Spider on the Floor

Here is a song the students have LOVED this week.  The song is "Spider on the Floor" by Raffi.  After the spider soup, each child had a spider ring to help us act out the song.

Spider Soup

Did you hear about our spider soup?  The students wrote a recipe for spider soup.

In go spider legs.

In go spider eyes.

In go spider bodies.

In go spider brains.

In go spider fangs.

Mmmmmm! 

They were quite surprised when I told them that I had gathered enough of the ingredients to make them all spider soup on Friday!  Yum, yum, yum!

This little guy is searching for the spider fangs in his soup.  I told him that the fangs were very tiny.  Pretty resourceful!!

Spiders, Spiders, Everywhere!

Spiders showed up all over the place this week. We did many reading and math activities with the eight legged creature.  In the activity below, students had to segment and blend the word spider to put together the puzzle of the word spider.

 

In math, we are starting to work on positional words.  Our buddies came in to help us make an ibook that would illustrate the words above, below, between, and beside.  Students had to use the ipads to take pictures of each other, import a graphic of a spider, and arrange the photos and graphics to match the positional word.  Below is a link to one of the books.   

http://ebooks.scribblepress.com/book.php?g=4UUUFUST

We did an art project with these silly spiders.  The children had to cut out five ovals, count out eight legs, and arrange their spiders.  The projects turned out terrific.  I love how they are all different!  They are hanging in our hallway.  Be sure to check them out during conferences next week.

Of course, we read, read, read!  We read both fiction and nonfiction books about spiders.  We even created spider books that the children keep in their book boxes.

Boo! Spiders!

Wednesday night I sure got my workout! I did a lot of running and a lot of stairs! I am not as fast as I think, I was caught by several families. Most of the kids have mentioned their surprise "Boo" bag that arrived on their doorstep. If your child didn't get the bag of goodies and this week's homework assignment, check your front door. If you have any questions about the writing assignment, please feel free to call or email me.

Does this look familiar? We did the same graphic organizer about spiders in class this week as a whole group. Here is some of the information we learned from a nonfiction read aloud about spiders. Hopefully, your child will understand the homework assignment because of our work this week in class. You can get your information about spiders from books, online, or by watching the video below. Remember, this is shared homework, please do this activity with your child. I can't wait to read the facts that the students write. We will be sharing their writing Wednesday. Thanks for your support with this important project.

Literacy Centers

The end of our day is center time. It is certainly a favorite time of the day. At the start of the year, the centers were more oriented towards play. Now, nearing the end of the first quarter, there are many literacy objectives woven into the center time. The kids are learning and practicing important skills as they play. Here is just a few of the literacy centers we have been practicing.

Photo album made with Smilebox

Beginnng Sound App

Here is another great app by Lakeshore Learning. We are working on identifying initial sounds and this app is powerful. The students are having so much fun playing the game that they don't even realize how much phonics practice they are receiving! I, however, do see what a difference the individualized practice is giving our Connected Kinders. Wow, are they ever becoming readers. If you are interested in learning more about this app for $0.99 click here.

Red Ribbon Week

Next week, October 22-26th, Eagle Cliffs Elementary is recognizing Red Ribbon Week. During Red Ribbon Week, students celebrate being Drug-Free. In class, we will discuss healthy choices and how to say "No" to peer pressure. We will also be having some school wide spirit days starting on Tuesday. Here is the schedule: Tuesday: "No Drugs, No Alcohol....No Sweat!" Wear sweats. Wednesday: "Sock It To Drugs" Wear crazy socks. Thursday: "Drugs Stink" Wear pink. This is in coordination with Pack the Place in Pink, the Skyview Volleyball game to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness, so if you bought one of the pink volleyball shirts from Skyview....this is the day to wear it! Friday: "Team Up Against Drugs" Wear something from your favorite sports team. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Tricky Teens

The teen numbers are very difficult to learn.  We have been doing many activities to not only learn how to read and write the numbers but also to understand the place value behind the tricky teens.  We started by building these cube towers.  Then we ordered them.

The students noticed that each tower had a ten green cubes in it.  They also found that the black cubes increased by one each time.  I introduced them to the "math way" of counting.  Instead of saying eleven, the math way maintains the place value and we would say "one ten, one."  Twelve is "one ten, two."  Saying numbers the math way, also helps students remember to put the one first when writing teen numbers.  Next, I started to move the kids to the symbolic representation of the number with these cards.

Instead of just a one in front, the students see a green ten stack like the cube towers.  Now they can "see" that the number 18 is a ten and an 8.  We ordered and matched these numbers to the cube towers.  Then, the kids independently sorted and ordered their own set of teen cards.

Next, we started to take the picture of the ten stack away and show that even though it seems like a one, it is actually a ten.  We played several different games where the students had to identify and order the teen numbers.

See if your child can identify, write, and order the numbers.  Ask them to count the math way for you.  The teens are tricky, any extra practice you could do at home would certainly help. 

Witch's Brew

For the last seven days, we have had a witch visiting our classroom.  Each morning she leaves us a note and an ingredient to make her witch's brew.  The ingredients are all in paper bags.  We can't see them, but we can read the label and feel the item in the bag. 

The children are very curious about our witch.  They have been writing her notes to ask her more questions.  The witch has returned the notes with questions of her own.  Through the process, students are developing and writing questions, locating high frequency words in the witch's notes, and creating graphs to answer the witch's questions.

On Halloween, we will get to open and mix the 13 ingredients.  The children are so excited.  We will see if they stay excited when they have to eat skeleton teeth!

Interactive Sites

Our center time started as mostly play, but now more and more literacy activities are being infused into the centers. The children are having so much fun "playing" that they don't know how much they are learning.  The kids love our interactive projector that makes the whiteboard a computer screen.  In the activity below, the girls are matching upper case and lower case letters to paint a picture.

