in math class again. We finished up the day with Choice Time.

Today, after a very short Choice Time, we talked about our new (and improved!) kindergarten schedule. Instead of Choice Time at the beginning of the day, we will start with Centers, in which the kids will work on a skill from either math or literacy in small groups. I will also run guided reading groups with the kids at this time. We talked about the centers for the week, and then had a chance to try one of them out. We will begin with Centers in the morning tomorrow (Choice Time will be at the end of the day now).

After our "Centers Practice," we had our Morning Meeting, and then had a little bit of time to read our Star of the Week poster (great job reading, Jack!). Then Ms. Gilman came to our room for art class. They made leaf imprints in clay, and also made pinch pots. They had a really good time.

After art, we worked on the counting books that we began in Math Workshop last week. WE reviewed Anno's Counting Book, and then worked on our own books - they are looking nice! We also had a chance to read another counting book - We All Go on Safari - A Counting book from Tanzania.

Today we also talked about our new system for behavior management in the classroom. Each child has a pocket on a chart in the front of the room. In the pocket is a green, a yellow, and a red slip of paper. Every child starts the day on green ("go - you're doing fine"). As a warning, if a child needs a reminder about their behavior, they will go to the chart and pull out the front (green) paper, which will leave the yellow tag ("slow - think about your behavior"). If there is another behavior incident, the yellow tag will be pulled as well, and read will be left (red = "stop"). If a kid reaches red, they will miss part of their choice time for that day. If the red card needs to be pulled as well, I will call home. I like this system because it is another opportunity for a conversation at home -- you can ask your child for a behavior update based upon their card color each day.

Today, after Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we spent the rest of the time before Media doing math. This week we have been reading and thinking about counting books, and we read Anno's Counting Book yesterday. Today, we started our own counting book, by adding pictures of objects to pages that contain that number (on the '3' page, for instance, the kids drew three of every object that they added). We will continue to work on them next week - the books go up to 11, so we didn't get nearly done. At the end of Math Workshop, the kids all shared their work with two other kids in the class -- they were all very proud of their work.

After Math, we headed up to the Media Center for our specialist time there. Then, we came back down to the classroom, and took full advantage of the fact that it was snowing. We got out jackets and hats on and took black construction paper and magnifying glasses out to the playground to catch and look at snowflakes. After several minutes outside, we cam back in and drew the snowflakes with chalk on black construction paper. They turned out really nicely -- check them out hanging in the hallway outside our room!

Have a great weekend!

Today, after Choice Time, we had an all-school evacuation drill. This is the drill where all students and staff clear out of this building and go to Mt. Olivet Church across the street. The kids did remarkably well - I was very proud of them. It wasn't raining too hard when we went out, thankfully.

When we got back, it was time to head up to the computer lab for our half hour there. When we (finally) got back to our classroom, we had a late version of morning meeting, and then we started a math project that we will finish up tomorrow. We will be making counting books, so to prepare for that we read a really cool counting book by Mitsumasa Anno called (creatively) Anno's Counting Book. We used the Document Camera to project the book up onto the screen so we could all see it at once (ask your child about that -- it's pretty neat).

After math, we read a new High Hat story - we met High Hat's friend Apple Annie -- to learn about the short /a/ sound ('a' as in apple). We also talked a bit about word families again -- using the -at word part, and adding a letter to the beginning to make 'pat,' 'sat,' 'mat,' etc.

At the end of the day, we read a couple of books, just for fun. They were both continuations of books that Ryan E.'s mom read to us yesterday: Pirates Don't Change Diapers, and Corduroy Lost and Found. I wanted the kids to get a sense of books that come in series.

After Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we read a book that Maddie (our Star of the Week) brought in for us - 'Twas the Day Before Thanksgiving. It was a good one -- we all enjoyed it.

Then we had Writer's Workshop. I taught a short mini-lesson about using speech bubbles again (something of a repeat of a lesson from last week). We read a book that used speech bubbles (Hug), and learned that we can use speech bubbles for "dialogue" (your child should know that word now) and we can use it for individual people in stories who are talking.

We then headed to the gym for our gym class. After gym class, Ms. Barb (Ryan E.'s mom) came in to read again. She brought How I Became a Pirate and A Pocket for Corduroy. by the time we finished that, it was time to go home.

Another note - I sent home school pictures today - the kids were to leave them in thheir backpacks until they got home -- I hope that was the case!

