Kindergarten FUN!

We have had some fun in the kindergarten class this year! The first snowfall gave us a good excuse to go outside in the afternoon and build a snowman.  My 'curricular justification' for this activity was that it was a lesson in cooperative learning! (We couldn't just do it because it was fun, now could we?)

On the afternoon of December 15, we bundled up and went outside to build Mr. Snowman. I had intended to bring a carrot with me to school that morning for his nose, and forgot! Sophie's mom came to my rescue and brought in a carrot, after I told her my tale of woe!  During lunch, Levi didn't eat all of his raisins, and gave the remainder to me to use for the snowman's eyes. Good thinking, Levi! So, armed with facial features stashed in my pockets, we went out to play.

Travis rolling the bottom into place.

Sophie, Travis, and Rachel getting it just right!

Lincoln starts to roll the next layer.

Steven helping Sophie pack on more snow.

At morning recess, several of the students got a head start on Mr. Snowman by rolling a huge snowball for his base. 

The snow was a bit too powdery to be really good 'snowball snow', but the children weren't concerned about that - they just kept rolling! (and rolling and rolling!)

Rolling (Sophie in front)

and rolling (Sophie and Rachel in front)

and rolling!

It took a while to get the second layer of Mr. Snowman made. Every time we placed it onto the first layer, it looked too small! We resorted to packing more snow around it to get the middle nice and round.

Sophie and Lincoln trying out the second layer.

The head also needed to get rounded out with packed snow, but in the end, Mr. Snowman was completed! The next step was to give him a face. I took the carrot out of my pocket, and we did everything we could to get that carrot to stick onto his face. Unfortunately, the snowball for the head was too icy and we couldn't dig into it far enough to get the carrot to stay. Packing snow around the carrot wasn't strong enough to support it, so we ended up abandoning the carrot idea, and went with Levi's raisins!  We gave Mr. Snowman a happy face, perched my wool hat on his head, and then added some stalks of dried grass for the arms!

Adding the finishing touches

Mr. Snowman gets a grin and a hat!

By the time we were putting the finishing touches on our creation, some of Mrs. Smith's students had joined us. We welcomed their help - the more, the merrier!

Mr. Snowman is finished!

(After school that night, when I left the classroom, I gave the carrot to the bunny who lives under Mrs. Bueter's classroom! I couldn't waste a perfectly wonderful carrot!)

 

Catch Up Time

Wow!  Time has flown since I last posted.  Sorry for that - I'm hoping to get more on schedule with the blog!

So, what has happened at CCS in the kindergarten since my last post?  Lots!  Here is a brief overview:

In December, we learned about lots of visits made by angels!  First, we learned about the angel that visited Mary to tell her she was going to have a baby.  Then, we learned about the angel that came to Joseph in his dream.  Next, we learned about the angels who came to the shepherds on the night that Jesus was born.  And finally, we learned about the visit of the three wise men and how they were warned by an angel in a dream not to tell King Herod about the baby.

In reading, we have now worked with the letters through Q. Before Christmas vacation, we learned that Queeny Quail and Umber Umbrella Bird are good buddies.  In fact, Queeny never goes anywhere without Umber!   

The children are continuing to blend sounds together into words, and are very proud of their accomplishments!  Knowing that 'ck' says /k/, and that 'qu' says /kw/ helps immensely.

We read picture books to go along with the letters we study each week. While we are reading the stories, the children are also learning to sequence events, and increasing their vocabulary. How fun is that - to learn while you think you are just listening to a story!

In math, we investigated the concepts of more, less, and the same. We made one to one correspondences between things, and we had fun playing with our egg cartons to make comparisons.

Academically speaking, this is where we were at the end of 2010, before our Christmas vacation.  Now, how about all of the fun we had?  See the next post for an update on that!

Travis working hard.

Sia concentrating on coloring.

Hunter helping Rachel!

David the Shepherd, Olive Octopus, and Giving Thanks!

This week we will be learning about David when he was a shepherd boy.  David had a true heart for God.  He was the youngest son of Jesse, and spent his youth tending his father's sheep. This week we will be focusing on how much David loved and trusted God, and wanted to please Him. 

We will be using the flannel board again for our Bible story - the students really enjoyed it last week. (Maybe after Thanksgiving, I'll go 'high tech' and do a power point presentation on the computer for the Bible story lesson - but right now, the kids are loving holding the pictures and putting them up on the flannel board!)
 
What happened this past week? I'm glad you asked...

