SeeSaw

...at the Waterbury Fire Station

As we have moved to the SeeSaw platform for sharing information and pics of our kindergarten days, we no longer will be using this blog to share information. Thanks for checking in and Happy Fall!

Four Winds

We had our very first Four Winds lesson! Four Winds Nature Institute is a non-profit organization advancing the understanding, appreciation and protection of the environment through community-based natural science education and research. Our teacher, Ms. Emily, is from the Huntington Audubon Center (our field trip on Friday!). She taught us all about leaves. We learned that leaves come in all shapes and sizes, and they share a common function – making food for plants using just sunlight, air and water. We examined the structure of leaves, looking for similarities and differences, shared observations, and learned about the variety of insects that use leaves for their food and home!

All About Apples

We studied apples this week along with Mr. E's class during our science time. Today, we taste-tested three different varieties of apples; macintosh, golden delicious and granny smith. We tallied and graphed our results. We experimented with apples to find out why they turn brown and learned that lemon juice will slow down the browning process. We saw that apples keep their seeds in a star shape in their core, that the inside is called the flesh and the outside is the apple skin and that apples float but seeds sink!

Yoga Fun!

We had our first "formal" yoga session last Thursday. We stretched our bodies, practiced balancing and exercised muscles- even in our faces (we found this to be pretty silly!).

Insects!

We have begun a new science unit "All About Insects!" We are working along with Mr. E.'s class as we study these amazing creatures. Ask about our song, "Head, Thorax, Abdomen"! Ask us why all bugs are insects but not all insects are bugs! Ask us about exoskeletons! Ask us about antennae! Ask us where bugs live and what they eat! We have participated in many activities, including an inside bug search and an outside bug search with magnifying glasses. We will continue our study next week too.

Our New Math Curriculum

The first module of our new Math curriculum, Bridges, is all about the counting sequence to 20 and quantities of 10. We are also focusing on establishing our classroom routines that will provide structure for math class all year long. We have been working hard comparing similarities and differences of a variety of objects such as frogs, dinosaurs, buttons, animals, and even our shoes! We are sorting, describing and comparing attributes such as size, color, and shape. 

Welcome to Kindergarten!!!

We have had an awesome first week of school together; so many new faces, new routines, activities, things to learn! Our week began with a great read a-loud; "Chicka Chicka Boom-Boom". This is a story about some rather adventurous letters who climb up a coconut tree. We made coconut trees in our classroom, with coconuts and palm leaves, and the letters of our names. We even passed around a coconut, shook it to listen to the coconut water inside and then tried to open with a hammer! Mr. Gresham, our school custodian, did the final blows and opened it for us. We taste tested both the fruit and sweet water! 

 We practiced writing letters in shaving cream and read another story "The Letters are Lost".  During our Math time, we were introduced to different math work places. We explored polydrons, geo-boards, unifix cubes, pattern blocks and penny mats. We learned about Number Corner, a daily routine that teaches and reinforces many different number skills and concepts. 

We spent a lot of time learning about our classroom expectations. We read two "David" books and talked about expected and unexpected behaviors. We brainstormed ideas about how we can choose to behave in order to have a safe and happy day in school. We made pictures of David and agreed on our classroom rules.  As you can see, we have had a busy week here in Kindergarten. Enjoy the three day weekend!