Today, after Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we had a little bit of time to read our Star Of the Week's poster - nice job, Maddie!! We also got to read our new high Hat Story (Copy Cat - /k/ sound). Then, it was off to the Computer Lab for half an hour of work there.

When we came back to the classroom, we went outside on to the playground to enjoy the incredible "November" weather. After that, back into the classroom for reading/phonics. We read two short books that emphasized the /k/ sound - one with the letter 'c' and one with the letter 'k.' At the end of each book, there was a picture that had many things that began with the sound. We projected it up on the projection screen, and together found all of the 'hidden' pictures.

Before we packed up to go home we worked on math with the 100s chart -- we each had a card to place on the chart. We also worked on counting by 1s, 5s, and 10s.

Don't forget to vote today!

Orange Party!

Today, after Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we worked on a short art project, and colored and read a pumpkin book (which should have come home in backpacks today) - encourage your child to read it to you. We spent a some time working with the 100s chart as well in math.

We then headed to the Media Center for our time there. Meanwhile the parents were setting up for the Orange Party. It was a really fun time -- thank you, thank you, thank you, to all who helped -- planning, working at the party, and donating supplies.

Have a great weekend!

Today, after Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we had a little bit of time to preview the book that we were to analyze later in the day for our Author Study of Ezra Jack Keats -- Whistle for Willie. Then, it was up to the Computer Lab for reading and math practice. After 1/2 hour of time there, we cam back down to the room, and talked about plot and characters in Whistle for Willie, and added our collective thoughts to the chart.

Then, on to Pumpkin Math - I brought in a pumpkin, and we made guesses about its circumference (the distance around the outside -- we tried to learn the big word today: we'll see if it sticks). The kids cut a piece of yarn to the length that they thought would fit right around the pumpkin. We then tried all of their guesses, and charted them on the wall. Ask your child all about it!

At the end of the day, we talked about the fact that even though it is Halloween (a fact that the kids won't let me forget...), we will not be wearing costumes in school. Don't forget to send your child to school tomorrow in their orange tie-dye shirt for our Orange Party!!

Today, I had a substitute for the morning, so here is what I gathered happened this morning -- check with your child to make sure!!

After Choice Time and Morning Meeting, the kids read a Pumpkin Book with the sub. Then, they headed to gym, where they stayed inside today. Then, they worked on phonics - and met a new High Hat friend -- Itchy Itch (the /i/ sound, obviously). They did a little work on stroy seqencing, putting the pictures from the High Hat story in order, and then writing and drawing words that begin with that sound.

They finished up with a couple of math activities. They got a wonderful report from the sub!

Today, after Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we had a got to read a book that our Star of the Week, Zarah, brought in -- one of her favorites, Olive my Love. Then, it was off to the Computer Lab for a half hour of log-ins, reading and math.

When we finished or time in the computer lab, we cam back down to the classroom, fed and observed our fish, and then had Writer's Workshop. Today, I taught a mini-lesson on using speech bubbles (like in the comics) to add characters' voices to the kids' stories. Next time, we'll talk about adding the conversations to our writing. We wrote for about 20 minutes.

At the end of the day, we reviewed the letter sounds that we have covered so far this year with the High Hat series, and then played a little game with the sounds and some pictures. After the kids got their backpacks and jackets on, we read a little more of Esio Trot, and then went home or to Minneapolis Kids.

Today, after Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we had a little bit of time to read the Ezra Jack Keats book for the day (Hi, Cat!). We also had a chance to look again at our fish. We are working on making predictions and inferences about their behavior. The current question before us is how the fish know when there is food in the tank -- do they see it, smell it, feel it (via vibrations in the water), or hear it when it hits the surface. We're still working on that question.

Then it was time for art class in our room with our art teacher, Ms. Gilman. She made a fun spider art project with the kids, that should be in their backpacks today. After art, we worked on our author study, analyzing the the plot and characters in Hi, Cat! -- ask your child all about it. They should know what "plot" means by this point (we say that it means "what the story is about").

At the end of the day, we had just enough time to do a little counting practice, and then be on our merry ways!

Today was a busy, busy day in Room 145. After Choice Time, we were very lucky to have four moms in to help out with putting the rubber bands on our t-shirts for our Orange Party tie-dying. We had a busy, busy room as we were all working on our shirts!