On Monday, we did the math assessment for the second chapter, and the students all did an excellent job!  The unit on sequencing was mastered - by each and every one!  Whoo - hoo! (These are some smart kiddos I get to work with!)

For math, we still need egg cartons - these are for sorting things to make one to one correspondences, and for matching activities.  We worked on this concept last week and the children used unifix cubes (interlocking plastic blocks) and some plastic farm animals as manipulatives to 'play' with matching things up one to one.  They had a great time doing it, didn't realize it was even math, and when we did the worksheet afterwards, everyone demonstrated that they knew what they were doing!  We're off to a great start on Chapter 3!

In reading, we emphasized Missy Mouse and Nigel Night Owl. We practiced sounding out 2 and 3 letter words with the short vowels a, e, and i. We also worked on 3 letter rhyming words - or 'word families'. The children surprised themselves with how well they did!

Last week, on Friday, we put the Zoo Phonics 'Large Animal Alphabet Cards' in ABC order across the floor of the classroom, and the kids formed a line and paraded around doing the sounds and signals - spontaneously running back to the Allie Alligator as soon as they were done with Zeke the Zebra!  They had way too much fun, and showed me that they are really internalizing the sounds!  I was thrilled, to say the least! (Probably the best moment in my 32 year teaching career!)

This week, we are up to Olive Octopus and Pee Wee (but, we usually call him Pete!) Penguin in Zoophonics.  This week we will be reading the Ox Cart Man, by Donald Hall, and A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton, by Steven Kellogg, for our literature segments. (Steven Kellogg is one of my favorite illustrators for children's books - great pictures!)

In handwriting, we are still struggling to hold the pencil correctly.  I am working on helping the kids to establish good habits now, since bad ones are so hard to break!  So, if  you happen to see your child holding a pencil, marker, or crayon in a strange way - gently correct them.  I can use the reinforcement!


We are also learning about the First Thanksgiving and how 102 Pilgrims sailed across the Atantic Ocean in a tiny ship named the Mayflower so they could have religious freedom. We have read several stories about the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, and how they befriended the Native Americans, learned to plant crops, and become good hunters. 

It has been fun to hear all the stories of family traditions that the children have been sharing. We are also talking about what it is we are thankful for, and their responses are all very reflective. My favorite answer was from one little boy who said that he was 'Thankful that I know Jesus.' That was another special moment for me this past week!

I hope you all have had a restful weekend, and pray that you will have a blessed week preparing for the holiday. If you are traveling, I pray that God will protect you on the road, and bring you home safely after the holiday.

Bible Lessons

Last week, we learned about Daniel in the Lion's Den.  Most of the students knew the story, so we brought it to life in class by acting it out.  There were dangerous lions growling and prowling all around the classroom!  It was really scary!  Luckily, Daniel prayed to God and angels came to protect him (and me!) 

This week we will be learning the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  No, I don't think we will start any fires in the classroom, but we will be using an old-fashioned flannel board to help tell the story! Be sure to ask your child what the three Old Testament characters did to anger King Nebuchadnezzar enough that he threw them into the fiery furnace!

This week, we will be finishing our math unit on sequencing. The children have done a good job of identifying sequential patterns, and replicating them.  I expect that they will all do well on the assessment on Wednesday!

In reading, we have progressed in ZooPhonics through the letter /l/.  This week we will be stressing /m/ and /n/.  We will be reading some Mother Goose rhymes this week, and some poetry by Jack Prelutsky, stressing the sounds of /m/ and /n/ when we find them! We'll also re-read The Napping House, by Audrey Wood. (One of my personal favorites!)

We will also be learning about the Pilgrims' journey across the Atlantic on the Mayflower, and the story behind our celebration of Thanksgiving.  (Many of the children have already said how much they love this holiday - second only to Christmas!)

Have a great week.  I enjoyed talking to each of you at conferences.  Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any concerns or questions. I love teaching your children, and look forward to each new school day!

Pumpkin Patch

Wow!  The Pumpkin Patch at our farm, Major Produce, is over, and I feel like I can think straight again!  The weather was great on both weekends, and we had lots of families who came to have fun.

In between the two weekends of Pumpkin Patch, we host school groups on field trips. This year, the kindergarten class and the first/second grade class from Covenant Christian School came on Wednesday.  The kids had a great time! (This was the first time in many years that I was able to come with a school group, because I am now teaching the right grade level. - Somehow, high school math classes can't justify a field trip to a pumpkin patch! It just doesn't fit in with the Michigan Merit Curriculum!)

