Tuesday Fun!

Today, we had a fun filled Tuesday. The kids were so excited that we were going to end our day with a visit to the library with Mrs. Brown for our first library lesson. Here's what we learned today:

In HMH structured literacy, we continued to learn all about lines reviewing from our lesson yesterday. We identified the top line, middle line, and baseline and talked about the importance of each one. Today we learned how to write the capital letters L, H, and I on our whiteboards with correct line placement. I ensured everyone was writing the letters from top to bottom NOT bottom to top. In kindergarten we always write our letters and numbers from top to bottom. After we practiced writing the letters on whiteboards, they went to their seats and we practiced writing the same ones in our HMH structured literacy workbook. THey did such a great job writing the letters on the lines with a pencil. Yay, K-1!

In our HMH reading, we continued learning about what an author and illustrator do and we studied the story we read yesterday a little further. I read them the story, Keisha Ann Can! again and we discussed who the main character in the story was and what the setting of the story was. They did such a great job identifying both and we did a page in our workbook documenting what they learned. We also learned all about what a noun is. They learned a noun is a person, place or thing. We watched a short video about what a noun is and we practiced identifying all different types of nouns. Then, they did a page in their HMH workbook where we had to color the things the page identifying what type of noun it was. Was the picture a person, place or thing? They did a great job learning all about nouns today and I will be taking the lesson a step further tomorrow to practice learning it a bit more.

In SEL (social-emotional learning), I did a lesson with the class about how words we say can be hurtful and when we talk, we need to ensure we are saying things that are kind and lift our friends up. We need to ensure our words are NOT hurtful and wrinkle their hearts. We listened to a story called The Wrinkled Heart that had a cute story about a boy who went to school and his classmates said some hurtful things to him. With each hurtful comment, his heart developed a wrinkle because the words made him sad. Then, someone said something kind and he noticed his wrinkles hegan to unwrinkle. The kind words made him feel good. We learned that kind words can make the wrinkles get better but some wrinkles stay with us forever so we need to be mindful of how we speak to others. We need to ensure we spread kindness to everyone! We made a heart out of paper and I let them decorate it however they wanted to. When they were done decorating it, we gathered on the rug. I told them that when I said something that was hurtful, they could wrikle their heart and when I said something kind, they could unwrinkle it. Many friends didn't like wrinkling their heart! They didn't like how the unkind comments made them feel. It was a good lesson to show how words can hurt and leave an impression on our hearts. Then we went to our seat and I gave them paper bandaids. They could glue one or two on their hearts. I told them that when someone says "I'm sorry!" it can heal their heart and make them feel better. Lastly, they signed a pledge that they would think before talking to ensure they were saying kind things to others to spread kindness. It was such a good lesson and one I know my friends will practice each day at Olive!

In math, we learned all about the numbers 3 and 4. The quantity, how to write the number the correct way from top to bottom, and different ways we can make 3 and 4. WHen they learned how to write the numbers, I taught them a rhyme for each one. For the number 3, the rhyme goes "Around a tree, around a tree, that's the way to make a 3." For the number 4, it goes "Down and over, down onece more, that's the way to make a 4." They found the rhymes very helpful to help them to remember how to form the numbers. 4 was a little tricky for them! They did great with math today and I impressed with how well they are following directions, completing their work nice and neatly, and participating in all of our lessons! Way to go, K-1! Don't forget we have picture day tomrrow first thing in the morning. Make sure your child brings their best smile!

Day 3- Busy Little Owls

Wow! I am so impressed with how well my kinders are adjusting to a full day of kindergarten and how well they are learning the routine and how hard they are all working to do their very best each day! I LOVE seeing all the smiles, giggles and connections they are making with eachother. We are becoming a little kindegarten family and it's been a fun start to the year!

We began the day with calendar and morning announcements. After, we dove right into curriculum and we began our HMH structured literacy program. Today we learned all about the lines on a page. We learned about the baseline, middle line and top line. We practiced writing various lines on the lines with correct line placement making them from the top to the bottom. I shared with the class that when we write in kindergartne we ALWAYS make letters and numbers from the top to the bottom. I showed them a little song and they loved it which seemed to help to make it stick. Yay! We made various lines on the lines such as a horizontal line, vertical line and two diagonal lines that went different directions. We also practiced putting finger spaces between the lines to create seperation on the lines as well. They loved learning about the lines and practicing writing the lines on their small whiteboards. I was so impressed with how well they all did following my directions and using the lines the right way!

In math, we learned all about the numbers 1 and 2. We learned how to form them the correct way from top to bottom and praticed quite a bit. The 2 was a bit tricky for them but with more practice, they got better and better at it. We learned about the quantity of both numbers too and how to count them by crossing objects out as we counted to ensure we counted correctly. They LOVED math today!

After lunch/recess, they got to make their names by tracing each letter with a glue bottle and placing small pieces of colored paper on top. I did a little glue bottle tutorial first where we learned how to take care of our glue bottles and how to use them appropriately. They did a great job! Their names turned out so cute and I can't wait to hang them in the hall for all of Olive to enjoy as they walk by our classroom. They had so much fun with the name project today and they were so proud when they finished! After math, we had reading where I read them a story called Keisha Ann Can! During the story, we talked about what an author and illustrator does. I also taught them that if you see one name on the front of a book that means the person wrote the book and illustrated the book. If you see two names then one person is the author and one is the illustrator. We also talked about characters in the story and setting. They had fun reading this book with me and identifying those features in the book. After we talked about what we can do at school. We talked about things that are the same as Keisha Ann and things that were not. They were very engaged in the lesson and did a great job! I am excited to do another lesson with my kinders tomorrow using this fun story! We ended our day with gym followed by an SEL lesson where it focused on "positive self talk." When we think positively it helps us to make good choices and accomlish things with success. We learned about how the power of positivity can change the way we learn in a great way!

It was a wonderful Day 3! I can't wait for tomorrow!

What a fun first day!

It was so much fun meeting all my "new" kindergarten friends and seeing the BIG smiles and excitement that filled our classroom! I was amazed with how well they did following the "new" routines I was putting into place and how well they all sat and listened throughout our kindergarten day together! It was truly a wonderful day in K-1! We did calendar, learned about the daily routine, did a "How to use a crayon" lesson, played a "Name Game" to learn each others' names and we had a long indoor recess so they could get to know each other. They had such a fun day! At the end of our day, I had many friends come up to me and say, "This is the best day ever!" which melted my heart! I kept telling them that after today, it only gets better each and every day! Here are some pictures I took today of the class so you could see who your child's classmates are.