What We've Been Up To...

We've been busy in kindergarten!  

First here's an updated whole class photo...

Last week we learned about bus safety and then students followed step-by-step instructions to create their own buses.

We also spent time last week discussing friendship.  We read both of the books below.  One showed us what to do to lose all our friends while the other showed gave tips for how to be a great friend.

After reading the books and doing a little bit of whole class brainstorming students each made a quilt square for our friendship quilt that showed something they can do with their friends.

Here's a closer look at a few of the quilt squares...

We have also recently read the book A My Name is Alice by Jane Bayer.  

Students practiced using scissors, markers, and glue to create these projects inspired by the book.

This week we've been learning all about colors.  We began the week by learning about mixing colors.  Then we spent time working on the activity below to practice reading and writing color words.

On Tuesday, students went on a color hunt in our classroom.  They searched around the room for objects that matched each color on their charts.

This morning students had a chance to do some free writing for the very first time.  They drew pictures to tell a story that had a beginning, middle, and end.

1st Full Week of School

This past week we began a two-week unit on Mother Goose nursery rhymes.  Students had a chance to act out the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary Quite Contrary using props.

We also had a chance to act out the nursery rhyme Little Jack Horner using real plums.

This week students had their first "full" choice time where they could choose from any of the toys/activities in the classroom.  Students chose to use blocks, our class dollhouse, construction equipment, among other fun activities.

On Wednesday we read the story Lacey Walker Non-Stop Talker by Christianne Jones.  After reading the story we spent time discussing qualities of a good listener before students created their own Lacey Walker owls.

We also spent some time this week enjoying the beautiful fall weather!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the first day of kindergarten!  It was a great day!  Students worked hard and practiced lots of school routines.  

Here is a picture of our whole class!

Students had a chance to take their own individual first day photos as well!

It was raining during our scheduled recess time so we had choice time inside our classroom instead.  Students could choose to play with pattern blocks, legos, puzzles, a train set, or blocks. 

Thankfully the weather cleared up by the end of the day and we were able to spend a little bit of time on the playground before heading home for the day!

Field Day, Mo Willems Author Study, & Bell Museum Field Trip

It has been a busy week for us this week!  On Wednesday the weather held out and we were able to have our field day in the afternoon.  Students participated in several relays, played a few games, and did the tug-o-war.  

All week long we have been doing an author's study of my favorite author Mo Willems.  On Tuesday we read several books featuring the Elephant & Piggie characters, including, There Is a Bird on Your Head!  

Afterwards students had a chance to create their own comic strips using the Elephant & Piggie characters.

Later in the week we read several books featuring Mo Willem's Pigeon.

Here's the whole class wearing the special pigeon hats they made.

After reading Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late students created their own writing projects that included what they each thought the pigeon shouldn't be allowed to do.

We took some time at the end of the week to independently read Mo Willems' books.

Finally, on Friday we went on our field trip to the Bell Museum on the University of Minnesota campus.

Students were guided through many different dioramas and also had a chance to explore the Touch & See Room.