Ladybugs Learning
We worked on measuring objects using non-standard units of measure like unifix cubes.
Students conducted an experiment to determine if objects sink or float. They had lots of fun with this!
Students from Monacan High School came to read to Kindergarten students at Crenshaw. I hope that you all are enjoying the book that the Moncan students donated to you.
One of Santa's elves came to visit our room for the month of December! Students suggested possible names and then voted to name him, Elfie.
We had lots of fun at our Thanksgiving Feast! Students made butter, decorated corn, made a Thanksgiving food graph, rolled a Turkey, and made patterned Indian noodle necklaces!
Working on tally marks!
To learn more about maps, our class used a special Crenshaw map to find the buried treasure. At each stop, students would hear a clue to find the next clue.
Happy birthday! :)
Working on our graphing skills!
A science organization came to teach a lesson about the Five Senses!
Happy birthday! :)
We held a class election to determine who our class pet would be: owl, fish, turtle, fox, cheetah, or cat? Students campaigned by making campaign posters and telling students why they should vote for their animal. Then they had the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice. We graphed our results to determine that the owl is the winner! He will be coming home soon to spend the weekend with hardworking students. Owl is currently in our classroom at the Listening Center so that he can enjoy books, too!
Students had a lot of fun learning about different careers at Careers on the Go!
Some of our career day participants!
Students have learned all about sorting and how to sort various objects in multiple ways: color, size, shape, texture, etc. One group, sorted keys based on the sound that they made. They came to the conclusion, that the same key, creates the same sound. Smart thinking! :)
We have been working on "Turtle Talk." When students hear a word that they don't know how to spell, they say the word very slowly and listen for the sounds that they hear.
We visited Avery's Branch Farm in Amelia County! Students got to experience some of the daily chores of farmers, and had a blast! We picked nuts for the pigs, fed calves, picked eggs out of a chicken coop, fed baby pigs, pet a cow, milked a pretend cow, and played in a silough full of corn. Students also learned a lot about each of the animals on the farm. Ask your child what they learned from Avery's Branch!
Kindergarten got a visit from a local fire department. Students toured the inside of a fire truck and learned about fire safety.
Crawly was caught reading a few books around the room!
Crawly brought a new math bucket for us: counting spiders on the web. We are enjoying a few new math buckets!
Crawly is staying busy! He brought us three new fall books for the Reading Garden, and the students loved his book choices :) He also made a Jack O' Lantern made out of shapes, just like the ones that students made.
We learned about the letters T & G. Students got to sing a song using a guitar to learn the letters and their sound.
On Monday, October 10th, we celebrated Christopher Columbus. Throughout the week, we read a poem about him and made a craft to help us remember his importance.
Pete the Cat I Love My Red Shoes helped us to learn about Ordinal Numbers.
Check out what our class spider, Crawly has been up to! :)
Working with our sight words and other frequent words that we have.
Congratulations to the Cardinal of the Month!!! We are so proud of you for consistently being a Leader Ladybug and making great choices each day.
Our Ladybug of the Week sharing his mystery B item! The students loved guessing what was in his bag.
We finished Five Senses. Students use their sense of sight and their sense of smell to paint a picture using different seasonings. Some smelt very sweet and some were very smelly!
We worked on the letters R & S. Students completed object sorts and then picture sorts with the letters R & S. Take a look at our object sorts and the selfies of some students who completed picture sorts.
We made Jack O' Lanterns and used shapes for the eyes, mouth, and nose. Ask your child what shapes they have learned and see what shapes you can find around you!
In the Letters, Sounds, and Words Station, students began building letters with Legos.
Crawly the Spider crawled into our class over the weekend! He has made a few webs in the Reading Garden and looks like he is excited to be in Kindergarten. He will be in our room for the month of October to watch over us as we learn. He loves when students follow the Super 6 :)
Happy birthday! :)
Manchester High School's Teachers of Tomorrow put on a puppet show for all of the Kindergarten classes!
We finished working on sight words: I, can, like. Students participated in "Quiz-Quiz Trade" throughout the week to practice these words. Every student got a note card with one of the sight words on it: I, can, or like. Then they would find a partner to quiz and then trade note cards with. It's a fun game that we play often to reinforce concepts that we have learned in class.
We read "Ten Apples Up On Top" by Theo. LeSeig. Then, students placed 10 apples in the correct order on top of their heads.
