Christmas Books

We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas.  We have a great class who loves to learn.  We have a staff who enjoys sing alongs.  We also have a wonderful parent group at school who wrapped a book for every student to open.  Thank you PIE for the amazing gift of reading.  The kids were already cozy in their pajamas as they dove into their new books.  They kept coming up to me, pointing out all the sight words they had discovered.   They found words on their song sheets as well.  We had a warm and cozy day before vacation, drinking hot cocoa and eating oranges, cuddled up and reading.  Merry Christmas to all!

Kids Take Over the Learning!

Today the kids came in and grabbed some construction paper.  Then all our plans went out the window.  They came up with such great ideas we let them take charge of their own learning.  The results included tome patterned necklaces, everyone's foot being traced, compared, and hung as a foot garland, a tower of blocks from a book being reproduced in the classroom, secret books being written, and cooperation everywhere.  Then, in the afternoon the kids watched Rudolph with a special job, to look carefully at the characters.  They all discussed the characters throughout the movie, noted some bucket dipping parts and some bucket filling parts.  Then they worked in teams to draw different characters.  Take a look at the pictures and see the fun.

Polar Express and Math

We read the Polar Express today.  The kids had some experience with the movie, and were able to draw comparisons, and differences to the book.  We all turned to talk with a partner throughout the book,  making connections, talking about the character's feelings, and discussing the meaning of the word "lurch."

After the book was read, everyone took a train with numbers on it.  Then they rolled two diced and counted the sum of the dots.  They found that number on the train and colored it in.  We problem solved what to do if we got the same number twice.  The kids came up with great solutions like, "Color it again,"  "Check it to see if you could color it better,"  "Do nothing,"  and "Use a different color."

We went outside for recess and the kids had a great time playing in the snow.  Every child needs to bring a hat, mittens, snow pants, and boots to school EVERY DAY.  Even if the morning is super cold, by recess time it might be warm enough to go outside.  I want all the kiddos to be nice and warm so they can enjoy their recess.  Speaking of snow gear, I find that it helps to put ALL the snow gear in a reusable HANNAFORD bag, the kind right at the cash registers (they are the ones big enough, stand up on their own, and are easy to carry).  If the bag is labeled with your child's name, just like ALL the items inside the bag, it makes getting ready for recess and departure MUCH easier.  The kids can just grab their bags, go to a place with lots of space, and get ready.  They won't be all cramped by their cubbies.  This will also make it easier for your child to carry gear from home to school instead of trying to cram it into a backpack.  Please try to have one of the bags with your child's gear in it after Christmas break.

Cozy Pajama Day Reminder

Cozy Pajama Day

December 20

Dear Families,

Kindergarten is excited to celebrate Cozy Pajama Day on Friday, December 20.  We will spend the day reading Christmas stories, doing crafts, caroling and enjoying some hot chocolate.  The kids will be given small gifts from their teachers, but are not expected to exchange gifts with each other.  Please send your child to school with pajamas that will be comfortable and appropriate to wear all day.  You may also wish to send a change of street clothes should he or she tire of the pajamas.  We are looking forward to our cozy day.

Christmas In Australia and Pan Balances

This is the "razzamatazz" crown we made to celebrate Christmas in Australia.  The kids learned that it is summertime right now and kids are out on their summer break.  Christmas dinner there could be a barbecue.  We learned that the folks in Australia enjoy using glitz and tinsel to celebrate their Christmas.  We decided to use tinsel to make crowns.  The kids had a wonderful time wearing their razzamatazz crowns.

We also used pan balances again.  This time we used clay to match the mass of different shells.  Some shells used just a little dot of clay while others needed more clay to equal the mass.  I wish you could have heard the conversations today.  Kids were trying one piece of clay, evaluating the amount they put on by checking the balance and then saying things like, "That's too much mass on the clay side."  Then they tweaked the amount of clay by taking off just a little at a time until the balance was horizontal, not diagonal (their words, not mine).  

Discussing Stories

We read the book "Cinderella's Rat" today.  Then we each partnered up with a copy of the book.  The kids retold the story by looking at the pictures and retelling it. When the kids each retold the story they each put a post-it on their favorite part of the story. All the kids had an opportunity to tell each other about their favorite part.  Then we all wrote down all the sight words we could find in the story.  The kids were amazed at how many words they could read in the story.

Hanukkah Traditions

We had a great time exploring Hanukkah traditions today.  The kids learned how to spin the dreidel, they shredded potatoes to make latkes and then made menorahs.  We read how one family celebrates Hanukkah and then compared our family holiday traditions.  The kids all tried the latkes, but only a few liked them.  They all enjoyed the applesauce.  We ended the day with our fourth grade reading buddies.  It was a lovely day.

