New Video!

Exciting news!!! I have posted an updated video of the kindergarten kids. It is on the right side of this blog and includes pictures from August until now. If you click on the bottom, right-hand side of the video where you see the square, the video will go to full screen. Enjoy!

New Slideshow Coming Soon

I am working on updating the slideshow on the right-hand column of this blog. Right now, those are my kids from last year. Soon I will have a new video from this year's kindergarten kids. Keep a watch for it! It should be on here around the last week of October.

Picture Retakes

October 14th is picture retake day. If your child missed school or there is something wrong with the picture you received, please have your child get his/her picture remade on the 14th.

Blue Folder (October 11)

There is a lot to look at in your child's blue folder tonight.

Please make note of the:

1. Scholastic Information

(Orders due this Friday, Oct 15 before 3 pm)

2. Conference Information and Sign-Up Sheet

(Please return ASAP to get the time slot of your choice.)

Grandparents' Day

Grandparents' Day will be Friday, Oct 1st from 2:15-2:45 on the student playgrounds. Hope to see you here!

In case of an accident...

Please place an extra set of clothes in your child's backpack in case of an accident. Even if your child generally doesn't have accidents at home, it may happen at school. They may not make it to the bathroom in time or might spill their milk or juice on them. The school setting is very different than home, and the kids aren't always near a bathroom. As a result, please place an extra pair of pants, a t-shirt, and extra underclothes in a plastic bag and leave in the bottom of your child's backpack. Thank you for your help!

No School Friday, October 24th!

Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday. Enjoy the long weekend with your kids! Don't forget to be practicing counting to 100, letter recognition, and writing his/her name.

What did they learn about in Science?

After we finished the Science unit on plants, I asked the kids to tell me what they learned. Some were specific answers and some were more general. This is what a few of them said:

"We learned about plants." Gabriel

"Plants need water." Nathan

"Plants need sun." Angelina

"Plants need soil." Hunter

"How plants grow." Deandrianna and Trey

"Pumpkins have pumpkin seeds." Giana

"Plants can be food." Lucenda

Overall they learned the basic parts of a plant (roots, stem, leaf, flower), what plants need to live (air, water, sun, soil), and that we can eat plants (fruits and vegis).

We also made potato paintings! These are hanging up in our room for now, but will be sent home eventually. Look for them and ask your child how s/he made it!

What's Going On?

Last week we made blue and white AB pattern bracelets. These bracelets reinforce the AB pattern concept we have been practicing in math and also show our school pride. If possible, have your child wear his/her AB pattern bracelet every Friday on spirit day. Look for pictures of the kids wearing their bracelets on my class website.

In Science, the kids are learning how plants grow and what a plant needs to live. Since fall is near, this was a good time to do an apple theme while the kids are learning about plants (specifically fruits and vegis). We read a book about how apples grow and the process apples go through to get from the seed to the apples in our grocery stores. We also taste tested many apple items such as apple cereal bars, dried apples, apple cereal, assorted fresh apples, applesauce and apple juice. Most of the kids thought everything was delicious, except the dried apples were a little too tart. Hopefully we will be making an apple pie on Tuesday. A big thank you to all of the parents that donated these wonderful apple snacks. There were so many parents willing to donate, and I received all of the supplies within just a few days. I appreciate you and so do the kids!!!

We will also be making Root Prints to go along with our study of plants. The boys and girls have discovered that we eat many roots such as carrots and potatoes. On Tuesday, we will be looking closely at potatoes, cutting them into pieces, dipping them in paint, and making individual root prints. Hopefully this will be a memorable activity that helps them remember roots can be plants we eat.

Apples!

Next week we will be doing a unit on apples. We will be trying all kinds of foods made with apples and even baking an apple pie! Also, we will read books about apples and make apple crafts. It will be perfect for the start of the fall season.

Many parents have volunteered to donate apple supplies. I have already received some supplies from three parents. I greatly appreciate the parent involvement and help. It makes your child's year even better.

