In kindergarten today, we learned all about the number 5. We practiced counting groups of 5 and how to write the number 5 the correct way. In our math lesson today, my kinders LOVED the part where they got to create an animal that had 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 of something. It was so much fun to see all the imaginary things they made! There was a lot of smiles and giggles as they drew their animals! We also worked on writing the numbers 1 through 5 the correct way ensuring they were writing their numbers starting at the top and going to the bottom. Way to go, K-1 and K-3!

After our math lesson, I did a text talk today with the class where I read Edward The Emu. Both classes LOVED hearing the story and we talked about things good readers do along the way as I read it out loud to them. We also talked about the "tricky" words in the story that they may not knowing the meaning of such as: amusing, snarled, mimic, and snarled. They liked hearing the story about Edward and talking about the life lesson that the story taught us too. This book is about self-acceptance and being proud of the person you are. We talked about this message today and I think both classes took a lot of wonderful things away from hearing this cute story! 

Besides math and and our text talk, the other parts of our day were filled with LMC (morning class) or gym and music (afternoon class). We had a WONDERFUL day in K-1 and K-3 today! They are growing as learners and I am so proud of all the growth they are making learning the routine, participating and building stamina in sitting for a group lesson. Way to go! Have a great night, everyone!

 We had a fun week in kindergarten last week. We have been learning a Jolly Phonics almost every day and I am so proud of how well they are learning the letters/sounds and blending them together to read unknown words. It has been so exciting to see! So far in Jolly Phonics we have learned the letters and sounds for the letter s, a, t, i, p, n. c/k, and e. With learning the letters they should have completed the homework for each letter in their Jolly Phonics sound book. Each day, I want my kindergarten friends to flashcard through their soundbook with you where they are naming the letter and sound (with the motion) for each letter.  The more they practice, the more automatic they will become for them when reading and writing. This will help them to become strong, fluent readers.

To help my kindergarten friends with blending sounds and reading, we worked on the sight words I and can on Friday. We did a can sight word page and we did a mini-book together called I Can Move!  The mini book gave my friends a lot of practice in recognizing the sight word I and can in text and also the opportunity to learn some skills that good readers do when reading. We learned how to frog hop to each word when they are reading a sentence which helps them to read every word on the page and not get lost while they are reading. We also talked about how letters make up words and words make up sentences. We counted how many letters were in various words and how many words were in the sentences on the page.  We also talked about how when good readers come to an unknown word they use picture clues. Before reading each page, we looked at the picture on the page and talked about what we saw. Then we tried reading the sentences together by frog hopping to each words as we read. When we came to an unknown word, we stopped and talked about what letter the word began with and looked at the picture to see if it could help us to figure it out. They were so excited when they figured out what the word was by looking at the picture and seeing if that word would make sense. It didn't take long for my kinder friends to figure out all the unknown words on the pages. They did a fabulous job reading the mini-book and learning some skills that good readers do. When we were done reading the book together, I paired up the class with choosing names from my "fairness jar." As I called names, the pairs brought their books and they sat knee-to-knee- eye-to eye. They talked about who would like to read the book first and who would like to go second. I LOVED walking around the classroom and hearing them read the books to one another. They did a great job reading and taking turns! Yay, K-1 and K-3! For homework this weekend, I asked them to read their mini-book to two people at home and have their mom or dad sign the front of the book when they were finished. I asked them to bring it back to me on Monday signed. They were so excited that they would get to read it two people at home and show off what good readers they are starting to become!

In handwriting, we use the Handwriting Without Tears program. We are starting the program with numbers so that we are able to do math in our math workbooks. We started learning how to correctly write the numbers 1 and 2. The class LOVED using the chalkboards to learn how to correctly write both numbers and show me what they learned by then writing in their workbooks. Way to go, K-1 and K-3!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! I am looking forward to another fun week with my K-1 and K-3 friends this week!

