Fall, Syllables, and Picture Day!

This week we learned all about fall.  We started the week off by going outside to observe the big tree in our playground area.  We then discussed the parts of a tree and how trees are excellent indicators of the four seasons.



 

On Wednesday students worked with a partner to sort pictures based on whether they happened in the fall or not.

 

 

Later in the week we learned about why leaves change color.  Students each got their own leaf and analyzed its characteristics.

 

 

We ended the week with a special fall poem:

 

The leaves are falling down,

the leaves are falling down,

all over Mrs. Mohamed's class,

and all over town!

 

Students had fun tossing the fabric leaves up in the air as we said the poem together.

 

 

This week we also learned about syllables.  Students used special clappers to count the syllables in fall words.

 

 

They used their clappers again later in the week to sort pictures by the number of syllables they had.

 

 

Thursday was picture day at Brimhall. 

 

 

Check out all the picture day smiles!

 

Write the Room, School Helpers, & Fire Safety

In literacy this week began Letter of the Week.  Each week for the rest of the year we will focus on a different letter each week.  This week our letter of the week was the letter M.  Students did many activities to practice recognizing, writing, and learning the sound of the letter M. 

One of the activities we did was Write the Room.  During this activity students searched the room for words that had a letter M in them.  They then recorded the words in their special Write the Room book.

Our literacy theme for this week was school and school helpers.  We spent the week learning about and visiting the people who help us when we're at school.  Throughout the course of the week students visited Mrs. Bidne our principal, Mrs. Matthews the school nurse, and Mr. Weber the school custodian.  Each school helper shared with the class about how they help students at school and the tools they use to do their jobs.  Students brought their special school helper books home with them on Friday.

On Friday morning we read our unit big book, Is This My Classroom?  After we read the book together as a class students had a chance to reread it with a partner.

After reading we went on a tour of the school.  We started by walking outside to see the front of our school and then headed inside to see all the different offices and classrooms.

A whole class photo out in front of the school!

We ended the week by learning all about fire safety.  We spent time learning about firefighters and the tools they use.  On Thursday students followed step-by-step directions to draw their own fire trucks.  On Friday we discussing fire prevention and having a fire safety plan at home.  A special handout came home in this past week's Wednesday folder all about fire safety.  The website below is a great resource for learning more about fire safety at home.

Sparky Fire Safety Website

Betsy Lewin Visit & School Safety

On Monday morning the Caldecott winning illustrator of CLICK, CLACK, MOO Cows That Type, Betsy Lewin, came to visit our school.

Betsy Lewin began by us reading her brand new book, Click, Clack Surprise.  It was a very funny book!  Then she talked to us about how she worked on the illustrations for CLICK, CLACK, MOO Cows That Type.

Here are students listening and enjoying the presentation.

Besty Lewin ended her time with us by doing some drawing.  Students were impressed with how fast she could draw!

Here is one of the drawings that she did using student suggestions.

I ordered an autographed copy of CLICK, CLACK, MOO Cows That Type for our class.

Yesterday afternoon we started learning about safety.  We spent time talking about the difference between safe and unsafe.  

Then we read the book Office Buckle and Gloria.

After reading the book students worked in small groups to create school safety tip posters.  They did a great job!  Once their posters were finished each group presented their project to the class.

Here are the posters that each group made:

Color Unit, Greater Than/Less Than, & Pete the Cat

We continued learning about colors throughout the end of the week this week.  On Wednesday we read the book My Many Colored Days.  Then students used black crayons and watercolor paints to create paintings that showed a certain color day to them.

Check out students' paintings below...

On Friday students had the chance to read color books with a partner.  Then we created a class book about our favorite colors.

In math this week we learned about the words: equal, greater than, and less than.  Students played a greater than, less than card game during math on Friday to practice the concepts.

This week we also had a chance to read several Pete the Cat books and make a special Pete the Cat project.  Check out the link below to hear and see some of Pete's stories online.

Pete the Cat Website

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.