Indian Spirit in Kindergarten!

It was homecoming week at Spirit Lake and we enjoyed all of the dress up days and activities this week!

Here are our pictures from our dress up days :)

Pajama Day:

Red, White and Blue Day:

 

Jersey Day:

Hat Day:

 

Red and Black Day:

 

There were many exciting activities this week! We had a special visit from the Spirit Lake volleyball players! They were great role models and the students enjoyed listening to them read their favorite books!

We enjoyed the pep rally and parade on Friday!

Daily Five reading has been going very well! The students have done a great job of choosing their own stations! We have been working on building our stamina and have already started read to self, word work and work on writing!

The kindergarteners love reading their poetry books and their favorite picture books during read to self:

During word work we practice making letters and words using Play Dou, Wiki Sticks and whiteboards:

Work on writing this week we have been working on our all about me books:

 In math we learned about AB patterns this week. We also learned how to play some new math games with a partner!

We had another great week in kindergarten!

Another Great Week in Kindergarten!

We had another awesome week of kindergarten! This week our Discovery unit was All About Me! We had fun creating an all about me book, learning about what makes us special, creating a self portrait and using chalk to practice writing our names outside!

In math, we learned a new math game to play with a partner! The kindergarteners were so excited to be able to do math with a friend!

Show and Share started this week! We learned how to ask and answer good questions! All of the kindergarteners cannot wait to bring in their show and share this month!

We love to learn and explore using the SMART Board!

Just a reminder! Our homecoming dress up days start on Monday! This year we are doing an Olympic theme! Here are the dress up days:

Monday: Pajama Day

Tuesday: Red, White, and Blue Day

Wednesday: Jersey Day

Thursday: Hat Day

Friday: Red and Black Day

First Week Fun!

The first week of school was very successful! We had so much fun meeting and getting to know all of our new classmates! 

I took the kindergarteners on a tour of the building in search for Pete the Cat after reading the book "Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes". After searching the school I found him back in our room! They thought he was one sneaky cat! Then we made our very own Pete the Cat!

We played many get to know you games, explored with the Ipods and learned some new dances:

Writing and math were two of our favorite subjects this week! In math we explored with manipulatives and in writing we learned that writing is just telling on paper!

We even filled up part of our class bucket and we learned what it means to be a bucket filler. Now we can fill buckets at home and at school!

One of our favorite times of the day when the students have a chance to play and interact with each other is center time! 

It has been such an exciting and fun week :) It is going to be a great year in kindergarten!!

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to the 2012/2013 school year! I am excited to start another year of kindergarten! Here you will find our classroom blog. In this blog you will find updates, resources, information and pictures of everything that is happening in our  Kindergarten classroom!

It was so great to meet everyone at our open house last Thursday :) We have many fun things planned for this year and I cannot wait to get started!

 Here are just a few of the exciting things we will be doing in our Kindergarten curriculum this year!

Letters Alive: Our alphabet and sight word curriculum is brand new this year and something I am very excited to introduce to the kids. The letters and letter sounds are introduced animals that come alive in 3D for the students to see and hear! A letter a week is introduced with an animal, word family cards and sight words!

Daily Five: The students work on reading and writing in stations that they pick! Their choices include read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, work on writing and word work. The students love the responsibility of picking their station and will be working on skills that are essential to reading!

Discovery: In discovery we have a chance to learn all about science and social studies! We create many hands on projects, take field trips, bring in guest speakers and explore many different topics throughout the year!

CGI Math: Children learn math through story problems that incorporate many different math concepts. The students share their thoughts with their peers and use a variety of different materials and strategies to solve a problem. The collaboration with their classmates helps them to understand the concepts and reason for solving math problems.

Bucket Fillers: This year in our kindergarten classroom we are learning to be bucket fillers! Bucket fillers are people who show they care by helping others and filling their "buckets". We learn many ways to treat others with respect and kindness through this program :) Here is a great website to find more out about bucket filling: http://www.bucketfillers101.com/index.php

We also got great news for this year in kindergarten! Our elementary school will soon be 1 to 1 with Ipods/Ipads. There are so many great opportunities for the students to learn with this 1 to 1 initiative! I cannot wait to get started and I know the students will be thrilled!

It is going to be a fantastic year! I cannot wait to see everyone again tomorrow and Tuesday for the first day of kindergarten! Be on the lookout for more pictures and updates coming soon :)