Science Day

Thank you to all the parents who participated in our first Science Day! The topic was Light and we learned a great deal from the three lessons presented to the class. The children were divided into three groups and traveled around to each table and discussed color mixture, reflection, how light affects our eyes and whether or not light could pass through certain objects. Today we talked about a prism and why we see rainbow colors when light passes through it. We will continue to talk about Light for the remainder of the week.

Smile Today!

Here is a cute short video that will put a smile on your face especially during this time of year. Enjoy!

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11785/20-things-we-should-say-more-often.html

Pezzettino

Just the other day we read the story Pezzettino. Did you know that Pezzettino means "little piece" in Italian? Yes it does and Pezzettino takes a journey to find out who he is a part of because he is so small and everything is so big. The task at the end of the story was to create a character that Pezzettino might be a part of. Below are some of our creations.

Hope all had a Happy Hanukkah!

We talked about Hanukkah in class. Mrs. Shusterman from our PM class happily visited, read a story about Hanukkah and taught the children how to play the dreidel game. Thanks so much!

Happy Thanksgiving!

                                                        AM Class

                                                        PM Class
                                                           

Weekly Update

This week we focused on the letter N. Very appropriate for preparing ourselves to be Native Americans for our "mini" feast. To get ready, we talked all week about what the lives of Pilgrims and the Indians were like back in the 1620's. Not quite as easy as we have it today and the children would agree! We made headdresses and amulets for our costumes on Tuesday. We also made a Pilgrim to put on the Mayflower, a lovely bulletin board that we created in our room. We reviewed syllables, brainstormed words that begin with N, listened to Run, Turkey, Run!, colored and cut out turkey placemats, read our poem Nose and completed an activity to support it. In math, we played a hexagon game, made a picture out of pattern block paper cut outs, learned about the number 7, made a class shape book, graphed and played a spinning shape game with a partner. We were busy!!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.....

Classroom Feast

On Tuesday November 26th, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving in our classroom with a "mini" feast. To make this happen, we will need your help. I am looking for volunteers to make or bring in the following items for each class:

AM - All set!

PM - All Set!

*Please DO NOT include anything with nuts in it.

THANK YOU!

Shapes

I promised the classes that I would post on my blog the link to a YouTube rap song about 2D shapes. So here it is for them to sing and dance to!

Weekly Update

The days seem to be passing awfully fast. It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

This week we focused on the Letter B. Most children know this letter but do confuse the lowercase b with the lowercase d. We added "I" and "the" to our sight word list. One of our activities was a writing task whereby each child wrote and read his/her own sentences. The sentences began with "I am" and ended with a word about themselves. These types of activities will be shared in their writing journals in class. We also talked about bears and how they live throughout the seasons. Ask them what happens during the fall, winter, spring and summer in the life of a bear.

In math, we are exploring 2D shapes....circle, square, triangle, rectangle and hexagon. We continue to compare and contrast their attributes. What makes them the same or different? We used playdough to create the different shapes making sure that they had the correct number of straight sides, points etc. We also used geoboards to create the same shapes with rubber bands.

Place value and understanding the tens and ones columns in 2 digit numbers is ongoing daily along with counting and identifying numbers. We rolled dice this week and colored in pumpkins that represented the number on the dice.

Conferences

Please make sure you check the conference schedule as a reminder of when you are coming to visit with me. Click on the link to Room 6 to confirm. Note that there will be no report cards given out at this time. They will be delivered at a later date. Each conference is scheduled for 15 minutes.

Weekly Update

Although it was a full week, it seemed very short with a special event and Halloween parties in between. In Math, however, we continue to practice counting and representing numbers. We created a Halloween graph, carefully counted items around the room using connecting cubes to help us out, and played a spinning game. Our focus also has been on writing numbers through 5. Many of us still write them backwards.

In literacy we learned about the letter F. Many of our activities revolved around the season as well as Halloween. We are still practicing hearing and identifying beginning sounds and completed many smart board activities in whole group. We also practiced sounding and stretching out words as we write. We completed our first journal page in our folders and wrote 5 Halloween words. We also practiced rhyming and continue to work on writing our names in lowercase letters.

One Day in the Life of a Marine Biologist

On Tuesday we were visited by a Marine Biologist. We learned about the kinds of sea animals that live in the North Atlantic Ocean. Not only did we learn about them but we were able to see them in real life and have the opportunity to touch them. We saw a sea star, blue crab, lobster, sea urchin, hermit crab, horseshoe crab to mention a few. The children were able to visit some tables that had items from the sea that they could also touch and examine. It was a very exciting hour of fun for both classes.

Go Red Sox!!!

Can't help myself. I am hoping for a WIN............

Weekly Update

This week we spent time learning about our first vowel A. Since A is a vowel it has two sounds. We practiced trying to think of words that begin with the long and short sound of A. When the list was completed we clapped out the syllables in each word. In literacy we also introduced our first group of sight words. They are a, at, am, an. We will be reading and writing these simple words that we see very often when we read books. As we add new words to the list, it is a good idea to practice reading them with your child and identifying them  in books that you read together.