Make sure you ask your child what s/he did with apples next week! You know how they like to claim that they only have PE and recess at school. They never tell you about what they learned unless you pry it out of them! I guess recess and PE are just that memorable!

Have a great day! It is almost the weekend.

Scholastic Book Order Change

I have discovered that Scholastic has changed the online ordering process since the end of school last year. As a result, the information I sent home on Monday regarding book orders is wrong. Today I sent home a modified letter with the correct information. Please note the changes and discard the previous letter. I am sorry for the inconvenience. The new information is also listed below:

Here’s how it works:
1. SIGN UP at www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation: GQVPR . This code ensures that your order is sent to me.
2. SELECT the books you would like to order from over 500 titles available online...and take advantage of online-only specials and discounts.
3. SUBMIT your order to me online by the due date (Friday, September 3rd). Your credit card payment will go directly to Scholastic’s secure server, and the books you ordered will be delivered directly to our classroom for your child to take home.

Remember, you may still order the traditional way by sending your order to class with your child. When paying for the order, you may send cash or check, but a check is preferred. Please make checks payable to “Scholastic.”

More Handwriting Help

On Thursday, I sent home a couple of papers from my Handwriting Without Tears teacher guide that can help you teach your child the proper way to write. Hopefully, those papers made it home in your child's backpack, and you have had a chance to look at them. Continue to practice: holding the pencil correctly, writing his/her full name, and forming letters and numbers correctly.

Also, I have been working on the class newsletter, and it will be coming home in your child's blue folder next week. It is full of good information and includes pictures from the first month of school. These pictures will soon be on my school website also. Look for them next week online.

Have a great weekend!

Writing Our Names

Today I finished working one-on-one with the kids on name writing. Right now, we are strictly practicing first names. In a few months, we will begin writing our last names. Please work with your child on writing his/her name with a capital letter at the beginning and the rest of the letters lowercase.

Also, we use the Handwriting without Tears method for writing our letters. This teaches them to always start their letters at the top and gives catchy rhymes to help the students remember how to properly form each letter. This method helps the students develop neat handwriting.

Last week I sent home a paper that listed all of the letters of the alphabet and the numbers 0-9. Additionally, it gave directions on how to form each letter. Please reference that form when working with your child. If you need another copy of the paper, let me know. Also, if your child has mastered writing his/her first name, go ahead and work on your last name. Thanks for your help and enjoy your time as you help your child! Handwriting takes a lot of patience with little kids! Good luck!

Back to School Time!!!

Welcome back! We started school last Wednesday, and boy have we been busy. The boys and girls have been learning our class schedule, how to get around the school building, and school procedures. This Monday, we started doing more curriculum and less procedure practice. The kids seem eager to learn and are working hard. This week, we will be reviewing our letters, writing our names, and getting familiar with our math manipulatives. Hopefully we will start some science next week. Things to practice with your child: identifying the letters of the alphabet, writing his/her first and last names, counting to 20, and identifying the numbers 0-10.

Also, I hope to continue to update my class website monthly. At the end of each month or the beginning of the next month, I will post new pictures and our class newsletter. Please keep an eye on the website and the blog for information regarding our kindergarten classroom. It looks like it is going to be a great year!

Kindergarten Graduation

Hello Again! I am very sorry the blog has been on hold these last two months. I still have very bad vision strain when in bright lights and when using computers. As a result, I try to limit my computer use to only what is necessary. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed the few months I was able to update frequently.

Also, I would like to remind everyone of the Kindergarten Graduation coming up tomorrow night-- Tuesday, May 18th at 6:00 pm. All friends and relatives of the students are invited to attend. It will take place in the cafeteria. Hope to see you there!

One last thing-- Please check out my school website for pictures from last month and the updated newsletter!

Website Update with Pictures from March!!!

