Green Eggs and Ham

Another great theme day! We had so much fun with Green Eggs and Ham. The Connected Kinders were dressed so very green that we turned heads where ever we went today. There were so many fun learning activities today.  Here are just a few.

 We cut and ordered the recipe for green eggs and ham. 

We played a game where students had to find their rhyming partners using picture cards.  Watch out, Dr. Seuss, these Connected Kinders are great rhymers!

Of course, we ate green eggs and ham.  We made a chart of our opinions about the meal.  We even had a sweet treat...a green eggs and ham candy!

Wocket in My Pocket

Who would have thought you could wear 35 pockets at once?!! There wasn't even room on the graph, we had to give this guy his own category. Talk about an outlier! Thank you for the awesome participation on Wocket in My Pocket day! We are having a blast celebrating Dr. Seuss.

Fox in Socks

Our first Dr. Seuss Celebration Day was today! We started with the book Fox in Socks. The children were invited to wear silly socks! We had so many crazy socks! Super fun! We drew and graphed our silly socks. Of course, we read Dr. Seuss's tongue twisting book....Fox in Socks. Then, at the end of the day, we made our own Silly Sock video. Watch these talented feet!

Read-a-Thon Update

After adding two weeks of reading, we are at 6000 minutes.  I see a pizza party in the Connected Kinders future.  Our class goal is 8000 minutes.  On Friday, most of the yellow recording sheets were turned in.  Please turn the yellow sheets in as soon as possible.  I know the children are so excited to empty my treasure box.  On Friday, please turn in the last recording sheet....the blue sheet.  It is thrilling to see the children so motivated to read.  I can see a big difference in their reading confidence as well.  How do you get to be a better reader?  READ, READ, READ!  Keep up the great work during the last week of our read-a-thon.

Valentine Party

Another free digital slideshow by Smilebox

Measurement

In math, we have been working on kindergarten measurement standards.  Specifically, we have been comparing objects using length and weight.  In the pictures below, students are comparing using length.  Each group had a box of objects.  Each child had an unsharpened pencil.  Students made comparisons, asking which was longer the object or the pencil.  During this activity, we discussed accurate measurement techniques like using an object's longest side and lining up objects at the same starting point. 

We LOVE to Read

I logged in to Raz-Kids this afternoon!  I am so thrilled.  Over half the class has logged in this weekend!  WOW!  These kids have read over 300 minutes on their own!  I am very impressed.  Remember, it is I love to read month.  Our class is logging reading minutes.  Please use the recording sheet I sent home Friday.  Record Raz minutes and regular reading minutes.  Of course, reading to your child counts!  Ever 100 minutes your child receives a prize.  We are also working towards a class minute goal.  It is only the third day of February and we are off to a fantastic start!  Send in the first recording sheet this Friday.  You will receive a new recording sheet every week.  Happy reading!

New Blog Feature

I've added some new pages to our blog. This button bar on the top links you to some learning resources. The Learning Links is a collection of kid friendly, educational websites. Raz-Kids takes you to the Raz-Kids login site so you can access our subscription and read tons of leveled books. The ipad apps button brings you to this:

I know many of you download the apps we use in class. In this symbaloo, if you click on the app picture, you will be brought to a description of the app and the itunes store if you are interested in downloading it. Finally, the last button brings you to "Just Dance" videos. We have been using these videos to get the wiggles out on the days it has been below zero and we can't get outside. Super fun! This video below is one of the class's many favorites. They call it the "Grandma Barb" song in honor of our foster grandma that volunteer's in our classroom.

Count to 100

A Connected Kinder favorite:

100th Day of School

Monday was the 100th day of school!  We had such a great 100 filled day!  We did LOTS of counting.  We counted crayons, sticks, cubes, cotton balls, chocolates, crackers, pennies, marshmallows, tiles....and SO much more!  We had lots of great counting practice. 

We played a fun hundreds chart game that you can find at ABCya.com (click here).  We had a 100 Kisses Hunt.  We sang songs.  We built 100 cup structures.  We made 100 transformations.  Check out some of fun photos from our celebration.

Free photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Reading and Raz-Kids

These Connected Kinders are ready to read!   What an exciting time in kindergarten! During center time, I have started to take small groups to read.  The children are loving it!  They are pleased with their abilities and enjoy adding books that they can read by themselves to their book boxes.

