Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! We're Reading in Ms. Rachel's Room!

Last week was a full and busy week in Kindergarten!

We met Professor Do-Dad who gave us an upbeat and exciting introduction to Science and STEAM.  (Be on the look out for another post about STEAM later in the week.)

We went to the Media Center for the first time! 

We launched our Writing Workshop.

We began learning about how to write, use, and represent numbers.

And...we introduced most of our Literacy Centers! 

Then, some of us napped...

and some of us didn't. 

But that's ok--sometimes Kindergarten is just too exciting to sleep!!

And, I can't wait to do it all again this week!  Be on the look out for more information about STEAM and Guided Reading groups this week!

Check out our new videos of the week!  

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom

Elmo Rap

Alphabet Song

PBIS/Behavior Management

We are really getting into the swing of things here in Kindergarten, and I just wanted to take a little time to share some information about our PBIS/behavior management program.

Here is "the stick."

                

We will be using this color coded clip system to monitor our behaviors in the classroom. Your clip can move both up and down.  If you make mistakes like David did in David Goes to School, your clip may move down to either yellow or red.  If you work hard like David to "fix it" you can always move your clip back up to green.  You can also move your clip up to orange or blue for exhibiting expected behaviors consistently. 

You can also earn horseshoes for following directions quickly and working hard in the classroom!

Right now, we are focusing on treating other people the way we would like to be treated (being respectful), listening quietly and following directions the very first time (being respectful and motivated), keeping our hands, feet, and objects to ourselves (being respectful and safe), and working hard and trying our best at everything we do (being motivated).

The Gingerbread Man was Loose in the School!!

This week we read about a mouse that went to school, dinosaurs that went school, and finally a Gingerbread Man that got loose in the school!  

In this story the kids in Room 43 made a new gingerbread friend to share their classroom, so of course we had to make some cookies too!

We talked and drew about all the cool places our gingerbread men might go, but unlike the kids in the story, we finally decided to eat ours!

It was a short, but busy week full of fun and newness.  In the end, I think there were more smiles than tears, and I am ready for all the good times to come this year.

So, until we are all back together on Monday, here are a few quick links to bring a little bit of our classroom to you at home !

If You're A Kid

Dinosaur Stomp

Shake Your Sillies Out

Here's what we thought was cool at school this week!

How Does Your Dinosaur Go To School?

Today started with a ROAR as we read one of my favorite back to school books--How Do Dinosaurs Go to School?. Next, we made our own dinosaur puppets to show what dinosaurs (and kids too) should and should not do at school.

You can click here to listen to the story one more time.  Use your puppet to show what the dinosaurs should and should not do at school.

  

What is your little dinosaur looking forward to doing at school tomorrow?

Welcome to Kindergarten 2016-2017!!

Welcome to the crew!!

Ms. Kim and I are SUPER excited to start a new school year with you and your family, and we can't wait to see you bright and early on Wednesday!  

Don't forget to use your Ready Confetti, and let me read you a story before we meet back here for your very first day of Kindergarten!  

Watch Video Here! 

Chicks!!

After that great field trip to Sandy Creek on Tuesday, we came back to baby chicks on Wednesday!  

 

We kept track of what was happening in our incubator throughout the day.  As you can see we had action throughout the day on Wednesday, with our last little friends arriving Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

By mid-morning on Thursday, we had all the chicks out of the incubator and ready to eat, drink, and play on their own.  

 T

The kids took time to hold and play with the chicks while, I got to clean out the cage!  (I think they got the better end of that deal!)

 

 

Thank you to all the families that took a chick!

Field Trip Fun!

Last week we had LOTS of excitement! 

First we went on our annual Field Trip to Sandy Creek Nature Center!  We had lots of fun learning about different plants and animals and their needs in the classroom and exploring nature on the trails around the nature center.  

First we got a little help from a friend to explore all the parts of a tree.

Then we got to touch, feel, and observe some of the attributes that make certain animals so unique.

Next was the nature walk.  We saw a snake, a mouse, lizards, and lots of cool insects.

Last--lunch!!

If you missed out on the fun, stop by Sandy Creek this summer and check it out for yourself!