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!

Happy Dot Day!

We had a great week celebrating the works of author Peter H. Reynolds and embracing the spirit of Dot Day! 

                                           

Dot Day is an international event designed to help people of all ages harness and celebrate their creativity.  The inspiration behind this event is Peter H. Reynolds' book The Dot.  The Dot encourages students to believe in themselves and their abilities and shows children that the small and insignificant can be changed into something unique and meaningful.  You can listen to Peter H. Reynolds read his inspirational book The Dot here.  

We definitely used The Dot for inspiration this week, but we also used some other great books by Peter H. Reynolds to get our creative juices flowing.

 

All of these books show us how important it is to be open and creative and unafraid to try new things.  We especially loved ish.  Lots of budding authors in our classroom were inspired to take risks and try new things because of this book this week!  #KindergartenWrites #takingrisks #ish

Along with our study of Peter H. Reynolds, we took a look at the work of some other authors who also believe in the power of persistence and creativity. 

 

We were extra inspired by Beautiful Oops!  Your kiddos loved looking at all the ways you can turn an "oops" into something new and unexpected.  They loved this one so much that they erupted in spontaneous applause at the end of the book!  #Ilovemyjob

So we created some "oops" art of our own!

We also used dots to create some really cool name art, paper flowers just like in Rose's Garden, and some abstract 3-d art!

 

We are going to put everything together to make a pretty awesome hallway display!  I will update this post with some more pictures by the end of the day tomorrow!

Get Your Lips Ready!

We have been doing LOTS of reading in Kindergarten, and I think everyone has become a master of using their Eagle Eyes to help them read pictures!  Practice makes perfect, so we are using all our guided reading books to help us build fluency and stamina.

While those Eagle Eyes can definitely help us out when we read, it is time for us to spend a little more time thinking about the letters and the sounds in the words we read.  The first step to successfully reading new words is to increase letter sound fluency.  Using flash cards and/or alphabet magnets is a great way to practice letter sounds.  You can also take a little time to help your child listen for and isolate sounds in words.  Questions like "what sound to you hear at the beginning of the cat" and "what letter would you expect to see at the beginning of the word ball" will reinforce the relationship between letters, sounds, and written words. 

Once your child is confident with letters and sounds they are ready to read more words more independently using the Lips the Fish Strategy!

When you come to an unknown word, stop and get your lips ready to make the beginning sound.  Once you have made the appropriate beginning sound, check the picture for words and/or actions that begin with that sound.  Make sure the word you pick makes sense in your sentence, and continue to read!

So, next time you read with your child, practice getting your lips ready to make a sound like Lips the Fish.  Have your child help you scan the pictures to determine unknown words. 

Happy Reading!

Farm Fun!

We kicked off our Farm Unit by reading and learning about all the different sights and sounds on the farm.  We used classics like I Went Walking and Old MacDonlad had a farm to practice reading and writing farm words.

Then we took we what we had learned about farms and the animals who live there to help us create some farms of our own!  We worked together as engineers to create a home for our animals where they could be safe and happy!  #STEM #engineering

 

One word we kept hearing and seeing over and over again was the word--barn.  So we made barns--and then we ate them!  #KindergartenCooks 

Next we read about Mrs. Wishy Washy and her mud loving cow, pig, and duck!

     

Mrs. Wishy Washy used her old tin tub to give her animals a scrub, so we tried to make a tub that would hold water for a good scrub just like the one in the book.  #STEM #oldtintub

Each story about Mrs. Wishy Washy and her animals was a little bit different, but the one thing that remained the same was those animals LOVED their mud.  We did too! #KindergartenCooks #lovelymud

We soon found out that Mrs. Wishy Washy's muddy animals didn't have a thing on the silly animals in Doreen Cronin's books!  We laughed out loud at Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type, Click, Clack, Surprise, and Scooby, Dooby Moo,  The next time you are at the library or book store, take some time to find a Doreen Cronin book.  If you and your family like to giggle, you won't be sorry that you did! 

Finally we explored some great teaching books like The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons to help us learn some more about real cows.  We spent time reading and gathering information together and began working on some teaching books of our own.

Then because we learn by doing--and just because it's fun--we milked our own cow and make some butter!

 

Happy Farming! 

Hello, Readers!

Every year there is that one special week at the beginning of Kindergarten when I get to do perhaps the most wonderful thing that a teacher can do.  I get to place a book in every child's hands and tell them, "You are a reader!"

Guided Reading is the heart of literacy instruction in my classroom and last was that special week where everyone got their turn to either begin or continue their journey as a reader!  #Ilovemyjob #KindergartenReads

As we continue to work and grow as readers at school, we will be learning lots of new reading strategies and behaviors to help us be successful with the books we read.  Here are a few of our beginning strategies that you can encourage and support when you are reading at home.

• Use your Eagle Eyes

Good readers are always using their eagle eyes to check out the pictures.  Understanding what we see in the illustrations will help us make sense of what we read and offer context and support as we begin to navigate new words and ideas. 

 

• Touch the Words

This is a simple, but invaluable, behavior for beginning readers (and even those that have been reading for a while).  First, tracking print reinforces concepts of print that are essential not only for successful reading, but successful writing as well.  Tracking when reading will help beginning readers segment words in sentences, write with a left to right progression, and understand the importance of spaces when writing sentences.  Tracking will also help draw the readers eye to the words they read.  Increased focus and attention to the words your child is reading will help them begin to commit new words to memory and increase reading fluency.

If you are looking for more ways to get your child reading at home, here are a few easy suggestions.

• Read the World Around You

You can read more than books.  Check out words on signs, cereal boxes, and billboards.  Use your Eagle Eyes to check out pictures and contexts to help you read words in the world around you.  Talk to your child about the letters they see in these words and the sounds they make.

 

• Read a Song/Read a Rhyme

Books that tell the stories found in familiar songs and rhymes give children everything they need to feel successful as a reader.  These books are familiar, follow specific patterns, and often have repetitive texts.  You can often find fun variations to familiar songs and nursery rhymes that keep the old and familiar new and exciting.  

 

Check back soon for more reading and writing updates, and be on the look out for more information about our Farm Unit!

Happy Reading!

Chicka Chicka BOOM BOOM!

We have spent a fun-filled week up the coconut tree!

We have used Bill Martin, Jr.'s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to help us explore letters, letter sounds, and launch Read Alone and ABC Centers this week!

            
    
                                                 

We also used our Five Senses to learn more about real coconuts!  We got to look, feel, listen, smell, and even taste coconut.  Then, like all good scientists, we worked together to record our observations. 

 

With all of that scientific work out of the way, it was time for a little coconut play!

First we used blocks and popsicle sticks to build our own coconut trees to hold letters just like the one in the book.  #STEM #engineeringanddesign

 

Then it was on to coconut art!  #KindergartenCreative #Abstract #thisishowweroll

If you would like explore the coconut tree and ABCs with your kiddos at home, here are a few of our favorite classroom links!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Alphabet Song

Letters and Sounds