I have updated my class website with pictures from March, the most recent newsletter, and skills to practice for fourth quarter. I am still not updating much on the blog due to vision strain when using the computer. Hopefully my eyes will get back to normal soon, and I will begin to post more frequently. Nonetheless, take a look at my class website. The link is located at the top, right-hand corner of the blog. Have a great weekend!

Class Video

I have changed one of the youtube videos posted on the side of the blog once again. It is a video made on animoto.com that displays pictures from this year. Enjoy!

Also, I have not been able to post as often as I would like on our class blog due to some vision issues. I have been having eye sight problems for about seven months now and using the computer really hurts my eyes. I hope to continue to update the blog on days when my eye is not bothering me. Thanks!

Chicken Eggs!!!

Our chick eggs have arrived. We placed them in our classroom incubator yesterday afternoon. I have to keep the incubator at 99 degrees and flip the eggs throughout the day. I am supposed to make the eggs experience the same temperature and rotations as they would if they were under its mother. The chick eggs will hatch in 21 days. That seems like an eternity to the kids. They are really anxious to see baby chicks! I hope they hatch during the school week and not during the weekend. It looks like they should hatch on Tuesday, March 23. I will post pictures when they do!

Here are some quotes from the students about the chicks. The prompt was "Are you excited about the baby chick eggs? Why"

Chloe- "I’m excited because I had some before, and they’re going to turn really big and cute!"

Sara- "I can’t wait to finally see them! They’re going to be cute and fluffy!"

Aiden- "I know how the chicks get out of the eggs. They use their beaks to peck the egg. I saw that on TV."

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Also, the boys and girls are at a pep rally right now to cheer on the basketball team. The pep rally is during their library time, so they were able to exchange books and Mrs. Robertson took them over to the high school. The boys play tonight at Park Hills. Go Mules!

Green Eggs and Ham-- Dr. Seuss

This week was so much fun! We celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2 (Read Across America Day) and had dress-up days throughout the week. Every afternoon, I have been reading a Dr. Seuss book to the students. They are so engaged in the silly stories and catchy rhyming words. Almost every time I finished a book, they would say "Can we read it again?" Yesterday afternoon, I read Green Eggs and Ham. I also told them I would have a surprise for them on Friday. Well-- I made some fried green eggs and ham!!! At first when the kids saw it, they were grossed out! Most of them said they wouldn't even try it. But at snack time, almost every child tried the green eggs and ham. And even more surprisingly, the kids who tried it liked it! They even asked for seconds! It was a great experience, and I hope it made a lasting impression.

Also, this afternoon we watched a magic show. The magician tied his magic to education and reading. The kids laughed at the magician and talked about him for the rest of the afternoon. It was a fabulous Friday.

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Website Updated

Our class website has been updated with pictures from February and the February newsletter. Check it out by clicking on the link posted at the top, right hand corner of this blog.

What's new...

Here are a few of the new and exciting things we are learning:

Science: Now we are focusing on animals. Our main focus is learning what animals need to survive: food, water, air, and shelter. We have also talked about reptiles, birds, insects, arachnids, fish, and mammals. I didn't think the kids would be so engaged, but they are extremely interested in all of the new facts about animals. Plus, they get to tell stories about their own animal experiences at the end of every science lesson.

Reading: This week our story is about Antarctica. The book is non-fiction and has photographs and information about life in Antarctica. Our "amazing words" or vocabulary words include: penguins, seals, whales, continent, Antarctica, and icebergs. The students have enjoyed this non-fiction book more than many of the fiction books we have read in the past. In order for the kids to get a better understanding of the geography of Antarctica, I brought in a globe from the library, and we explored the different areas on it. The students now know a little about the location of North America compared to the location of Antarctica. Also, Miss Thomason is going to present a slide show to our classes to give them more information and display additional pictures of life in Antarctica. It is nice to see the boys and girls excited to learn about things in their environment and in the real world! It is also good to be able to tie reading and science together. This whole week while the boys and girls have been learning about life near the south pole, they have also been utilizing reading strategies without even knowing it-- and having fun too!

