Today we learned a "new" Jolly Phonics letter sound for the letter "Nn" The motion for the letter sound is to pretend you are an airplane and spread your wings out as if you are flying saying "Nnnnnnnn.........". Both classes did a great job learning the sound and motion for the letter "Nn" and I was so impressed with how many words they could think of that began with this newly learned letter. Way to go, K-3! After the Jolly Phonics lesson, they practiced what they learned completing the "Nn" page in their packets. I am amazed with each newly learned letter, how quickly they are able to circle objects on the back of their pages that begin with the sound we learned for the day. I LOVE the excitement in their faces when they make the connection between the learned sound and finding things on their own. They always call me me over waving their papers because they can't wait to show me what they found. It's so cute! Tonight for homework, they need to find four things that begin with the letter "Nn" and put them in their sound book. I will be excited to see what they all find when I look through their sound books tomorrow.

In math, we learned all about the number 3 and we did a few hands on activities to learn more about this number and what it means. After the lesson, we did a few pages in our math workbooks where they had the opportunity to show me what they learned from the lesson. Way to go, K-1 and K-3!

In class today, we also began our "new" Handwriting Without Tears" program. We are going to learn how to write the numbers 0-9 first and then we will follow with upper and lowercase letters. This handwriting program is a hands-on  multi-sensory learning program that allows your child to learn how to write their numbers and letters in the correct formation along with building great line usage knowledge. It's a wonderful handwriting program that helps each kindergartener build early writing habits. The afternoon class was able to do this lesson with me since we didn't have library today. The morning class did so we didn't have time for the handwriting lesson today. They will be doing it tomorrow with me in class. 

                                         

                                           

In the morning class, we had a "practice" fire drill today. The kids did AMAZING! I was so proud of how quickly they listened to me when the alarms started to go off.  They got in line quickly and quietly and we headed outside to our safe spot to wait until Ms. Davis and Mrs. Pemberton said it was OK to head back inside. They were wonderful during the whole drill! Way to go, K-1! 

It was such a fun day today! I love seeing all the adorable friendships that are forming in the classroom and the little kindergarten family we are building. My classroom is filled with smiles, giggles and alot of excited energy each and every day! The learning that is taking place is so fun to see and I am so honored I get to be such a big part of it! It's going to be a great year!

This week we began Jolly Phonics and both classes have had so much fun learning the first four letter sounds which are S, A, T, and I. With learning each letter we learned the correct letter formation and the sound it makes with the Jolly Phonics letter motion. My kinders have learned all the letter names, sounds and motions very quickly and I am so impressed how well they can recall the right sound and motion when I say a letter name out loud. Ask your son or daughter to show you all the motions and sounds we learned for each of the letters we learned. Way to go, K-1 and K-3! We learned the sounds for:

Letter Ss- like in the words: snake, smile, sand. 

Letter Aa- it's the short a sound like in the words: ant, apple, alligator.

Letter Tt- like in the words: tall, turtle, tennis.

Letter Ii- it's the short i sound like in the words igloo, iguana, insect. It's very important that they know the i makes the short letter sound NOT like the i sound in ice cream. That's the long i sound.

With learning the first four sounds, we are now able to read some words that contain all the letter sounds we learned such as at, sat, as, a. Today, we reviewed all the letters and sounds we learned so far and I showed them how to blend the sounds together to begin reading. They did such a great job when we read some words today. Way to go, K-1 and K-3!

In math, we talked about the meaning of the number 2 and we learned about the meaning of the word pair. We found pairs of things and talked about how they are the same and how they are different. We then practiced this new skill in our student math workbooks. They all did such a great job showing me what they learned while working on their own and I was so impressed with how well they followed directions! They are having so much fun learning math!

This week, I also did two lessons with both classes where we talked about what you should and should not do with scissors and glue bottles. Both lessons were great because it gave me the opportunity to talk to both classes about how to take care of their scissors and glue bottles so that they used them correctly. They had fun doing both lessons and I was impressed with how well my friends cut cut on the jagged or curvy lines and how well they could control their glue bottles with only doing a little dot on each circle. I told my kindergarten friends that in kindergarten we follow my rule of "Dot, Dot, Not Alot!" They had fun saying this phrase with me and they did a great job following my rule. Here are some pictures of the classes doing these two activities in class:

Other than all these activities we have completed in the classroom, my kindergarten friends have loved going to their "specials" for the first time this week! We had a wonderful first full week and I am truly amazed with how well they are all doing following directions, sustaining attention and all they are learning! Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

