First Week of School!

 Welcome to Kindergarten 2015-2016!

 

DRUM ROLL PLEASE..........

 

...........INTRODUCING MRS. BROWN'S KINDERGARTEN CLASS OF 2015-2016!

Reading:

This week in reading we started to learn about our 90 minute reading block and what we do during our reading time. We talked about Daily 5/CAFE and how we are becoming readers. One of the first lessons we completed was learning that we, even as brand new kindergarten students are already readers! Yes, they could not believe it when I told them this news. We practiced reading the 3 ways to read a book....Read the Pictures, Read the Words and Retell Familiar Stories. They were so in shock when they realized that reading the pictures in a book was in fact READING! Woo hoo!



We then introduced the STAMINA chart. This chart records the minutes of reading stamina we, as a class, were able to complete without stopping. Our very first try we made it to FOUR minutes. I was absolutely shocked and excited at how well we did the very first try!



We created our very first I-Chart this week! This chart focused on the students job and my job during our first Daily 5 choice "Read to Self". The class and I came up with the jobs that are needed in order to have a smooth round of daily five where we all do our jobs!


Have I mentioned how amazed I am at these kids and how well they are already reading to self? Just take a look at several of the pictures I took this week to prove it!

One way we teach the correct way of building our reading stamina is to model, model, model. This week we also had a couple of students model the INCORRECT way to read to self, followed by the correct way. The class got a kick out of seeing students do the wrong thing!

Below is a video of students reading their books on the very first day of school!

ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION!

 

The class you see in the picture below made it all the way to 9, yes you read that right, 9 minutes of reading stamina! I could not be any more proud to be their teacher today! Way to go boys and girls!

In the first three days of school we have practiced three main reading strategies. These reading strategies will help us become independent readers this year!

• 3 ways to read a book
• Retell familiar stories using the pictures
• Tell a connected story using the pictures.

Writing:

During our writing time this week, we practiced finding different letters in the alphabet during our shared writing of our morning message. The class did an exceptional job finding letters to circle.





























We also completed a second shared writing about what makes a GOOD teacher and  GOOD student. The class had some really great ideas to follow for this school year.

 

Math:

During math time this week, we focused on exploring and using our creativity with our tubs of math tools. I saw very many creative and imaginative minds at work!











































We also had several times during this week of being silly and goofy! Below is a video of the class doing the FREEZE dance on the first day of school!

 

Next Week:



• In reading we will continue building reading stamina and trying to reach our goal of 15 minutes of stamina!
• In math we will be focusing on the numbers 0-10 and counting out math tools in various amounts.
• In writing we will begin focusing on a specific letter of the alphabet every day.
• Our theme next week is GETTING TO KNOW YOU.I will be sending home a bag on Monday for you to fill up with your child.

Important Dates/Information:

• 8/20 Parent University 5:3-7:30
• 9/7 Labor Day NO SCHOOL

Classroom Tour 2015-2016!

It's that time again...Back to School!

 

     Below is a sneak peak I made for my incoming kindergarteners to watch before coming to Meet you at the Mill night to see it in person. I'm ready for a fun and exciting year of learning!

 

Week in Review--Last Week!

We had a fantastic last week in kindergarten!

We started off the week with our kindergarten graduation and the wonder walk for the March of Dimes.

Kindergarten graduation:

Graduation went off perfectly! Each class performs songs, a poem and chanted out a word! We watched a video where each kindergarten student told us what they wanted to be when they grow up. The video can be seen below. I am so incredibly proud of all of the success both academically and behaviorally the class has shown this school year. I am jealous of the first grade teachers get to have them next year!

Wonder walk for the March of Dimes:

In honor of sick babies and two special babies from the Mayflower Mill family we raised money and walked around the school in honor of those sick babies. Several students in our class donated money to the organization. I am very proud of all of the students and being able to recognize the need and giving to others.

We continued our last week of school fun by having our "movie matinee" end-of-the-year party, as well as our last behavior celebration. Our behavior celebration was testing our strength and speed going through an inflatable obstacle course. We enjoyed food and sweet treats while watching the movie Big Hero 6 for our end-of-the-year celebration.

To finish off our week we had an awards program in our classroom to celebrate the end of kindergarten and moving on to first grade! Each student received a special award specific for them as well as the kids who earned homework club all year long. We had a lot of fun dancing our way down the blue carpet to celebrate each students achievement.

These are the kids who so graciously donated to the March of Dimes!

There was some learning of course going on this week as well! We took a few lessons that we did not have time for during our Ocean unit last week and completed them this week. We love all of the books in the series where an old lady swallows random things and then burps them out in the end. After reading There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell, we took pictures from the story and retold as a class and with a partner. The students enjoyed putting each of the pieces in the pocket (her belly) and then having them all burp out in the end!

Showing off our end of the year awards!

Everybody dance now!

 

 

At the school awards show, the teachers and staff surprised the audience by performing a dance to Bruno Mars, Uptown Funk. Every year the teachers/staff do a performance during the Talent Show and did not do one this year. Instead, they showed off their moves on the last day of school! Enjoy!

 

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!