Wonderful Winter!

We have kicked off the new season with lots of snowy fun!

First, we spent some time learning about winter and snow.  We love to us Pebble-Go to do research in the classroom.  (If you time, try it out at home!)  We learned lots of new things that we were able to add to our existing knowledge of the season.  We learned lots of new information about snow and how it is formed.  Did you know that in the center of every snowflake, there is a hexagon?  We used this knowledge to help us build some snowflakes of our own!

 

After we boosted our background knowledge with some informational reading, we read some great imaginative stories about snow and snowmen!  Some of our favorites were Snowmen at Night and Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Beuhner.  

After enjoying these great books, of course we were inspired to create some fun snowmen and snowmen stories of our own!

We did not let the wintery fun end with reading and writing about snow!  You know we like to get our hands dirty and our bodies moving in Kindergarten!  So we got our hands dirty in some "snow" of our own.  We got to touch and build with some very cool snow dough! (The kids loved it and asked for the recipe--it's super easy!  1 part white hair conditioner to 3 parts baking powder.)  Then we used some shaving cream to create a snowy writing space to practice writing letters and words and solving math problems!

And you can't do snow without a snowball fight! Click here to see some of the snowball craziness! 

(Each snowball had a sight word written on it.  We stopped to read every few minutes--it wasn't a total free for all!)

And last, but not least, the treats!  We made and enjoyed some hot chocolate and wintery trail mix, and we even made a snowman good enough to eat!

Classroom snow is fun, but I'm hoping that we'll get to see some of the real stuff before the season is over!  

Happy 100th Day of School!

Can you believe that the 100th day of Kindergarten has come and gone?

Many of us celebrated by dressing like we were 100 years old--I have never seen a cuter bunch of old folks in my life!

We also took time to reflect on the things that have been able to learn in the past 100 days!  A lot has changed for these smart little kiddos in just 100 days together!

One big change is the way we read!  The first 100 days of Kindergarten have created a room full of readers with growing stamina and independence! #KindergartenReads

More 100th Day fun included creating something from 100, writing about what you would do if Ms. Rachel gave you $100.00 (oh, to be young and believe $100 could buy you the world), and creating a piece of classroom artwork with 100 strokes of the brush!

 

I hope you and your kiddos have loved the first 100 days as much as I have, and I'm thankful for 80 more! 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2019!  We have had a great few days in 2019!

We have spent the first few days of the new year talking about the things that we want to do and accomplish in the new year!  After reading Giraffes Can't Dance we talked about things we would like to learn or be able to do with the help and support of teachers and friends that love us.  Here's a few of our goals! #2019 #resolutions #motivated

 

We also had a great time celebrating the new year with some fun party hats, fireworks painting, and extra sparkly New Year's count down!  #KindergartenCreative #STEM 

We have also added a few new things to our classroom in 2019.  I am super excited to add some fresh lessons and great literature into our daily morning meeting.  This week we are reading The Way I Feel and The Way I Act by Janan Cain and talking about our feelings and our actions in the classroom.  We have spent a lot of time talking about self control and how to best show our feelings and our character through our actions.  If you are able to find these books at the book store or library, I highly recommend them!  Or...you can check them out here and here.  #KindergartenCares

I am also excited to begin sending home our Writer's Tool Bag!  The Writer's Tool Bag will go home with one child each night and contains everything your child will need to create a fun and creative piece of writing at home.  There are directions and resources inside the Writer's Tool Bag to help you out.  We have already had some great stories, and I can't wait for more!  If you would like more information about the Writer's Tool Bag click here. 

I can't wait to make the best of our last 90 days of Kindergarten!