Next week: I hope to have some student posts on here next week. I will ask them a question and type their responses-- exactly how they said them. This could get very interesting!

Help-- We need supplies.

We are running low on antibacterial wipes. We use these every day to wipe down our tables before snack. Our class supply will be depleted before the second week of March. It would be great if we could stock up on about four more containers of the 72 count antibacterial wipes. That should last us until the end of the year. I appreciate all of the time and money you all put into our classroom! Hopefully, wiping down the tables and chairs before we eat snack each day will help limit the spread of germs in our class. Thanks again!

March is almost here!

I am excited to be back to school! This morning has been great. The weather is just barely "warm" enough for us to go outside at recess. But, it doesn't look like the warm weather from the weekend is going to continue throughout this week.

There aren't any exciting events going on at school this week, but next week is "Read Across America" week. This is the National Education Association's (NEA) national reading celebration that takes place each year on or near March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Across the country, thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers participate by bringing together kids, teens, and books.

Bernie schools will be celebrating Read Across America week (March 1-March 5) with several events:
Monday- Pajama Day- Relax and Read day
Tuesday- Red and White Day- Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss
Wednesday- Hat Day- Hats off to Readers
Thursday- Sunglasses Day- Readers' futures are so bright they have to wear shades.
Friday- Blue and White Day- Bernie Mules love to Read!!!!
Friday afternoon magician Marty Hahne will be here to perform for our students. His show is based around reading and the summer reading program.

It has been a while...

We are back in our routine and everything is going great. We are finally getting to go outside, and the kids could not be happier. I hope the snow and cold weather are gone, and I hope spring weather comes soon! Read below to get an update on some of what we are focusing on in each subject.

Reading: We started working on beginning and ending blends. The boys and girls have to determine the blend, its sound, and be able to write the letters that make the blend. Beginning blends are easier than ending blends. Here are examples: "slide" the blend is /sl/ or "fast" the ending blend is /st/. We are also focusing on comprehension skills such as reality v. fantasy, sequence, main idea, character, cause and effect, classify, and setting.

Math: In math, we introduce most of our concepts early in the year, then reteach them repeatedly as the year progresses. This is called spiralling. So, we generally aren't teaching new concepts in math; instead, we teach them more in-depth as the year progresses. Something new we are practicing is counting by 5 up to 100. Most of the students have mastered this already! Next, we will work on skip counting by 2.

Writing: Every Monday we write to 100. In the past, I have provided the students a guide-- a 100 chart. Starting next Monday, the students will be writing to 100 without a guide. Many of the students can write to 200 and above. I will be working with those students that can not make it to 100 yet. The goal is for all of the children to be able to write to 100 by the end of the year. We can do it!!! But, it will take work. Also, we are still journaling. Our journal prompt for tomorrow will be "Valentine's Day was fun because..." The kids are now writing at least two sentences and drawing more detailed pictures. They still love journaling!

Science: We have finished our Plant Science unit, and we started Animal Science. The kids can talk about animals all day! There won't be as many neat experiments with animal science though. The attached pictures include a current picture of our Chia Pet--I cut his hair this morning. Also, we are watching beans turn into bean sprouts. We have given them water, air, and sun. Hopefully by Friday, more of the beans will have sprouted.

Have a great afternoon!

Chia Pet

Bean Sprouts

Valentine's Day Party

Today we are celebrating Valentine's Day. For many of the kindergarteners, this is their first school Valentine's party and they don't know what to expect. That makes it even more exciting for them. We will start the party around 2:00, after they get back from PE. The boys and girls also love PE. Two exciting things in one day-- PE and a party. It has been a pretty exciting day around here. Also, we have some really neat Valentine's boxes. Some of the themes include bumblebees ("Bee Mine"), Saints football, teddy bears, penguins, pets, SpongeBob, and of course many heart themed boxes. Well, the kids are about to return from PE. I hope to post more later! Have a great weekend.