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!