Our Penguin Door

We are ready to welcome the month of December!! Mrs. Keaton from PTA decorated our classroom door. Now every day the students come to class, the cutest penguin greets them. :)

Thank you so much Mrs. Keaton for spreading Holiday cheer and creativity our way!!

WH Question Words

Today we began our Farm Module!

 Before we read the story about Old MacDonald,  we discussed WH questions words~ Who, What, Where, When and Why. Then the students were able to ask any questions they had. (A lot told me information they knew, :) so we'll be visiting the WH question words again. )

Here is the WH Reference Sheet that our District gives us to use. :)

Week of November 28

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Break and is ready for a super week of school!! This week is going to be busy! Our resources for the week are: MONDAY- Art, TUESDAY- Art with Ms.Schmidt, WEDNESDAY- Art and THURSDAY- Music. On Friday we are having Boots Day. I can't wait to see what beautiful boots everyone has. :) Also, it is Picture Retake Day. If you would like to have your child's school picture taken again- please write me a note. Only those with a note sent in this week will have their pictures taken over. 

Also TiDarius will be joining the 6-Year-Old Club this week. And Leilani will be bringing Fun Friday snacks for the class. 

**Progress Reports going home WEDNESDAY, November 30. Please sign and return the bottom of the orange paper. The rest of the information is for you to keep.**

Diamon D Field Trip slips and money is due by December 9.

MATH

Well we are quickly learning all about measurement! We have spend our time comparing items to a cube stick. Figuring out if the items we compare our stick with are longer than or shorter than the cube stick. The students are doing great!! Towards the end of the week we will be comparing the weight of two objects.

Check out the Youtube Videos and discuss the items with your child.

READING

We are beginning our new Module on Farms. In this module we will learn all about the different animals on the farm. We will discuss the main topic of each story and the details that really support the main topic. We will also compare and contrast different animals, along with the female and male animals.  Our Stories and their vocabulary is listed below. Remember you can click on the title of the story and reread it to your child.  

Old MacDonald Has a Farm 

crops, harvest, pastures, shelter, tools

With a Moo, Moo Here

grazing, herd, produces

And a Cluck, Cluck There

collects, hatch, peck, perching

Here an Oink, There an Oink

littler, raise, valuable, wallow

On Wednesday's Early Release Day we will be discussing Respect for our Peers. It is the November Learning for Life lesson. The lesson reminds students to treat others the way they want to be treated. It also shows them the right way to react, if a person has forgotten their manners. Here is a catch respect song for everyone to enjoy.

SAXON & SIGHT WORDS

We will be reviewing lowercase letters and letter sounds. Along with finding out how many syllables are in words and what we are left with if we take off the beginning syllable. Ex. Party~ We omit the "par" and we are left with "tea."

Our sight words are look, long, will and that. Here is a slideshow to practice the sight words.

WRITING

Our Writing will be following along with the Farms Module in Reading. We will discuss the setting for a farm and the different things we see. Then we will discuss the animals that live on a farm. There will be a lot of modeled writing going on. This means the students will not have the pencils in their hands as much, however they will be working on stretching words so that we write the sounds they hear.

Here is a Youtube video to get the students excited about their farm writing!

Happy Thanksgiving #2

The class wore their Turkey Headbands to lunch yesterday and I had to post pictures of how cute they all looked.

Enjoy them and once again have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving

Today my Mom and my brother, "Mr.Davey," came to school. The students asked them questions, told them stories and made the most adorable Turkey Headbands! Listening to everyone talk was adorable. Our class can really chat! :)
Anyway, I didn't send the headbands home today... I kept them. :) I want the students to wear them to lunch tomorrow and show them off. :) They worked really hard and I want everyone to know it! So look for it either on your child's head or in their backpacks tomorrow. 

Enjoy watching the slideshow and Happy Thanksgiving!

This free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

Popsicle Party

So it seems a little funny as I type "Popsicle" and I sit here with a jacket on. haha

We have earned a Popsicle Party for turning in the most Federal Aid Surveys in Kindergarten. :) It may have seemed funny signing NO and returning the paper, but your participation helped our class WIN! 

Here is a collage of the class enjoying their treat! :)

Another picture collage by Smilebox

Mooseltoe Family Project

 Please follow these directions when completing the Family Project with your child. 

(It will be going home Monday- Nov.21.) 

We will be reading the book in class this week. I'm sure your child will want to watch the reading of the book. It's a cute story~ a Perfectly Perfect story!

