Playing Catch-Up





     I'm not quite sure what happened to the month of November, but it's long gone and December seems to be slipping away just as quickly! I hope you enjoy the photos I'd like to share to help catch you up on what's been going on in KR!

Fire Safety



Mr. Winslow came and taught us about fire safety.

I was the lucky teacher chosen to try on his gear.  My, was it heavy!






 

Symmetry



      One of my favorite concepts to teach in math is symmetry.  The kids get really intrigued by it and start looking for lines of symmetry everywhere!  Perhaps you've heard about something being symmetrical at home?  (Maybe too many times?!  :) )  I love the photo below.  Look at the excitement on their faces as their symmetrical paintings are revealed.

 

Here is the "before," as we were "tipping and dripping" our paint bottles to create our masterpieces!

 

 

Jefferson County Park







 



     We had a beautiful morning at the park with Therese!  She does an amazing job of teaching the kids about nature, while entertaining them at the same time.  Our main goal on our hike was to find the colors of fall and capture them on our palettes.  We found leaves, grasses, seeds, pine needles, and nuts to represent the beautiful colors observed in autumn.  I hope you were able to catch a glimpse of your child's palette before it fell apart.



 

 

     Stay tuned for another post in the near future!  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 







Number Walk

     Recently, we trekked around the neighborhood with one mission:  to find numbers!  Armed with our pencils and clipboards, we journeyed out one beautiful fall morning to record what we could find.  I loved observing as the children would squeal with excitement when they found another number.  It was a wonderful realization for them to understand that numbers are EVERYWHERE!

    It was also quite funny when they noticed that they were also WEARING numbers.  And, of course, they all wanted me to take their pictures.  I have about 15 pictures of shirt tags.  :)

    
     I also wanted to share one more photograph today.  This one was from a math lesson where we were comparing lengths.  The children had to decide if their object was taller than them, or shorter than them.  We love activities that encourage us to move around and make observations!

   
   
      Finally, if you have not yet signed up for parent-teacher conferences, please find the note in your child's folder for further instructions.  I'd love to see you!

Apple Investigation Day!

     Last Friday, September 28th, was an exciting day in the kindergarten wing at Pence!  We spent the morning using our five senses to explore apples.  All three classes rotated classrooms to experience a different type of activity in each room. 
     We began in our classroom with a taste test.  The students sampled a red, yellow, and green apple and recorded their impressions of the different tastes.  It was unanimous that the green apple was a bit tart!  We then voted for our favorite type of apple and hung it in the hallway for everyone to see.  The results were quite surprising...it was almost a three-way tie!

     After the taste test, the kindergartners moved to Ms. Rauenbuehler's room to make applesauce!  Each child helped to peel and core an apple to place in a crock pot.  As the apples cooked all day, our room smelled SOOOO good!  At the end of the day, we tasted our homemade applesauce.  Yummy!

    The morning ended in Mrs. Sandbothe's room with further observations.  The kids noted what their apples looked like and smelled like.  They were thrilled when the apples were cut open to reveal a star pattern in the seeds. 

     This day could not have been possible without the generous donations of many kindergarten parents.  I can't thank you enough for helping to provide your children with hands-on, "real-world" experiences.  Many, many thanks!  :)

     Stay tuned for upcoming photos of fun kindergarten experiences!

A Peek into Our Classroom {Part 2}

     I thought I'd better finish up the classroom tour!  Thanks for stopping by again to wrap up the highlights!

View from the door, looking straight ahead

View from the door, looking to the right
 

Our "carpet" area. 
This is a happening place!
 Songs, stories, calendar,
pocket chart activities,
shared writing and reading,
 etc. all take place here!
 

     This is the front of the room.  It may be hard to see, but this year, I added schedule cards.  (They are on the right of my whiteboard.)  I absolutely LOVE them!  They really help my students keep track of the day and I haven't heard "When is lunch?" nearly as much this year!  :)  I got the cards as a freebie from Cara Carroll.  She truly thought of everything!  Click here if you'd like to check them out!

 

     This is my new birthday display.  I started with the birthday cupcakes from Creative Teaching Press and added photos of the kids holding a sign with their birth date.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out because I think it's important for the kids to view it like a pictograph.  I still think it needs something...I'm just not sure what!

     I highly recommend Deedee Wills' monthly Writing Work Stations!   My kids love them and I love that I can train them on the routines at the beginning of the year and then simply swap out each month's cards!

     I am also trying a clip chart for the first time this year.  So far, it's working really well.  My students really seem to "get it" and work really hard to move up the tree.  I purchased it from Nicole Bunt. 

     I had planned to share more, but this turned into a really long post again!  Thanks for sticking with me!  :)
 

A Peek in Our Classroom! {Part 1}

     My favorite hobby is hopping from blog to blog gleaning new ideas to use with my kinders.  I truly believe that blogging has changed my way of teaching -- not only am I finding wonderful resources, but my creative juices have been flowing!
     This summer, I took on a major "classroom makeover" project.  I wanted to attempt a classroom theme and new color scheme.  I had so much fun putting things together and I'd love to share how it turned out!

     What theme did I choose?  OWLS!  I love the symbolism of owls being wise and rich in knowledge, plus there is just so much cute stuff out there!  How could I resist?!  :)  To kick things off, my wonderful sister made this for my door.  I was inspired by Kimberlee at Two Fulbright Hugs.  I shared the idea with my sister and she surprised me!

      I found some adorable owls at Schoolgirl Style.  I was so excited when she made them editable!  Thanks, Melanie!  :)


 

 

 

Our word wall starts blank.
 We add our words as we learn them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hallway display. 
You can also catch a glimpse of Deanna Jump's name trees!



Ahhh.....Schoolgirl Style's polka dot lanterns.  LOVE the pop of color!

     My mom helped me so much this summer.  One of our projects was making crate seats.  We found the cutest owl fabric at Joann's, and I knew I had to have them! 

Close-up view of the fabric.

The seats "live" at my guided reading table. 
It's my first year having a kidney table.  How did I live without it?!

     I'll be back another day for a few more highlights of my room.  This post is long enough as it is!  Thanks for stopping by!

A Fond Farewell

   The rain may have put a damper on our field day, but not our spirits!  We had such a fun last day!  I always feel excited for a little time to refresh and renew over summer break, but man, I'm going to miss these little faces!

 
     The rain brought on the need for a back-up plan.  Here are some of the highlights:

Shaving Cream Fun!

They didn't even notice when I sneaked in a little sight word review!  ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sight Word BINGO!

Dance Party in the gym!

In this photo, the boys were getting ready to try break dancing. 

We celebrated new friendships!

INDOOR picnic lunch!

    
     I want to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing your children with me.  I so much enjoy being an observer in their journey of learning.  They all become so special to me!  Hopefully, I'll see the kids around this summer, but give them an extra squeeze from me and remind them to read, read, read!  :)

We Sing of Spring!

     I was so proud of my kids on Tuesday evening!  They sang their little hearts out at our spring music program.  It was so fun to see them all dressed up as they proudly showed off their skills and school to their families.  Look at how cute they all are!