Wednesday, March 30

On Tuesday, we read Eric Carle's book Little Cloud.  We made our own clouds into different shapes using shaving cream mixed with glue!  We also did a group project to make one of Eric Carle's pictures from Papa, Get the Moon For Me.  I was amazed with how our picture turned out!  The groups did a great job working together and putting the final picture together.  Eric Carle would be proud!

Today we started talking about ways to be healthy and keep ourselves safe.  We read some books about washing our hands, emergencies, and healthy foods.  We will continue to learn more about these things this week and when we come back from Spring Break.  Today, we did a germ experiment with cinnamon.  I pretended to sneeze cinnamon (germs) into my hands, and then we all shook hands to see if the germs spread.  We found out that germs ended up on some people's hands who didn't even shake my hand!  Then we practiced hand washing.  We also wrote our phone number and address and practiced calling 9-1-1 and speaking to an operator.  You can help at home by practicing your address and pone number with your child if he/she doesn't yet have it memorized.

IMPORTANT NOTE: After spring break, the phone numbers at school will be changing.  I will have a direct number that you can call to get a hold of me.  It is 561-6145.  The number for the school will be 561-1077. 

The ladder group



The moon group



The background group



The star group



Our Finished Picture!



Mason and Sydney practice hand washing.



Isabel practices calling 9-1-1.

Monday, March 28

On Friday, we finished our Eric Carle artwork and made our names using the same technique.  I have the art displayed in our classroom and in the hallway!  It is very colorful and I am so impressed with everyone's creativity!

Today, we read the Very Lonely Firefly.  We wrote about the problem and the ending of the story and then made our own fireflies.  We have them hanging with our other Eric Carle art.  We also reviewed how to sort things by color, shape, size, and by other attributes.  This is something that you can practice at home as well! 

Tomorrow, we will be reading Little Cloud and Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me.  We will be making our own little clouds.  We will also be working together in small groups to make a picture of the moon and ladder.

Later in the week, we will be learning about ways to stay healthy (washing hands, brushing teeth, healthy foods, getting enough sleep). 

Firefly

Eric Carle-style Artwork

Thursday, March 24

We had a day full of exciting projects yesterday! 

In the morning, we read Pancakes, Pancakes! and worked together to make pancakes for the class.  We all got to wear chef's aprons and help make the batter.  Mrs. Skeels did the cooking, and Jenna was our "Syrup Girl."  It was fun and delicious!  Yummy! 

We also did a group work activity that you can try at home.  Our class was divided into groups of four.  I gave each group 3 large pieces of newspaper and one long piece of masking tape.  The students had to work together to build a structure that was as tall as possible.  It was pretty hard to do, but I heard some great conversations and problem solving from every group.  You can take at the pictures of each group with their structure below.  This is a fun activity for you to try at home, too!  We are hoping to try it again sometime this year to see if we have any new ideas for building.

In the afternoon, we spent some time on our Eric Carle art.  The pictures are turning out great - everyone is doing a nice job!  I love the bright colors of all the artwork.  It also shows off the creativity we has in our class!

Today, Mrs. Wanless was back so that I could work individually with students to assess for report cards.  Mrs. Wanless read The Very Grouchy Ladybug and helped the class make ladybug clocks and practice telling time!  Be sure to practice telling time at home whenever you can - it can be tricky!

Tomorrow we will be finishing our Eric Carle artwork and writing in our journal.

Shane is working on his Eric Carle artwork.

This is one team's paper structure.



Working Together!



Another team

Mason put in the flour.

Shane cracks an egg.



Jackson mixes the batter.



Now it's cooking!

Yummy!

All of the chefs

Tuesday, March 22

Today was a rainy, dreary day.  We had inside recess all day :(  But, we did get to do some fun projects!  This morning we read Eric Carle's book Have You Seen My Cat?  After reading the book, we talked about what we could do if our cat really was lost.  Then, we made "missing" posters to hang up around our hallway.  They turned out great!  Many students wrote descriptions of their cat, the cat's name, their phone number, and some even offered a reward! 