(Just in case you want a sneak peak... here is a Youtube video of a reading of the book.) 

**I will be sending home these directions Monday, but just in case they get lost over break... 

make sure to check back here. :) **

First~ color/paint the moose (head and antlers)

Next~ cut out the moose head
Afterwards~ come up with an idea for how to make the mustache and attach it to the face

Then~ decorate the antlers

*Decorate the antlers with pictures of things you will be doing over Winter Vacation. You can use pictures from photographs, magazines, clip art or even make your own! Be creative and have fun with your child. The more creative the better... The only request I have is that NO FOOD items be used for decorating!  I don’t want any unwanted crawly visitors. 

Finally~ send it to school.

This project will be due by Monday, December 5. They will be shared with the class as they are received and hung up on the wall in our classroom. So if you finish it early, send it in! :)

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I am very excited to see what you and your child come up with!

Week of November 21

This two day week will go by fast!! I have a full schedule planned, so hopefully we get everything done! ooh we will also have a classroom visitor~ my Mom. She works in Clay County and they have the week off of school. (I'm so jealous!!) She's coming in to do a Thanksgiving Craft with the students. 

We have a Resource on Tuesday. The students will be going to P.E. Please make sure your child is wearing sneakers so that they can participate safely. 

Now, on to the lessons!

In Reading we will take the Test for Module 4 Plants and read a Thanksgiving story. In Math, we will continue to measure and compare items using the vocabulary shorter and longer. In Saxon we are reviewing the letter formations and sounds learned thus far. We are also working on reading words. **Make sure to practice chopping up and blending sounds together with your child. Some examples of words are cap, hit, mat, tip.** In Writing, the students will be completing work they never got to complete. We will also be going to Centers and completing lessons on i-ready. I will not be pulling small groups this week, instead I will be doing 1-on-1 testing for Progress Reports. I can't wait to see how much the students have learned!!

~The students are supposed to go on i-Ready for 45 minutes a week. With us only being in school for two days, this time will not be met in class. Therefore I am asking that everyone have their children go on and complete a few lessons in Reading and Math.  Even going on for 10 minutes is better than not going on at all.~

In case I don't get a chance to tell you in person, have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Sneak Peak of Polar Express Decorations

There are many different Committees for Teachers to be on at Chimney Lakes. One that I chose this year is the Polar Express Committee. :) This committee has been getting together and planning how to decorate the hallway in front of the Media Center and Computer Lab. A ton of different assignments were delegated out to teachers.

We are still decorating so I don't want to show too much, but one of my assignments was to get silhouettes of the Kindergarten students. Well Komarea's Mom, Ms.Williams, came in and got the job done! You can see the students "sitting" in the windows of the train holding on to their tickets. :) You can see the pictures at the bottom of this post.  The students look adorable!!! I can't wait to walk them down and check it all out once it's completed. 

There are many different teachers on this committee, but the head honcho is Ms. Brunner. All of the decorations are ideas that Ms.Brunner either had in her head and or found on Pinterest. If you know Ms.Brunner or anyone else that is part of the Committee,  please make sure to tell them that the Polar Express area looks great!! :) 

Also, make sure to stop in and see the Polar Express area after Thanksgiving Break!!

Introduction to the Zoo Trip

The Zoo Field Trip was short, but exciting!! The students were so excited to walk around and see the animals and plants. :) Most wished that we'd been able to stay all day and play with the animals. haha

Well this Field Trip is a two part adventure. The first part was us getting a introduction to the Zoo and the second part will be an in-house Zoo visit at our school. When they visit they will be bringing a few animals to share with the students. They haven't scheduled the visit yet, but you can rest assured when it happens... I will be taking pictures. :)

Also, I know many of you weren't able to make it on this Field Trip, but we will be going on a full day Field Trip to the Zoo again. So maybe some of you can make it to that one! ooh I almost forgot~ Thank you Mrs. Machado for visiting the Zoo with us. The students and I loved having you there!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

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Food Drive Results

Well we found out the results for the Most Creative Food Box and the Most Cans Collected on each grade level. :) 

In Kindergarten, our class and Ms. Louer's tied for the Most Creative Box!! Her box was decorated as Pete the Cat. (My mom made it... so I can honestly say Pete is super cute!) Then, Ms.Kirby's Class won for Most Cans Collected. 

All three of our classes won a Popcorn Party from PTA!!!

