School Safety

If you are volunteering in our classroom please make sure that you sign in with our security staff or with the office, and get a visitors sticker. Please make sure our classroom is your only destination.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Information

Thank you Mr. H. for bringing to our attention the mistakes in the math homework directions. Please note there isn't a way for the children to draw a line to match.  They will need to write the number.  I have sent an E-mail to curriculum and instruction, so that they can let the publisher know of this mistake. 

TONIGHT IS THE BIG NIGHT!
TALENT SHOW NIGHT!
I hope to see all of my friends there! 
Your teacher may be on stage. ;) ;) (Hint! Hint!)

6:00PM- Get here a few minutes early to ensure a parking spot and a seat!

At home the children should be practicing reducing in their homes.
Using less water and shutting off lights and electronics when they are not using them.

Yesterday we read Max's Chocolate Chicken and we discussed the meanings of the words poppped and attached. Today, we are going to be retelling the story.
Ask your child about this.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Today!

Thank you for donating canned goods and other supplies for the food pantry for Teacher Appreciation Week!
 

Reading in the library

We love our parent volunteers!






Thank you for the delicious lunch today!  Mrs. Widman and I felt like princesses!  You are all so kind to have not only bought us lunch today, but to buy us another lunch for the future!!!
THANK YOU!!!!

Little Scholars

Check out these scholars in action!

Math homework is in your child's folder.  Please be sure to check your E-mail for a message from me which includes two attachments.
 
Reminders- Talent Show, Tuesday March 31st at 6:00PM


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Thank You!

Thank you so much for the beautiful cards and flowers.  The kids are so proud to share their cards with us. We love each and everyone one of them. We have proudly displayed them in our room. 
Please check your E-mail!
We have GONE GREEN!
Homework has taken on a whole new look.  We will use the math work mats for homework as they don't need to be copied. 
Each week your child's homework calendar will come to you via E-mail, so please look for it each Friday for the following week. 

Please note the following events this week, next week, and the following weeks.
Wear your favorite jersey March 27th!

Tuesday night I hope to see each of my friends at our school talent show. 6:00PM.

Field Day is scheduled for Friday, May 15th 9:30-11:00.
All day students will go out with their morning class.
Rain date May 22nd.
More information will be coming home from your wonderful room moms.

Last call for book orders! I am placing the order tomorrow. It is the science/math series.  Its a good one! Don't miss out.  Remember you can order online or send in a check with the order form.




Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Hatchlings!

Today the kids met a really cool Mama eagle. As we were watching the love steaming went down. Well, I have been on eagle watch with Gus tonight and we have a hatchling!!
I thought the kids would like to see it tonight before they come to school tomorrow.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1592549&mode=2

A beautiful day of learning!

Today we read about telling time and practiced reading our clocks. We discussed how time is measured- minutes, hours, seconds. We discussed analog and digital and how they are alike and different. 
Your child came home with their tool box of meaurement tools. Please use these as you continue to practice at home. Ask your child to finish their measurement paper.  You can use their "foot" and measure them and other items in your home.  We worked so hard at lining up end to end. 

We started our unit on Natural Resources in class today. Ask your child what a natural resource is and why they are important to them! We were able to watch, live, a mama eagle in her nest with her eggs. We will continue to watch the live streaming as it comes up. It went down today because of high traffic.  This was a super connection to why we need to take care of our natural resources.

In small group today, our friends had fun in their learning stations! Math Ball is a favorite!

Thank you so much for the canned food donations! Our boxes are filling. I am so grateful for this gift of giving. Being your child's teacher is a gift! Thank you for sharing them with me.  Our Rainbow Valley family is helping so many others in need thanks to each of you!
Thank you for the beautiful flowers! We love them! They brighten up our room




Monday, March 23, 2015

Math and Maps

Today we read How Big Is A Foot.  The children measured with a "foot."  The children soon discovered that lining up your object to your measuring tool matters!
 I was so impressed with the children's maps!  Wow!  They were so carefully constructed and creative! Each child shared their favorite parts of their map with their classmates on the Promethean Board.


Sunday, March 22, 2015

The two M's- Measuring and Maps!

The children are enjoying measuring using standard and non-standard units of measurement.
We are learning about which tools are best to use when we need to measure something.
They will be coming home this week with a tool box of measurement tools that we have been using in class.  These tools are great for practice at home. 
Here are the math standards that we are practicing.
Identify a ruler as an instrument to measure length.
Identify different types of scales as instruments to measure weight.
Identify different types of clocks (analog and digital) as instruments to measure time.
Identify the components of a calendar, including days, months, and seasons.
Identify different types of thermometers as instruments used to measure temperature.


I hope your child is enjoying creating a map of his or her room.  This extension activity is great for the children to apply what they have learned about in class. 
The children were very interested in map scale and "a birds eye view." We read non-fiction books where they were able to see how they can take for example, their rug in their room and make that a square on their map.  They also learned that placing the object on about the same location that it is in their room is important so people know how their room is laid out.  They are also doing so well using positional words, direction words, and left and right when discussing the location of places.
Tomorrow the children will share their maps with their peers. I am so excited to see the topographers in action!

During this unit of study the children are/were working on the key essential questions-
What is the difference between a map and a globe?
What are cardinal directions? How do they help us when using a map or globe?
How does the location of something help us know where to go?
When would it be best to use a globe and when would it be best to use a map?
What are the two main components of a globe? Land and water.
While I reviewed the continents, oceans, states, etc... These are NOT  kindergarten standards.  However, I have placed a globe and "world words" in our writing station as additional learning extension tools for the children to explore. 
The most important piece of this unit of study is that the children understand their place in the world as an important citizen in their school and in their community.
Please ask your child to share with you what country they live in (we connected this to the pledge), what state they live in (they loved knowing that Richmond was our state capital), what city they live in, and their address. 