In the afternoon, our class had social group and gym.  Then, Mrs. Casaz came for our reading and writing workshop.  Some students read new books and wrote sentences using the words come and here.  Other students worked on the stories they started.  I am excited about the great ideas that our class has come up with for their stories.  Some are fiction stories with animals that talk and some are nonfiction stories with many interesting facts.  We will be working hard all week on writing our stories, proofreading, and then finishing our books with color.  After they are done, we will be able to share them with the class!

After our last inside recess, we also painted tissue paper.  Later this week we will be making artwork the way Eric Carle does his books.  We painted our tissue with paint and then used different objects to put textures and other colors onto the paper.  I can't wait to see how the art turns out! 

Tomorrow we will be reading Eric Carle's book Pancakes, Pancakes! and making pancakes together as a class!  Yum!

These are the pieces of tissue that we painted for our Eric Carle project!

Isabel's Missing Poster: "Have you seen my cat Whiskers? She has stripes.  If you find her call me at 884-..."

Add caption

Monday, March 21

Happy Spring! 

Today we read Eric Carle's book 10 Little Rubber Ducks (one of my favorites!) and rewrote the story as a class.  We all illustrated a page of our book and then displayed the book in the hallway.  Stop down and check it out if you get a chance! 

In math, we practiced simple addition with ducks.  We also practiced drawing a picture to solve a problem.  Our question in our math journal today was "How many legs do the 3 Billy Goats Gruff have all together?"  You can come up with other questions like this at home to practice problem solving skills with your child.

In the afternoon, some students practiced reading and writing with Mrs. Casaz and the rest of the class began new stories with me.  I am excited to spend some time on our new stories focusing on coming up with interesting ideas, organizing our stories, adding details, and then doing a great copy and publishing it for the class!  Writing stories at home is another great way for your child to practice many of the things we learn at school (ideas, handwriting, spelling, conventions, organization, drawing and coloring, sounding out words, etc.).

DON'T FORGET to sign up for summer school!  There are many fun classes offered this summer if your child is looking for something fun to do over break!

This is our hallway book based on Eric Carle's book 10 Little Rubber Ducks.

This is Xavier's page about the pelican!

Thursday, March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  We started our day by reading a funny story about a leprechaun looking for his gold.  Then, we took turns acting out the story for the rest of the class.  It was really funny!

Later in the morning, we heard a knock at our classroom door.  Brody went to answer it, but there was no one there!  There was only a golden package with a green string tied onto it.  When we opened it, we found 17 pouches of gold!  We aren't sure who left the gold for us, but some of us think it may have been leprechauns.

We read a great story by Eric Carle today called The Tiny Seed.  Many of us liked the part of the story when the tiny seed grew into a gigantic flower that was taller than the trees, people, and houses!  We wrote about our favorite part in our journal.  In the afternoon, we went to art.  Mrs. Casaz also came for our reading and writing workshop and many people in our class continued to work on their "Very Hungry Kindergartner" books.

Tomorrow, we will be reading Rooster's Off to See the World.  I have lots of fun activities planned to go with our story!

Part of our class acts while the rest watches.

"Have you seen my gold?"

Our bags of gold

Wednesday, March 16

This week we have been talking about leprechauns, St. Patrick's Day, and Eric Carle.  Early in the week, we painted pictures of leprechauns and then wrote stories about what we would do if we had a leprechaun.  We also made a class book called Where is the Leprechaun.  We used the sight words is, he, and the to make a boot about looking for a leprechaun.  We finally found him under the pot of gold on the last page of our book!

Yesterday in the afternoon, we had a special performance of some familiar songs by the Edgerton Middle School Band.  It was really fun to see the different instruments and hear songs that we all know!  My favorite was the Polar Express theme song!