Thanksgiving Baskets

 One of the best parts of working at Wiscasset Primary School is the amazing Partners in Education group.  Each year they set up a Thanksgiving Basket experience for the students.  Each grade brought in a different component for a Thanksgiving basket.  Then PIE sets up all the food up in a "store." Produce harvested by the students from is also added to the basket.  PIE always finds ways to tie in learning to these experiences.  The kinders crossed items off a shopping list, and we talked about how each item could be used.  Their favorite part was using the scale to weigh out carrots and potatoes.  I loved how this worked nicely into our math lesson the day before when we were using balances.  

When we returned to class the kids were thrilled to learn a new game called "Monster Squeeze."   One child thinks of a number and as the other child guesses, the first partner tells the second child if the guess is too high or too low.  With each guess one monster is moved closer to "squeeze" the correct number.  It is a great game to teach children how to compare numbers.  I sent home a copy of this game with each child, so be sure to ask your kiddo to play a game of Monster Squeeze with you.  Better yet, take it to Thanksgiving dinner and have aunts and uncles play as well.

Wampanoag and Pilgrim Games

We pretended to be children in the 1620's.  Though the Pilgrim and Wampanoag children worked very hard, they also found time for play.  The kids learned to play Naught, an older version of Tic-Tac Toe.  They also did a little "hop-frog," also known as leap frog.  Their favorite game was "Ring and Stick," played by the Wampanoag children.  Because the Wampanoag children didn't go to Wal-Mart to buy their toys, the kinder-kids didn't either.  They were supplied with string, pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks.  They saw a model of a ring and stick game and then were cut loose to make their own.  The kids had to experiment with knot tying, length of string, and size of the ring.  They tested their products over and over.  They helped their peers tie knots and make rings.  Whenever a child actually caught the ring on the stick their faces were priceless, hence all the pictures today.  We talked about how this game actually trained the Wampanoag children to focus on a target, a useful skill for hunting.

This afternoon was special as Bethany from SASSM came to visit us with her friend Penny the Porcupine, a puppet.  Bethany and Penny taught us ways to deal with people who are touching us if we don't want to be touch.  We can: tell the person to stop, walk away, or tell a trusted adult we need help. The kids all colored a Penny the Porcupine sheet to take home and share her tips with families.  

Be careful with Hop-Frog.  The kids found me to be a little too tall to hop over.

Even the adults had fun with Ring and Stick.  Mrs. Potter was very proud of her success.

Look at the determination on his face.  He was determined to get the ring on the stick.

Heavy Thinking

We started our morning meeting today with a new tool, clipboards!  We learned how to sit on the clipboards until it was time to use them.  Then everyone had to answer our sign in question:  What is heavier than a person?  The kids took out their clipboards and a scrap paper to draw what they thought would be heavier person.  They also tried writing their answers. Everyone shared their answer and we were all impressed with how many letter sounds the kids are capturing.

After lunch we picked out different objects in the classroom and used a pan balance to figure out which objects were heavier and which objects were lighter.  We learned that the heavy objects make the pan balance go down, lifting the lighter objects into the air.  We also learned that some objects that are big can be lighter than the smaller object it is compared to.

Now that we have some more time in the morning to do exploratory learning, the kids will have an opportunity to experiment with their questions regarding the pan balance.

Sight Words

One of the super cool parts of being a kindergarten teacher is the ability to watch kids take learning into their own hands.  We set the stage and the kids take over.  Today, during word work, one of the students used the magnet letters to spell all the November sight words.  He was so excited I had to take a picture.  The child in the background is on the website starfall.com learning more about letters and stories.  While the kids are doing their own learning, the teachers have the opportunity to work with small groups of children.  It's usually so quiet in the classroom you'd have to look twice to confirm students are there.

Many of you asked how you can help your child at home.  Grab some magnet letters and ask them what they can show you.  Ask if they can find all the letters with curves, all the letters with lines, all the letters with diagonal lines.  Ask your child to spell his or her name, or friend's names, or even better, sight words.  Make it fun.  PLAY with words by seeing how fast he or she can write a word, or trace it in shaving cream.  Have a great weekend playing with words!

Building a Common House

We made it to North America, created a Compact to agree on the rules for our new colony, and now it is time to build the colony.  The kids learned how everyone had to work together to build the Common House, the first structure in Plymouth Plantation.  Tomorrow we will learn how hard our first winter was and brainstorm ways the Pilgrims could have fared better.

We also found examples of symmetry in nature by looking at shells, leaves, and our bodies.  Then we made a bar graph to demonstrate the favorite dessert of kindergarten.  Both KB and KR classes decided cake was the favorite dessert.

Symmetry Paintings

Today we made symmetrical paintings and created a Kindergarten Compact based on the Mayflower Compact.  It was busy, messy and fun!
Have a great LONG weekend.  We'll see everyone on Tuesday.