The great news is that you don't need a fancy projector to do these activities at home.  There are many fabulous free interactive websites that will work on your home computers and let the kids "play" to learn important kindergarten objectives.  One of my favorites is abcya.  It has both math and reading activities for grades k-5.  Click on this link and add it to your favorites!  abcya.com 

Another great literacy site is called Starfall.  This site is massive!  For an early and developing reader, there are great games and activities located in the Learn to Read section.  Click on the link to explore: Starfall.com or Learn to Read.

Buddies

On Friday, we had our second visit with our 5th grade buddies! I'm not sure who was more excited, the 5th graders or the kindergartners! This week with our buddies we read our news magazine on pumpkins, sorted nonfiction and fiction books, and read some fall and Halloween stories together. One of the fifth graders commented, "since when do kindergartners know fiction and nonfiction!" Buddy time is going to be a great learning opportunity for both groups of children. Buddy Reading on PhotoPeach

Sunflowers

In science, we have been talking about signs of fall like apples and pumpkins. We have studied the life cycle of a pumpkin. We have also been thinking like scientists and making observations about different fall items. I came across two giant sunflower heads and thought it was a perfect opportunity for the kindergarten scientists to explore and make some observations about another sign of fall.  Each child got to go outside with a small group and Miss Tania to see what they could discover.  I just love to see the wonder and curiosity on their faces.

The Wheels on the Bus...

We had a wonderful bus safety day.  Before the driver came, we did some bus activities in class.  One of the favorite activities was a letter find.  All the letters of the alphabet were hidden in a picture (see below) of a  bus.  The letters were so small, the children used magnifying glasses to find the letters.   On their recording sheet, the children had to circle if the letter they found was a capital or lower case.  Of course, we also had to read a bus story and sing "The Wheels on the Bus."

Our bus driver was Mr. Bill.  He was fabulous.  First, we watched a video on bus safety and then we went out to practice.  The students learned that they need to walk next to buses.  They also learned to always use the handrail when getting on or off the bus.  As Mr. Bill drove us around, the children were respectful and safe while sitting and visiting.  We went to Lake Elmo to practice crossing in front of a bus.  Mr. Bill told the children how difficult it is for a driver to see children from up in the bus.  We practiced taking ten big steps forward before crossing and to let the bus driver wave you across.  We also learned, if you drop something close to the bus, let the bus driver know...DON'T TRY TO PICK IT UP YOURSELF...because if you bend down, the bus driver can no longer see you.

Since the kids did such a terrific job crossing, Mr. Bill let the kids explore the Lake Elmo visitors center.  The students loved looking at all the animals and touching all the skins.  Next, we loaded the bus again and went around to the back of Lake Elmo to practice an emergency evacuation.  The children learned how to use the back emergency exit.  Again, the children did such a fine job, Mr. Bill gave them some play time at the Lake Elmo park.  Mr. Bill said the Connected Kinders were one of the best kindergarten classes he has ever visited.  So proud!  Here are some images from the day:

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Great Free Halloween App

I was so excited to accidentally stumble upon this free app.   The kids love it because of the all the Halloween pictures and I love it because it covers several of our 1st quarter math objectives.  And...did I mention it was FREE?!  

In one of the activities, students have to count the objects and select the correct number.  If they tap on the objects it will count each object as the student taps it...great for one to one matching!  Another activity has the students selecting which screen has more or less.  Each of the four math games provide great math practice.

Apples to Pumpkins

Now in October, we are moving from apples to pumpkins.  We are reading many fiction and nonfiction books about pumpkins.  Can your child tell you the difference between a fiction and a nonfiction book?  As we transition from apples to pumpkins, the children helped create this awesome chart.  The kindergartners had incredible ideas for similarities and differences between pumpkins and apples.

Mmmmmm.....Apples

Another activity we did with apples was a taste test. The students got to taste test red, yellow, and green apples.

After the taste test, students chose their favorite taste.  With the help of our foster grandma, Grandma Barb, the students used an apple half to stamp their favorite taste.  Later, the students wrote an opinion sentence on their favorite color of apple.

Apples on Top

We love the book Apples on Top by Dr. Seuss. We read it several times and did a class rewrite. The kids were great at doing silly poses. You can see the whole class book hanging in the hallway outside our classroom. Besides the class book, the students also made ibooks on the ipads. To make the ibook, the students learned to take a photo, import a photo, and place a graphic. The Connected Kinders are such a talented bunch!

Apple Measuring and Buddies

We worked with our buddies to observe and measure our apples. The fifth graders were great helpers. We measured circumference, found the weight, tested if apples would sink or float, counted seeds and more! The kids worked so hard! Thanks for sending in apples to use in our math activity. I took the apples home and the next day we enjoyed applesauce. Here are some pictures from the lesson!

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Colors!

We have been studying mixing colors in science.  Ask your child if they can name the primary and secondary colors.  In one of our experiments, we mixed food coloring and water to discover what colors we could create.

Later in the week, we reviewed mixing colors but this time with paint.  This time the students made very colorful rainbows only using only red, yellow, and blue.  Can your child tell you what primary colors mix to make the secondary colors?

Since we were studying colors in science, we have also been incorporating the color words and songs into our reading.  With the help of these catchy tunes, many of the kids can spell their color words.  Below, I embedded the song about red.  Under the video are links to the other color word songs.  After learning them in class, I had several students ask if I could post them to the blog.  I am so happy to hear that many parents are checking the blog with their children!  Thank you for the home support. 


Click on the color words below to hear more great songs.
Blue, Yellow, Orange, Green, Purple, Brown, Black
I typed up the songs for the students' poetry binders. Look at their reading fingers moving along with the words. What terrific readers!