Today we started our author study of Eric Carle books.  We read the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar and wrote about our favorite part of the book. We also retold the story on the flannel board and with a fun puppet that I made.  In the afternoon, several of us wrote a book called The Very Hungry Kindergartner.  Have your child read their book to you when they bring it home later this week!

In math this week, we are finishing up our unit on money and will begin talking about time.  Practice counting coins (dimes, nickels, and pennies) with your child.  You can set up a "store" for him/her to buy different things, too!  You can also start talking about time with your child in order to preview our next math section.  We will be learning how to tell time to the hour and half hour.

Recently, I sent home a reading bag with your child.  Inside the bag are books that your child should be able to read independently or with just a little help.  Have your child practice these books each night to build reading confidence, sight word recognition, and reading fluency.  The books are only a few pages and will not take long to read.  Your child can return the bag each day and choose 5 more books to bring home! 

Wear green tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day!  We will be reading a funny story about a leprechaun and then acting out the story using puppets.


OTHER NEWS:  We have added another student to our class!  Xavier joined our class this week!  Please keep this in mind when you are sending snack for the class :)

Leprechauns

Kyle's leprechaun and his story

One page from our class Green Eggs and Ham book

Our new friend, Xavier, and our old friend Brody :)

Wednesday, March 9

We went to the high school today to see the farm animals in the morning!  It was fun to see the different animals and be able to pet many of them!  Thanks, High Schoolers, for letting us come!

In the afternoon, we had reading and writing workshop, went rollerblading in gym, and did calendar.  We got a thermometer and have been talking about temperature during weather each day.

Through the rest of the week, we will be reading more Dr. Seuss books.  Next week, we will be reading many Eric Carle books and doing some artwork in the way that he makes his books.

REMINDER:  Tomorrow is Spring Picture Day!  If you would like your child's picture taken, be sure to return the paperwork tomorrow if you haven't already!

Here are some pictures from the petting farm:

Tuesday, March 8

Yesterday we read the Dr. Seuss book, There's a Wocket in My Pocket and wrote about the story in our journals.  We also learned about the nickel and practiced counting by 5s.  In the afternoon, we went to UW Whitewater's The Very Hungry Caterpillar (and other Eric Carle stories).  The kids LOVED it!  The play was performed by Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia using fluorescent puppets and a black light.  At the end of the play, the performers showed the kids how they moved the puppets and dressed all in black so that the characters moved "magically" on stage!  You can learn more about these performers at http://www.mermaidtheatre.ns.ca/. 


Today, we read If I Ran the Zoo and made our own crazy zoo animals.  Then, we wrote facts about our animals including what they eat and what they like to do.  In the afternoon, our class went to Guidance and got to rollerblade in gym! 


Tomorrow we will be practicing our new sight word an and making words with an in them.  The high school FFA students will also be giving us a short tour of farm animals at the high school.




A Crazy Zoo Animal by Peter



Brody wrote about his animal.



Another crazy animal by McKenna



Wednesday, February 2

Yesterday we spent much of the morning working on our March calendars.  We painted colors with watercolors and then ripped them to make a rainbow.  They turned out very colorful and cute!  We reviewed even and odd numbers in math and went to Guidance and Gym in the afternoon.  Mrs. Casaz also came for our reading and writing workshop.


Today, we read Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now by Dr. Seuss.  We wrote about the story in our journal and talked again about the characteristics of Dr. Seuss's stories.  We did many activities with rhyming today.  In math, we did a fun activity using goldfish crackers.  We did estimation, graphing, and subtraction!  I was very impressed with the way our class worked together in partners.  Working in a group takes cooperation, problem solving, and communication, and I saw all those things happening today! 


Tomorrow we will be doing activities with The Cat in the Hat.


Reminders:  Field Trip money ($9.55) is due Friday! 
                   Check the snack calendar!!!!
                   Next week, send a helmet with your child for gym.  They will be starting a rollerblading unit on Tuesday!

Our March calendar

Jackson and our new classmate, Peter

Isabel and Jenna work on their "Fish Math"