Our beautiful apple trees and apples!
We learned about shapes! Then, students went on a hunt around the school to find shaped objects. They had a blast, and didn't make a peep in the hallways as they were in the data recording zone.
Students played "Quiz Quiz Trade" to reinforce the shapes that they were learning. They would partner up with another classmate, quiz each other on their shapes, and then trade cards. Repeat. Great practice and great fun!
We read the poem "Do You Know the Apple Man?". Students illustrated the poem in their poetry notebooks and circled sight words that we have worked on. Then, they read the poems and matched their voice to print.
Students learned about the Five Senses: Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, and Touching. They did various activities to reinforce these senses! Students explored the 5 senses with an apple. Students had to use their sense of hearing and touch to guess mystery items. They also used their sense of smell and sight to paint pictures with various spices.
Students did various activities with the letters B & M. They sorted B & M pictures and then got to take a selfie!
Students began their leveled reading groups! We have really been working on identifying letters and their sounds. We are also working on matching voice to print by reading with pointers or their "magical alphabet fingers" (their pointer fingers).
We read the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by Bill Martin Jr. Students made their own Brown Bears, re-told the story using the animals from the story, and then read their own Brown Bear, Brown Bear books. All students brought home their own Brown Bear, Brown Bear book. Get your child to read the story with you, and work on finger matching Voice to Print.
Students learned how to compare groups of numbers by using the terms more or less. We did fun activities throughout the week, including "Cookie Monster." We started with cookies and then switched to playing with cards. It is similar to the card game War, where the greatest number wins. Get your child to share with you how to play and play at home. They LOVE it!
Students learned about The American Flag, The Pledge of Allegiance, and the President of the United States. Their poem focused on "The Flag."
Students continued to work at their Literacy Stations: Writing, Magnet station (making words and the alphabet), Reading, Technology (listening to reading), and Letters, Sounds, and Words.
We celebrated two birthdays this week! Happy birthday! :)
Throughout the week, students worked on identifying the letters in their first name and writing their first name. Here are some pictures of a few of the activities that students worked on: Play-Doh name letters and Name Mosaics.
We started math buckets this week! Every day, students have an opportunity to visit one math bucket in order to reinforce math concepts. This week, students were introduced to bear patterns, counting with red hippos, shape pictures, and number racing. They had so much fun!!
Throughout the week, we read The Bus Song poem. Students glued the poem in their poetry notebooks and illustrated a picture of the poem.
Students were introduced to the Reading and Writing Stations this week. They learned all about partner reading and fun activities to complete at both stations. When we begin Guided Reading groups, students will complete various activities at one of five Literacy Stations.
Students learned about a concept sort: grouping things into categories based on common characteristics. We sorted animals and plants into two different categories. Then, students had the opportunity to cut their pictures and complete their own sort. After they finished, students took selfies with their sorts!
Students learned what an assembly is and what their expectations are. Then they got to practice those expected behaviors, while watching me rap The Assembly Rap. Of course, I had to take a selfie to capture the fun moment :)
We read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Pen. It's all about a mother raccoon comforting her son by kissing his hand before leaving for his first day of school. Students worked throughout the week to make a kissing hand craft for a loved one at home!
In math, we worked on counting to ten and counting objects to ten. Students had many opportunities this week to explore with math manipulatives. I was very impressed with the various ways students chose to explore their objects: some built various objects, some sorted, some made patterns, and some counted while demonstrating one-to-one correspondence.
We learned about the difference between upper-case letters and lower-case letters. Students traced the upper-case letter in their name with macaroni noodles.
Every week, we will read a new poem! This week, we read a poem about the First Day of School. On Friday, students will glue the poem into their notebooks and illustrate a picture.
Students learned the parts of a book, how to hold a book, and all about our classroom library. Everyone chose a book, chose a spot in the room to read, and then returned their book to the correct bin! We had so much fun :)
Every day, we start off with morning meeting! This includes, greeting, sharing, group activity, and morning message. This has already helped us to build our classroom community.
Student's first day feelings!
View our precious first day ladybug pictures!
Magic play dough,
Oh so white,
I make this wish with all my might,
If another color does appear,
We're sure to have a GREAT school year!
Oh so white,
I make this wish with all my might,
If another color does appear,
We're sure to have a GREAT school year!