Today is International Dot Day, in honor of this fun event I read the class the wonderful story called The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. This is a great story with a wonderful message about being brave and to make your mark in the world. Both classes LOVED hearing this story today. To go along with it, I gave them an activity where they all received a piece of paper with 6 circular dots on it. I asked them to use their imagination and be creative and turn each of the 6 dots into something. I was amazed with the wonderful ideas they came up with! I saw them turn their dots into donuts, suns, flowers, a balloon, a baseball, a basketball, a person's face. etc. It was so much fun! Here are some pictures of my friends with the fun activity today:

In Jolly Phonics today, we learned all about the letter "Oo." We learned the correct motion and sound for this letter along with how to make the letter o the correct way from the top to the bottom. The motion for the letter "o" is to pretend you are turning the lights on and off saying "o, o, o, o." When we practiced the new sound in our Jolly Phonics packet they had fun finding pictures on the back that began with the new sound. I told them to remember that the letter "o" we learned today makes the short o sound and NOT the long o sound. It was tricky, but they all did a great job! Please be careful doing the letter "o" homework with your child this weekend and make sure you find pictures of things that begin with the o sound that is the short o sound only. Like in the words: octopus, officer, olive, owl. 

In math, we did a few chapter review pages where they got to show me all they know about the numbers 0-5. They did a great job on them and they were excited to bring them all home today to show you!

It was another great day in K-1 and K-3! I am amazed with my kinders each and every day and all they have learned with me in the past 21 days. They are all beginning to read and write words on their own and the camaraderie we have developed in my classroom is amazing. They all get along so well and are so sweet to one another! Have a great weekend, everyone!

We had such a fun day today in kindergarten! The kids are doing such a wonderful job getting used to the kindergarten routine and enjoying each day with all their "new" kindergarten friends! Today in class, we did a following directions activity where they made a balloon bouquet out of square colored construction paper. I reminded them how to turn a square into a circle by simply cutting a little bit off all four corners and rounding it out (we have done this on a few other paper projects this year). When they did this, they had 6 balloons in 6 different colors to make a balloon bouquet. Before making this project, I told them this was an activity where they would have to be a really good listeners so that they could do the project from start to finish on their own. I told them that I wanted to see how well they could do it without any of my help. We met as a class on the big rug where I gave them step-by-step directions on how to complete the project until it was complete. I LOVE doing these projects because it's always so much fun for me to see how my kinder friends' projects turn out when given the same directions. I like seeing how their individual personalities shine through in their projects when they are complete. They all did a fabulous job and they had so much fun making this project today!

In Jolly Phonics we learned all about the letter "Gg." We learned the motion for this letter along with the correct sound it makes. The class had fun finding things in the story that began with the letter "Gg." We were able to find 23 things that began with this new letter sound. They also did a great job reading words at the end of the lesson that had the letter g sound in it. I am so amazed with how well they are reading on their own! It's truly amazing! For the last part of the lesson, they completed the letter "Gg" page in their Jolly Phonics packets. They practiced writing the letter "g" the correct way tracing it from top to bottom and finding things on the back that began with the letter sound. They are excited to do their homework with you tonight to think of four things that begin with the letter "g" sound. 

In math, we are working on understanding the quantity of the numbers 1-5 and how to write those numbers the correct way as well. They LOVE math and are having fun completing the workbook pages on their own to show me what they know. 

With all this fun learning today, we did take a "well-deserved" brain break for some outdoor recess fun outside. They had fun playing on the playground and playing fun games with one another! Have a great night, everyone!

 We've been busy owls in K-1 and K-3! We are moving right along in Jolly Phonics and we finished another set of 6 letter sounds. I am so amazed with how well my kinder friends know the letter sounds and how well they are able to identify and blend them together to read unknown words! We have been doing a lot of reading and writing words that contain the letter sounds we have already learned. Both classes have been so excited realizing they are reading words on their own and it has made me tear up to hear them read them out loud to me! Yay, K-1 and K-3! With finishing another set of letters, we had a  Jolly Phonics review day today where we watched a Jolly Phonics movie about the sounds we learned and we did a sound sort to practice them too. They ALL did a wonderful job on their sound sorts! 

In handwriting, I taught both classes how to write the numbers 4-6 with the correct number formation on our small chalkboards using the wet-dry-try method. They did a great job and got the hang of it very quickly! Some of the numbers are tricky to make and they did a great job! They had fun showing me what they learned when completing the workbook pages for numbers 4-6 in their handwriting workbooks. Way to go, K-1 and K-3!

