Shopping Day!

This was the last full week of school for Kindergarten! Their curriculum is complete, so their time was filled working on science, some supplement math activities, crafts, and work for graduation. They've also been working hard on a writing project that will be displayed at graduation. First grade also completed their phonics curriculum this week! This has allowed us to focus on the books that the students have started to make. I love seeing their stories come together!

In science, the students finished their animal unit by learning about amphibians and birds. Their "Amazing Animal" book is now complete! The students worked on a Mother's Day present the renaming days this week. I better keep it a secret though!

On Tuesday the students has an exciting day! First, they filled their "Good Work Jar", so they were able to have a reward. They didn't have to wear shoes in the classroom all day, and received a treasure from our prize box! Also on Tuesday was the High-school's Econ class fair. Different high-school groups worked together to create different shops for the students to shop at. Each student received $5 (fake money) and were able to choose how to spend it. Their choices included face painting, petting zoo, ice cream, or legos! It was a fun day for the whole school!

I can't believe that next week is the final few days for Kindergarten. I'm so excited for graduation on Tuesday. The student have been working hard to make it special night. I love seeing both grades work together to do something important to them. Have a great weekend, and happy Mother's Day!

Finishing Things Up!

This was a big week in our curriculum! First grade has finished their last Reader Book! We have been working on reading nonfiction about different animals. They also completed their last spelling test. With the extra time, we are excited to start writing our own books! Kindergarten has officially finished all their curriculum! While we may work on a bit of review still, a lot our time next week will be spent preparing for graduation. The students are so excited to show everyone their hard work on May 16th. 

This week, the students have continues to learn about different animals. We learned about mammals and fish this week. It's been exciting to learn fun facts about animals like a polar bear, elephant, gorilla, piranha, and octopus. God definitely made some fascinating animals! The students have been working on taking all that they have learned, and putting it into books. 

Another exciting thing this week was a retirement party on Friday for a well-loved teacher in this school. It was fun to celebrate her with cupcakes and memories. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. It's hard to believe that Kindergarten only has 5 days left of school, and first grade has 15! Summer will come before we know it!

All God's Creatures

Last Friday, the school took a trip to The Ark Encounter. It was a great day to spend time together, learn more about Noah's Ark, and praising God's work!

In our classroom we're also learning about animals! Erlier this week we talked about different types of animals, habitats, and baby animals. This week we started learning about a wide variety of animals a recording our newly founded facts in our Amazing Animal Book! This week we learned about a king cobra and saltwater crocodile. 

In Kindergarten, the students are finishing up their curriculum! They are learning many different letter blends like "oi", "aw", and "ou". In math we started early fraction work, official first grade work! The students also started working on planning their graduation. They also started practicing their skit for graduation night!

First grade is also working away at the end of their curriculum. They are reviewing a lot of concepts, along with learning some new grammar rules. In math, they are adding hundreds numbers and working on many word problems. 

Next week we will be continuing to work on graduation and learning many new amazing animals. 

A Much Needed Update!

Between Spring Break and preparing for the Ark Trip, I have not done a very good job of updating the blog! So here is a rundown of what has been going on these past few weeks!

The week before Spring Break, we finished off our unit about bugs. Our little chrysalises hadn't became butterflies yet, but I was able to show the students of one emerging after break! Before break, the student received a special end of semester reward of watching a Veggie Tales movie on a projector!

Also before break, the student each wrote a Bible verse on the unfinished flooring in the cafeteria. It's neat to think that our school is not literally built on the Word!

After break, the students took advantage of the warm weather, and released the butterflies. It was beautiful to watch them all fly away, and a few even landed on the students!

Last week, the first graders went to the Health Fair at BHES. They learned about different food groups, how to stay healthy and safe, and how to exercise!

