First week of October... and it's windy already!

Happy October everyone! The kiddos were super excited when they walked into the room and noticed a few Halloween decorations here and there... these are some observant little students! This week was all about the letter Cc.  We started things off with a little cut and paste activity about things that start with C.  Carla the Cat helped us out with this project, and can I say, these kids have been cutting and pasting every week and I have already seen a huge difference!  They know that the thumb always faces up, we can take little bites or big bites depending on the project, and that it is best if we turn the paper instead of the hand holding the scissors.  Listening skills, following directions, and staying focused are three big parts of Kindergarten, and cutting/pasting activities really help us work on those skills.  Here are some snapshots of the kids working on the Carla the Cat activity-

To continue the theme of cats, we had our first Directed Draw activity- a cat!  We got out the individual white boards, and, with the help of the very amazing document camera (Think overhead projector from our days of school, meets 21st century technology) the kids were able to watch me draw a cat face, step by step, while they copied me.  Again, listening, focusing, following directions... Here are some photos of that fun activity, and there will be plenty more directed draw activities in the future! 

They were so proud of their work... I hope by now some have even drawn their cat for you at home!

The kindergarteners have really been enjoying their time with their library books.  Mrs. Doyle has been continuously impressed with their behavior in the library, and while she reads them a story in our room.  She put up some of their coloring sheets in the library to show the rest of the school what great students they are:

Here are some photos of the kids browsing through their library books on the carpet.  Luci was able to join us, too! 

This Friday marked the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi.  The kindergarteners will be learning about many saints this year, and he was our first!  We watched a short cartoon about the life and times of St. Francis, and we colored a picture of him as well.  We learned that he gave up all of his possessions for God, and he cared for people and animals.  Here is a photo of a few kiddos coloring his picture:

We participated in some great centers again this week! Thank you to the parents that have been able to make it into the classroom to help us out with centers- I know at times it is not the quietest room, but that's just the excitement of our kids while they are learning!  We do have other times in the room when it is quiet, especially when I am instructing them as a whole group, but centers is a great chance for them to learn, socialize, and participate!  Here are some kiddos working on their fine motor skills, as well as their counting and sorting skills, during Math Tub time.  Math Tub time is time we spend together at mini centers after we've learned something all together and completed a worksheet on that day's lesson:

Using tongs or clothespins to grab items and drop them is a great way to work on fine motor skills.

This center was a chance for kids to use the small squares to show numbers.  He ended up making the number 1,000!

We ended our week with a little Fall activity. Our classroom subscribes to Scholastic's Weekly Reader- think newspaper for a Kindergarten student.  This week we studied Autumn/Fall. We watched a short informative video on the Brainpopjr.com site about Fall, then we read about Fall in our readers.  We finished up with a graphing activity on the back.  Kindergarteners will participate in many graphing activities before the year is through.  

A few reminders for this upcoming week:
*No school on Monday (for the kiddos, at least!)
*We will have centers on Tuesday and Thursday
*Study Buddies on Wednesday! 
*This week we will be studying leaves!  I will send a reminder in their homework, but for those of you that read this, please start looking for a nice big leaf (preferably one that is not about to crumble into little pieces), about the size of an adult's hand- no bigger. We would like it sent to school in a plastic baggy labeled with your child's name.
*Our share bag this week will have two possible topics to choose from- something that starts with Dd, or, something that is the shape of a rectangular prism (yes, your child knows what that is!) Please don't send two shares, and please replace your child's share bag if it is torn and unable to hide their share (they get pretty upset about it)


Please look in your child's backpack every night for any fliers or important messages/papers.  This week, be on the lookout for a flier regarding our first Christian Service project! Each Kinder family will be helping the poor by providing a few lunches for the homeless.  Details will be in a flier, and please remember that we need everyone to participate.  Thank you!  


We are having such a wonderful time with your precious Kindergarteners.  They make us smile every day!  We appreciate you entrusting them to us for seven hours, five days a week.  We try our best to make sure each child is enjoying school, feeling comfortable and safe, and learning to their best ability.  If you ever feel that something important needs to be discussed regarding your child,  please don't hesitate to contact me for a meeting and we can sit down and talk.  At this point I think I have met most of you (through volunteering or pick-up), and I think you know me well enough by now to know that I am always happy to meet with you to discuss the reason we are all here- your amazing little gifts from God! 

Thank you, and have a fabulous fall weekend!  Here is a glimpse into just a part of my weekend so far... (thanks to Trader Joe's!)

Missing from photo- pumpkin spiced latte

    Followed up by several walks with my dogs, and a few sessions on the elliptical... 

 Happy weekend!