From Sea to Shining Sea

It's been a whirlwind of a week in kindergarten/first grade (isn't it always!). In phonics the kindergartners have been working on more consonant blends (pl, fl, and tr). There reading vocabulary is really growing between these and new sight words. They have started to read some beginner-readers from the library! First grade has been finishing up their "Bossy R" section, and are learning more about antonyms and months. One day to help their fluency, they read from their reader books at a podium, just like the president! Both grades enjoyed a review game of "Stinky Feet" this week, which is always a favorite!

In math, kindergarten has been learning about the 30, 40, and 50 number families. A few of them have really shown an interest in money during free time, as they always want to count coins! We might have some future bankers on our hands! First graders have been learning more about weight (ounces and pounds) and how to add double digit numbers. They feel pretty grown up, and they're right! Did these really use to be my kindergartners?

We have been traveling across the county in social studies this week. We made homemade butter at Plymouth Rock, compared the White House to KA in Washington DC, and made leis in Hawaii. The first graders also wrote about their dream vacation in the USA.

This past month the Kindergartners, have been memorizing their address. Last week they were able to say their address when prompted to in a song. This week however, all 4 kindergartners were able to say their address without help! Good job!

The First Graders made a trip to More Than Mail this Friday to deliver a package they have been working on to Missionaries in Mexico. In it was colored pages, a letter from the class, and stickers! They all received an receipt with a tracking number, so we can follow the package next week! If you want to follow it at home, just look up the number on the USPS tracking service.

Next Monday is our 100th day of school! Wow this year has gone fast! I'm excited to do lots of fun activities, and see what everyone brings in!

People, Symbols, and More!

This week we started a short social studies section about the people, symbols, and places in America. We started the week off with learning about Martin Luther King Jr. and loving everyone! We painted hands to represent loving those with all skin colors!

Tuesday was Benjamin Franklin's birthday, so we learned about different parts of his life, and drew them on a kite. We now have kits hanging all over the classroom! On Wednesday, the first grade started to learn about American symbols like the liberty bell, flag, and the bald eagle. They then wrote about and drew a bald eagle. We also compared our wing spans!

We continues learning about symbols on Thursday with measuring the Statue of Liberty in the hall way, and making green crowns!

On Friday, we talked and watched the inauguration speech at lunch, and learned about freedoms in America.

In phonics, the Kindergartners are learning more consonant blends like "sp", "mp", and "nd". They are also reading more and more sight words, and using them in their reader books! First grade is learning about Bossy R, and the sounds "ar", "or", and "er". We are beginning to incorporate them in everyday reading.

Math has been all about fractions in Kindergarten. In First grade, we have started weighing, adding two digit numbers, and counting quarters with other coins.

This week, the students also got a special treat. When the students are caught doing something good, they get to put a puff ball in the "good work jar". Well, the jar was filled up this week, so the students were treated to ice cream sundaes!

Woohoo Winter!

We have had a lot fun in our classroom finishing up our winter theme this week! It definitely suited this week with having a snow day on Tuesday! Many of the students at KA have been starting their day by looking for hidden snowmen around the room. We now have six hiding out from the cold hiding all around.

In phonics the kindergartners have started....drum roll please...consonant blends! This will really broaden their reading vocabulary. This week we learned the blends br,st,sp, and gr. Along with letter blends, they have also found sight words hidden in "snowballs". Both grades have also completed some writing about their favorite winter activities.

First grade have started reading words that include Bossy R. Bossy R likes to boss the vowels it follows around, creating sounds like "ar", "er", and "or". On Friday the students also started contractions! While reading words like "isn't", "doesn't", and "can't" were intimidating at first, they started to really get a hang of it!

With both the grades hitting milestones in reading recently, we took a day to do some partner reading across grades together. The first graders felt like teachers as they read to a Kindergartner, and he Kindergartners felt pretty important reading to first graders!

In math, both grades have had many new concepts thrown at them. Kindergarten has continues to harder addition and adding pennies. First grade has begun counting dollars, telling time to the quarter, and reading temperatures.

Science has been so cool this week as we've focused on winter (sorry the pun was to obvious to ignore!). On Monday we studies snow and how it melts. We placed jars of snow in different areas (window, fridge, dark room, and outside), and then made prediction on which would melt first. We adjusted out predictions by checking on the melting progress every 5 minutes.

On Wednesday, the first graders studies different arctic animals, and learned about how penguin feather resist water. On Thursday we learned about hibernation, and created our own dens and burrows using toothpicks and marshmallows. On Friday the first graders studies evergreen trees, and used their senses to observe and ask questions.

We're Back!

I hope everyone had a great break! While it's always nice to take some time off, it was nice to come to school and see the students!

Before the break, the students enjoyed a Christmas party! We had a book gift exchange, where every child brought and then received a new book! They also played a Christmas themed cake walk and a yarn maze that led to a treat. With the party they also had a delicious snack and a Christmas tree and reindeer craft.

We've had fun these past two days back at school. We started a winter theme with snowflake writing, games, science lessons, and craft. We also created a "Snapshots of Winter Break" page, and shared with the class what our highlights were of our time off. 

Thursday was also one specials students birthday! Happy Birthday!

I'll see everyone next week for a FULL week of school!