Crazy about Keiko Kasza!

For the past two weeks, our class has been taking part in an author study on Keiko Kasza. We have learned so much about her and have read as many of her stories as we could get our hands on. We visited her personal page (http://keikokasza.com/) and in learning about her, we also discovered her email address. Naturally, the students wanted to write to Keiko in hopes that she would be able to write us back. Keiko Kasza was fantastic and wrote us back the very same day! The students were elated when they read her responses. Since we wrote the email as a class, many of the students asked some very specific questions and made insightful remarks about her books. When she wrote back to us, she addressed each of the students individually - making them feel extra special!
If you get a chance, ask your child to tell you what they have learned about this amazing author. For extra fun, check out some of Keiko's books at your local library or purchase them online!

          

I would like to add a "Keiko Kasza" section to our classroom library. The books are vividly illustrated and now familiar to the students. It would be great for them to be able to access her books on a daily basis. So, now added to our classroom wish list: "Books by Keiko Kasza!" (ps. We already have The Wolf's Chicken Stew).
                                            ***Update***
A really HUGE thanks goes out to Mr. Dixon for helping us get our Keiko Kasza section started. We now have "My Lucky Day", "A Mother for Choco", "The Mightiest", "The Rat and the Tiger", and "The Dog Who Cried Wolf", as part of our classroom library! Thank you so much :-)

UNF Wildlife Sanctuary

Today the students spent their time immersed in science and nature. After a short bus ride to UNF, we were given instructions by Ranger Kristin, a clipboard, and a scavenger hunt recording sheet. The students eagerly practiced using their senses to observe the sights, sounds, and smells of the wildlife sanctuary. We learned to stay away from poison ivy by remembering the rule of the leaves, "if there's three, let it be!" The students observed colors and shapes in nature as well as several wild creatures, like turtles, spiders, dragonflies, and even a few osprey! After our hike, we refueled our bodies with a picnic lunch under the trees. It was an excellent day for a field trip.
Back in the class, the students said goodbye to Miss Krista, the intern who has been in our classroom this semester. She created sweet goody bags for each of the students and talked with them about how much she has enjoyed being in our classroom. Though we are sad to see her go, we are excited for her to continue learning and one day have a classroom of her own!

Check out more pictures from our day by clicking here.

Easter Egg Extravaganza!

The students were very excited to participate in our class' Easter Egg hunt the day before Spring Break began. Their eyes were wide with excitement as they gazed out over the field where hundreds of tantalizing, colorful eggs were spread out, just waiting to be found by the right child. You see, each child not only had to find 19 eggs, but they had to find the 19 eggs with their name on them! There were also some "smiley" face, or bonus, eggs to be found and one, very shiny, golden easter bunny shaped egg. This was the grand prize egg and the student who found it received money for the classroom store and an extra trip to the classroom store at the end of the day. While other students ran eagerly around the field looking for their eggs and the golden bunny (several of them ran right over it), Patrick planned his route meticulously, carefully searching through the clumps of high grass and clover. His hard searching paid off and he found the prize egg - Congratulations Patrick! All the kids had a great time and we finished the day with cupcakes and juice to celebrate Dakota's birthday (thank you Mr. Dixon!) and goodies to take home for Easter (thank you Mr. White!).
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Hopefully, you all had a great spring break and I look forward to seeing 19 smiling, happy faces tomorrow morning as school resumes once more. :-)

Smart, Super Learners!

Thank you to all the parents who brought the students back to school this evening for the Kindergarten PTA Performance. They were so proud to sing songs for you and show off their superhero dance moves!

You may have heard your child talk about playing games or doing activities on our classroom mimio. The mimio is an amazing tool that transforms our dry erase board into an interactive computer screen. The students use the mimio pen to navigate through activities, answer questions, play games, and even write. It makes our technology more personal for the students and allows them the freedom to make their own choices during our carpet time lessons. Here are a few pictures that showcase just how tech savy your super learners are!

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We also received a visit on Sunday from a sneaky leprechaun. Apparently, since no one was at school, he decided to leave us a message on our window along with a new hat for Mrs. Callejas and some "gold" for the kids.

I DO like green eggs and ham!

"I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam-I-Am!"

In memory of a fabulous author, we spent last week reading books by Dr. Seuss. On Friday, March the 1st, the students celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday with all kinds of fun events. Students wrote about our favorite part of Cat in the Hat during writer's workshop, painted the cat in the hat during skills block, sorted and counted colored gold fish after reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish during math, and got to experience their own version of Green Eggs and Ham during reader's workshop.
After we read the story, the students talked with their partners about whether or not they thought green eggs and ham would be something they would like to eat. Most of the students thought that they would end up liking it, since the characters in the book liked it so much. They were surprised to find out they would get the chance to see if their predictions about eating green eggs and ham were true!
Check out these pictures, I think you will see that this class can say, "I DO like green eggs and ham! I do like them Sam-I-Am!".

 

Our class store is also a huge success. The students are quickly learning that sometimes it's better to wait and save their money in order to get something they really want. Some students are also learning that their behavior needs to continue to improve so that they don't have to "pay" the teacher for their bad choices, but rather they can get "paid" by the teacher for their great choices!
Thank you to all the parents and families who have sent in donations to help with the class store. Your support is truly appreciated!

Reflex Math

Don't forget to check out www.reflexmath.com!
It is a great website where students can build fast and effortless recall of math facts through fun, learning games. Students brought their login information home last week along with a detailed letter explaining more about the program. If you need another copy, just send an email or a note letting me know.
Please remember that the students do need to complete the activities by themselves for optimal learning and they should not share their login information with their siblings or friends.
Happy learning!

JCA & Valentine's Day

The students came to school this morning with a double dose of excitement! Not only were we going to see Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but we were also going to be able to celebrate Valentine's Day with all of our friends.
After our bus ride to JCA, the students found themselves immersed in an exciting, energetic version of the classic Goldilocks tale. They danced and squealed and laughed along with the characters as they watched Goldilocks learn the importance of telling the truth and using good manners. Lunch flew by and soon we were back on the bus and headed to class.
Once back inside, the students created a name place and colored a sweet Valentine's picture. Then all the boys put theirs on one side of the carpet and the girls put theirs on the other side of the carpet. I passed out my bags and modeled how to carefully put one on each student's name place. The students were so generous with each other and everyone brought goodies to share with their friends. After all the students finished passing out their treats, there were 19 mountains of love on the carpet! The students used large bags to store their Valentines and even had the chance to choose one of their Valentine's to eat before dismissal.
I also had a mountain of love on my desk and the students wanted me to open and show them all the things they had brought. When that was finished, everyone got a Valentine's day teacher hug and then headed home! What a Happy Valentine's Day!