Week of March 30

Math Partnerships:

When we work on our math skills, we work alone, in partners, in groups, and whole class.  This gives the kids who need different ways to learn their math skills a variety of opportunities to become successful in the classroom.  Our partner groupings are called peanut butter and jellies.  I ask the peanut butters to do one thing and the jellies to do another, then they trade.  The kids learn how to work together, how to be patient with each other, how to take turns etc.  It's not always easy, but it is worth it.  I have seen so many positive things happen as a result of our partnerships.

Aiden and Gage are sitting at the small blue table. 

This is the most popular table in the entire classroom since it is so low to the ground.

Miri and Cody work very well together.

Josie and Alex are learning so much from their partnership.

Kolton and Jack working together.

Maddy and Inga.

Gio and Hannah.

Student Helpers:
Students from third grade earn time to work in our classroom.  Last week, Allie (Garrett's sister) came in to help us out.  She taught them a bunny craft with the popcycle stick, pipe cleaners and pom pom.  There she is in the picture below with the kiddos after they completed the craft.

 Allie also did a direct drawing lesson on how to draw a bunny.  Soooo cute!  She did an awesome job and our kinders were great listeners.

 

Allie is doing a step-by-step drawing and the kids are working hard at following her directions.

Sight Words:
We are working very hard at learning our sight words.  This week the kids used a QR reader to scan words and write them down.  Very cool activity.  The kids had a blast even though there were so mishaps with the technology not always working.

Week of April 16--Busy Busy Busy!!!

Free Choice:

Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the kids get some time to do what they want to do in our classroom.  Some play, some draw, some chat, some paint, some help me organize stuff for the following week. It is a very relaxing time in the classroom.

The boys love the legos.  Very few girls play with them although I encourage them to do so.

  Thanks to a donation from Kernan's family and a donation from my son's lego pile, 

we have lots of legos.

The vet station is by far the most popular station.  When I asked the kids if we wanted to put out a different one, they were adamant that this one needs to stay longer.

Alex loves playing in the vet station.

Samuel loves playing with cars.  Such a fun activity.

The kids were making flowers for our bulletin board outside the classroom.  

Check the flowers out when you come for conferences.

Kernan has such a beautiful smile, I had to take a picture.

Ava loves our dress up area.  

Naturalist in Residence:

Mrs. Uebel and Ms. Janelle taught the kids about reptiles and amphibians.  It was a perfect unit after our oviparous unit.

We went on a nature hike to look for reptiles and amphibians.  The kids were so excited.

We found "fake" creatures on the trail.

So fun!

Then we went back to the naturalist classroom to see real animals.

Vaughn and Ava were fascinated with the snake.

Garrett was cautious but he touched the snake.

Snake skin.

Bullfrog and Miri.

Food Adventures:

We had Ms. Clara come visit us again.  So fun!  We made a number salad with strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and coconut.  Yum!!!

Ms. Clara always reads them a fun book about food adventures.

Evan loved his snack.

Jeidin and Hannah enjoyed theirs too.

Jack had fun mixing his fruit together.

Update 3/12 and 3/13

Thursday, March 12: Pajama Day

The kids did a great job filling up the classroom coin jar.  They decided they wanted a pajama day so we had one.  I took these pictures while the kids were working on morning work, so you will see some sleepy kids :)

Friday, March 13: Sock Hop

Friday was sock hop day and crazy sock day.  Not too many kids came dressed up at school, but these young ladies looked picture ready so I just had to take a picture of them.

Lillian, Ava and Miri looked ADORABLE!

Blendspace.com:

While I was at the technology conference, I learned about this website that allows you to put pictures, videos, documents etc. together for kids to interact with.  Best of all, you share it with a QR Code.  The kids had a blast this week learning more about oviparous animals, bears, and koalas.  They were able to watch videos that I pre-selected for them.  How cool is that?  One of the kiddos told me that koalas do not drink water since they get it from the eucalyptus trees.  That is correct and she saw it in the video.

Reading Groups:
I meet with reading groups daily.  We read books, learn about sight words, practice fluency of letters, sounds, consonant vowel consonant (CVC) patterns etc.  The kids really enjoy coming to group and learning.

The kids LOVE to read!