After the adventure in tie-dying, and before we knew it, it was time to go to the Media Center for our hour with Mrs. Hennen. The kids got to check out books at the end of the time -- hopefully it made it home in your child's backpack!

After Library, we came back to the room and we kept at our Author Study of Ezra Jack Keats. Today we analyzed Pet Show, looking at the plot and the characters. The kids are really getting good at making summaries of the action and thinking about the characters in the books -- this will really help them in their writing and the reading!

Have a great weekend!

Once again, sorry for the late post. A meeting after school, and then a baby shower for Mr. and Mrs. Wold (the other two kindergarten teachers).

Today after Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we took a quick look at our fish, who seem to be doing swimmingly (get it?). Then, we finally had the long-awaited trip to the computer lab. In the lab, your child will be working on an individualized program of math and reading practice that is suited to his/her level. After we got log-on issues resolved, we worked for about 20 minutes. In the future, the plan will be to go back to the lab once or perhaps twice a week.

When we got back to the room, we had some time to read another Ezra Jack Keats book for our Author Study this week (we read Pet Show) to get ready to analyze it tomorrow.

We then went off to the gym for our Book Fair Preview. The kids had a chance to look at all of the books that will be for sale at the Burroughs Book Fair on Saturday. If you haven't been before, it's great fun. There are snacks for sale, great (and pretty inexpensive) books -- like the ones on the book orders that I send home for sale, and a chance to socialize with other Burroughs families. Several of the teachers have volunteered to read a book at the fair, and, if you happen to be there at 11:15, you can hear me read (probably no great treat for your child, though -- they hear me read to them every day!).

We had another special treat today -- Ms. Cory, who is the bilingual program assistant at Burroughs, came in to read a Peter Rabbit story to the kids. When Ms. Cory finished, we had a little bit of time to practice some math counting skills, and play a quick math game.

Sorry, first of all for the late post -- a series of meetings at school, and then a series of 'meetings' once I got home. At any rate, here goes.

After Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we learned about the "tub mystery" -- we have had two small tubs of water in the classroom for several days, and yesterday predicted what would go into them. Well, it's FISH! We have guppies and goldfish -- your child hopefully came home tying to think of good names for them. Tomorrow we will try to name them and figure out a way to tell them apart. Wish us luck!

After the fish adventure, we had a bit of time to meet a new friend of Mr. High Hat (from our phonics program). The new letter/sound is /t/, and the friend is Tiger Tom. Oddly enough, High Hat has a tool that makes the t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t sound. Then we went to the gym for class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson, which is never a dull time.

When we got back from the gym, had another visit from Ms. Barb (Ryan E.'s mom) who read a couple of books to the kids -- The Lumpy Bumpy Pumpkin and Mouse Soup. Then, after a quick check of the fish (who seem to be adjusting nicely, thank you very much), it was off to Minneapolis kids, pick-up in the Atrium, or the bus home!

Today we had a busy day in Room 145. After Choice Time and Morning Meeting, we started Writer's Workshop.

During Writer's Workshop, we learned about "stretching words" to sound them out, instead of the more staccato, sound by sound method (not buh-o-ah-t for boat, for instance). Ask your child if they can demonstrate it - they did a super job, and we got some of our best writing yet today.

After Writer's Workshop, we had a whole group reading lesson. This week we are doing an "Author Study" on Ezra Jack Keats (one of my all-time favorite authors). Today we re-read Peter's Chair, and discussed the "plot" and how the main character changed during the book. Staty tuned for updates on future books this week!

We had a quick recess, and then we were back to work on Peter's Chair, and then we talked about some mysterious small tubs of water that have been in our classroom for a couple of days. We all got a chance to guess what we will be using the tubs for in the next weeks -- be sure to ask your child what they think will be going into the tubs! Finally, we finished up with a math game that used the 100s chart.

Welcome back after the long weekend -- I hope that it was a good one for all.

After choice time today, we had our morning meeting. Aiden got to read his Star of the Week poster (nice job, Aiden!!), and we were able to read a short book before art class with Ms. Gilman today. The kids worked on painting with watercolors today in art -- they turned out pretty nicely, I think.

After art, we began our reading project for the week. We will be doing an author study this week of Ezra Jack Keats (books like The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie, etc.). Today we read Peter's Chair to get ready for analyzing it tomorrow.

