New Student?

Our class had a special new student in class today. Her name? Atenea Callejas! :-)
The students were so surprised when Atenea joined them on the carpet for class. She was so polite and made sure to great each one of the them with a sweet, slobbery kiss or a soft touch from her cold, wet nose. Throughout the day she worked with the students as they used their writing skills to try and persuade me to bring Atenea another day, practiced their capitalization and punctuation, and rotated through their math stations. Some of the students even got to read a book to Atenea as she lounged around on the carpet during Reader's Workshop. Ask your child to tell you all about our exciting day with our furry, four-legged new student!

Busy Days!

It is hard to believe that there are only 8 more days left in the school year! We have been busy with all kinds of activities and the next few days will be equally exciting. Today the students participated in Safety Day where they were able to meet police officers, life guards, fire fighters, animal specialists, health professionals, and some special canine visitors (like Nala, the camera shy pup) who taught them all about the many ways to stay safe. Ask your child to tell you some of the important information they learned!

Yummy OJ!

This week our class continued to review Functional Writing. On Monday, we learned all about "How to Make Orange Juice". The students were so excited to learn about the process and have the chance to squeeze their own juice. It was a bit messy, but wonderfully delicious and completely worth it! Why not pick up some oranges on your way home tonight? Then, you can let your child show off their juice making expertise and help them practice the steps of functional writing!

Click the link below for more pictures of our fun morning.
https://plus.google.com/photos/114885866962776930630/albums/5873480857550327217?authkey=CKu8yL_12KOjsAE

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!).
https://plus.google.com/photos/114885866962776930630/albums/5861882819248174497?authkey=CI-b4OWBrtfbggE
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!

https://plus.google.com/photos/114885866962776930630/albums/5857178640642504081?authkey=COb_nJSE_6vi_wE

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.