First, we went on a hay ride along the north branch of the Pentwater River. There were various scenes set up along the hay ride. Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf; Hansel and Gretel; Dorothy (and Toto), the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Wicked Witch of the West and three flying monkeys; and a spaceship with four aliens were able to keep the kids' interest as they rode along the river.

Lincoln inspects the gourds with Carol Switkovitz

Rachel is hurrying to find as many as she can!

Here comes Ben with his treasure.

Next, we went on a Gourd Hunt. There were gourds hidden at the base of a hill, and the children had to find them all, and bring them back to the starting place. They made short work of that, and had fun running all over the grass to search for them.

After the Gourd Hunt, we played in the Hay Fort. The children ran and jumped in the hay, tossed the hay around, and scrambled up the bales to jump off again! This was a big hit, and I think the kids could have played there for hours without any problem! I got tired just watching them.

Our next activity was a bean bag toss, and a snack. We enjoyed doughnut holes and a drink of lemonade. Everyone was glad for the drink after their romp in the hay!

After our snack, we went into another greenhouse and played a pumpkin roll game. The students were paired up and had to roll a pumpkin across the greenhouse to their partner. The partner then rolled it back to the starting place. Somehow, pumpkins aren't exactly round, and don't roll as easily as a ball - so they had fun chasing them from one side of the greenhouse to the next.

Our next stop was to pick out a pumpkin. Each child picked out a Baby Pam pumpkin to bring home. Hopefully, the pumpkins all made it home in one piece! 

Before we left the farm for the day, all of the students gathered together and listened to a story about a farmer who grows pumpkins every year and picks out the best one to carve and set on his porch with a candle in it.  

Then, it was time to leave. The students returned to school happy, but very tired! I'm guessing that they all slept well on Wednesday night! I know that I did!

I will post this tonight, but the website is doing some maintenance, and I can not upload any of the pictures I took on the field trip.  I'll do that tomorrow when the web site is able to accept the images.

Show and Tell Day

On Wednesday, September 29, we had 'Show and Tell'.  The students brought in their treasures and we put them into a special Show and Tell box until it was time to share.

What a great variety of things the children brought! One student brought an alligator head and a starfish from Florida. Another brought a puppet of Pirate Bert!  Pirate Bert had a hook for one hand and a periscope in the other. We also had a stuffed 'Yoshi' critter visit us from Mario Brother's Nintendo fame. One of our students just visited Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and brought us a stuffed stingray. He also told us about the dolphins he saw at the aquarium. One student brought her 'Dora the Explorer' purse and showed us the wallet and change purse she carried inside of it, complete with play money! We also have a budding young scientist who brought in both a magnifying glass and a megaphone. He wanted to enlarge both visual and auditory modalities!

When the children presented their Show and Tell item, they had to tell us what it was they were showing, and why it was important to them. Some of the children struggled to express their thoughts as complete sentences, so we will be doing more oral expression exercises to improve on that skill. Other children were fluent and spoke in virtual paragraphs!


I am enjoying teaching your children. They are delightfully creative! 

I am also so happy to be working with such supportive parents. What a big difference it is compared with the support I received from parents when I taught in the public school system. Parents, thank you - you are great!


Karen

Berlioz the Bear and Banana Pudding

On Wednesday, September 22, we had a fun, but messy day!  

First, we enjoyed listening to some classical music performed by Yo Yo Ma. We listened for the low sound made by the double bass instrument.

Yo Yo Ma

Then, we read the story Berlioz the Bear, by Jan Brett. While we read the story, we listened for words that made the /b/ sound. 

In the story, Berlioz and the orchestra are to play at a dance in the town. (Berlioz plays a double bass in the orchestra.) They ride in a wagon pulled by a mule. The wagon wheel gets stuck in a hole, and the mule won't pull it out. Animals on their way to the dance come by and try to help, but they can't get the wagon to budge. Ask your child what gets the mule to move again!

We are concentrating on the sounds of the letter /b/ this week, and also on writing a lower case b. We practiced forming the letter 'b' with sky-writing, and then we wrote it with our fingers in banana pudding on our tables. (They had a place mat on the table, and a piece of foil to write it on!) The students had a fun time smearing the pudding all over the foil, and then practicing writing b. Some of the students delighted in having their hands all gooey and covered with pudding, others wanted to wash up immediately! It's interesting to see their personalities emerge during this kind of a task!

In our Bible lesson for Wednesday, we read a story about some children who found a castle and the king said they could stay there, but they had to follow one rule! We made a booklet about it that they brought home in their folders. Have them tell you the story from their booklet.

Tomorrow is chapel, and the students need to know their Bible verse.  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23.

Have a blessed day!