Our Easter Celebration!

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We had a very busy Easter celebration. Enjoy!

U.S. Symbols

Our current topic in Social Studies is the "Grand Old Flag and other U.S. symbols". Here is a site that we will explore at school about symbols that you can also look at with your child at home. Please help them to find any U.S. symbols at home as well in magazines, books, children's music videos, etc. that they can share during our daily sharing time if they would like to participate. Thanks for your support!

http://americanhistory.pppst.com/symbols.html

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Black History Month

In February we learned some facts about a few famous African Americans. Each morning on the school's morning news the students learned a few facts about a famous African American also. We learned that Garrett Morgan invented the first signal light. We learned about a famous black actor, Sidney Pottier. We also talked about an important civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. Ask your child to share information about other famous African Americans which we have discussed in class,also. For example, do you know who was a famous black female track star, the first black male to go into space, the first black woman to run for president, or the name of the first black male president? Ask your child to share these names with you and more. Above is a writing sample from Isaiah about what we can do to make our world a better place so that we can all get along, as Martin Luther King Jr. hoped we would one day do. It says "We trust God. We clean up the world. We fight with love. We fight with love not hate!" Nice story Isaiah!

Koala Bears

One of my goals as a teacher is to make learning fun and relevant to my students based on their various interest. We are currently talking about animals in social studies,and one of my students, Aiden, requested that we learn about Koala bears, so of course this became an addition to our regularly scheduled lesson activities! We learned an interesting fact that Koala bears are in fact not bears at all, but marsupials. The children thought this was a very interesting fact to learn. We viewed a few short video clips about koala bears, found some books at the library to read and discuss together, and looked at a variety of photos online of koala bears. Here is one of the links we shared at school that you might want to explore at home with your child -

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/koala/.

Next,we will begin our next exploration to learn all about cheetahs, per a request by Keagan and Chloe. If your family has any videos, photos, books, etc. about animals that your child would like to share please feel free to send it to school with them while we are working on our Animal unit.

Valentine's Day!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day celebration on Monday, 2/14. We have had a lot of fun discussing this topic and participating in a variety of educational activities related to Valentine's. The children have written notes to family members, and enjoyed listening to the letters written to them by their parents as well. Thanks for sending in your love note for your child to help make this a special time and memory for them in kindergarten. We have also worked on sorting and shapes by comparing and contrasting various size hearts to make a special project. The students had to know their color words in order to complete the task successfully as well, or know to use the class color wall for assistance if needed. They did a great job on this project, and it is displayed in our art zone. The students also made special Valentine's Day cards to share with family or friends, along with a variety of other holiday related activities and worksheets to review various skills we have covered this year. Thanks again to everyone who sent in flowers, cards, gifts, and candy to me. Your kindness is truly appreciated!!

Career Day!

Our class had an opportunity to attend the school's Career Day in the gym on Friday. The children enjoyed having an opportunity to talk to parents and community members about their careers. They did a wonderful job asking questions and listening to each speaker. One question to a soldier was "Why do you have to wear a uniform?". Another question to a chemistry major was "What do you have to learn in school to do your job?". Another student asked "What do police officers do on their job?". They also enjoyed learning about how to care for horses, and having the opportunity to pet 3 different horses that were brought to our school by a parent. Take time out to share with your child information about your job as well,and what you had to learn in school to do your job, ex. math for computations, reading for following directions, etc.

Animals

We are currently talking about Animals in class. Special thanks to Amanda for bringing in an excellent narrated story on cd called "Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor". The children enjoyed listening to the story during our listening period, and learned important information about animals and plants you would find in the ocean, and about being responsible citizens by taking care of our ocean and the animals. Sharing time is an important part of our daily class room routine. It allows children to make meaningful connections to our topics, and take ownership of their learning experience. Thanks parents and students for all you do to help keep learning interesting and fun in our class this year!

Proud to be an American

Our current topic in Social Studies is proud to be an American. We are talking about different ways students can be good citizens, and contribute positively to their communities even as children. The children made their own flags, and added a sentence about how they plan to be a good citizen. Amanda said she will be a good citizen by helping to keep her room clean. Jada said she will help someone else learn to read. Keagan said he will give money to help others who need help,and he shared a photo of a child he has "adopted" from another country to help others. It's great to hear our students' ideas on ways they can contribute positively to our community even as children. Parents take time out to share with your child ways that you are a good citizen, and ways that you show that you are proud to be an American too!

Christmas Celebration

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This Christmas tree is awesome Connor!
We love the creativity with
beautiful ornanments for the tree, real blinking
lights, and the beautiful skirt.
Awesome family project!

Turkey Spotlight

These students did an awesome job decorating their turkey's at home for the monthly family project. We sent home Christmas trees for our December family project, and look forward to seeing some more creative works. Keep a watch out for our favorite tree decorations post coming soon! Family projects are due by Tuesday, December 7.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photos taken by: Amanda

I am thankful for all of my students for their
hard work this semester and every parent for your support!

Our Fall Walk

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Election Day!

To all of our parents we wanted to remind you that today is Election Day, so please don't forget to vote! Today we learned a few facts about voting, and held our own mock election for class president. Each student had a chance to cast a secret vote, and then we counted the votes to see who had the majority. Congratulations to Jada our new class president. We also read a book called "Yes You Can" about our current president, Barack Obama. Adediwura said "The reason we're reading this book is so that we can get information about our president". Nice going Adediwura reminding us about one of our reading standards! Everyone received an "I Voted" sticker after casting their vote. Parents, if you go to vote today please share with your child some information about the process and show them your sticker too!

Fire Safety

Today we had an opportunity to explore the kids' fire safety house with our local fire fighters. We learned about checking the door with the back of our hands (from top to highest point we can reach while crawling) to see if it is hot before opening the door if there is a fire. We talked about having a meeting point at home if there is a fire, such as the neighbor's yard or our mailbox. The firefighters also talked to us about some safety tips to remember, for example, never leave the handle on a pan sticking out on a stove, never climb on shelves to reach snacks, never touch cigarette lighters, and how to call 911 for help. We also discussed that it is very important to know your phone number, street address, parent's full name (not mommy or daddy), etc. in case of an emergency. Talk to your child to find out what other information they remember from the fire fighters' visit, and review the information sent home in their packets with them.

Community Helper Day

We had an awesome time today with all of the community helpers who came out to share important facts about their jobs, and how they help us each day. The children loved seeing the firefighters put on their uniforms, and listen to how their voices changed in the mask (although we did have a couple of students who were a little scared but after some coaxing they were able to go touch the firefighter in their uniform). A few students got to demonstrate how we stop, drop, and roll if our clothes are on fire. We learned about different coins and reasons we need money from the banker, and about buying homes from the real estate agent. We also learned about how soldiers and police officers help to keep us safe, and learned some important safety rules like never talk to strangers or touch a gun. This was a fabulous activity for all of our Kindergarten classes. Thank you community helpers for coming out to share with us and for all you do every day. You are the best!