100th Day & Valentines

Our class has been very busy these past few weeks!
We celebrated our 100th day of school with a class party, the highlight of which was making our snack bags of 100 treats. The students used their math skills to practice counting by 10's as they filled their bags up with 10 different treats. Of course the day wouldn't have been complete if we didn't get to eat our snack when we were done!
Last week we celebrated love and friendship on Valentine's day, giving each other treats and notes to show how much we care.
The students have also been getting to know our newest classroom addition, Ms. Broughton, an intern from Florida State College at Jacksonville. She will be with us for the next few months as she completes her last step before graduation and a move into a classroom of her own.

The next few weeks will be just as busy as the last few. So be sure to keep up to date with our classroom events and practice, practice, practice at home with your child! :-)

Click the link below to see what we've been up to in room 123!
https://plus.google.com/photos/114885866962776930630/albums/5981946972853218273?authkey=CNaR1PGphKvz5wE

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!! I hope each of you had a relaxing and joy filled winter break!
Just before the break, our class celebrated with a fabulous winter party. The kids had a great time making ornaments, holiday picture holders, beaded candy canes, reindeer food, and an edible snowman in class. Our special pizza lunch was delicious and everyone had a great time finding out who their secret Santa was as they participated in the gift exchange. Thank you so much to all the parents and family members who came out to help and enjoy the special day with us!

I would also like to say thank you so much for all the kind cards and sweet Christmas gifts you sent in for me. I feel so blessed to have such sweet students and supportive families! We will be wrapping up our second quarter in just a few weeks. Please help your child prepare for the many upcoming assessments by practicing basic concepts with them daily. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for test reminders in the agenda so you can help your child do his or her best.

Click the link below to see how much fun we had during our winter celebration!
Winter Party Pictures

Gobble, gobble!

This past Tuesday was very busy in room 123!
The students had just learned how to draw a cartoon turkey on Monday and were very excited to apply their newly found artistic skills to some fun, fall crafts. Throughout the morning, students rotated through different stations and created awesome owls, thankful turkeys, edible rakes, and a word family coloring page.


During science, we discussed how some things were made when the pilgrims first came to America and the students learned how to make their very own butter. It was a labor intensive process and each student helped to vigorously shake our butter jar, watching in amazement as the cream and salt turned into a clump of butter before their eyes. Of course, we had to taste it and nearly all the students thought it was absolutely fantastic.


We finished our day by inviting our parents and grandparents to join us for some delicious pumpkin pie. Though the air conveniently decided to turn off when everyone arrived, the room was warm with smiles and laughter, which made the heat a little more bearable!

A HUGE thanks goes out to all the families who helped to make our day a success by sending in supplies, helping out with crafts, and joining us for a time of thankfulness.

I hope each of you has a fantastic holiday, enjoying time with family and friends. Remember, school is closed from Nov. 27 - Dec. 2 and will resume on Tuesday, December 3.

You can see more pictures from our fabulous day by clicking on the link below:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114885866962776930630/albums/5951035110812174097?authkey=CKmi2K_O9eXZ_wE  

Falling into Learning

This year is flying by at record pace and we have been very busy over the past month. From pumpkin decorating to pajama day to our first field trip at Diamond D Ranch, this fall season has been packed with a variety of fun learning experiences.

A huge thanks goes out to Mrs. Kennedy for taking the time to help our class create the most beautiful and sparkly pumpkin fish for the pumpkin decorating contest. Though there were many fantastic pumpkins on display, none were quite as happy or eye catching as our very own Bright Stanley!
 

We learned a lot about the importance of keeping our bodies healthy and saying no to drugs and other bad things that could harm us. The school participated in a variety of fun activities to help us remember to say "no" and make smart choices. Our favorite was pajama and silly sock day. We couldn't resist getting a little silly during our group picture! What a great looking bunch of students.


Diamond D Ranch was a great experience for the students. Though Mrs. Callejas was unable to make it, the class had a great time feeding cows, riding horses, attempting the barrel ride, and learning all about the ranch. Our fabulous substitute, Mrs. Foster, will send us pictures soon so we can share our adventure with you.

As we continue to "fall" into learning this season, please continue to work with your child at home. Your daily support of our classroom activities will further ensure the success of your child! We continue to introduce new sight words each week and sometimes, students will forget or mix up words when they do not practice enough. Please make it a part of your home routine to read books (and log them in the agenda), practice sight words, and find ways to count and recognize numbers. You can also have your child practice these concepts using learning websites like www.starfall.com and learning videos like Leap Frog's Talking Words Factory. Thanks for all you do to help these students be their best!

Super Scientists!

The students have been learning all about their five senses and the many ways in which we use our senses to explore and observe the world around us. We recently started learning about science tools that can help us as we make observations and take part in exploration. During this lab, students were asked to look at different materials and pick the one they thought would be best to use when cleaning up a liquid mess. They had to answer the question, "which material will absorb water the best?". The students made predictions and then worked with partners to explore pieces of aluminum foil, wax paper, and paper towel using water droppers and observing how each material reacted with the water. Our conclusion? Wax paper and aluminum foil would only spread the mess around. Paper towels are the best choice because they absorb liquids better than foil and wax paper!

Magnificent Math!

Our kindergarten days are packed with all kinds of fun activities and learning. One of the highlights for the students is our math workshop time, especially our math stations. Each week, the students rotate through a variety of learning games and get to work with their table partners to become magnificent mathematicians!
This week, the students explored these stations:

	Supplies	Activities
1	Playdough Number Cards	Students will practice forming numbers.  Students will choose a color of playdough, pick a number card, and practice forming that number with their playdough. Then they can practice creating small balls of playdough to match their number.
2	Dice Counting Bears Number Cards	Students will roll dice and create matching sets of objects. Students will practice joining groups by rolling a dice (numbered 1-3) two times and creating a matching set of objects each time. Then they will join the groups together and count the objects in the new group.
3	Math Cut & Paste Shapes Glue Scissors	Students will work to correctly sort and count shapes. The students will cut out hexagons and ovals, sort them into the correct groups, count how many there are of each, and write the matching number.
4	Math Manipulatives Work Mats	Students will continue to explore math manipulatives. Students may choose from the math shelves the manipulatives they wish to explore.
5	Variety of Buttons Envision Topic 1.5 Crayons	Students will work to correctly count groups of objects. The students will use buttons as counters and match them to the picture groups on their pages. After counting each group carefully, they will draw circles and color in the correct number of 5 frame spaces to match.

You can play many of these same games at home to help your child continue to master their numbers and become experts at counting, sorting, and adding. Check out these rock stars hard at work!

Rituals and Routines!

The first month of school has passed and with it a whirlwind of new information and ideas! One of the most important things your child is learning is how to be a successful student. In class we discuss our rituals and routines until the students understand exactly what to do and when to do it. This enables them to have the best working environment, the friendliest interactions with their peers, and the most respectful discussions with their teachers.
Thank you for continuing to support your child's education by being involved in their school behavior and encouraging them to abide by the classroom rituals and routines. Your support is helping to mold your child into rock star student!
Our administrative staff often come around to make classroom visits and the students have a great opportunity to show our principals what wonderful kindergarteners they are! Mrs. Lewis visited our room and took some snapshots of the students as they participated in some of our class time rituals. Check out this great class of learners!