What's Happening?

We had a great TACKY Day!!

We had some super tacky little kiddos in our room today, but I think Ms. Mary Ann might have to take the prize for the tackiest of them all!!  If your child has not told you about all the tackiness, just ask them about their silly friends and teachers!

We have been reading and writing about Tacky the Penguin all week.  We have read several of Helen Lester's Tacky books, created our own Tacky books, and even wrote books that could teach Tacky how to do something!  We worked so hard and created such great work this week that we invited Mr. Carter, Ms Still, and Ms. Benko to come to our room this afternoon a listen to our work.  I think they were impressed!

  

Then we made our own Tacky with a little mis-matched style.

 

Then in honor of Tacky's home--the nice icy land--we took some time to talk about solids and liquids and create some icicles.  Keep your fingers crossed that our "icicles" crystalize over the weekend!  

What's black and white and wet all over? PENGUINS!

We have been learning all about penguins this week! Did you know that emperor penguins are bigger than some Kindergarten students?  Or, some penguins are more blue than black?  Or, some penguins live at the beach?  Well--it's true!  We learned all this and more this week as we explored maps and globes, continents, measurement, and life cycles!

We took all this great information, put it together in an organized way, and created informational penguin books just like author Gail Gibbons!

Each reading group also did some extra research about a specific type of penguin and created life size paintings of their penguin. Check out the size of that emperor!

Next time you are in the building check out all our penguins and our all our research outside our classroom!

But the penguin fun didn't stop there! We built penguins--

and we even cared for our eggs just like emperor penguins!

Emperor dads have to keep their eggs safe and warm on their feet.  If the eggs touch the cold Antarctic ice, the chicks will not be able to live and grow.  Keeping a little egg warm and safe on your feet is harder than it looks!

We used the measuring tape to keep track of how far we waddled.  If you are looking for snow day fun (and some good laughs) give this a try at home!  Or, check out these links for some more penguin information.  

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/emperor-penguin/#emperor-penguin-group-snow.jpg

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/youtube-playlist-pages/youtube-playlist-penguins/

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/adelie-penguin/#adelie-penguin-jumping-ocean.jpg

Winter has been Wonderful in Kindergarten!

Since returning from the break we have been reading and writing about all things winter!  We have learned about winter weather, how snowflakes are formed, and believe it or not, not everyone has cold weather in winter!

We read lots of great books by Carolyn Buehner.  

 

We decided to use our imaginations and make some fun stories about what we would do with our snowman--in a snow globe!

We have also begun a new unit of study during Writers Workshop.  We have been learning all about "how to books" and decided to try our hand at some how to writing of our own!

First, we read All You Need For A Snowman by Alice Schertle.  

Then...we made a SNOWMAN!!

Next we created a snowman flow map to show everything you would need to have and do to make a snowman of your own.  Finally, we created our own how to books!

Later in the week, we even used the Engineering and Design Process in an attempt to create the world's largest marshmallow snowman! 

We even celebrated the 100th Day of school with a wintery twist!  We worked in groups to search through trays of baking soda "snow" to find 100 buttons hidden in "snow."  We used vinegar to help "melt" our "snow."  

Winter can be SNOW much fin!!

New Year's Reading Tip

I can't believe it's already 2016, and the second half of Kindergarten is well underway!  Your child has spent the first half of Kindergarten learning all about letters and sounds, and how to use those letters and sounds to read and write new words.  As we move into the second semester, the words and books that we will be reading will slowly begin to increase in their length and difficulty.  It is going to be more important than ever for your child to use their finger to track print and draw their eyes to ALL the letters in the words they are reading!  Don't let your child get in the habit of looking at the first few letters/sounds and making a guess.  Encourage them to use their finger to touch each letter/letter pair in the words they are reading so they are able to read each word and make sense of the text they are reading.  After all...there is a big different in baG and baD, caP and caT!  

Stay focused readers!