Monday, December 16, 2013

Fun and Healthy Celebrations


This is the link I mentioned in my last note home.  This resource was shared with RES teachers.
It is full of suggestions to keep celebrations fun and healthy! The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has this list of healthy celebration ideas


Monday, December 2, 2013

Kindergarten Math

We are in the third unit of our math Investigations program.  The focus of this unit is patterning.  Today students worked on building patterns using a variety of math manipulatives.  They were able to create patterns with 2 color counters, pattern blocks, unifix (interlocking) cubes, and  plastic bears.  Most of our patterns were color patterns.  I asked students to think about how we might build patterns without using colors.  We will continue our work on patterning during the month of December.


Friday, November 22, 2013

Kinderbuddy and 4th Grade Buddy Turkey Project

We got together this morning with our fourth grade buddies.  We created turkeys that were unique to each of us.  Each scholar colored their turkey based on answers to questions such as "Are you a boy or a girl?, Do you have siblings?, etc."   Our turkeys also have the same number of feathers as our age.  We always enjoy working with our fourth grade buddies.  Happy Thanksgiving!



Thursday, November 14, 2013

Kindergarten Singers

Kindergarten scholars learned a new song in music class with Mr. Arthur.
They were excited to share this song about a grizzly bear sleeping.


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Dance Party

In case you didn't hear, our class earned a dance party with Mr. Godfrey, our physical education teacher.  We won the Purple Paw award this week for our extra work on Go Foods.  Check out the video of us on Mr. Godfrey's blog.  We know that go foods such as oatmeal and rice give you energy.  We used lots of energy during our dance party!  We really enjoyed dancing in a darkened gym with strobe lights swirling around us.










Thursday, November 7, 2013

Four Winds Science

Today Four Winds volunteers helped us learn about camouflage and animal disguises.  We saw a slide show of different animals and how they either blend in, or have bright colors to warn predators that they taste or smell bad.  Students thought it was interesting that frogs are lighter on the bottom so that fish think they are the sky and dark on the top so that predators, like the blue heron, think they are water.  Outside we pretended we were birds searching for worms.  We noticed it was much easier to find the worms (yarn pieces) that were a different color than the ground.   Finding the gray and brown worms that blended into the ground were much more difficult. 












Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Morning Greeting

One of our favorite things to do each morning is to greet each other.  It starts our morning off in such a positive way.  We all have smiles on our faces as we greet our friends.  Our class likes to do a variety of greetings including Hello Neighbor, Who Took the Cookie From the Cookie Jar, Bowling, and Ball Toss.  We particularly like greetings where we get to move.  This morning we did the Spider Web Greeting.  It is definitely going to be added to our favorites list.








Sunday, October 27, 2013

Step Afrika Workshop

On Friday, October 25 kindergarten students participated in a Flynn Theater workshop at RES.  It was an incredible experience!  Scholars were able to learn more about Step Afrika in preparation for our field trip to the Flynn Theater on November 1.  We listened to the rhythm of the music and created  solo and partner movements.  We even learned a short dance movement which we performed in unison.  A huge thank you to Darcie Rankin, our enrichment teacher, for organizing this opportunity.  Funding for the workshop came from a grant.




Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Pajama and Stuffed Animal Day

We were all so comfortable in our pajamas today. Scholars introduced their stuffed animals to the class and explained why they were special. Our stuffed animals got to read and do projects with us.  What a nice celebration for positive behavior. Great job scholars!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Focus Kindergarten Potluck

Thank you for coming to our kindergarten potluck dinner hosted by the FOCUS group.
We had a great turn out.  It was nice to visit with families in each kindergarten class.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Fall Audubon Field Trip


We had a wonderful day at the Audubon.  We explored the forests and fields.
Students found many interesting signs of fall.  They especially enjoyed searching
for insects and other critters in the woods.  The giant slug and salamanders were
a big hit.  Thank you to all the parent volunteers that helped us.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Garden Adventures

On Friday we spent time with our fourth grade buddies tasting things in the school garden.
We learned how to make "weedos".  We made our wonderful treats with different lettuces, radishes, tomatoes and herbs.  We wrapped our weedos up just like a burrito.  Kindergarten students and their fourth grade buddies also tasted mint tea made with mint from the garden.  Everyone loved the tea!  A big thank you to Heidi Chapman-Renaud for helping us learn more about the garden.  We loved using our sense of taste to explore our school garden.  Science never tasted so good!

                                                                       











Sunday, September 29, 2013

Gingerbread Cookie Hunt

We went to the cafeteria to get our gingerbread cookies on Friday and our cookies were missing.  We searched throughout the school and asked everyone if they had seen our cookies.  Finally, Mr. Berry found our cookies and brought them back to us.  What an adventure!  By the way, our cookies tasted delicious.