Gingerbread Man Word Boxes

 Today we began our kindergarten day doing our math MAP testing. They all did AMAZING! I was so proud of how well they all took their time to do their best on the test and finished it with confidence! Way to go, K-1 and K-3 friends! 

After the testing they went to music and gym which was then followed by our last activity of the day. I read them another cute gingerbread story called Gingerbread Friends. They loved reading this one and finding out how the lonely gingerbread found some new friends so he wasn't alone anymore. Next, I showed them a gingerbread man word box activity. In the middle of a piece of paper, it had a picture of the gingerbread man where I asked my kinder friends to write their name in that same box. Around the middle box there were 8 blank boxes. I asked my kinder friends to draw a picture of 8 things that were in any of the gingerbread man stories we read, color them, and write the words of what they drew. I was blown away and honestly brought to tears because I was beyond proud of ALL of my kinder friends. Seeing them all excited about writing and writing with such ease and confidence made my heart so proud and happy. I couldn't believe how well they are all writing the words on their own using their "brave spelling." They are writing the words on how they sound to them when broken up into sounds. Way to go, K-1 and K-3! Today was such a wonderful day in both classes and I couldn't be more proud of their progress! Here are some pictures I took during our word box activity. Their smiles say it all! 💗

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Gingerbread Man Squeeze

We have been having so much fun with our gingerbread unit this week reading all different versions of The Gingerbread Man. To go along with this fun unit, we had so much fun today learning how to play Gingerbread Man Squeeze. To play this game, they put strips of paper together that had the numbers 1-20. I also gave them two gingerbread men that they colored with crayons and put on each end of the strip of numbers. Before they were assigned to play with a partner, I showed them how to play together as a whole class. They had so much fun playing this game and trying to guess my number along with their classmates. To play the game, you lay out the number line first with a gingerbread man on each end. The person who is IT gets to write down a number which is between 1-20 on a whiteboard and they turn it upside down. Then their partner has to try to guess their written number. As the person guesses, the one who is IT gets to move the gingerbread men along the number line whether the number is less then the number they guessed or more than the number they guessed. They keep playing until the written number is guessed. It was so fun! After they learned how to play as a class, I assigned them a partner where they got to play the game wherever they wanted in the classroom and play it multiple times together. The room was full of smiles, giggles and excitement as they played Gingerbread Men Squeeze together. For homework, I asked them to play the game with their family as least two times but many of my kinder friends said they wanted to play it a lot more than that tonight. They were excited to play it with you at home! Here are some pictures I took of both classes playing the game today:

During recess today, we started making our secret gifts they are making for their families for the holidays. They are excited that they get to make you a gift! 

It was another fun day in kindergarten! I am so proud of how well both classes did on the MAP testing for reading and how much they are learning each and every day with me in class! I have two very sweet classes who enjoy every second of being with one another at school. Sometimes they like to talk too much but our room is full of smiles, giggles, excitement and a lot of fun each and every day! Thanks for sharing your little ones with me each day! 

With today being the first day of December, we made our December calendars. Both classes were so excited and I LOVED seeing all the creative ideas they put into making them. They all turned out so cute! The calendars we make in class give my kinder friends wonderful practice with writing their numbers 1-31 with the correct number formation, number recognition, problem solving, following step-by-step directions, and strengthening their fine motor skills with cutting, writing and coloring. It also gives them the opportunity to use their creativity into designing their own project to give it their own unique details. They had so much fun making their calendars. The room was full of smiles, giggles, and proud voices when they finished making their calendars today! I heard a lot of things such as "Mrs. Naughten look at my cute gingerbread girl/boy!" or "Mrs. Naughten, I had so much fun making my calendar today!" What a fun day in kindergarten! With gym, music and our calendars we had a fun filled day today!