 In class today, I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. As I read the story, my kinder friends did a great job chiming in on the repetitive parts of the story and helping to tell me what day of the week came next. They LOVED hearing the story and participating as I read it out loud to them! To go along with the cute story, we made a caterpillar project. The caterpillar that I asked them to make had a read head like the hungry caterpillar in the story but I told them they could use any two colors to create the body as long as it was glued together in an AB pattern. They chose the two colors they wanted and took three of each one to create the body of their caterpillar. To create the caterpillar, they had to turn each square of construction paper into a circle. I showed them when they want to turn a square into a circle, they just need to cut a little piece off the four corners and round each one out. Then they will have a circle. To finish their caterpillars, I showed them how to follow my step-by-step directions by making a face and adding antennaes and legs to it too. It was fun seeing what two colors they all picked and walking around the classroom to see all the hard work they were putting in to create their caterpillars! I was so impressed with how wonderful they all did on this activity! Especially how well they followed my step-by-step directions! I hung them in the hall for all of Olive to admire! 

K-3 finished caterpillars

K-1 finished caterpillars

After we made caterpillars, we played inside for a well-deserved "brain break." They had so much fun building with Legos, playing in the kitchen and dollhouse and making things out of colored wooden blocks. I LOVED walking around the classroom and seeing all the cute interactions amongst all of my kinder friends and seeing how much fun they were having. 

At the end of our day, I finished our fun morning with a following directions activity. They had to color specific things in a picture specific colors or draw specific things in specified areas on the picture. They had so much fun doing the activity and I was impressed how well they did!

We had a fun morning in K-1 and I am looking forward to doing the same fun things this afternoon with my K-3 friends! Have a great day, everyone!

 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!

In Jolly Phonics we learned the sound and motion for the letter "Nn." The motion for the letter "Nn" is to pretend you are like a flying airplane sticking your arms out at your sides and flying through the air saying "n,n,n,n,n,n." They did such a great job with the lesson today and had fun practicing the letter and sound in their Jolly Phonics packets. For homework tonight, they need to think of four things that begin with the letter n sound such as: noodle, nighttime, neck, nail, note, etc. With each new letter we are working on sounding out and blending the sounds together to read words. With more and more practice, both classes are getting better and better on reading them all on their own. I am SO proud of all of them!!! In the afternoon class, we have LMC today so we learned the letter "Nn" sound and motion but we didn't get to practice it in our packets yet. We will do that tomorrow.

Have a wonderful night, 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!

 We have been busy owls in K-1 and K-3! In Jolly Phonics we learned the letter sounds/motions for the letters i and p. With learning more letters, both classes have been able to sound out more and more words. They have been so excited when they realize they sounded out a word all by themselves! I LOVE seeing all the BIG smiles on their faces as they see the growth they are making each day in my class!

In math, I have continued to teach the concept of same and different. We have also been working on how to count objects one-to-one to ensure they are counting things correctly and working on writing numbers 1-4. They have LOVED our math lessons and look forward to filling out the math workbook pages with all we are learning!

With it being the first day of September tomorrow, I sent home our September sight words for the month. I introduced them all to the class and we will continue to work on the 8 sight words this whole month so that they can identify them quickly while seeing them. I told all my kinder friends that they should be cutting out the words at home in the sight word packet and gluing them all on index cards. If they can, I asked them to hole punch each card and add them to a ring. If they can't, I asked them to keep the cards together in a stack. I told them that each day they should be flash carding through the sight words so they are practicing them each day. I always tell them that "Practice makes better!" I don't believe that anything is perfect but the more we practice, the better we can get at something! They did such a great job practicing the sight words today and they were excited to add these new words to their sight word vocabulary! They are well on their way to beginning to read! 

Today, we had our reading portion of MAP testing. Both classes did a wonderful job for their first time and I was so impressed! Way to go, K-1 and K-3! On friday, we will have the math portion of our MAP testing.