Happy "early" Groundhog Day!

Since Sunday is Groundhog Day, we spent some of our kindergarten day learning about what this fun holiday is. They had fun learning about it and making groundhog hats. We also learned some fun facts about groundhogs too such as: Did you know that groundhogs incisor teeth keep growing and growing? They gnaw on sticks and wood to sharpen them and keep them shorter. If they didn't do that, groundhogs would have some VERY LONG teeth! In class, I did a groundhog directed draw with them too and we graphed our predictions on what the groundhog will see on Sunday. All but one friend in our class is hoping the groundhog doesn't see his shadow so we can have an early spring. It was such a fun day today! I am so incredibly proud of how far my kinder friends are coming as learners! They beam with smiles while they are here which fills my heart knowing they are having so much fun while they are learning oodles!!  Here are some pictures I took of the class wearing their adorable groundhog hats. They of course wanted to take a few silly pictures. They are too cute!

Also, please remember that next week si Digital Citizenship week where we will be talking about the importance of being safe, responsible, and respectful online. During the whole week, a new topic based on Digital Citizenship will be explained to the class. We will see a video each day talking about this important topic. Along with discussing it, they are asked to participate in some fun things each day as well. Please see below:

Almost February? How?

Wow! How is it February 1st on Saturday already? The year is flying by and going way to FAST! With it being February in a few days, we made our calendars today where they got to create heart masterpieces on top of their February calendars. They turned out so cute! I reminded them all that when they got home they should hang it in a special spot so that they could check each day to see all the important things that are happening in our classroom or at Olive. They had so much fun making them today! Great job, K-1!

Today in kindergarten, our day began with a literacy lesson learning all about open and closed syllables. In kindergarten? YES and the kids did great learning it! They did such a wonderful job during the lesson making sure to ask questions on the content they didn't understand. We went through examples of each kind slowly to ensure they were able to identify if a syllable was open or closed and were able to explain why too. I was so impressed! When I finished the whole group lesson, they went to their seats and I gave them a worksheet that allowed them to show me what htey learned in the lesson. I asked them to sort a group of words in whether they were open or closed syllables. They did great learning this challenging concept for the first time and I was SO PROUD of them!

In the afternoon, I did a social studies lesson with the class on the Lunar New Year since it was today. We learned all about this fun celebration and the traditions that go along with it. We made paper dragon puppets which they all LOVED making. They couldn't wait to take them home to show you! We learned that in the parade, the longer the dragon is.. the more luck it would bring everyone! We had a great discussion talking about all the neat traditions they have on this "special" day and the meaning behind each one. Did you know they clean their houses the day before the Lunar New Year to sweep out all the bad luck they might have in their houses from the year before? It was so much fun learning about the Lunar New Year today. We also learned that this year is the year of the snake. We learned about the meaning behind why it's the year of the snake and they got to color a page with that as well. In math, we are learning about teen numbers and place value. They are learning how to show me the amount of teen numbers on ten frames and learning how to explain how many groups of 10 or ones are in each number. I am impressed with all they are learning in math! Way to go, K-1!

We have been learning a lot!

What a busy last two days in K-1! In math, we are learning about teen numbers such as the amount, place value, showing it on ten frames, etc. They have become teen number experts this week and are doing great recognizing those "tricky" teens alot quicker now! In literacy, we have been reading some information text books and talking about the features in those specific genre. This week the books we have read focused on how to make your bodies strong and healthy that are free from germs and how to take care of it by what we eat, exercising and getting enough rest. The class has LOVED reading these boooks and we have had a lot of wonderful discussions reading them together! Another way we can keep our bodies healthy is by self-regulating our emotions as well so I have also been doing a lot of lessons with the class on social-emotional learning as well. They are all going together so nicely where we have had some great, meaningful discussions! I have LOVED these past literacy lessons! I have continued to meet with guided reading groups where I meet two groups two days of the week. I LOVE this time with my kindergarten friends where I get to know them all individually as learners and teaching them some important skills that good readers do. I also get to work with them in a small group during this time to do some "word work" where we are learning how to write words and work on those "tricky" digraphs. They have amazed me with how much they are growing as readers and writers! In writing, we have continued to work on writing two or more complete sentences where our sentences start with a capital letter, have finger spaces, and have a complete thought that makes sense. They have been doing a fantastic job writing sentences on their own and plugging in known "heart words" in their writing and sounding out the words they want to write with their brave spelling! Their illustrations that they draw with their sentences too have come such a long way as well where their pictures tell a story in itself with all their wonderful detail. They are using "realistic" colors and labeling them too. I am SO PROUD of how much growth they are all making! WOW! In social studies, we have started a new unit this week about history and learning about themselves as individuals. This social studies unit is pairing nicely with our literacy lessons. The class has been doing a WONDERFUL job the past few weeks with listening, following directions, and trying their very best! We have a sweet little class family where everyone looks out for one another and they treat eachother with such kindness. I have a WONDERFUL class and I am enjoying each and every day with them! They blow me away with how much they have learned!!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!

Today was such a fun day in K-1! We learned all about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in honor of having the day off from school this coming Monday due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We watched a Brainpop Jr. movie and I read them a book to learn all about him and why we have a "special' holiday in honor of him and all his hard work. To go along with all we learned, we made a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. TLC project. I am SO proud of what AMAZING listeners all my kindergarten friends were and their projects turned out absolutely amazing! Here are some pictures of the class with their adorable Martin Luther King, Jr. projects and some making them in the classroom. Yes....they had to take some silly photos too!

Have a great long weekend everyone and enjoy the extra day off this weekend! I will look forward to seeing my kindergartne friends on Tuesday!