Apple Overload!

Well, another week has passed us by, and these Kinder Kiddos are really starting to get the hang of things around here!  We attended Mass again this morning (one child asked, "Again???"), and we were pleasantly surprised with how well behaved everyone was!  Thank you for reinforcing respectful behavior at Mass with your little ones on the weekend- it makes a huge difference!  After Mass, a few students had some questions about Mass.  My favorite comment was from a student who referred to Father Jim as "That Church Guy".  Oh, the things these students say...Makes me smile!

If you haven't heard by now, this week was all about Apples!  We learned about apple trees.  Here are some photos of the kids working on a sequencing activity to put pictures of the life cycle of an apple tree in order:

We also learned about labeling pictures.  We will be doing a lot of labeling in our Science lessons this year.  For our first labeling project, we observed a sliced apple, then we cut and pasted labels on a diagram of an apple.  Here are some photos from that activity:

We are beginning to learn about a math tool called a Tens Frame.  A Tens Frame is something that wasn't around when I was in elementary school, so it may be a new concept to some of you.  It helps children quickly identify things in groups of ten.  They will eventually be able to also easily identify groups of 9's, 8's, 7's, etc... and they will know that when a tens frame is filled half way, it represents a group of five!  Here is a photo of the large tens frame we use in class.  This week, of course, we used apples to fill our tens frame.

Then, the students completed their own worksheets of apple tens frames!

 
Here are some photos of the kiddos enjoying their Math Tubs time.  We participate in Math Tubs three to four days a week.  This is a great way to practice our fine motor skills, our math skills, and our socializing skills.  It's tough for our Kinder Kiddos to remember to share, take turns, use indoor voices, and let others go first, but we're learning!  

sorting leaves by color or size

sorting "bugs" by attributes or placing bugs in a pattern

using tongs to sort small objects (Fine Motor skills and Math combo)

Sorting buttons by color, shape, or size

Stringing beads onto laces using a sorting method

placing unifix cubes in patterns

using counters in patterns or sorting counters by color

The students also had a great time in Computer Class this week.  They were so excited when Mr. Colvin announced they would be decorating some virtual jack-o-lanterns!  This was a great activity to teach the students how to hold a mouse, how to click and drag a picture, how to type our names, and how to print and save something we created!  Here are some photos from that class:

As fun as that was, the kids were SUPER excited to meet with their Study Buddies later that day, especially since Luci joined us for the afternoon!  We decorated lunch bags that will eventually hold lunches for the less fortunate and homeless. Each month, one class is in charge of decorating lunch bags, as well as donating simple lunches to fill the lunch bags.  More information on this to come...  Here are some great photos from our time with our Study Buddies and Luci!

 I'm sorry I don't have photos of everyone and their Study Buddies- I'm sure I will eventually! 

And just when I thought these kids were the most excited kids ever, then came our first Kinder Club! I don't think I've heard so much excitement in our room in our 21 days of kindergarten!  Oh wait, they did get very excited when Zero the Hero stopped by again to drop off some red and green frisbees that looked like apples!  How appropriate!  We didn't see him, but we yelled thank you in case he was still flying around our school!  Here are some great photos from our first K-Club.  It was super successful thanks to our wonderful head room mom and the amazing mom's that volunteered!  Thank you so much to everyone that made it possible! 

We made some awesome apple mosaics, complete with hand-print stems!

We sampled slices of various apples, then used stickers to graph our favorites...

...or not-so-favorites!

Hmmm... which one was the favorite???

We also played pin the stem on the apple!

They loved ring around the apple!

They were as quiet as a mouse during storytime...

And we ended our K Club with some delicious, home-made apple muffins and home-made applesauce! 

Wow!  I didn't realize how many fun things we did this week!!! Oh, wait! There's more!  We also cut and pasted some super cute Apple Critters!  They are going to be "hanging" out in our room for a little bit.  Look what a great job the kids did! 

Sorry the photo is a little dark! 

 
Believe it or not, I took even more photos this week, but I think this blog has reached its capacity!  Boy! Now I feel pressured to make next week just as fun and exciting!  It is the beginning of October... and I do love Fall!  We'll see what the week has in store for us!  The letter we will focus on is C, so start thinking of some great share bag ideas!  Take care, and enjoy the weekend!