Happy November! Have you recovered from Halloween yet? I'm not going to lie- us teachers were a little happy that our little kiddos were able to sleep in the day after Halloween! We had meetings all day long... not quite as fun as when our classrooms are full of friendly faces, but some things need to get done!
How did you like our parade and carnival? It was so great to see so many of you there, especially those of you that aren't always able to break away from your jobs to join us during the school day. I really enjoyed chatting with all of you, but more importantly, I enjoyed watching how happy you all are when you get to see your kids in action! Hopefully everyone got a lot of great photos! Here are a few photos I snapped that day:
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| Our wonderful owl game! Thank you to everyone who prepped this! |
They really enjoyed spending time with their Study Buddies at the carnival. While all of our Halloween carnivals are tons of fun, this was the most successful carnival I've seen in 8 years of teaching here, and that is due in part to the addition of several booths run by the 6th Grade class! That was a first, and boy was it a hit! Way to go 6th Grade and Mrs. Johnson! Let's hope that is a new tradition here at St. Jude!
Believe it or not, we actually were learning in our classroom earlier that day. We are working on counting efficiently, pointing to the objects that we count, starting at the top left corner, moving left to right, not going too fast... some kids think that counting quickly shows me that they can count really well- not so much! I demonstrated some "not-so-great" counting up at the board earlier in the morning, then I had students come up to the board to demonstrate accurate counting. Here is one of our counters now:
She was counting some Halloween erasers that I displayed under the wonderful, fabulous document camera. That camera is my absolute favorite tool- have I mentioned that before? I'm sure I have! I can't imagine teaching Kinder without it!
Mrs. Doyle also stopped by before our library time to read a story about a green monster. As usual, the kids listened so well, even with Halloween tricks and treats on their minds!
Earlier that week, we participated in some Centers (as usual). Some centers had a Halloween theme, so of course the kids had a great time! Here are some kinder kiddos participating in a roll-a-sight-word game. Sight words are so important for beginning readers to learn, so I try to incorporate fun ways for the kids to be exposed to them as often as possible.
Whenever we finish a math lesson, we usually spend the next fifteen minutes participating in some small math centers that we call Math Tubs. Visual/Spatial reasoning is an important skill to acquire at this age, so some of our Math Tubs involve activities that help with this skill. Here are some new puzzle pieces that are proving to be a big hit with the kiddos- it reminds me of that old Nintendo game Tetris:
The day before Halloween, we had a wonderful time at our Halloween themed Kinder Club! A big thank you to everyone who helped make it a big success! Here are a few photos I snapped from that exciting afternoon:
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| decorating our trick or treat bags |
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| turning our friends into mummies! |
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| musical chairs |
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| A spooky snack- "hands"filled with popcorn & candy corn, oranges filled with jello, & little tangerines with a celery stem! |
We used our wonderful document camera to examine some pages from a Halloween story that Juliette brought in to share with us. We had to search for some missing pumpkins:
We also attended a Pep Rally for our St. Jude Jaguar Athletic teams- here is some action from that event:
Here's a photo I took during one of our sing-a-longs to help us count to 100. We utilize Youtube every day to help us practice songs that reinforce counting, learning our ABC's, and learning the days of the week and the months of the year. Sometimes they really get into the song, like in this photo:
- Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight before heading to bed!
- This Tuesday, November 5th, the school will be having a book fair at Barnes and Noble. Different teachers will be reading stories in the children's section starting at 3:30. I will be there between 3:30 and 4:00 to read something fun! Come by and start your holiday shopping a little early, while benefiting the school with a percentage of your purchases.
- Friday is the Turkey Dash- children must wear athletic/tennis shoes with laces or velcro. Mrs. Schulte has made it a non-uniform day as long as everyone is wearing something "athletic"- read comfortable to run/jog/walk in! It is also a noon dismissal, so don't forget to pack a healthy snack! You may also bring a water bottle with your child's name on it. Children may wear a hat or visor that will help keep the sun out of their eyes- not something silly or too hot!
- Grandparents/Special Visitors Day is the last Wednesday of this month- November 27th- the day before Thanksgiving. This is a special tradition at our school where friends and family come into our classrooms to visit with our students. Then we all go to the Church for a special Thanksgiving Prayer Service right before our noon dismissal. If your child will be absent for whatever reason that day, please notify me immediately. The Kindergartners will be performing a very special Thanksgiving poem and song in the Church for everyone- it will be very memorable! We are dressing up in special costumes to resemble Pilgrims and Native Americans, and we will be practicing all month long. If someone will be absent, we need to know ASAP so we can plan accordingly. We hope to see as many kids, friends, and family there, so start inviting anyone close to you today!
Well, I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend! Enjoy that extra hour of sleep!
Take care!
~Ms. Hudson
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