Items Needed to Make Games for Classroom:

I attended the Minnesota Kindergarten Association conference on Friday and Saturday and walked away with some great ideas!  Many of the items I need to make the games, etc. our household items that everyone has lying around their house. 

If you have any of these items around the house and would be willing to donate them to our classroom the students and I would appreciate it.  The items will be used to make games for our Daily 5 (Reading) and Daily 4 (Math) centers.

-Gerber Clear Baby Food Containers w/ Lids (3.5 oz Plastic Containers not Glass)
-Clear Bottles w/ Lids (ex: Nestle Quick Bottles/Smaller Water Bottles)
-Small Cans w/ Lids (ex: Pringles Cans)
-Cool Whip Containers w/ Lids
-Butter Container w/ Lids
-Clothespins
-Paint Sticks
-Jenga Blocks
-Scrabble Letters
-Candyland
-Chutes & Ladders

Thanks so much!  If you have any questions, please give me a call.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

HOPE EVERYONE CAN MAKE IT MONDAY NIGHT!!!

 

Monday, May 2nd from 5:30-7:00 we will be having our final kindergarten family night.  The theme will be Fishing - Caught Reading!  We will wrap up the school year and give you some ideas of things you can work on at home this summer and we will be handing out packets for your child to use over the summer that will help get them ready for 1st grade. 

Red Shirt Friday

Students received a special gift from Michael today...

Michael sent every single student in our class a patch that he wears on his Army uniform.  Michael is in the  3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, more specifically the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment (Stryker). The patch that he sent the students is the patch that all the soldiers in his company wear.  It is worn on the left side of their upper arm.  Students wrote Michael a "thank you" letter for the patches and the final letter for the year.

Thanks Michael!  We will miss writing you! :)

Check out our Red Shirt Friday pictures/patch pictures!

Don't Forget to Wear Red Tomorrow!

Earth Day! - April 22nd

We celebrated Earth day today!  We talked about how Earth Day is a special day that celebrates Earth.  We also talked about what Earth Day is (Earth's Birthday), when Earth Day started (April 22nd, 1970), and ways we can protect the Earth (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).  Please talk to your student about ways they can help the Earth by reducing, reusing, and recycling at home.  You can also check out the videos that we watched in class:

The Secret Planet Earth video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jP8CC2rKj4

Jack Johnson's "3 R's" with lyrics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USo_vH1Jz7E

Same Jack Johnson song with photos/graphics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loeHhmUh-nE

Save the Date

Monday, May 2nd from 5:30-7:00 we will be having our final kindergarten family night.  The theme will be Fishing - Caught Reading!  We will wrap up the school year and give you some ideas of things you can work on at home this summer and we will be handing out packets for your child to use over the summer that will help get them ready for 1st grade.  I sent home an orange sheet in yesterday's folder.  Please return it and let us know if you will be able to make it.  If you have any questions, please feel free to call.  Hope to see everyone there! :)

Red Shirt Friday

Friday, April 29th we are encouraging students and staff throughout the Albert Lea District to wear red to support our troops. 

Our class continues to write Michael to talk about what we have been learning in kindergarten and what he has been doing in the Army. 

If you would like to read more about Red Shirt Friday's click on the link below: http://www.redshirtfridays.org/.

Reminder...



We do not have school on Thursday, April 21st through Monday, April 25th.  We will return to school on Tuesday, April 26th.  Enjoy your spring break!  Hopefully, the snow will melt fast so everyone can get outside.

Can you believe it is SNOWING?

We decided to write some snow poetry today.  Check out what our class wrote below...

SNOW

Slippery sidewalks and roads

No running on ice

Off of snow piles

White flaks in the sky

Snow

I can play in the snow.

I can catch snowflakes.

I can run in the snow.

I can make a snowman.

I can make snow sculptures.

I can make snowballs.

I can throw snowballs.

What I Like About Spring - Acrostic Poems

A special holiday is coming

Plants are growing

Rain is falling

I love spring

Lots of animals are waking up from hibernation

Check them out on our wiki at: http://mrsleachskindergartenclass.wikispaces.com/Student+Writing+and+Work

They are two .pdf documents that contain the students poems (the files were to big to put in one).  Your child's writing will be in one of the two.  They are in alphabetical order.

Daily 5 - Listen to Reading

I LOVE how the boys are soooooooo engrossed in their iPods.  They LOVE having books read to them.  I can't seem to add new books quick enough. 

Animal Poems

Our class poem...

Joe

This animal lives in Africa and at the zoo. 

It has brown dots and a long neck. 

What animal is it?

Ask your child and they will reveal the answer.

Check out all of our animal poems on our class wiki at: http://mrsleachskindergartenclass.wikispaces.com/Student+Writing+and+Work.

See if you can guess what animal each student is writing about.  Scroll down under their writing to see a picture of the animal and see if you were right.

What is Daily 4?

Job chart students use...

Fact Games - students are working on addition and subtraction facts

Number Practice - students are working on individual calendars (writing date, patterns, tally marks, graphing weather, etc.), writing numbers 0-500 (number scroll), etc.

Number Games - students are working on missing numbers, one more/one less, quantity discrimination, dice games, etc.

iPods- students are playing games on the iPod that are working on reinforcing kindergarten math gold standards that have been taught as a class and in small groups (number identification, patterns, sorting objects, addition, subtraction, money, etc.)

Mrs. Leach - students rotate math centers every 10 minutes.  While students are working I work with students individually or in small groups on gold standards that they are not secure in and extension of gold standards that students are secure in (ex: when students can identify coins and their value we work on counting coins).

Things I can do in kindergarten poem...

What is an Acrostic Poem?

An acrostic poem uses a word or phrase (usually the theme or the underlying subject matter of the poem) written vertically. Each letter of the word/phrase then acts as the beginning letter for a new line of the poem.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_an_acrostic_poem#ixzz1JKc37Qx8

Check out the acrostic name poems that kindergartners wrote on our wiki under the class writing tab.  Below is the example that the students came up with when writing about me and Ollie (my dog).

Mrs. Leach

Morning person

Reads to kids

Smiley :)

Likes teaching kids

Excited about school

Amazing teacher

Cares about kids

Honest

Ollie

Oustanding dog

Likes to give kisses

Loveable

Is a good dog

Energetic

Tornado Drill

Yesterday, we had a practice tornado drill at school.  In class, we talked about what a tornado is, what the difference between a warning and watch is, how to stay safe, etc.  We also wrote a poem as a class about tornados.  The poem students came up with was...

Thunder

On your knees and cover your head

Rain and hail

Need water, blankets, food, and a radio

Away from windows

Dangerous

Out of way

Extremely windy

Safe place

April is Poetry Month!

During the month of April, we will be talking about poetry.  We will  also be reading poetry and writing poetry as a class, in small groups, and individually.

Check out the links below to find some great poetry sites...

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/

http://www.poetry4kids.com/

Class Pictures!!!

We will be having our spring class pictures taken on Friday, April 8th.  Come dressed and ready to smile!

Looking for a "good fit" book in the library...

Decorah Eagles

Check out the decorah eagles...we have been following the live broadcast in class and reading books and writing facts we have learned about eagles.  See link below:

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles.

First hatch 4/2/11.
24-hour collage of first egg pip and hatch
Second hatch 4/3/11.
First glimpse of second hatchling
Third hatch expected in a couple of days.