100 Books to Read In Kindergarten

I found this great list on line of book to read in Kindergarten. See how many you and your student can read together!

A Visit From Arthur

The students always hear my stories about my dog Arthur, and on Friday they finally were able to meet him! Mr. Woolsey brought Arthur in to visit. The kids were excited to pet him and see the tricks he knew!

December Homework

Usually I eat lunch with students who turn in all their homework for the previous month, but because of our end of the week celebrations I wasn't able to. Here is the list of students who turned in all their homework completed. Keep Up The Great Work!!!

Deion
Jayla
Te'Mar
Justin
Yirong
CJ
Felix
Marek
Jordyn
Kolbey
Mahdi

Grinch Day

We had so much fun on Grinch Day! THANK YOU so much to all the Parents, Grandparents, and Aunts who came to help out with our Grinchy Centers!

Holidays Around The World: Italy

During social studies for the past few weeks we've learned about holidays that are celebrated around the world in December. After talking about Holiday Traditions in Italy, we had a Pasta Making Lesson from my mom! She came in and showed us how to make home made pasta. The kids were able to take turns mixing the dough and turing the crank on the pasta machine. After we all enjoyed some pasta made by my Mom and Nonna (Grandma.)

Grinch Day

Thursday, December 22nd is Grinch Day! 

The students will be participating in Grinch themed activities throughout the day and may wear green to school. We will have a Grinch snack and watch the classic cartoon.

I am asking for parent volunteers during our Grinch Centers. Centers will start at 9:30 and last about an hour. I need parents to organize and help children complete the activities at each center. Please let me know ahead of time if you plan to volunteer so I can plan appropriately for our Grinch Centers. 

Making Rice Krispie Treats!

As a reward for all the hard work the students put into Exhibition Week, we make Rice Krispie Treats Friday afternoon! The students helped me measure, pour and mix the ingredients. They had tons of fun helping make our treat!

(Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so I was unable to take pictures of the students eating their treats.)

Excellent Exhibitions!

Felix presented about bees!

 Jordyn told us about butterflies!

Te'Mar learned all about hippos!

 Olivia presented about cupcakes!

 Dayshawn presented about Zebras!

 Da'Kharee learned all about elephants!

Justin told us all about bears!

Mahdi presented about Jordan!

Author Skype!

Today we Skyped with the children's author, Meribeth Boelts! Earlier in the week we read 3 books she wrote, "Before You Were Mine," "Dogerella," and "Those Shoes," and thought of questions we would like to ask. Today during our Skype she showed us what books look like before they are published and pictures of her dog and cat. After we asked our questions she gave the students riddles about books. We learned so much! It was such a cool experience for the children. I hope you get a chance to ask your student about it tonight!

Learn more about our author at... http://www.maribethboelts.com/

Body Shapes

Today in math we made shapes using a string and our bodies! This exercise helped the students remember how many corners and sides these shapes have. 

Triangle!

Rectangle! (Sorry, it was so big I couldn't get all the kids faces in the picture!)

 Circle!

Square! 

More Awesome Exhibitions!

WOW! I cant believe how many awesome presentations I've seen this week! 

Kobey presented about Penguins!

Jayla learned all about Zebras!

Marek told us all about Dinosaurs!

CJ presented what he learned about horses!

A Great Start To Exhibition Week

Wow! Today three students presented their exhibitions to our class. I am so impressed with what they learned and how well they gave their presentations!

Deion told us about Zebras!

Kailey presented about Hockey!

Jaden told us all about Gorillas!

***Guided Reading Book Bags will not be coming home this week.

Last Week's Shining Light

Congrats CJ! He was the shining light last week because he continues to be a leader in our classroom! Keep up the good work!

Exhibition Video

In your students folder I sent home an outline of an exhibition presentation. This is to help you guide your child as they spend the days before their presentation practicing. 

 To help give parents a better understanding of what the presentation should look like, I made a little video of my own exhibition! I hope this helps clear up any confusions. Of course, I am always open to answering any questions parents may have. 

Here again is the Exhibition Presentation Outline I sent home:

1.    The student will introduce himself or herself and thank any family member for coming.

a.   Ex. “My name is ….  and I want to thank my Mom and Dad for coming today.”

2.   The student will tell the class what their exhibition is about.

a.    My exhibition is about …..”

3.   The student will share the three facts he or she learned about their interest project.

a.   Ex. “This is what I learned about ….”

b.   Be sure they point to and explain any pictures on their board.

4.   When the presentation ends the student needs to thank their audience and ask for questions

a.   Ex. “Thank you for listening to my exhibition. I’m ready for questions.”

b.   The student will then be able to answer questions from peers and family in the audience. 

Have fun practicing!

UPA Events

Can Food Drive

As you know we are doing the first annual can drive for UPA Ellen Thompson. We want to be the winning class so please send in any nonperishable item in with your student from now until December 16th. Thank you to those of you that have already donated.

Book Fair

This Thursday from 12:30-6:30 our school will be holding a Scholastic Book Fair. We will walk through the fair Thursday afternoon to preview the books. 

Easy to Read Writing

Yesterday we spent some time thinking about our writing. After we decided what "Easy to Read" writing looks like, the students took all their writing out of their folder and sorted it into two piles; easy to read and not so easy to read. After each student picked one piece that they felt was their best work.