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!

Brrrrrr

I've been so cold this week, this seems like the only logical title! But, with the cold weather comes so perks! Monday, we had a two hour delay and on Friday the first graders received a special treat for silently reading 20 books, an extra recess outside! Throughout the week we have also continued our Christmas Around the world social studies themes, and creating some fun Christmas projects to go along with it.

On Tuesday we flew to Germany, and while there we learned about their traditional Christmas treat, gingerbread! The students decorated their own gingerbread cookies to take home with them. On Wednesday we flew to Africa, and made some stockings with traditional Kenyan print.

Thursday we took a break on our theme to spread some Christmas Cheer at our local nursing home. The students did a wonderful job at singing Christmas carols, sharing memory verses, and passing out Christmas cards. We even had one student sing a solo! I think we definitely brought some energy to the residents there!

As we're narrowing down to Christmas break, the Kindergarten have been learning their last few alphabet letters during phonics. This week we read words with the letters "x" and "z" in them. First grade are still trucking along with learning grammar rules for long vowels. We've talked about long "u" and silent "gh". We've also are doing a lot of writing, and are implementing writing journals during Bible time.

The Kindergartners have started a big unit in math, money! This week we started talking about pennies and how to count them. First grade is doing a lot of work with hundred numbers, quarters, and centimeters.

Next week is the last week until Christmas break! On Thursday is the Christmas Party, with a book gift exchange. Hope everyone has a fun (and cold) weekend.

All Over the World

 We have continued to travel around the world celebrating Christmas in the classroom! We started our weekly travels to England, where the kids got a kick from the Queen's Guard. While their Christmas is fairly similar to America's, we enjoy learning about Christmas trees, and making a craft.

On Tuesday we took a boat over to Holland to learn about tulips, wooden shoes, and windmills. We also learned about The history of Saint Nick (or Sinterklaas in Dutch) and how he showed Christian love to the less fortunate. We also made Christmas themed windmills.

Wednesday, the first graders traveled to Norway and France to learn about their Christmas. While we had fun making candles and singing carols (a Norway tradition), I think they were most amazed about the Chunnel.

On Thursday we took a trip to Italy to learn about their many cities and structures. We explored Italian cuisine by making Italian Hot Chocolate, which is a thick, rich drink. Many students agreed that it was amazing! Here's the recipe link to try at home!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/216167/cioccolata-calda-hot-chocolate-italian-style/

On Friday we visited the special country of Israel. The students were amazed that that is where Jesus walked. We then made our own nativity scenes to remember that Jesus was born here.

Phonics in Kindergarten is really moving along. The children are flying through their sight words, and have been enjoying reading many books. In a few weeks we will be done with learning the letters, and start on letter blends!

Reading in First Grade is becoming tricky, but I know they are up for the challenge! We've learned many word families like "igh", "ight", "oat". and "oast". The students also created Christmas poems this week!

Math is also moving along swiftly with addition and calendar work for Kindergarten, and quarters and temperature work for First Graders.

In other news, all the first graders got 100% on their spelling test this Friday! WOOHOO! Keep up the good work!

Coming up...

Next Thursday we are planning on going to Christian Care to spread some Christmas cheer to the residents their. We welcome any parents and siblings to join us!

On December 22nd, we are planning to have our classrooms Christmas Party! I plan on getting with all the volunteers about their duties soon. We also are planning on having a small gift exchange...more details about this coming up!

Two Holidays!

Last week we had a lot of fun celebrating Thanksgiving in school! But, we haven't wasted any time jumping into Christmas this week!

On Tuesday last week, the whole school worked together to prepare a Thanksgiving feast! My class helped prepare the fruit salad by cutting up bananas, pulling grapes off the vine, and dumping canned fruit into the salad. A few students also dressed up as Pilgrims and Indians for the feast. We had a wonderful colony in our school!

Going into the new week, we started our Christmas social studies theme, "Christmas Around the World". In the afternoons, we hop on our "airplane" and fly to a different part of the world to learn how they celebrate Christmas. So far we have traveled to Peru, Mexico, and the Bahamas. We've learned about poinsettias, different types of holiday foods, and Spanish Christmas carols. Another way we celebrated Christmas this week is by setting up our classroom Christmas decorations. The tree is now a popular place to read and do worksheets.

We also has a special treat come in on Tuesday. The fire department put on a program that taught us  about fire safety in the home. It was very entertaining with magic, puppets, jokes, and songs.

The kindergartners have has a busy few weeks in phonics. They learned to read words containing "f", "v", "m", and "o". They also finished a Christmas reader book. It's been so fun to see their progress in fluently sounding out words. In math they have begun the big concept of addition! The class seams to really enjoy it!

First graders have also been busy learning about sneaky "y", who likes to pretend to be a vowel. They have also been reading different stories about Christmas and snow. In math, they are studying the calendar, telling time to the half hour, and just starting to learn some liquid measurements.

Going through the holiday season, I have definitely been thankful for this incredible class this year. They have been such a joy to teach, and I am so blessed to get to know each and every one of them! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be their teacher!