Wednesday, March 18, 2015

It's Cool To Be In School!

If you didn't hear a little leprechaun came into our room and made a mess! He was looking for gold.
Today, we wrote a class book about what we would do if we caught him.  Ask your child what he or she wrote about.
We talked more about maps and globes today.  I hope you enjoyed your child's mapping themselves in the world project that we did yesterday. 
It's important that your child know his or her address. :)
We discussed cardinal directions, maps, globes and their attributes.  We discussed that we live in North America, in The United States of America, in Virginia, in Virginia Beach.


Measuring station



A new high frequency word game!




Tuesday, March 17, 2015

In The Know!

Movie producers in action!



Measuring using standard units


There are great practice measurement games on IXLmath. In the first grade area as well!



Thursday, March 12, 2015

Picture Day and Field Trip

Tomorrow is picture day! Send in money for the class picture if you would like one and which pose you want your child to have. 

We have 5 chaperones for the field trip.  Thank you!!

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Living and Non-Living

We started our unit of study on living and non-living things.  We will begin to learn about how things change in our environment.  This unit of study will continue through the 4th nine weeks. We will be learning about writing expository non-fiction through this unit of study as well. Our class enjoys non-fiction.  As they are reading at home try incorporating some non-fiction titles.


Today we also had a lesson with our guidance counselor.
We learned all about Habit 6- SYNERGIZE!
 
Tomorrow we are going to review composing and decomposing numbers 11-19 and we will take our assessment. Then, it's on to measurement!

IXL is a huge success!  If you see your child is advancing through the kindergarten section they can move into the first grade area.  Please make sure whatever the activity is that it is just right.  Your child knows what this means.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Visitors, money, creativity!

Today we had some really special visitors in our classroom.
Dr. Spence and his cabinet along with Dr. Shewbridge came in and shared in our learning.
They asked your children questions about what they were learning as well as why their teacher was asking them to learn certain material.
As always your children were on task, engaged in their learning, and had top notch positive attitudes!
Thank you for raising respectful, caring, and proactive children!
We took our money assessment, adding combinations of coins up to ten cents.  I will be asking the children to show me if they can add combinations of coins beyond ten cents tomorrow and Monday. This would be an Advanced Proficient skill if they are able to do this.


Writing and reading lessons this week have been so much fun! The children completed their creative writing about their hats. They used descriptive words to make their writing more interesting.  The children also wrote about what they would do if Thing One and Thing Two came to their houses! We are encouraging the children to add meaning to their sentences through adding the word because to help them to tell more.





Our learning goals for this week! 

The children took an assessment on character, setting, and events on Yertle The Turtle on Wednesday.


Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Say Cheese!

Cashola Night tonight at Ynot! 

Picture Day say cheese! March 13th is picture day!

Monday, March 2, 2015

It was too cold to go out on this cold, cold, wet day!

What a day, what a day, what a day!
First of all it was so nice to see so many smiling faces! I am a snow bunny, but I am ready to teach!
Today, we began incorporating Dr. Seuss books into reading, writing, math, and social studies.   We read and discussed THE CAT IN THE HAT.  The children did some graphing. I asked would you tell your mom if Thing 1 and Thing 2 came into your house?  Then, we created a bar graph. 
The children shared what they would do to make them leave. 
The children learned all about Dr. Seuss through listening to a biography on Brain Pop Jr.  The children thought it was so interesting to know that he got in trouble for being creative in school, and that is why he changed his name!  He could creatively write and be silly without getting into trouble. 
The children took out their creativity "hats" today and constructed their own hats! Dr. Seuss has his signature red and white hat, so they made their own.
Tomorrow, the children will be learning more about adding descriptive words into their writing.  They will be extending their sentences about their hats, and applying their writing skills to their work. 
I was blown away by their creativity!  Just wait until you see the final products!
Speaking of creativity, we still need magazines.  If you have some at home that you would like to donate please send them in for tomorrow. :)
All this week I encourage your child to dress in red and white, wear their favorite Dr. Seuss character attire (nothing fancy, no face or hair paint).  It's nice to hear them share why they love certain characters or connect to part of a book.  It is our goal to continue to instill a love of literature. This is a great way!
Today during our lesson with Mr. Kern, the students began working on building an animated movie using positional words.  This lesson is a review of the words and their meanings as we learned them earlier in the year, but we are taking this to another level. The children are learning how to tie these words into globe and map skills as well as lessons on animation. The children had to follow many directions today.  They did very well!
If the animations are compatible they will be posted to our blog. If they are not, I will think of something!
Our unit on map skills will begin soon! 
As a review today, I went over money skills.  Please continue to make counting sums of money part of our daily routine.
March goals will be coming home this week.


Sunday, March 1, 2015

Help Wanted- Wear Red And White!

Parents,
I will be very happy to see my kindergarten friends tomorrow.
Hopefully the weather will stay snow free for a bit.

Tomorrow is Dr. Seuss' Birthday! To help us kick off our week, please allow your child to wear red and white!

If  you can help, I need magazines for some assignments we are doing in the classroom.  Family type magazines, where the children can cut out foods, cars, furniture, people. Please make sure they are family "kid" friendly.

I also need small, individual bags of colored Goldfish crackers.  I need 30 bags for the first week of March (Thursday).  If you are willing to send these in can you please E-mail me? Thanks so much!
The children will be touching them.  If you don't want your child to eat them please let me know.

 Thanks so much!