We also met a new friend of Mr. High Hat's from our phonics program -- Buzzy Bee. Buzzy, predictably enough, makes the b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b sound. We brainstormed words that began with that sound.

At the end of the day, we got to play a number game on the 100s chart in which I turned some of the numbers around (they are on little cards on a pocket chart) and the kids had to figure out which ones were turned around -- it goes right with the 100s chart work that the kids are doing on their weekly homework.

Picture Day!

That pretty much sums up our morning -- we had a bit of choice time, and then we gpot ready to go take our pictures (we were lucky to be able to sign up for a time that was before gym class). After our photos, we had our morning meeting, and them we were off to gym class with Mr. Hill and Mr. Peterson -- the kids went outside and had their class.

After gym, as is the case every Wednesday, Ms. Barb (Ryan E.'s mom) came in to read two stories to the class. After our Wednesday storytime, it was time for us to pack up and get ready to go!

Enjoy your long weekend!!

Today we had choice time to begin, as always. After we had our morning meeting, we went immediately into Writer's Workshop. today the mini-lesson was about what writers do when we are 'stuck' -- the kids went back to 'old' writing in their writing folders to see if they needed revisions oe additions, or if they could get inspiration for a new story from one of the old ones. We looked at the author Don Freeman's work (he wrote Corduroy, among many others) as an example -- when he was stuck, he re-read Corduroy and then wrote another book about the same bear. Many of the kids chose to do the same.

After we wrote, the kids each read their most recent writing to a friend, so everyone got to share today. then we had a phonics lesson, in which we made another "magic book" -- see if your child can tell you how to fold it (here's a link to a webpage that shows how: http://www.makingbooks.com/hotdog.shtml). It's still pretty confusing to many of them. In the books, which the kids took home today, we glued words that began with our focus letter, /p/. The kids had to choose the words that began with the /p/ sound from a page that had many words on it, then cut and glue the words on their books. If they had time, I also asked them to write the word that they made on the same page in their books.

Finally, we went outside to choose our "class tree." We picked a nice one, I think -- we'll go back to it, throughout the year, and write about and draw it in the different seasons to see how it changes. (We put a sign on it, so if you are ever out back behind the school, you can see which one we picked.)

Finally, we got packed up for home, and read a little bit more of Esio Trot- it's getting to the main part of the story, and the kids are getting into it.

Monday, October 13, 2008

We began another fun (but short) week in Room 145 today.

After choice time, we had our morning meeting as usual. We had a little bit of time left before art class, so we read a short math book (Ten Black Dots, by Donald Crews) to set up our math time after art class. On Mondays, we have art in our room - Ms. Gilman comes in to teach us. Today they began a project with leaves that had two steps -- the second will be done next week.

After art, we spent some time learning about the number 5 - and the combinations of numbers that add up to five. The kids put together 2 colors of linker cubes to make the number 5. This skill is an important one, as it leads not only to a better understanding of how numbers work, but also it directly corresponds to addition skills.

We also met a new friend of Mr. High Hat's today - Penny Put. the story and the sequencing cards are in your child's backpack today. Finally, we did some more work on counting by 10s, and then finished up with a couple of pages from Esio Trot.

October 10, 2008

Welcome to the trial kindergarten blog. Feel free to leave comments, if you like. I'm going to try to post snippets of what we have done each day, in an attempt to give you some leverage as you ask "So, what did you do in school today?" (Especially if you have a kid like mine, who always says, "um, nothing much..." I can't promise that it will be workable, but I wanted to give it a try.

So, here goes:

Today we had choice time, as always - the pizza parlor is still up, and so is the painting easel, the writing center, and the art table. We had morning meeting, and we sang Happy Birthday to Julia B. -- ask your child about the "musical" tradition that we have for singing to our friends on their birthdays. We had a short Math Workshop (playing Button Match and Attribute Block Match) and then we went to the Media Center/Library for a lesson with Mrs. Hennen, and to check out books. After Media, we did Writer's Workshop, and learned about how some writers make the pictures before the words, and others make the words first. Then, we WROTE for about 15 minutes.

At the end of the day, we had just enough time to eat the birthday snack that Julia brought for us (Oreos - YUM!) and read a little bit more of Esio Trot by Roald Dahl (our end-of-the-day book) before we went home or to Minneapolis Kids.

Have a great weekend!!