Where is winter? The children are starting to think that winter is over and that spring is here. Little do they know that snow is in the forecast for this weekend! This week in Kindergarten, the students have been exploring patterns found in words. The goal of this is for the children to become competent solvers that take words they know and use them to read or spell words they don't know. The two patterns we have been focusing on are -at and -an. Some were challenged with the pattern -ack. Because the children love when they make a discovery, they LOVED working with letters and patterns and building words. When they build a word, they had to determine if the word they created was a nonsense word or not. To hold them accountable, I had them circle the words that they thought were real words. Some even were challenged to use the real words in a sentence. We then turned to find word patterns within a text. Who better to turn to then Dr. Seuss? They couldn't believe all the word patterns they found in the book The Cat and the Hat Comes Back. It was good that they could connect what they were learning to "real life." The children have also been really dedicated when it comes to making their own books. Using recycled paper, the children come up a story of their own. At the end of the day, an author is chosen to read their book to the class. The next step in their writing process is for them to understand that stories always have a beginning, middle, and an end. Alexis wrote a story that is now being displayed in the library for the other children to take home. She is very proud!
In math, the children have still been exploring the ongoing concept of measurement. This week, however, was special because the children became familiar with the standard ruler. They each got their own ruler and were able to measure objects to the nearest foot. We have also started talking about the worth of money. We start from the bottom and work our way up, so the children have been becoming familiar with the penny. They are doing a very good job understanding the worth of a penny. They were so interested in the picture on the back of the coin. Their first thought was that it was a picture of the White House... which in my opinion, was a very fair guess! They were amazed at the pictures we found online of Abraham Lincoln and the Lincoln Memorial. The children really love learning about history.


Aaliyah working on her penny investigation sheet and penny rubbings.





In science, we are in the process of talking about weather and the fact that it changes day by day (this winter has been a GREAT example of this!) The students will be starting a research project on Monday based on authentic learning activities that engage student interest and motivation. These activities are designed to answer a question or solve a problem and generally reflect the types of learning and work people do in the everyday world outside the classroom. The two most popular topics that were picked were thunderstorms and rainbows (rain,) but I have some students interested in researching about wind and the sun. We talked about the water cycle today, and did a really interesting experiment that visually showed the children what happens when the water is too heavy for the clouds to hold. This would be a fun (and easy) experiment to do at home: Fill a clear, plastic cup up with water. Spray shaving cream on top of the water. Point out that the shaving cream doesn't sink or mix in with the water. Pour about 10 drops of blue food coloring on top of the shaving cream. The shaving cream represents the cloud, and the food coloring represents the rain. You can see the food coloring drizzle down from the cloud. Very neat! Let the research and discovery begin!





Picture taken by: J'Lyn James

Dear Friends,
I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend with their children. I spent a lot of time with my family over the weekend, for it was my dad's 60th birthday! I hope your family time was as cherished as mine was. On Friday, I attended an informational session on early literacy development, and am looking forward to applying many of the activities I learned for enrichment purposes with the children. During the session, there was a quote I read that has really stuck with me, and I thought I would share with you. The quote is "One of the first goals in early literacy development is nurturing a positive attitude toward reading... those attitudes usually result in voluntary readers." As a teacher, I strive to teach my children to love and respect books, and to "dig deeper" within the pages so they can get that magical feeling every child should experience when reading books. The National Reading Initiative states that reading aloud to a child is one of the most important experiences that brings a child into the world of literacy. I hope the reading folders your child brings home from school is developing into a positive experience with both you and child, and with your child and reading.

Love and friendship was truly in the air this past week. On Tuesday, the children celebrated their heart's birthday with a pancake breakfast. Mike Herchik, the grandfather of Isabella Dutton, was kind enough to volunteer to make pancakes and sausage for the entire school! Yes, that is right, all 93 students and 10 staff members were able to enjoy heart and mickey mouse shaped pancakes and sausage, all while sitting at decorated tables with their food placemats they made, having conversations with friends. The children enjoyed watching a puppet show and singing songs while they waited for their turn to get their breakfast. I couldn't decide which picture to post, so I decided to make a slide show of the event instead. Enjoy!

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They were so happy and "stuffed" after their breakfast. They wrote the nicest cards to Mr. Herchik to thank him for such a special morning. Here are Andrew's and J'Lyn's:

On Thursday, as I am sure your child made you well aware, GSCELC and SCOPE participated in their 2nd Skype session with #1 best selling author, Mr. Eric Litwin. This session, Mr. Eric focused on the steps he takes during his writing process as well as what inspires his writing. The children loved hearing if he had a "special spot" where he likes to write and if he is apart of a writer's club. When he responded yes to being part of a writer's club, the children all exclaimed, "We are too! Our classrooms!"

Dear Friends,
What a great week it has been in Kindergarten. I cannot believe it is already February! Where is the time going? This week, the mathematicians have been focusing on measuring objects with a nonstandard "foot." They have learned that you can measure distances and lengths of objects by using their feet and the "heel to toe" method. They enjoy challenging themselves by making a prediction on how many "feet" it will be from their table to the door. They also learned how to measure objects vertically with their paper-cut out foot. Going to the gym was fun for them because they got to measure objects like the traffic light, play house, or stage steps. They were also introduced to counting by 5s, so any opportunity you have at home to reinforce that counting would be great! What is next? Using tally marks to graph data.

Out of all the fun objects in the gym, Andrew and Patrick decide to measure the length of eachother.






Jordan is exploring with the pan balance in the morning while he waits for the arrival of his classmates.




In literacy, the children have been working on making personal connections with a book to help them understand the text more. This is an ongoing concept, for last week they learned about "pulling things out of their brain" that they already know to connect with a text. This is called using schema. I used the analogy of pulling files from a filing cabinet. After getting blank stares and realizing they had no idea what a filing cabinet was or what it looked like, I actually brought one in to the room to show them. The light bulb all of a sudden clicked! The children have been doing great writing in their journals. They are working hard on building their stamina so they are able to sit down and write independently for periods at a time. Here are a few examples of their work:


Isabella M.'s journal say:
"My favorite animal is deers."







Melania's journal says:
"School is the best. You learn in school. I love school. School is cool. School makes you smart."

This week, Pete the Cat brought us fantastic, silly fun. They are working on an ongoing writing project that involves a paper Pete, a computer, pencils, and paint. I know you are at the edge of your seats in anticipation, but you will have to wait to see the final product! What I can say is that the children were mixing colors to create their own color to cover Pete's white shoes with. They even created their own color name. Look out, Crayola! They have connected their color with what Pete stepped in. They loved it and are proud of their work! I can't wait for you to see the results. Thank you to Mrs. Lamb for donating used Gerber containers to the classroom. They came in handy today with the paint!