In math, we continued to learn about the numbers 1-5 understanding the quantity and how to write the numbers the correct way along with understanding the number order as well. We also talked about how you can count up to 5 from the number 0 but you can also countdown from 5 as well. We practice counting up and counting down so that they understood the number order in both sequences. They are having so much fun in math and it's fun to see the success they are all experiencing as learners! Today many of my kinders told me they didn't want to go home and that they wanted to stay all day! It made me smile! Awe.....it made my day to know they are having so much fun in kindergarten and they are enjoying their time here with me and their kindergarten friends! Finding the joy in learning is so very important! Have a great rest of your day, everyone!

WHAT A FUN WEEK IN K-1 AND K-3!

WOW! What a week in K-1 and K-3! We have been learning so much and I have loved seeing the bond both classes are all forming and seeing the smiles and giggles throughout our kindergarten days together! They have been learning A LOT and having so much fun while doing so! Here are some things we have learned this week:

September sight words- I sent home the September sight words and we have been flashcarding them daily here at school to practice them. I have also added them on our classroom word wall. I am amazed with how well they have learned them already and we will continue to solidfy their knowledge of them on a daily basis. Please make sure you have cut out each word and glued them on their own index card so you can run through them each night as flashcard practice. Building your child's sight words vocabulary will help them to grow as strong, fluent readers and writers!

Math- We have been learning all about the numbers 1-5 and doing a lot of independent practice on what they learned in their math workbooks. We have learned how to read the number words, count groups of 1-5 and write the numerals 1-5 the correct way (from top to bottom.) Both classes have loved our math lessons together!

Jolly Phonics- In Jolly Phonics, we have continued to move along where we have learned the letter names and sounds for: c and k, e, h, and r. We have learned 10 total Jolly Phonics letters and sounds so far. With each new letter sound, they have been able to sound out more and more words on their own which has been AMAZING to see! At the end of each Jolly Phonics lesson, there are words that the class is asked to read. I am amazed with how quickly they are able to sound them out and read the word compared to a week ago. They are moving along as readers and I am so excited to see the growth they have all made! 

Handwriting- In our Handwriting, we have been learning how to write numbers using our "Wet, Dry, Try" method that goes along with our Handwriting Without Tears program. While teaching each number, I have stressed to them how important it is to write numbers and letters in kindergarten from the top to the bottom. We have learned the correct number formation for 1-3 and they have done a beautiful job writing those numbers in their handwriting books. I am so proud of them! Next week, we will learn how to write three more numbers. Great job, K-1 and K-3!

SEL (RULER)- Multiple times a week, I am reading books that go along with our social-emotional program.  I love this time of the day where I get to read a book outloud to the class and we have wonderful discussion about feelings and choices we make in school or life. We have talked a lot about how our feelings or choices we make can impact our friends or classmates in a negative way and how hurtful that is. We talked about how we can cheer them up or how we can change a bad choice we made into a good choice. We also talk a lot about how we all make mistakes and that is how we grow as learners. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone learns from them! They always like hearing how I still make mistakes eventhough I am 48 years old. Yes! Adults make mistakes too and we learn from them as well! 

MAP TESTING- Both classes took the reading and math portion of MAP testing and they all did wonderful! I know it was a lot for them and they all did great! I was so proud of them! After doing it once (reading portion first), it was much easier the second time (math portion). 

It's been a wonderful week in K-1 and K-3! Thank you for sharing your adorable little ones with me each and every day! I am so honored to be their teacher and I am loving the opportunity to watch both of my classes grow as learners! Have a great weekend, everyone!

How is it September already?

With today being September 1st, we made our first monthly calendar. On this calendar, it lists all the important things that are happening in our classroom such as friends in our class that have a birthday, days off from school, and important events that are happening at Olive. These calendars are a lot of work but it helps them to work on a lot of important skills such as: counting in order from 1-30 or 31, writing their numbers in order the correct way from top to bottom and strengthening their fine motor skills along with their ability to follow directions. For their September calendar, we filled out the calendar part together where I taught them how to write the numbers 1-30 the correct way. I taught them a rhyme for the numbers 1-10 that helped them to remember how to write it the right way. As we traced the numbers, we talked about events that happen on specific days if they were written on the calendar. When we were done with the calendar, I showed them the school house. For this part of the calendar, I asked them to color the school house specific colors from the color key. To help them in coloring it correctly, we colored the color key first together and then I taught them how to color the pieces by modeling how to color in all the peek-a-boo spots. When they were done coloring the school house, I asked them to cut it out and glue it on a big piece of blue paper above their calendar. Lastly, I asked them to add some detail to their school house so it wasn't floating in the sky. They had fun adding grass, clouds and a sun and some other fun details. I was so impressed with how well they did on their calendars today and I know they were all looking forward to sharing them with you when they got home!

Have a wonderful long weekend, everyone and thank you for sharing your amazing kiddos with me each and every day! They make me giggle and I LOVE seeing all the excitement they bring into the classroom each day!