Exploration...

Word Exploration font: CK Ali Edwards official handwriting

It's amazing to see how creative Kindergarten Students get when exploring. They LOVED the idea of getting their hands on new math manipulatives that I have available for them. They had the creepy crawlers crawling up their arms, they also counted and sorted by color, shape, number of legs, etc. The bats were a big hit- they played, divided them evenly, and made patterns. Even though students have used the linker cubes in class before- they showed their creativity by building different animals like the camel pictured above.

bubbles dancing magically in the air...

relaxing

amazing

soft

White Rounded Frame from House of 3

Simply a perfect ending to the second week of Kindergarten!

A few more things...

• On Thursday we made a self portrait- they came out great!
• We finished the book- My School. Students are excited about being able to read this book.
• We have been practicing writing in our Kindergarten Journals. We talked about different kinds of writing from Kid Writing to adult writing and everything in between. Students are excited about their writing! Please keep a journal at home and see the progress.
• Please read daily to or with your child.
• We are continuing to practice our classroom rules and procedures- we started the Second Step Program and we are teaching our friend Impulsive Puppy how to behave during circle time: eyes watching, voices quiet, ears listening, body still, raise your hand to talk.

We had a Fabulous First Week!

We have done so much...

On Thursday two of our learning centers included reading and illustrating a book titled "My School"(students practiced using their Magic Reading finger to point at the words in the sentence) and at the other center students explored the Nuts & Bolts manipulatives where students got creative sorting by shapes, size, color, + and -. Some students even "built" with them!

On Friday we had a lot of fun! After lunch students got a chance to enjoy the outside while letting their artistic side shine through their wonderful chalk drawings. Here you can see only a few- girl, snowman, a second snowman, a spider. We also had rainbows, people, letters, numbers, dinosaurs, an egg with a baby chick inside, a huge roller coaster, and a hopscotch or two. Some students even labeled their drawings with the picture's initial letter!

I did not get a picture of this but...

I read the book "A Bad Case of Stripes" to the class and they LOVED it!!!! I highly recommend that you read this book to your children again :D. As promised students got to make their very own A Bad Case of Stripes bracelet today using pony beads.

One of our students proudly showed me the fantastic work she did in coloring and sequencing the "Humpty Dumpty" nursery rhyme. Great Job!

Other Books read this week:

• The Kissing Hand (Parents I hope you liked your gift- I will try to post a picture)
• Ruby the Copy Cat
• Wemberly Worried
• Shubert's Choices
• Bono Goes to School

First Day of Kindergarten!!

Ali Edwards frames from Designer Digitals

Today was a magical day- it was our First Day In Kindergarten.

This day also marks the beginning of my tenth year in teaching- ninth in Kindergarten!! Time sure does fly.

I took a few pictures from around the classroom to give you a snapshot of what our classroom looks like on this our first day together. Students were more than excited to be in class, some said they felt a bit nervous, but were fine after a few minutes.

These are only some of the things we did today...

• We sang Tooty Ta! (Dr. Jean), The Monkeys and the Alligator (Dr. Jean), Little House (Cheri Moraga), and our good-bye song.
• We listened to the following stories- "The Kissing Hand," 'Bono Goes to School," and "Brown, Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?"
• We learned how to STAR- Smile Take a Deep Breath and Relax (Dr. Becky Bailey)
• We stamped our students' hands onto a puzzle and added a heart. It went home inside an envelope with a special poem.
• We listened to Mozart during our quiet time.
• We did so much more :D

Getting Ready!

I've been a bit busy getting our classroom ready for the new school year. I can't believe it just around the corner! It's always an exciting time of the year. Setting-up the room is fun too- new room arrangement, new crayons, new pencils, ...

Can't wait to meet all my new students on Tuesday!

I know you're excited but remember to rest, see you on the First Day...