We have an amazing opportunity to read with a subscription to Raz-Kids.  Raz-Kids is an incredible digital library that our class has access too.  Our tech night this week was to teach parents how to access Raz-Kids from home and sign up for the parent access to your child's activity reports.  If you were unable to make the tech night, I sent the hand outs home Friday.  I will try to explain it here as well.  If you are unable to access Raz-Kids, please let me know and I am happy to help.

The Raz-Kids library is available on both computers and devices like kindles and ipads.  You can get to the site through the blog.  Just click on the Raz-Kids button on the top tool bar.  Or, go to this site:
http://www.raz-kids.com/main/Login   Here, it will ask for our class' user name.  Type in ConnectedKinders (no space).  Then find your child's name and put in his/her graphic password.  Now, you should have access to your child's leveled book assignment.

Just a note, the website uses Flash Player so ipad access has an additional step.  You will be unable to download and read books using the Safari browser.  One option is to buy the app Puffin (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puffin-web-browser/id406239138?mt=8&affId=1449142) .  Puffin is a web browser that allows you to use sites that require Flash.  It is $2.99.  Or, you can download the free Raz-Kids app (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learning-a-z/id474207297?mt=8&affId=1449142) and have access to the books and quizzes through the app.

Each book has the option to listen to the book (with word by word highlighting), read the book, and take a quiz.  In class, when children are working independently, I have the children do all three in order: listen, read, quiz.  They receive bonus stars for each activity completed.  Further, as a teacher and parent, we get reports on which activities are complete and how the child is performing on the quizzes.

The children are LOVING Raz-Kids, they are so motivated to read and earn stars.  I am so impressed.  Please give this amazing site a try!

Count the Room

The Connected Kinders are really doing well on the standard "count to answer 'how many' questions."  The children are starting to visualize and organize objects into groups to make for easier counting.  For example, counting by 2's and 5's when it is more efficient. 

 There is something about kinders and clipboards...I just love it.  Don't they look official?  A favorite "math job" the kids have been working at is called count the room.  I put up several different cards with objects and the the students have to record "how many" on each card.

Count the room hits another important kindergarten standard.  After the students have recorded how many, the students go back to their seat and count up.  For example, if they counted 15 snowflakes, they record the 15 and then have to write 16 and 17.  Below, this smart girl uses the hundreds chart on her ipad to check her answers.

Snowflake Spin to Win

We are continuing to build number sense.  In this fun game, each player chooses a number card.  Then, the students have to spin to see who wins.  Sometimes the number that is greater takes the cards and sometimes the spinner says the number that is less is the winner.  The Connected Kinders are becoming very number savvy.  If you want to practice this skill at home, the traditional card game of "War" is perfect for practicing greater than, less than.  The children love math games.  They are having some much fun "playing" they don't realize how much learning is going on!

These kiddos were playing Snowflake Spin to Win across from each other and called me over.  There was something I just had to see....they said.  Then, they showed me that they had all drawn consecutive numbers.  I was impressed that they noticed the pattern and were so excited to share!

Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day we discussed kindness, cooperation, and peace. It is so interesting to talk to young children about the injustices of the world. They are so pure and innocent and don't understand how people could be treated so unfairly. We can all learn from our children.
One activity we did was pick a birthday present for Martin Luther King, Jr. I had one present wrapped in a fancy gift bag with ribbon and tissue. The other present was in a brown paper bag. I asked several kids which present they would choose. Of course, everyone chose the pretty package. When we opened it....nothing was in there. However, the paper bag had a big, delicious bag of M&M's!

We discussed how the outside of the package doesn't tell you what is on the inside. Just like, the clothes someone wears and/or the way someone looks doesn't tell you what the person is like on the inside. Further, it is what is on the inside that counts, not appearance.
Last, we had to taste test! But before we all got M&M's we had a few children experiment. I put a blindfold on the "taste tester" and gave them one M&M. The child had to guess the color of the M&M. Well, needless to say, every child that tried the blindfold test couldn't tell which color it was. My favorite answer to "What color is it?" was "CHOCOLATE!" Of course! Again, it didn't matter what color the M&M was, what is important is the sweet inside!
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!"
~Martin Luther King, Jr.