Hoppy Leap Day!

 Hoppy (instead of happy) Leap Day! Haha!!! We had so much fun today learning all about what Leap Day is and why it occurs. To celebrate this fun day, we made a BIG leap day project that the kids LOVED making! They turned out so cute! I had a guest teacher with the morning class today so I only have pictures from this afternoon when I was back. I was SO proud of the WONDERFUL work they did on this project and I loved the contagious energy and smiles that filled our classroom this afternoon! It was such a fun day!

Busy Owls!

 This week has been another busy week in K-1 and K-3! I am so proud of all my kinders are accomplishing....it's truly AMAZING! 

In math, we have been working on learning all about flat shapes (2D) and solid shapes (3D). We have learned how to tell the difference among them and they have also learned which shapes can slide or roll or do both. We also discussed in length about how many sides and corners the flat shapes have. They have become shape experts! They really enjoyed this chapter in math and they were so excited to bring home their completed math books today. We are done with them and they DON'T need to come back to school. We will be starting a new book on Monday. Besides our regular math, we had visits from our math interventionists in the morning and afternoon classes where they worked with all the kinders on Tangy Tuesday. The kids LOVED this challenging math and they all did great on it! I am beyond proud of all of them!

In reading and writing, we have been continuing with our reading groups each week where I get to sit with all my kinder friends in their small groups and hear what wonderful readers they are becoming. I also get to teach them some things that "good" readers do and we put them into practice while reading our guided reading books. We also get to work on some word work as well where they are working on spelling words and writing sentences. They have grown so much as readers and writers and I keep asking them if they are sure they are kindergarteners? With their reading and writing, I would think they are first graders! Thank you for all your amazing help at home reading their book bags with them and practicing sight words and their word lists with them too! With us working together, each one of my friends is making amazing growth!! Yay!! In writing, we are continuing to learn and practice the things "good" writers do and we have been journaling a few times a week so they can put into practice what they have learned.

This week, we learned all about George Washington since it was his birthday this week. They made a paper TLC George Washington project which they loved doing! These projects are great for learning about shapes, problem solving, follow directions and much more! 

We have been having so much fun in K-1 and K-3 and I am amazed with their growth as learners! They are like little sponges soaking up all they are learning with me in class! Way to go, K-1 and K-3! Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! 

Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln!

With it being Abraham Lincoln's birthday today and President's Day on the 19th, we learned all about Abraham Lincoln today and why he was such an important president. We watched a Brainpop Jr. movie about him and I also read my kinders a book about him too. Through the movie and the book, we learned a lot of wonderful facts that really stuck with my kindergarten friends. To showcase what my classes learned today, we did a paper Abraham Lincoln following directions activity and I also asked the class to write one or two facts that they learned about him today. I was so impressed with how well they followed my step-by-step directions in making their Abraham Lincoln and how great they did writing their own sentences to tell me what they learned. I was blown away today! Way go go, K-1 and K-3! Here are some pictures I took of the class today:

Tacky The Penguin

  

Today we read the story, Tacky The Penguin which was a cute story about an odd little penguin who's unique qualities saved the day. As we read the story, we giggled and had fun talking about the story as we read it together. To go along with this story, we made a penguin project which was a listening and following directions activity. They did great following my step-by-step instructions to ensure that their penguin looked just like mine when they were finished. For the last part of the project, I had them do some writing where I asked them finish my sentence starter of "My favorite part was when....." I was blown away today with how amazing they did making their penguins and how well they did with their writing using their "brave spelling!" They were so excited to bring their penguins home today to share with you! Here are some pictures I took of both classes with their adorable penguin projects. Of course they had to take a few silly ones! :)

Jersey Day, Global Play Day and reading groups, oh my!

Go Hawks! It was so fun that we both wore our jerseys today to support our love of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes! 

 

Today was a fun filled day in kindergarten. It is Jersey Day today for our Digital Citizenship Week and we also took part in Global Play Day by having friends bring board or card games from home to play with their classmates. It was so much fun having this time today to drop everything and play! Through play we are learning how to take turns, problem solve, make connections with classmates and learning through every minute of our play with one another. The room was full of so much energy, smiles and giggles today! We also had guided reading groups where I got to read with more of my kinders and help them develop as readers and writers too.  It was such a fun day!