Unfortunately I can't recall the amount of food items collected by the school. But I remember the sponsors of the food drive saying "A TON!" haha

Here are a few pictures from the Food Drive. And if you still want to see Oliver the Owl or Pete the Cat~ both can be found in the Front Office. :)

Food Drive

Thank you to everyone that participated in the Chimney Lakes Food Drive. All together our class raised 50 items!! Tomorrow, the boxes will be judged for creativity and then we will see which classes brought in the most food. :) 

Here are a few pictures of the class giving and celebrating with Oliver the Owl. 

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i-Ready October

Today our Principal, Mrs.Walker, was on the intercom announcing all the high achieving i-Ready students. She announced the names of students that had completed and passed the most i-Ready lessons in Reading and Math for the month of October.

From our class... Jeremiah and Sophia were recognized in Reading. 

Then Jeremiah, Sophia, Noelani and Kingston were recognized in Math.

Make sure to check out the i-Ready bulletin boards around school to see our students and the other students named. :)  

Measurement Pictures

Today we began our Module on Measurement! Module 3.

The students were so cute and had so much fun comparing the length of items to their dry erase marker. :) ... I had to break out my camera for a few pictures.

Watch the slideshow with your child and discuss whether the marker is longer than, taller than or shorter than the item it's being compared to. :) Enjoy!

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Word Wall Photos

I took pictures last week of the sight words on the word wall. This is another way to practice sight words with you child. :)

Enjoy!

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Veteran's Day Slideshow!!

I want to say thank you to everyone for emailing me pictures!! I really appreciate you allowing your loved ones to join our blog. And to the Veterans... THANK YOU!! Thank you for sacrificing so much of yourself to keep all of us safe. 

Enjoy watching the slideshow filled with true AMERICAN HEROES!! 

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Week of November 7

Here's to another great week in Kindergarten! 

This week our Resources are: Monday~ ART, Tuesday~ MUSIC and Wednesday~ P.E.Thursday Gabriel joins the 6 Year Old Club!! Friday there is NO SCHOOL due to Veteran's Day.
Also, don't forget to bring in your canned and non-perishable food for the Food Drive. I can't wait to see Oliver the Owl surrounded by food. 

**If you have not signed and returned the Zoo Permission Slip, Please do so soon. If you need a new form, write a note or email me. Thank you!**

MATH

We are finishing up Module 2 Shapes! We have a Pete the Cat book that will help us review position words. The words we've focused on and the ones that the students will be assessed on are: in front, behind, above and below.  We will review 2D and 3D shapes by discussing their properties. We will discuss the straight sides and vertices of 2D shapes. Then the sides, vertices and faces of 3D Shapes. Please review this information with your child. 

The test will be administered on Monday, November 14. 

Veteran's Day

I am skipping our Science Lesson to focus on Veteran's Day. If you or anyone in your family has served in the Military, please email me a picture of them. Also, please include their relationship to your child and the branch they served or are currently serving in. I want to make a class slideshow for Thursday's lesson. **Make sure to email the picture by Wednesday evening at 6:00 or it will not make it into the slideshow.** The purpose of this lesson is for the class to see that hero's aren't just the "Super Hero's" they see in cartoons. They are real people!  We will watch the Youtube video below ( I will probably cry the whole video... so don't be surprised if your child tells you I did. haha) and complete a Veteran's day book. 

Writing

I have decided to take a break from How To writing and focus on getting the students to use their sight words and sounds. Our class knows A LOT of letter sounds!! We will be writing sentences like~ I like to ______. I can make ______. If this writing is easy for your child, they will be working on expanding their sentences~ I like to ________ outside with my __________. I can make ________ inside my _________. If it is still easy for your child, they will begin writing their second sentence. 

I will still be checking to see if their picture matches the sentences. However the picture time will not be given until the end. I want them to get the most time using their sounds and sight words to write.

Reading

Our reading stories this week focus on the hero Johnny Chapman or better known as "Johnny Appleseed," Deciduous trees and  Evergreen trees. We will take two days to discuss the seasons and make pictures to show how a deciduous tree looks during each one. We will then discuss evergreen trees with their needles for leaves and how they stay green year long. Finally we will compare and contrast the two types of trees. (This is one of my favorite lessons! The students sound so grown up discussing the trees with each other.)

Click on the title to read your child the stories and don't forget to discuss the vocabulary listed.

