Fall fun!

We are having one of our busiest weeks yet!  You all know how excited your children are for Halloween, and combining that will all of the work we are completing, the Halloween activities we are experiencing and the crisp fall weather that has arrived... let's just say we have been very eagerly productive!  I haven't even been able to photograph it all, but here are some highlights from the past week and a half:

Sharing a handmade gift at Share Time!

Checking out a FLIGHT binder- wow!

Tis' the season... for scarecrows!

Pattern block scarecrows (I told you, tis' the season)

Colorful legs on this one!

Super scary monster faces after we read Where the Wild Things Are

Yep, more monsters

Poem of the Week (note: Read in witch's voice, of course)

Not pictured:

-Reading with our third grade buddies

-Working on writing and illustrating our own Halloween stories during Writers' Workshop (will send home soon, I promise!)

-Business of Reading!!  Thank you SO much to Marie Yarborough, Julie Hill-Warner, Debbie Mountford, Bill Weir, and Rob Levin.... the kids adore having different people read to them each day :)

-Listening to the new record one of our classmates brought in... get this: it's the Jane Fonda Workout Mix, from 1981.  We listen while we have choice time and the kids count along and we even did some crazy stretches.  So if anyone has 14 little sweatbands and/or leg warmers they'd like to donate, we will not disappoint! It is pretty hysterical.


I'd keep writing and sharing pictures, but I've got to get art supplies ready for tomorrow's mask-making adventure.  Have a great night!

Stop, drop and roll

What an exciting and informative visit from members of the Bar Harbor Fire Dept!  The kids in all three  Kindergartens got to enjoy a presentation and check out the ladder and other fire truck equipment.

We talked a lot about fire safety and having a meeting spot at home in case you ever need to get out of your house.  We also got to see a real fireman get dressed in his gear, including his oxygen tank and face mask.... very cool and informative!


Academic update:

-In class, we've already covered 6 sight words on our Word Wall.  FYI, they are:
a, at, dad, I, it, mom.

-When we write in class, I encourage the children to spell these words correctly and remind them they are on our Word Wall.

-This week we have begun Reading Centers.  Children have different needs and to address this I will be working with small Guided Reading groups during Literacy time.  While I work with one group, other students will be engaged in different activities such as Listening Center, Phoneme Center, Handwriting Practice, or various literacy activities that they can work on independently.  I am so excited to get this started, as the best way to get kids reading is by working in small groups or one-on-one at their levels!

-And in Math we are using a giant pumpkin today to estimate circumference (no, we are not responsible for that word!)  and to estimate the number of seeds that may be inside... we will carve it next week and find that out!  We continue to work on counting, number recognition and writing, and everyday math routines.

Hope everyone is having a good week... We seem to be very busy here in Kindergarten, but are definitely enjoying it! 


~Mrs. Fournier

Field trip fun

Walking buddies!

Hearing about all the games we can play on the green...

Lots of PB&Js today (and I think I saw one with Nutella... definitely going to try that!)

 

 

 

 

We were a little bummed out that our field trip has been postponed due to wet weather, but that didn't stop us from having a great Monday here in Kindergarten.  I was proud that instead of letting the weather stop us from having fun, we ended up learning from it!

Every school day in September, we kept track of the weather.  We read a weather sentence each morning, and the "Weather Kid" chose to complete the sentence with: sunny, partly cloudy, mostly cloudy, rainy or snow.  He or she then filled in our weather graph.

We had fun taking apart the September calendar, and starting October's.

Everyone gets a turn at being the daily "Weather Kid."

Now that it is October, we are looking back on September's weather.  We all got a copy of a blank September weather graph.  I reminded the students of the number of days that were sunny, and they filled in their charts.  We went through each kind of weather and recorded the information we had... We all decided that October should have more sunny days, if possible!

In other news, we had fun today at P.E. and Music, and of course in our classroom.  The kids didn't seem to notice that we only had one recess today instead of three (shhh!) and they did a great job.  We are working on a lovely poem about leaves this week, and pretty soon we will be creating our very own.. stay tuned :)

P.S.  Our village green field trip will now be held next Wednesday, October 12, 2011.  Make your calendars at home, and you know we will keep track of it on ours!