Playing Catch-up!

Hi everyone!  Sorry about the lack-of-blogging last weekend- turns out teachers can get sick, too!  We've had some fun times since I last blogged, so here we go!

First up, Columbus Day!  Now as you well suspected, the Kindergarten curriculum  doesn't go into too much detail when it comes to Columbus Day, but we did try to learn a neat little poem to help us remember what happened that fateful day in 1492.  Then we followed up with a fun craftivity where we cut and tore paper to resemble one of Columbus' ships sailing the ocean blue!  Take a look:

After that, it was time for some math.  We are still studying plain and solid shapes.  Here is one of our students coming up to the whiteboard to identify shapes that either roll, slide, or stack:

 Boy, do we love coming up to the whiteboard!  The kids especially love it when they get to use the "magic" pen.  Since the pens are not cheap to replace, we had to have a thorough lesson on how to use the pens correctly.  So far, so good!  
Here is another photo of a student identifying our letter of the week on the whiteboard:

We have been learning a lot about God's gifts in our Religion lessons.  We have learned that animals are one of the best gifts from God, especially since so many of us have pets at home.  One of the perks of teaching in a Catholic school is that so often I get to tie a Religion lesson in with a Science lesson!  This was one of those lessons- since animals are gifts from God, the students discussed how animals move in different ways, then we completed a worksheet where we tried our best to illustrate animals moving in specific ways.  

We even had time for a little animal charades!  It was very entertaining fun to watch the kiddos perform! I wish I took photos, actually, videos, for you to enjoy their charades, but sometimes this teacher just doesn't have enough hands! 

We've had a lot of fun during our weekly centers this month.  We've had many Halloween-themed activities, lots of fine-motor skills centers, and reading centers as well.  One of the popular items in our room are the whisper-phones.  A whisper phone is a "phone" made of pvc pipe that allows a child to whisper into the phone to hear him/herself read without disturbing those around them.  Kindergarten is an important time in a student's life in which they need as much exposure as possible to books, so during centers, the students have a chance to sit and "read" some of the books in our class, or the books they borrowed from the school library.  Here are some of the kids reading on the carpet:

And here are some kids using the whisper phones with some short readers at my reading center:

 You'll also notice (if you look carefully) that when the students read with me at a center, they are given "pointers" to read with.  It is very important that students either use their finger or a pointer to identify the word they are reading.  This is called tracking, and it is very important with the development of their reading skills.  Please encourage tracking at home, placing the finger below the word they are trying to sound out or read, always reading left to right, top to bottom.  This month we have been using bats, pumpkins, and scarecrow pointers (cupcake toppers) to get them excited about reading! 

Mrs. Frawley had a chance to work with the students on their ability to follow directions at one of the centers.  Kindergartners are supposed to be able to follow one to two oral directions at a time.  A good way to work on this important life skill is to give your child two clearly stated directions at home.  For example, "Go put on your pajamas and then pick out one book for me to read you."  Here is Mrs. Frawley and the kiddos working on a bat-themed following directions activity that focused on directional words (above, below, next to, etc)

Speaking of bats, Mrs. Eckley stopped by while I was absent to complete my Science activity of the week with the kiddos.  The students have seen a Venn diagram before, but last week they used a Venn Diagram to compare bats and birds!  Here is a photo of the large Venn Diagram the class completed together on the board:

 The kids duplicated the same Venn diagram on their own.  Great job Kinder Kiddos! We also had a chance to label the parts of a bat.  Here is a photo of that activity:

Kind of gross to think that their fingers are that long!  The kids learned a lot about these mammals, and those of us that were a little creeped out by them in the beginning learned a thing or two about why they are so beneficial to our environment!  I'm all for any animal that eats mosquito's! We also watched a great educational video on one particular bat that has a wingspan of 6 feet! Yikes!  At least we know that those particular bats only enjoy eating fruit, and they aren't found anywhere around here! 

Here are a few photos from the last two weeks for you to enjoy.  I have more photos, but truth be told, my internet is acting up and it is taking me quite some time to upload my photos this weekend! Argh! Hopefully things will be better next weekend, especially with all of the fun activities that will go on this Halloween week! 

Mrs. Frawley played some Math Zingo with the kids during Centers

We made some cute pumpkin critters to hang in the room!

This fun game helped the kids practice their counting skills, as well as their fine motor skills.

 

Mrs. Oswald stopped by for some of our Centers- the kids love the POP! for Letters game!

Here's another center that involves fine motor skill practice, along with counting. 

A few reminders for Halloween this week:  

• Halloween will be a non-uniform dress day, so please remember the school guidelines for our non-uniform day dress code.
• Shoes with laces or velcro only (they will still have PE and recess that morning!)- even for the Halloween parade/carnival
• No spaghetti straps 
• If girls are wearing dresses or skirts, please wear shorts underneath.  
• Since it is non-uniform, take advantage of this and wear something that will make changing into their costumes easier!  We will be changing after lunch, girls will be changing separately from the boys (one group stays in Kinder, one group goes into First Grade with supervision).
• Costumes- no makeup, no hair dye, no accessories that they have to carry around (they will get lost before they go trick-or-treating!), no fake weapons, no masks (for safety reasons). 
• Hats, crowns, headbands, bandanas, and hoodies are okay, but please try to find a way to label them with your child's name.  
• Please send the costume to school in a separate bag (not their back pack) labeled clearly with your child's name on the outside.  
• I would also find a way to label your child's costume... just in case!  
• Please note: We ask that students do not bring in treats to distribute to the class- there will be PLENTY of treats at the carnival itself, and the students will wait to eat all of the treats at home (so parents can inspect the treats first in case of allergies, health reasons) 
• Please join us for the parade and the carnival!  It is such a fun school tradition with many opportunities for photos! Hope to see you there!

Finally, hopefully everyone received an email regarding our parent teacher conferences.  Conferences are mandatory for students in Kindergarten through 5th Grade.  Kindergarten is the only grade that will have two mandatory conferences- one in November, and the other in the spring.  This is our first time using Sign Up Genius to set up conferences.  It is pretty user friendly, but if you are having a hard time navigating it, please don't hesitate to let me know.  For all of you parents out there that can only make an evening conference, we've set aside one evening just for you!  Please do not take an evening time slot unless absolutely necessary since there aren't too many of them.  Thank you for being considerate!  I look forward to meeting with each of you in November!  

Here's to a great week!  

Take care! 
~Ms. Hudson