We've had a great week so far in K-1 and K-3! On Monday, we began learning Jolly Phonics where I taught them the letter "Ss" sound. Both classes were so excited to begin learning Jolly Phonics. I taught both classes the letter "Ss" using our Jolly Phonics program through our interactive whiteboard. First we learned about the letter through learning a song and a story. Then I asked them to share some things they heard about in the story that began with the letter "Ss." They came up with some wonderful words! Then, we learned how to write the letter "Ss" with the correct letter formation. In kindergarten, we write our letters and numbers beginning from the top to finishing at the bottom. To practice what we learned, they did the letter "Ss" page in their Jolly Phonics packets where they practiced writing the lowercase "s" on the lines and they got to color the picture that went along with the Jolly Phonics letter story. On the back of the page, they circled pictures on the page that began with the letter "Ss." They all did a great job! Lastly, we glued the letter "Ss" in our Jolly Phonics sound books and we drew 4 things that began with the letter sound. They had so much fun learning Jolly Phonics!

We also began learning math on Monday too where we talked about the numbers 1 and 2 and the meaning of both numbers. We did a worksheet to go along with learning these new concepts for added practice. Both classes had so much fun showing me what they learned in our math lesson that day!

We had outdoor recess in both classes to give my kindergarten friends a well-deserved "brain break." They have been working so hard the first couple days of school and I am SO proud of all they are learning! Yay, K-1 and K-3!

Today, I read the class the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and we did a fun art project to go along with it. Both classes were so excited when I told them I would be reading them this fun children's book and they had so much fun participating in our class discussion as I read the book out loud to them. I was impressed with how well they knew the order of the days of the week and their knowledge of the lifcycle of a butterfly. Great job, K-1 and K-3! When I was done reading the story, we did a following directions art project where we made our own Very Hungry Caterpillars. The head of our caterpillars were red like the one in the story, but the bodies were created by making an AB pattern with their cut out circles. I let them choose what two colors they would like to use for their caterpillar bodies. For this activity, we met as a group on the rug and I would give them a few instructions and they would then do it at their table spots and then we would meet again for a few more instuctions. They would listen to my instructions and complete it on their own until the whole project was finished. For the caterpillar head and body, I gave them cut out construction paper squares. We learned how to use scissors in making a square into a circle. To do that, we cut a little bit off the four corners and we then rounded them out. At first this task seems tricky but with more and more practice, they all got the hang of it! I LOVE doing these projects in kindergarten because it gives my kindergarten friends a lot of practice strengthening their  fine motor skills with cutting and drawing and it's also fun to see how their projects all turn out when given the same instructions. When they were done with their projects, they all held them up so proudly and couldn't wait for me to see their finished caterpillars. It was so much fun doing this lesson with both classes today. Here are some pictures of both classes making their caterpillars and one of each class holding up their finished projects.

Here's my K-1 friends and their finished caterpillars.

Here's my K-3 friends and their finished caterpillars.

After we finished making our caterpillars my morning class had LMC (Library) with Mrs. Dufern for the remainder of our kindergarten day. The class was so excited that they would get to check out a book for the first time today and that they get to keep it at home for a week to enjoy reading with their family. K-1 (morning class) will return their library books on Tuesdays. My K-3 (afternoon class) friends will get to have LMC with Mrs. Dufern on Thursday where they will get to check out a book on that day and they will return it on Thursdays. In the afternoon, I was able to teach my kindergarten friends another Jolly Phonics letter since they didn't have LMC today. We learned the letter "Aa" and the sound it makes. They had so much fun learning all about this letter. Ask them to show you the motion we learned for the letter "Ss" and "Aa" sounds. My morning class will be learning the letter "Aa" sound in Jolly Phonics tomorrow.

Both classes are doing wonderful and I am so proud of all the growth they are making as learners, especially with learning the kindergarten routine! They have impressed me more and more each day! Have a wonderful night, everyone and I look forward to another fun day with all my kindergarten friends tomorrow! 

** Please remember that tomorrow night (Wednesday) is Curriculum Night. I will be presenting with Mrs. Martens, the other kindergarten teacher, in the Commons from 6:00-6:30pm. I have put together a curriculum night folder for all of you so please make sure you take the folder with your child's name on it when you arrive. I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow night and sharing about all the fun things we will be learning in kindergarten this year!