Smoothies, muffins and other things that make us happy!

Many thanks to Nicholas' mom, who helped us make smoothies last week.  We ALL got to press the button, don't worry!  The batches of smoothies we whipped up were delicious, and gave us lots of energy to have yet another great day in Kindergarten.  The menu consisted of Applesauce Muffins and Strawberry-Banana Soy Smoothies...

the kids worked in groups of 3 or 4 to make their own smoothies

the best part was sharing this snack with friends!

Yum!  Thanks again!

Also, just a reminder that with pretty chilly temps and the always-possible snow shower, students should be bringing snow pants, boots, hats and glovers/mittens to school each day.  If it is one of those random 45-degree days with no snow on the ground, obviously disregard... but otherwise, have the kiddos bundle up!  I can guarantee that even if there is just one small mound of snow, the children will inevitably climb on, under, in and around it... so it is better to be safe than sorry!

:)

BIG and little Buddies!

Way back when (in December) we met with our third grade reading buddies and made little versions of ourselves.  Yesterday the finishing touches were made, and today we took a walk through our school building to check out our bulletin board, as well as Miss Pickers' board, to see ourselves in all our glory!  Thanks to the third graders for being such great buddies to us, and showing us what we have to look forward to when we are that big!

Can you tell we are excited?

Outside Miss Pickers' room, waaaaay down the hall...

...and here's our board!

Let it snow! + MLK Jr.

I have some free time on my hands, due to today's delayed opening.  I thought I'd share a few cute pictures from yesterday, as the snow started to fall on us during recess.

The slide was SUPER fast in the snow!

Brrr!

Moving so quickly I couldn't snap a decent picture!

K and 1 kids going all out!

Today we will be talking about Martin Luther King Jr. and his efforts to make sure all people were treated equally, no matter what they looked like or where they came from.  I will be reading a story called Ron's Big Mission that I actually learned about when teaching a second grade civil rights unit in Mississippi.  It is a great tool for teaching empathy, and I want you to be familiar with the book in case it comes up this weekend or in the future.

Have a great long weekend, everybody!

2012 has begun!

As a follow up to our fun yoga session that we did with Liam's mom and Max's mom, we have been doing some short yoga sessions in the classroom to break up our day and keep us calm and focused.  I recommend you check out this site:

Fireflies Yoga

in Denali NP, Alaska... about as peaceful a place as it gets!

On the bottom right of the homepage you can click on and listen to a number of songs, including 1) Dance for the Sun, which your child will likely be able to sing along with!   It goes along with the sun salutation and is a great way to settle in or transition between activities, as well as to begin a kid's yoga practice.  I am grateful that we have been introduced to such a great practice in the classroom!

Just a few quick updates now that we are back into the swing of things:

• In Handwriting, we are all done with upper case and have begun structured lower case practice with "magic c."  The kids love the bunny rabbit who is teaching some cool tips.  
• In Math, we are currently working on measurement and number stories, as well as reviewing and continuing to work on counting, skip counting, number recognition and all that good stuff.  Writing numbers is something we are practicing a lot and I hope you can get to that at home as well every now and then!
• In Literacy we are working on informative writing.  We are listening to nonfiction stories and comparing them to narratives about similar topics.  We will be writing a class book about animals in Maine, with lots of information and facts to share with our audience.  (At the end of January I will be giving the DRA, which will give us an idea of your child's reading level.  I will share that information with you so that we can work with your child in school and at home in books that are at their level.)
• Our Service Learning project is in full swing!  While we are planning some future hikes, we have been talking about some things we have noticed around the island that affect the habitats, both in good and not-so-good ways.  You will soon (in the next two weeks) be receiving a student-created survey; if you could please fill it out and return it we would greatly appreciate it!  You will be helping contribute to our project in a big way.

Phew!  That isn't even everything, but as I haven't taken photos this past week the least I can do is give you a verbal update... and I promise the pictures are on their way!

Happy Monday,

~Mrs. Fournier