Happy Earth Day, K families! We talked quite a bit about ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle and take care of our Earth in class last week. Since I can't spend Earth Day with the K kids, I thought I'd share something I found about how to incorporate Earth Day at home written from a real mom (as opposed to a teacher who just adores her nephews =])! Just click the picture below to go to the link. Hope you're all having a wonderful and relaxing break! =)
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Pasta for Pennies Presented by Olive Garden is a service learning, character education and philanthropy program that gives students a unique experience making a difference through teamwork--working together to aid thousands of children and adults in the fight blood cancers like leukemia.
We had a huge kickoff on Monday at school. We got to listen to a speaker, Ms. Holland, who is a leukemia survivor. She taught us about the way blood cells work in our body, and told us how by saving some pennies, we can help people with blood cancers, just like people helped her! This year we are collecting money exclusively online at the link found below. Each child in the past has been encouraged to bring in at least a few pennies by helping around the house or asking family members to donate. Because of it being only online, I am challenging each student to find at least one donor (just one! =]) to contribute to this fabulous program! I can't wait to see how much Room 123 can raise!! Please click the puppy picture below to go to our Classroom's Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Pasta for Pennies Donation page! Friday we had our very first enrichment cluster at school. An enrichment cluster is a chance for students to choose something else to learn about with another teacher. Typically enrichment clusters are offered to the older grades in the Caesar Rodney School District, but Welch decided to offer it to the little ones, too! Enrichment clusters meet 6 times for an hour each time and then showcase their hard work in a special showcase. The following days are remaining enrichment cluster days: March 7th, March 20th, April 4th, May 2nd, May 9th, and May 16th. My enrichment cluster is called Making People Smile, and it's a chance for the kindergarteners and first graders to learn more about Community Service! Each time we meet we focus on a different population and organization and do some type of project to serve those we are learning about. Three kiddos from our class - Addy, Audrey, and Lilly - are joining me, plus eleven more kinders and first graders! Our first project was to make bookmarks for senior citizens. It was so much fun!! See the pictures below for an adorable bookmarks that are sure to make someone smile! =) Here's the other enrichment clusters that are being offered to the kindergarteners at Welch: Crafts with Mrs. Hastings, Building and Construction (with legos!) with Mrs. Wallace, Chemistry for Kids with Mrs. Schaffer, Zumba with Ms. Schroeder and Mrs. Rodriguez, Astronomy with Mrs. Evans, Computers with Mrs. Bolin, Yoga with Mrs. Minto, and Principal for a Day with Mr. Payne! You'll have to ask your little one what they did With his silly rhymes and stories, Dr. Seuss is absolutely one of my favorite authors and illustrators! To celebrate the fantastic work of Dr. Seuss, Welch is celebrating all week with theme days! Here's this week's line up:
Monday: The Cat in the Hat loves his hat. Wear your favorite hat! Tuesday: Fox in Socks has silly socks. Wear your favorite socks! Wednesday: Wacky clothes for Wacky Wednesday! Wear your wackiest clothes today! Thursday: The Grinch is a mean one and a green one, and we loooove Green Eggs and Ham. Wear all of your green! Friday: There are so many amazing characters in the world of Seuss.. Dress like your favorite Dr. Seuss character! For more Seuss fun, check out http://www.seussville.com/. They have games and activities, character and author information, and more! The 100th day is FINALLY here!! To get the K kids (and their fantastic moms and dads!) excited for our big day, I decided to give a sneak peek at what the K kids are going to see when they walk through the door on Tuesday... Yay for being 100 days smarter!!!!
Since writing Valentine's is a fabulous way of practicing handwriting and giving Valentine's is such a wonderful day of making someone's day, the K kids are allowed to bring in Valentines on Friday, February 14th. =) We'll give them out at our Valentine Party!
In case you misplaced the class list that was sent home for Valentine's day, you can find the list by clicking on the heart below. Our 100th Day Family Project is due on or before Thursday, February 13th. The possibilities are ENDLESS for what you can do with your little one! Your K kid can use 100 things to make the number 100, they can use 100 things to make some kind of picture, they can use 100 things to spell out their name.. there's so many fun things you can do!
Click the picture below to go to a Pinterest Search for some 100th Day Collage ideas! (Ahh, I just love Pinterest!!) =) =) It's almost our 100th day of school, and that is a HUGE accomplishment in Kindergarten! To celebrate being 100 days smarter, we spend the 100th day doing a bunch of 100-themed activities. More information will be coming shortly, but here's a sneak peek at what you can start doing to get ready:
1. 100th Day Snack and Crafts: We start the day with a 100-themed treat, do 100th day crafts, and make a snack with ONE HUNDRED THINGS! A Sign Up Genius will come home this week if you'd like to sign up to donate supplies! 2. 100th Day Costume: My favorite part of the 100th day.. dressing like we are 100 years old =) Click the picture below to take you to a Google Search of 100th day costume ideas for your kinder kid! 3. 100th Day Family Project: We ask each K kid to make a collage of 100 things and send it in on or before the 100th day. Be as creative as you'd like! The important part is that it's an opportunity to practice counting to 100 =) Can't wait to celebrate spending 100 days learning and growing with your amazing little one! =) This week was a special week in K - it was the first week we got to choose and bring home our own library books!
One of my favorite things in the world since I learned how to read when I was in kindergarten is to read a new (or a new to me) book. I was trying to figure out the best way to explain how reading became such an amazing thing in my life, and I found a pretty awesome blog article by Colin McElwee that explained it! My favorite sections are below... The Importance of Choice When I speak at conferences, I sometimes ask the audience to think about a favorite book, a book that changed their lives or that they frequently recommend to others. When I ask how they came upon that book, almost always, the case is that their favorite was not from a set syllabus or something they had to read for school. Rather they themselves chose their favorite book–-it was a choice among many books available and a decision made on that day for whatever reason that struck them at the time. Think about it! The power to choose a book and the process each individual goes through in selecting a book to read shouldn’t be underestimated. Yes, a single book and the content in it can change an individual’s life. However, the way a book is discovered is key, too. It’s part of what makes that book special to that person. Engagement It’s because books don’t equal literacy. Rather books simply present the opportunity to read which leads, only if you are lucky, to engagement which is the rocket fuel that decodes words and as such is the foundation of what we call literacy. No engagement, little chance of literacy! So K families, I urge you to take advantage of this time your child has to choose a book! Ask them about the book they chose and engage them by diving in and reading and exploring it with them! A new book will be coming home every Wednesday. I always recommend that K families just keep their library book in their book bag. That way they know where it is when they want to read it and it's ready to go back to school when it's time to be returned and exchanged for a new one on Wed To see the full article, visit: http://www.worldreader.org/blog/mobile-innovation-and-the-power-of-choosing-books/ I love having new students not only because it expands our classroom family and gives us someone else to love and grow with, but also because it shows me just what the K kids have learned in our time together! When Gabrielle started on Thursday, this group of kinders blew me away. They completely took her under their wing and made her a part of our class family. I didn't have to do anything - they introduced themselves to her and showed her everything we do, all without me asking them to do anything!
As much as I would love for all of the K kids to leave our room counting to 100, writing 10 sentences, and fluently reading, I honestly hope to have just as much of a positive impact on their personalities. We work so much on being good friends and making good choices, but watching this group of K kids interact with Gabrielle on her first day showed me just how amazing of a job their families have done with raising them. Thank you, thank you, thank you for raising such respectful, kind-hearted, and genuinely sweet kiddos. It is my sincere pleasure to work with them each and every day! =) |