Johnny Appleseed

~eventually, hero, orchards~

Deciduous Trees

~bare, deciduous, dormant, habitat, sheds~

Evergreen Trees

~cones, conifers, evergreens, needles~

Our Sight Words for this week are: you, had, more & made. 

Saxon is increasing with difficulty! You may not notice it just yet on the worksheets I send home, but the lesson part I teach is changing. :)

The students learned a new way to code, we discussed coding a double consonant. You'll see in the picture below, Saxon has taught them to write a slash through the second consonant so that they only produce the sound one time. Try it with your child and if they are showing difficulty remembering, go over it with them. :) Also, the students will be introduced to letter s and how it can sound like a /s/ or a /z/. As in the word has. We will review consonant blends. We have touched upon them three previous times in Saxon. They remind the student how a blend is two consonant sounds that slide out of your mouth together so nicely you almost don't even notice that it's two letters. This week we will discuss: ST, SN, SP. SM and they even touch on SPL.

Updated November Calendar

The calendar is finalized!!

They ended up doing Hurricane Make-Up days for the end of this month. You'll notice the students will have a lot of Art time!. :) Thankfully they really enjoy Mrs. Phillips so the time will be good!

Amazing Grace Corn Maze

The Amazing Grace Corn Maze was an amazing field trip!! If you've never been there... I highly recommend visiting the place out in Green Cove Springs.

Our class was budied up with Ms. Louer's Kindergarten Class. So if you notice any kids in the pictures that don't look familiar, they will be her students. :) The class loved every station they went to! We began by going through the Corn Maze and getting a lost. haha Than we exited and played ball throwing games (like the ones you'd play at the Fair) and the kids rolled in giant pipes. haha Quite a few got super dizzy and even rolled out onto the grass. Next we went on a gigantic Jump Pad and a few parents jumped!! I thank every parent that jumped because they allowed me to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. :) Next we went to the playground area and had a story time with Spookley the square pumpkin. After that we ate lunch in the Bee infested area... Wow, bees were everywhere! 

Then we went on a tractory ride through the farm and ended with a female Rancher. She discussed fruits and vegetables and cracked a whip. It was a beautiful thing to see!! She was amazing. :)

I want to give a huge shout out to all the parents that attended the field trip: Mrs.Broach, Mrs.Chavez, Mrs.Edmond, Mrs.Goode, Mr.Lukacovic, Mr.&Mrs.Cromier and Mrs.Orr. The trip would not have been as much fun without all of you there!! Hope to see you all again at CLE!!

If you weren't able to attend this field trip do not worry!! We have other field trips coming up. 

I believe one is in the month of December. So I'll keep you all posted!

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Sunglasses Day

I didn't go around the playground and take pictures like I normally do... We didn't have a Resource, so the students had a LONG Resource time with ALL the Fun Friday playground toys. I allowed everyone to play to their hearts content and didn't want to interrupt them. So they just played!!

Here are the pictures I took right before dismissal. Enjoy!

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Can Food Drive~ Take 2

The kids were so excited to see "Oliver the Owl" on Friday. Everyone was able to see the hole behind his head and find out that that was the spot they would use to put their food items in. However, if the items that are too wide to fit inside of him will be placed around him on a "nest."

Enjoy the pictures of the happy class with their new friend, Oliver! 

This picture collage made with Smilebox

Can Food Drive

Our school is collecting can food and other non-perishable food items for those in need. We are partnering with our partner church, The Church at Argyle. The food will go to families right here in our neighborhood! 

Please send in as few or as many items as you wish!! The small items will go inside the box I decorated, the larger items will sit beside him. 

Here is a suggested donation list:

canned meals, peanut butter, canned fruits and vegetables (pop-top cans are the best!), cereal, rice, pasta, dried fruit, applesauce, granola bars, oatmeal, graham crackers, pudding and the list goes on and on!

baby products, hygiene items and even paper products

The last day to send in items is Wednesday, November 16.

oooh we are competing with the other Kindergarten classes for who can donate more. So make sure to participate!

Here is Oliver the Owl!

3D Shape Video

We watched this video in class today and the class loved it! We really enjoyed how the video discussed the faces of the shapes. It mentions more 3D shapes than the four we need to know... but there is nothing wrong with learning more than we need. :)      Enjoy the video!!

Module 4 Plants Worksheets

Here are the pictures in color for you to look at when completing the homework sheet with your child. :)   We reviewed this sheet in class, so your child should do GREAT!!