Friday, December 16, 2016

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can!


This has been a very fun week reading many different versions of the story "The Gingerbread Man"! We even read "The Gingerbread Girl" and "The Gingerbread Baby". We have been comparing different stories and responding to text through illustrations and discussion. Our week culminated in decorating Gingerbread Cookies with Azalea's mom!
We also played a "Roll and Cover" Gingerbread dice game.




Friday, December 9, 2016

Four Winds!

We had our first Four Winds last week! Four Winds is a parent volunteer program where children learn about science, nature and the world around them. Azalea's mom, Jasmine, led us on our first Four Winds Exploration- all about Galls!

Galls Galore!
A gall is an out-of-the-ordinary growth of plant tissue.  It is produced by some irritation or chemical stimulus outside of a plant that causes a part of the plant to swell or grow in a peculiar way.  Gall growth can be caused by a variety of fungi, viruses, mites and, most commonly, insects.  You may find galls on grasses, vines, trees, and flowers.
 Galls come in a huge variety of colors, shapes, sizes and textures.  They may be found on any part of a plant, but only develop while that part of the plant is growing.
Gall-making insects produce a specific kind of gall that usually grows on one kind of plant. An insect or mite gall provides a home and food for developing young.  The gall also provides safety from parasites and predators and protection from drying out.

The goldenrod ball gallfly is one kind of insect that spends two stages of its life cycle inside a gall.  The adult fly lays eggs on the goldenrod stem, the larva burrows into the stem and a ball shaped gall forms around it.  The larva develops and pupates inside the gall and later emerges as an adult to continue the life cycle.


Pretending we were living in a gall!!!
Opening up a gall and finding a little "worm"!!!


Friday, December 2, 2016

Outside Play

We continue to try to get out every morning for some fresh air fun. The rain and melting snow provided us with plenty of water- so exciting!

Writer's Workshop

We have been working hard during our Writing Time, telling stories about things we know. Some of our stories are about flowers, horses, trains and hearts. We "write the sounds we hear" to spell our words and are trying to remember to put spaces in-between our words. Our illustrations match our stories too!

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Friendship Fruit Salad

Thank you for your fruit donations! We chopped and chopped and made a delicious fruit salad for our  Harvest Share.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 18, 2016

Partner Games

During our Math Workshop, we are playing lots of Partner Games. A new favorite is called "High-Low" where we compare ten frames and play for either the high number or the low number.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Author Study: Mo Willems


One of our favorite authors is Mo Willems! His Piggie and Elephant books are hilarious, we love his Pigeon stories, and he has other wonderful books as well, such as Knuffle Bunny and Amanda and Her Alligator. We talked about "Author's Craft" and noticed how Mo Willems uses his illustrations to tell his stories as well as text. We noticed how he shows "movement" with his pictures. We created illustrations that show movement, just like Mo Willems!
After reading "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus", we took a class vote and tallied our results. Most of us would NOT let the pigeon drive the bus!
We then worked on a class book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the..."




Friday, November 4, 2016

Pumpkins


We had a lot of fun opening up our class pumpkin and exploring the insides! We also created beautiful pumpkin pictures.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Going Batty!



Our week has been batty! We have learned a lot of interesting facts about bats and have read great fictional stories about bats too. We know that the smallest bat is called the bumble bee bat, the largest is the flying fox bat. Most bats eat insects, some love fruit and nectar and yes, the vampire bat likes to drink blood! We played a partner game during Literacy where we are learning to read "-at" words such as bat, hat, vat, cat.  During Math Workshop, we are practicing lots of counting with bats!


Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Walking Field Trip to the Fire Station

This Friday, October 14th is our first Kindergarten field trip. We will be leaving TBPS at 8:45 and return by 10:15. Parents are welcome to join us. Meet us in our classroom at 8:45 or down at the station at 9:00.

Friday, October 7, 2016

Insects

Children loved designing their insect headbands. We are learning all about insects; that nearly all insects have a pair of antennae on their heads. They use their antenna to touch and smell the world around them. We also learned that insects have six legs and three body parts: head, thorax and abdomen.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Apples Apples!


Our new theme this past week has been Apples! We have read non-fiction books about apples, and silly books such as Ten Apples On Top! We made paper collage apples for our tree and discovered whether apples sink or float. It was fun to cut an apple in 1/2 horizontally and discover the "star" inside. Do all apples have 5 seeds? How many petals do apple blossoms have? Can we stop apples from browning? These are some of the Apple questions we will explore in the coming days.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Open House

Our Kindergarten Open House is this Thursday, September 29th from 5:30-6:30. Come by anytime and see what your child has been working on!