We started a unit after break about plants. Last week, we learned a little about the parts of a plant by dissecting a flower and labeling it's parts. The students also went outside to see what types of plants surround us at school. This week the students learned how plants grow, and planted their own grass to take care of. They learned about different types of seeds, and different reasons God made plants. The students then used Playdough to mold different parts of a plant life-cycle.

(Almost) a Butterfly!

This title is very misleading. Last week we received some caterpillars to watch grow into caterpillars. This week we have....slightly bigger caterpillars. But our hopes are still high that we will at least see a  chrysalis before spring break!

Besides keeping track of our caterpillars, we have been learning about other bugs as well. On Tuesday we we talked about where different bugs live, as we studied a real hornets nest. The students then worked in teams to draw their own insect habitats.

On Wednesday the first graders learned about spiders, which are not actually insects! Using yarn, they learned how spiders make their web and use vibrations to sense when a bug (or beach ball for us) hits it.

The students learned about bees on Thursday. by acting like busy bees, they learned how bees pollinate flowers. They then learned about how bees drink nectar using straws and apple juice, and of course had a taste of honey that the bees produce.

In phonics and reading this week, the Kindergartners have been learning some new ways that vowels say their names. They learned about "sneaky y and w" and how they sometimes act as vowels. They also learned word families like "_o" and "_e". First grade have been learning about homonyms, rhymes, and letter formats. They each wrote a letter to someone they care about this week.

First grade has been learning some new math concepts as well! They began to add double digit numbers, while splitting the place values. The kindergarten has been learning about measuring with centimeters.

Next week is the last week before break! We will be learning about the season spring (and hoping it doesn't snow!).

Creepy Crawlies

This week we started a new science theme....BUGS! While I want nothing to do with any thing that creeps, I do enjoy learning about them! On Monday we learned what exactly makes a bug a bug, and named a few bugs. We then created our own bugs using paper scraps.

Tuesday we learned about ants and how they work together. The students used their fingerprints to make their own ants all over their ant hill. On Thursday some exciting guest came into the classroom, and will be staying for a few weeks. Caterpillars! The students will be observing and writing in journals as the caterpillars go through their life cycle. Hopefully we will be releasing butterflies before spring break...and yes I'm already praying for nice weather!

In phonics the first grade has been reviewing many word families to help assist in fluent reading. They also learned the "ph" sound. We all agree that we speak an odd language. Kindergarten has been learning the "two vowels" rule. My goal is to get this song permanently stuck in their heads, like it is in mine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fb3Pdt8kxg&t=34s

In math the kindergarten has been focusing on counting money. They all know all four coin names and values. The first grade has started a new unit in math, and are learning some critical thinking and double digit adding and subtraction.

Next week we will continue to study bugs. and will hopefully see the caterpillars weave their chrysalises. Hope everyone has been enjoying the high school play this week, have a nice weekend!

Read Across America

This week was a fun break from the norm with Read Across America Week! We spend the afternoons listening to guest readers, making books, and reading! Here's a few highlights from each day.

Monday: To start off Read Across America, each student brought in their favorite book to share with the class. Three middle school students also came down to share some stories that they had written!

Tuesday: Tuesday was cozy up with a book day! The students enjoyed reading and doing their school work with blankets, pillows, and comfy clothes. In the afternoon, one student's grandmother came in to share one of her favorite books with the class.

Wednesday: We had a lot of guest readers on Wednesday! First, the principal (also a student's parent) came in to share his favorite book with the class. We also had a mom and a grandfather come in to share their stories! The students also worked together to begin creating their own version of the book, A Case of Bad Stripes by David Shannon.

Thursday: We celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday on Thursday. We read many Dr. Seuss books throughout the day, and also did many fun activities with them! We made word family "hats" from Cat and the Hat, made our own creative socks from Fox in Socks, and ate pop corn from Hop on Pop. We also had a guest reader mom and brother come in!

Friday: On Friday the first graders finished up their book, and it is now sitting proudly on our bookshelf. We also had quest reader cousins and moms come in to finish off the week!