In Math, we continually work on counting. This week we played a grab and counting game and recorded our results on a recording sheet. We also are working on writing our numbers through five. We are putting together a number book and have completed it through number three. When talking about numbers, we want to make sure that each child understands what that number means and how many ways it can be represented. Another skill introduced was graphing. What is a graph? What is a sorting rule? What is a picture graph? What is a bar graph? We are learning about how to gather data and represent our results in graph form. Graphing helps to organize information and helps us to understand the math terms equal, compare, sort, data, more, most. These skills are ongoing and we continually revisit them throughout the school year.

PM Volunteer Needed!

I am still waiting to hear from someone who will coordinate the classroom volunteers for the PM class. This job requires one to keep track of parents coming to the classroom on a monthly basis. Parent volunteers begin starting the month of November. If anyone is interested please let me know. We will not start the process until someone contacts me. Thanks. The AM class is all set.

Just ask me!

If you need to know what to do, just ask me! Throughout the year each person in class will have the opportunity to be the Ask Me person. The Ask Me person is responsible for knowing the directions for our centers. If someone has forgotten or is unsure of what to do, the Ask Me person will help and restate what he/she needs to do at that particular table. Everyone will have a chance to do this. It is a great way to encourage good listening skills as everyone wants to shine and be noticed!

Class Directory

I am still looking for parental approval from some parents who have yet to return the permission form. I will be putting together the class directories next week. If you want to be included please send the form in ASAP.

Go RED SOX!!

We are ALL STARS

Starting next week we will be using the slider in class. As I explained at PIN night this is a tool to keep behavior intact and create a more manageable classroom environment. The most important rule in class is "Following directions for the first time". To explain, that would mean if a child was asked to stop talking to his friend at circle time when the teacher is speaking and trying to teach, he would first receive a "warning". The second time would require a move on the slider. The idea here is to train them to become good listeners.

I decided to use the slider in the most simplistic way. When we come in each day, we are all ALL STARS and start out at green. The slider has three moves.....  strike one (move to yellow), strike two (move to orange), and strike three (move to red - "your're out"). At red a parent would be called and made aware of what is happening.

If a child has moved a slider on a particular day, he would start fresh and come in the next day as an ALL STAR. The moves are not carried over on the slider on a daily basis.

I am confident, however, that we can be ALL STARS everyday!

Go Away, Big Green Monster!

For the past two weeks we worked on the Letter M, its sound and writing it in uppercase and lowercase. One of the books we read was Go Away, Big Green Monster! We are working on our color words so this was a great introduction to colors.

PIN

PIN night is Parent Information Night for those of you new to Memorial. It starts promptly at 6pm in the classroom. Here I will share some class news with handouts and answer any questions you might have about the routine of our day. You will also have the opportunity to sign up for a Fall conference. There will be a second presentation in the Gym at 6:30pm with Dr. Quigley. Hope to see you all there!

It's All About Letters

We have finished the first week and all is well! We have been counting, working on the calendar as well as exploring different materials we will use throughout the year in Math. We have also  been working on letters, words in sentences, letters in words as well as identifying the letters in our names. We will start focusing on individual letters next week and starting new routines at centers. Please keep working with your child saying the alphabet (not singing, since this is easier to do!) as well as identifying the upper and lowercase alphabet. Your support makes a difference!

Yes! We made it through Day 2!

Even though it was Day 2 we were very busy learning routines, rules and visiting some of our specials for the first time. The day goes by very quickly. We have begun to explore the calendar, counting and days of the week. We are beginning to talk about our names and the kinds of letters that make up our names. Are they tall, small, or fall letters? We placed our names on the word wall to see how many of our friends had the same beginning letter sound. It would be a good idea to have your child practice writing his/her name with lowercase letters.

Twitter. I am a novice. So let's try searching instead for @MrsHedberg. A photo of shooting stars will identify me. This will be a very interesting year to say the least.

Welcome to Kindergarten!

I look forward to another fun and exciting learning year here at Memorial. I hope that everyone has had a restful summer and is ready to meet new friends and learn new things. We have many exciting activities to look forward to in Math and Literacy. Our curriculum is constantly changing with new ideas and projects that will make your child's experience a positive one. Kindergarten is a fun place to be!

Please take the time to peruse this blog and visit it often. New events, requests, updates and classroom news will be made on this blog as a way to easily communicate with you. An occasional shout out via twitter will remind you to check this site. I can be followed at........Stars@MrsHedberg.

Have fun reading and watching the short video clip below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwHCmBYfTPk

We Have Green Thumbs!

Our plants were a great success! But how much do we remember about the life cycle of a plant? Click on the link below and see......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWXepxV9FmE

Our garden is beautiful and growing!! We have lots of bean plants that are ready to be taken  home and replanted in our gardens or a bigger pot. We are hoping to get some beans soon........

Grow Garden Grow!

We have been learning about plants and how they grow. Last week we planted bean seeds and have been observing the different stages of their growth. We have the plants neatly lined along a window sill so they can get plenty of sun. Each day, we take time out to water them if needed and look for the development of roots in the cup. We then record our observations as they occur on a chart. Many of them already have sprouts!