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Pajama Day Fun!

 Our Pajama Day was great! We worked and played with our special cuddly "friends" all day long! (as long as they behaved!!)

Friday, September 16, 2016

Project Lead the Way




Project Lead the Way is a S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) curriculum designed for our elementary school age students that taps into students’ exploratory nature, engages them in learning that feels like play, and encourages them to keep discovering – now and for years to come. Students engage in critical and creative thinking, build teamwork skills, and learn to try and try again when faced with challenges. Our first module is called Structure and Function; Exploring Design. In this module, students discover the design process, identify products around them designed by engineers, and use what they’ve learned to design their own paintbrushes. So far, our challenges have been based on folktales; Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Little Pigs. Children designed and made "beanstalks" out of 10 pipe cleaners- the challenge being to make it as tall as possible! They also designed and built homes for the three pigs. We loved evaluating our structures by putting them to the test with a fan! We have talked a lot about structure (what does it look like?) and function (what does it do?). We have a class of budding engineers!




Thursday, September 8, 2016

Getting to Know Each Other


We learned a lot about each other as we shared our "Personality Bags". Children asked each other questions and did a fabulous job sharing their likes, hobbies, collections, pictures, favorite animals, toys, and photographs. This was a great first experience at presenting information in front of a group!





We began our handwriting and spelling program known as "Fundations". We are practicing letter formation as well as letter and sound recognition.





Friday, September 2, 2016

Our First Week!




A very busy week in Kindergarten! The children worked and played hard all week long!! We have been learning about the routines and expectations for our class as well as how to take care of our classroom supplies, our belongings and each other! We were introduced to many tools such as markers, scissors, crayons, watercolor paint and staplers. We learned about some of the manipulatives in our room that we use for sorting, counting, building and making patterns. We also have had a lot of fun reading stories together that included “We Share Everything”, “Mrs. Bindergarten Gets ready for Kindergarten”, “No David”, “David Goes to School” and many others! We talked about the things that the character David did in the stories and how we behave in our kindergarten class. The children drew great “David” pictures too! Our classroom expectations are to be respectful, be responsible and to be safe. We talked about what those words mean and how we can follow our school codes everywhere we go! 

A few reminders:
●  Please pack a snack everyday!
  •  Check backpacks daily for notes, news, artwork, etc
  • Call the school office for any dismissal changes to your child’s schedule.

    I think that is all for now! Have a wonderful and restful weekend! ­ 
  • Friday, August 19, 2016

    A New School Year




    It is hard to believe school is beginning in 10 days! I have been busy getting our classroom organized and ready for 15 kindergarten students. Thatcher Brook will open its door at 7:30 and children can arrive anytime between 7:30-7:50. Breakfast is available or you can pack a simple breakfast to eat in our classroom. We are a tree-nut/peanut free room this year so please plan on snacks/breakfast accordingly. I have a busy and fun first week planned, a good nights sleep will go a long way!! Our "Specials" schedule is as follows:

    • Monday -Art
    • Tuesday -P.E.
    • Wednesday -Health and Music
    • Thursday -Library
    • Friday -Music and Guidance
    If any changes to this schedule occur, I will let you know! To start the year, a backpack, lunchbox, snack and change of clothes is all that is needed. I will provide a "Take-Home Folder" for children, please check these daily and send back any notes to me or for the office in them as well. I will send home a paper newsletter the first week but then plan on using our class page to tell you about our week together. I look forward to a great year of learning and growing in our kindergarten class! 

    Thursday, June 2, 2016

    Four Winds

    Our final Four Winds was all about Frogs! We observed, listened and learned about these amazing amphibians with the help of our four parent volunteers. A HUGE thank you to Remy's, Eli's, Riley's and Katie's parents for bringing this program into our classroom.
    And we had a celebration with pops, popcorn and cider!


    Monday, May 30, 2016

    21 Days Later!





    What an exciting week! Our chicks began to hatch late Monday afternoon and by Tuesday morning we had four chicks! By the end of the day on Tuesday, fifteen more chicks hatched! We were amazed how quickly they grew and loved holding them. On Friday, the chicks were delivered to a farm in Duxbury.