Learning, building and growing

So, I know I am not the best at keeping this updated like I should.  It should have been done LAST weekend and yet, that just did not happen.  This post is actually going to be a picture heavy post to show a few of the things we have been working on throughout the first 20 days of school.  Not a lot of words- I'll work on that for next Friday! (okay- apparently I didn't email the pictures I planned so it's not as picture heavy as I planned)

We take a lot of Brain Breaks to move around- we work on a website called GoNoodle and then there's also a lady on youtube called Cosmic Yoga.  She leads the students through calming yoga moves as she tells a story.  The best part is that they learn information, I can exercise with them and they are learning calming techniques.

Ms. Prince's 5th grade class came in and did a Readers Theater for us last week.  It was on Apollo 11.  They did a great job!

We have been working on learning our THINK skills (I'll post those this Friday) and we went to the gym to find out how to use them during convocations/assemblies in the gym.  This is super important and they did a great job.

Back to School 2016

Yes, it's back to school time!  Parents, we have been working hard on getting into a routine so this post is just a highlight of some of the things we have done the last 8 days!

• We have learned routines
• We have learned procedures
• We have learned how to work with others
• We have learned expectations (Be Safe, Be Kind, Listen, Do Your Best)
• We have listened to books
• We have colored and played with play-dough
• We have worked on our writing strokes (you may think this is not needed but trust me- this will totally help when we start writing our letters)
• We have played hard inside and out
• We have been to P.E., Art, Music, and DANCE!
• We have counted and used manipulatives
• We have started to learn about main idea and details
• We have rested our bodies when needed

I don't have pictures to show (well, actually that's not true- I do have pictures to show but I need those forms back for the photo release.  I have a lot of forms out and I try not to post any until I have most of them back) but I will show you a picture of our front door display AND a fun little graphic that talks about kindergarten!  Be on the lookout for important info on Monday or Tuesday.

News and Notes

No pictures today- those will come next week!  I meant to have this post up last week and time slipped away from us!

**Wednesday, April 27 is our field trip to WonderLab- if you are planning on coming with us please let me know so I can check on your background check.

**Wednesday, May 4 we will have a field trip to Elephant and Piggie play AND this could be a rain date for the WL trip.

**There will be no school on Monday, May 2 and Tuesday, May 3!

**The last day of school is Tuesday, May 24!

**Kindergarten graduation is Monday, May 23 at 2:00 p.m.

**Be looking this week for a list of sight words your child knows and those they still need to learn!

** You will be receiving a packet closer to the end of school of ways to enrich and practice with your child over the summer break!

**Please check your child's folder on a daily basis!

"March"ing into April

This has been a crazy month- we've had some wild weather, spring break, convocations, Dr. Seuss week and more.  Here's a snapshot:

 March was Women's History Month- we learned about Amelia Earhart!

 Mr. Jon came and read The Magic Fish!  We loved this story!

 We had indoor recess where we used GoNoodle- always a fun time!

 Building a "bounce house" out of magnets in honor of the school carnival.

We had a visitor from IU come read to us during Dr. Seuss week!

 Some green eggs and ham to celebrate Dr. Seuss week!

 We had some third grade buddies who came and read to use during Dr. Seuss week as well!

April promises to keep us hopping as well!  Coming up we have a field trip (or more than one), Spring Carnival (Friday, April 1), Mr. Jon will be back to read, we are continuing to review ALL of our skills learned throughout the year, and we will end the year with a letter a day!  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at tgrandi@mccsc.edu

Buffalo Soldiers and the Wild West

February is known as the month of Love- and we covered that with celebrating Valentine's Day.  We had a good time expressing our creative side by putting together our Valentine bags- you can see a few pictures below of the students working hard- they were all unique and showed their personalities!

February also brought us snow day #2, cold weather, crazy winds (today) and some new outside "toys" to use.  Mrs. Pennell also got a Donor's Choose project filled with some outside toys- we have hula hoops, jump ropes, bean bags, musical instruments, balls, and a sand table (which our class will use in the future).

We are also studying Black History Month-our focus- school-wide is the role of African Americans in the Wild West.  We looked at Buffalo Soldiers and all that they did to help protect the expansion out west.  We made a chart to tell some things they did, wrote and illustrated one and designed our own stamp.  As soon as it is all hung up I will post a picture here and on the FB page.

We have been learning subtraction as well- we have used manipulatives to subtract and are really growing in our skill.  Quick tip- give your child between 1-10 items of food- ask them to eat a number and tell how many are left. (example- 6 goldfish- have them eat 4= how many are left)

We are also learning how to write using first, next, and last as well as learning about sequence of events and using text features in Reading and Writing.

Just a reminder we have P.E. on Thursday and Friday- PLEASE send your child in tennis shoes!

Our next break is Spring Break- it is March 14th-18th.

I will be making a few phone calls in the upcoming week- I want to update you on your child's progress and all that they are learning as well as some areas for improvement!

Where did January go?

Seriously- this month flew by!  With finishing up Winter Break, two hour delays, a snow day, and lots of indoor recess the month was over before I knew it!  So- a quick recap of where we have been and what we have been doing along with some exciting news!

Before break we built our Gingerbread houses- this was a lot of fun (and quite an experience).

We enjoyed our Winter break and then came back to school and settled right into the swing of things.  We also were able to enjoy some snow, some two hour delays and a snow day in there!  

We talked about Martin Luther King and our dreams.  We even got to paint a world where we added a heart with our dreams.  Next time you come into the school be sure to check them out!  

We have been working a lot on our writing and adding details to our sentences.  One day we wrote about what we were wearing- that helped us understand adding details!  Check out a couple of them below.  

We are also moving beyond just letter names and sounds- we are also incorporating CVC words- how to read them and write them, identifying beginning, middle, and ending sound, and counting the sounds in the word.  We continue to work on rhyming and syllables.

In math we just finished talking about how to make ten.  We will continue to review this as we move into adding and then subtracting!  

Finally- our big news.... Back in December I put in for a project on the website Donor's Choose.  On December 31, 2015, I got word that our project was funded.  We were given gears, some more magnatiles, puppets, ink and stamps (letters), playdough/clay letter tools to build words, and following directions cards.  The goal is to use these to tie into literacy and math. We are using these during stations and our community time/Wildcat time at the end of the day.  You will see pictures of these as time goes on but we are in the exploration process right now!  We are having a great time!

One last thing- please make sure the school has current contact information!  This is super important in these months where sickness is around more and winter weather is upon us!

Bird feeders, plants and Gingerbread

Here's a quick glimpse into the last few weeks:

• We made bird feeders with IU Biology Outreach
• We participated in a Native American Heritage Month program
• We enjoyed Thanksgiving break
• We started reading all kinds of Gingerbread stories
• We had a our last visit from IU Biology Outreach (sad) 
• We have been writing all about the gingerbread man.

Here's a few pictures to show you...

sorting cereal into groups that are the same and then we wrote about it

looking at our radish plants we made and learning how to label the parts of a plant.

Making bird feeders

What does the next week bring us?  BUSY!!!  

We have:

• a holiday performance by the 1-4 grade violinists
• holiday shopping (you should have received a note with our days)
• Breakfast with Santa on Saturday
• lots of holiday activities including more with the gingerbread
• a holiday "celebration" (more to come on this on Monday)
• making gingerbread houses (but shhhh.... that's a surprise)

SO- lots going on!  Don't forget to check out the FB page Bloomin' at the View