Spirit Week!

Whew it's been a fun/energetic/crazy week here at KA, both with the upcoming auction and spirit week! It's been so neat to see all the creative outfits from the kids!

Monday was backwards/mismatch day! There were many backwards shirts, pants, and mismatched color combos! The students even took it further by writing their names backwards all day!

Tuesday was animal day! It was a zoo in my room with two cats, a wolf, lobster, bear, and a bunny!

Wednesday was choose your own name day! We had lots of giggles calling each other different names like Alyssa, Bruce, Honey Bee, Chris Kratt, Rex, and Little Johnny Robinhood. My name was Mrs. Sippy, which the students thought was pretty once they understood the pun.

Thursday was crazy hair/hat day. We had some pretty good bed-head going on with some students!

Friday was class competition. The first graders put together a wedding (of friendship!) They were pretty cute walking down the isle (but don't them that I called them cute, that's not a "cool" word!). They got third place in the contest. But, they got first place in the Box Top competition this month!

The week, the students jumped back into phonics and reading with new reader books for Kindergarten, and new letter blends for first graders. In math, Kindergartners are learning about some teen numbers, and first graders have started to use their rulers to measure (in their words, FINALLY!).

We also started a new science unit, the sky! On Monday we went outside for a little observation of the sky. A red helicopter happen to fly by right when we went outside! Talk about perfect timing! On Tuesday we continued our work with the sky by talking about different types of clouds. We also recreated some clouds using puff balls. On Wednesday, the first graders created a cloud in a jar by using warm water on bottom, ice on the top, and then lighting a match in the middle. We briefly talked about why clouds form. On Thursday we talked about man-made things in the sky. After learning about parachutes, the students used their head and random material to create their own parachutes. We even went up to the mezzanine to test them out!

Almost Fall Break!

I think that everyone is excited and ready for a week off of school! I hope everyone has a fun time with family and friends! Here's a few highlights from our last week of the first quarter...

*Pumpkin Farm: On Monday we went to Steele Farms to learn about agriculture, go on a hayride, get lost in a maze, pick a pumpkin, and play in corn and hay! It was a fun field trip, that was also filled with great lessons about what we use crops and animals for!

*Science Fair: This week we were also able to watch the Middle Schoolers present their science fair projects. We learn about red pandas, ponies, paper airplanes, fire, flubber, volcanoes, and rockets! You could tell the students had put a lot of hard work into their projects!

*Learning About Leaves: Throughout the week we have also been learning about leaves. The first graders learned about identifying leaves and why leaves turn green )through a flop science experience!). We also studied different colorful leaves and decorated our own fall tree!

*Tying Shoes: The kindergartners are all learning to tie shoes! They are really starting to get the hang of it! All of them had atleast one shoe tied this week!

Pumpkins (and Pumpkin Guts!)

This week we spent more time talking about fall, this time focusing on pumpkins. This will lead perfectly into our field trip to the pumpkin patch on Monday. On Monday, we learned more about pumpkins by discovering how they roll. The students used scientific prediction to predict if our fake pumpkin (no I wasn't brave enough to use a real one!) would roll further by pushing it or rolling it down a ramp. They then completed their own designs, and we tested out the do-able ones. We tried using the slide outside, a taller ramp, and a ramp with different materials. We didn't try pushing it down a parking garage or using a hot-wheel type track as big as our school. 

Tuesday we focused more on pumpkin by using descriptive words to describe the pumpkin. We then wrote about it, and drew our own pumpkin. Thursday, we headed outside to look inside a pumpkin. We separated the different parts of the pumpkins (yes even the scientifically named "guts"), and sorted and labeled the parts. 

The Kindergartners have had a busy week sounding out words and learning sight words. Their reader was the most in-depth one yet, but they really enjoyed it! In math they are learning about different measurements, and have been practicing measuring objects using paper clips. 

First graders have also been busy counting nickles, pennies, and dimes this week. They have also begun to work on many different consonant blends. The students were also introduced to two of four brother, SHerman (the quiet brother) and CHarlie (the crazy brother). It's been a really fun way to teach these blends. 

First graders also had a special trip on Friday. They went to Bluffton Harrison Elementary School to listen to an author speak. He was such an engaging, and funny speaker! He head them books, told stories about when he was a kid, and even drew a picture right in front of them!

*P.S. Sorry that there's not any pictures this week, I could not get my pictures to load! If you want any pictures of the author visit, I do have a few I can send you.