Thursday March 31, 2011

The students had a great day today!

Mrs. Abbey met with guided reading groups where we reviewed the sight words we have learned so far and worked on reading the book, I Like This Flower. While Mrs. Abbey met with groups of students, the class rotated between literacy stations, the writing station, and exploring books.

In handwriting, the students practiced writing the capital and lowercase "H/h".

Alex brought in his baby picture book to share with the class for his Star of the Week sharing!

During large group literacy time, we talked about the tools needed in a garden. Mrs. Abbey read a nonfiction article called How Does a Garden Grow, where we learned about growing tomatoes in a garden. We also practiced reading price signs while looking at a picture of a market, and compared the prices of the different vegetables.
Mrs. Abbey read Anansi and the Melon, a folk tale about a spider who gets stuck inside a watermelon. Ask your child to tell you how the spider was able to get out of the melon.

Tomorrow we make paper! The students are very excited to try this out!

If your child has a speaking/microphone part in the kindergarten music concert, their part went home in their folders today (Jasmine, Blake, and Alex). Please help them memorize their part for the concert!

Magnets and Spring Pictures (or payment for them) are due tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also library day--please have your child bring back their library book if they would like to check out a new one.

I will accept the March reading logs through next Friday (April 8). April's reading log will go home tomorrow.

Wednesday March 30, 2011

The students worked on making a collage out of paper samples. We found many different paper samples from school and student's homes to add to our collage!

Alex is the Star of the Week this week! He brought in one of his favorite toys, Batman, to share with the class.

Mrs. Abbey read Sunflower House. This book is a fictional story about a boy who plants flowers in a circle-shaped garden. Once grown, he and his friends play inside their "sunflower house."

We went to the computer lab today and worked with the word processing program, Word. The students were challenged to make a list of more words than they had done last time. They worked real hard and did very well.

In guidance, the students are continuing to learn about I Care Cat's rules. Today they learned about feelings and emotions.

Thank you to the many parents who have sent back their spring pictures and/or money, magnet or money, and field trip permission forms. Please make sure all is sent back by the end of the week. Thank you!

Also, if you have finished your green March reading record sheet where your child colored in a kite for each 5-10 minute block of reading that you did together, please send it back for a prize!

Tuesday March 29, 2011

The students are doing a great job with our paper unit! Today, they drew the paper making steps in their Paper Discovery Journals. We read another book, called Paper, which taught us some more facts that we didn't know, such as a roll of paper can be as tall as an adult and weigh as much as a car! We talked about different kinds of paper: construction, cardboard, waxed, paper towel, tissue, tagboard, newsprint, etc. Tomorrow we will glue a collection of paper samples in our Paper Discovery Journals. Thank you to Blake and Kaylee C. for bringing in paper samples from home to share with the class!

We put our old literacy stations away and learned a new group of stations today. The students are enjoying these new stations, which focus on word building and word reading.

Please check at home to make sure you have returned the following items to school:
•your child's spring picture packet (or money to purchase pictures)
•the permission slip for our field trip in April
•the magnet from art class (or money to purchase it)

Monday March 28, 2011

Mrs. Abbey read a Liberian folk tale called The Talking Vegetables. This story was about a spider who does not want to help his neighbors plant a vegetable garden. We also talked about what we would plant if we had a garden here at school.

In math, we learned about the quarter. Some of the students mentioned that they collect coins. If your child has a coin collection (or money from a different country) that they would like to share with the class, they can bring it any day this week.

We are starting a paper unit in science. Today we read the book, Wood and Paper. The students helped me make a chart which shows the process to make paper. (1) cut down a tree, (2) chop the tree into sawdust, (3) soak the sawdust in water until it forms pulp, and (4) flatten out the pulp and let it dry into paper. The kids were amazed to learn new things about paper. One new thing learned is that cardboard boxes are made out of paper! Another new bit of information is that paper can be made out of recycled paper! Tomorrow we will begin recording information in our Paper Discovery Journals. If you have any paper samples at home that you would like to send in for our investigations, please do so by Wednesday. Thank you!

The students worked hard in music class, preparing for their concert! The concert is April 14 from 6:30-7:00. Last week, you received an informational sheet about the concert in your child's folder. Please let me know if you need another one.

Friday March 25, 2011

We had an exciting day today! This morning, the kindergarten community invited our class down to listen to an African Storyteller. She was amazing! The students loved her puppets, drums, and all the interactive opportunities she gave the students to participate in telling her stories.

I think today was a record for the number of library books returned in a single day! Way to go!

Thank you to Elijah's mom for helping the students finish recording their reading!

Next week is a very exciting week! The students will be getting new table spots, new floor spots, and will be learning a new set of stations! We are also going to learn about paper--the various types (newspaper, wrapping paper, waxed paper, writing paper, tracing paper, cardboard, etc.) where it comes from, and how it is made. Help your child look through the house and find as many kinds of paper as they can. If you would like to send samples in, we would love using them in our paper collages and experiments next week!

Have a nice weekend!

Thursday March 24, 2011

We are continuing our study of plants. The students put their first entry into their Seed Books, drawing a picture of what the seeds look like, and writing the name of the plant. The students are excited to work on their books and bring them home to show you when they are completed!

Mrs. Abbey read a folk tale called The Wind and the Sun. In this tale, the wind and sun have a contest to see who is stronger. Ask your child who won the contest and how they won!

We worked on identifying nickels in a group of coins (they easily get mixed up with dimes and quarters in black and white pictures). The students had to look at the details of each coin very carefully in order to find all of the nickels. Tomorrow we are going to learn about the quarter!

In handwriting, we practiced writing the lowercase "m".

Thank you to Ella's mom for helping out today! The students are using an iPod to record their reading with parent volunteers this week!

The students all did a great job in art class today, and it sounds like they did a lot of things including painting! They each earned a pipe cleaner which they are bringing home in their backpacks.

Tomorrow is library day. Please send back your child's library book (unless they just checked out a new one today and you don't have a chance to read it tonight). Thanks!

Wednesday March 23, 2011

Mrs. Abbey read Let's Go To a National Park, a nonfiction story about 4 national parks in the United States. We learned about the giant sequoia trees at Sequoia National Park in California, the giant saguaro cactus at Saguaro National Park in Arizona, the wetlands at Everglades National Park in Florida, and the rock formations at Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

In computer lab we started working with a word processing program. The students practiced typing our kindergarten sight words, using the return key after each word. We also learned where the delete key was! Some students practiced changing the size and style of font. They enjoyed working on these new skills!

Spring pictures went home in your child's backpack today. An order/payment form is included in the picture envelope if you would like to buy any of the picture sheets. Please send back any sheets you do not wish to purchase. Thank you!

The students practiced writing the uppercase "M" today in handwriting.

In guidance they practiced using manners and talked about the importance of treating others how they would like to be treated.

Please put Thursday April 14 on your calendar! On this day, your child will perform in a music concert with the rest of the kindergarten students from 6:30-7:00. Please arrive in the kindergarten community (not the 2nd grade community) at 6:15. A note went home in your child's folder today that gives you all the information about your child's upcoming concert! Please let me know if you have any questions.