Apple Taste Test

We're taking our apple theme to all subject areas this week!

In reading, we identified what we already know about apples and questions that we have about apples.  We read a non-fiction book about how apples grow.  In writing, we stretched out words to write facts we learned about apples.  In math, we  sampled yellow, red, and green apples.  Students collected data about their favorite apples on tally tables and displayed that data in bar graphs.

Check out some pictures of our taste test and math lesson!

Red Delicious apples are red.

"These green apples are tasty!"

Yellow Delicious apples are yellow.

Granny Smith apples are green.

Granny Smiths are very sour!

Which is your favorite?

We talked about what we liked and didn't like about the different apples.

Our friends had different opinions about the different apples.

Making our final decisions

Putting our data in a bar graph

We've learned strategies to help us correctly make our bar graphs.

Come back tomorrow to check out our pictures from our apple foods taste test!  We'll be trying apple cider, apple sauce, apple chips, and apple jelly.

Free Choices

Each afternoon, we work in Free Choice Centers, which include areas such as Housekeeping, Art Center, Cars and Trucks, Legos, Puppets, and our newest favorite, Marble Run.  Four centers are open each afternoon and students choose which center to spend their time that afternoon.  Free choices give us the opportunity to work together, interact socially, and use our imaginations.  Here are some pictures of us working in our free choices.   Enjoy!

Art Center Fun!

Being creative in Art Center

"Look at my Lego tower!"

"Let's create a flying machine!"

Marble Run fun!

Time to put a marble in and try it out!

Busy Marble Run workers!

Putting away the groceries at Housekeeping

We hope you enjoyed a peek at our Free Choice Centers!

Working Together!

We will be continuing our study of nursery rhymes this week in reading.  We've been reading well-known rhymes, such as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Little Miss Muffet."  Each day, after reading the rhymes, we identify rhyming word pairs.  Here, our kindergarten friends worked with a partner to match up rhyming word cards.  They worked so nicely with their partners!

Helping at Home!

A few parents have asked me for specific strategies they can do at home, in order to support what we are doing at school. Here are some ideas:

1. Please help your child practice writing his/her name using upper and lowercase letters.  Some fun ideas for this would be to paint the letters, use play-dough to form the letters, write the letters using sidewalk chalk, spread shaving cream on a table and have your child use their fingers to write through the shaving cream, etc.

2. Have your child sort at home.  Students can sort beans, buttons, crayons, rocks, toys, etc.  After they’ve sorted one way, ask them to choose a new rule to sort the materials.  For example, if they choose to sort by color first, the next time they could sort by shape.  

3. Practice writing the following "Word Wall Words":  I, see, am.  Using sidewalk chalk, shaving cream, fingerpaint, or magnetic letters are great ways to practice!


4.  Using items you can find at home (silverware, craft supplies, buttons, etc.), have your child practice making patterns.  We are working on AB patterns (fork, spoon, fork, spoon...) and ABB patterns (blue, red, red, blue, red, red...) this week.  Have your child make patterns and tell you about them, or make a pattern and ask him/her to tell you what comes next in the pattern.


5.  I will be sending home poetry folders this week.  The two poems we have read so far, "I Am" and "I See" are in the folders.  Have your child practice reading the poems aloud. At this point, many of the students have memorized the poems, which is okay.  Memorizing is part of the early stages of reading!


6.  Have your child retell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears using the popsicle stick puppets we made in class.  Encourage them to use different voices for each of the characters.  


Have a great week!

Week 1 Wrap-Up!

Kindergarten is well underway! We’ve had a busy, fun-filled week!


During the past week, we’ve been learning our friends’ names, as well as rules/routines of the classroom and school. We have been identifying and matching upper and lower case letters. We’ve sequenced stories and made personal connections to stories. In writing, we’ve been working on stretching out words and writing down the sounds we hear. In math, we’ve collected data about ourselves and created pictographs based on that data. We’re using words such as: “more than,” “less than,” and “equal to.”
Next Week:

In reading and writing, we will:


• Identify the word wall words, “I” and “am” by using the poem, "I Am Special"
• Begin to learn about different literacy centers in our classroom
• Continue to stretch out words and write down the sounds we hear


In math, we will

• Begin sorting ourselves and different collections of objects into groups (by color, by size, by shape, etc.) using words like: tall, short, thin, thick, bumpy, smooth


In science, we will


• Describe the weather using different weather vocabulary
• Identify appropriate clothing to wear for each type of weather
Looking Ahead


• No School on Monday, September 6th or Thursday, September 9th!
• Cultural Arts assembly on Wednesday

Classroom Announcements


• Birthdays: Happy Birthday to Gaby and Eamon on Sept. 10th! Happy Birthday this past week to Nia and Darius on August 31st and Rhyce on August 29th.

• Please return your child’s take home folder to school every day. This is an important communication tool between school and home. Be sure to send your child’s “Stop and Think calendar” back each day, as well.
How You Can Help Your Child


• Please help your child practice writing his/her name using upper and lowercase letters. Some fun ideas for this would be to paint the letters, use play-dough to form the letters, write the letters using sidewalk chalk, spread shaving cream on a table and have your child use their fingers to write through the shaving cream, etc.


A Special Thank You


• Thank you to Marianne (Gaby's mom) for volunteering to be our room parent. If you would like to help her, by being a co-room parent, please let me know!


If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend!

Tooty Ta

I've had several comments from parents about their children loving the Tooty Ta song and dance.  The Tooty Ta is a repetitive song by Dr. Jean, complete with hand and body motions.  The kids really love it when I play this song for a movement break.  There are many renditions of this song and dance on YouTube, so check it out!

Classroom Photos

Just a few more updated shots of our classroom!  Enjoy!

Our cubbies

Our backpack and coat hooks with our nametags that we'll wear to specials

Fun things for Free Choice Centers

Our Data Center

Our lunch cards

Housekeeping

Where you will see our monthly self portraits

Calendar area

Our plans for the first day of school

Our reading area/classroom library