Polar Express & Percussion Ensemble

What better way to celebrate the week before vacation but with Pajama Day! The students were so excited to wear their pajamas to school and to see their teachers in pajamas too. In addition to that, the students got to listen to the story The Polar Express in the library. Each student got their very own ticket stamped by the conductor as they entered the library.  

A special thank you to Mrs. Libby's grandfather for being our conductor! 

After enjoying the story, the students wrote about their favorite part and made their own Polar Express trains.  It was a great day!

What would Polar Express Day be without some singing from our very talented students! 

To end our amazing week the entire school was treated to a performance by The Percussion Ensemble. The students learned about percussion instruments and how they can use materials at home to make music.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears & The Gingerbread Man

During the month of December we studied different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Our focus was on comparing the characters and setting, and sequencing the events of the story to help us retell the story to others. 

To wrap up our unit on Goldilocks and the Three Bears we had "Bring Your Favorite Bear or Cuddly Stuffed Animal to School Day" The students told about their cuddly animal and why it's a favorite. They also investigated their bears/stuffed animals. It was a fun way to end our Goldilocks and the Three Bears unit. Click on the link below to enjoy an animoto video of the students and their cuddly friends.
Click here for the link: Teddy Bear Day!

We were also lucky enough to have Mrs. Miyazaki as a mystery reader. Thank you so much for reading to us Mrs. Miyazaki!

After finishing our study of Goldilocks and the Three Bears we studied different versions of The Gingerbread Man. While we continued to talk about the characters and setting of each story our focus was on comparing the endings and the refrain of each story and sequencing to help us retell the story to others. 

Here the students had to glue the characters that the Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Girl, and Gingerbread Cowboy encountered in the correct order. This activity demonstrates comprehension of the story and also provides a visual for retelling.

Here the students drew a picture and wrote a sentence telling how each story ended. 

To conclude our unit of study, the students each got to decorate a Gingerbread Man cookie. It was a lot of fun and the students enjoyed the different versions of the story.

A Very Busy Month

November was a very busy month! In addition to election day we had many other activities going on in kindergarten. Mystery Reader A huge Thank You to Mr. Thomas for coming in and reading to the class as a mystery reader. The students loved the story you read.

Kindness Day The students celebrated International Kindness Day by working together with  Mrs. Higgins class to create kindess rocks with kind/caring messages on them. Once the rocks were completed our class participated in a special kindergarten/first grade cooperative project of making a kindness garden. Each class put their rocks in a section of the garden and then together we read the Kindness Pledge. It was so special to see all of the beautiful rocks with such kind and caring messages on them.

Thanksgiving Performance The students were so excited to perform the poems and songs they have been practicing. They did an amazing job! 

Gratitude Tree November's Life is Good theme was Gratitude. After reading books about giving thanks and having gratitude for all of the people in our lives and the things we are lucky enough to have, each student wrote one thing they are grateful for on a fall colored leaf, and it was added to our school-wide: Gratitude is Always in Season tree. Next time you visit, stop in the lobby and read all of the things our students and staff members are grateful for. It is truly inspiring!

Hide the Turkey! This month's family homework project was to work together to disguise a turkey so it wouldn't get eaten on Thanksgiving Day. The students loved sharing their projects and did a great job telling how they chose their disguise and what materials they used.

Thanksgving Feast  The students enjoyed a special feast before Thanksgiving break. Our feast included mini corn muffins with homemade butter, apple slices, and the biggest surprise of all......a turkey stuffed with popcorn. 

Finally, we ended our day by learning about the Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the First Thanksgiving from Mrs. Kennedy's talented second graders. Thank You!

As you can see, November was a busy and exciting month for us.

Mystery Reader & Election Day!

This was an exciting week in Kindergarten! 
On Wednesday Mrs. Polito surprised the class as our mystery reader and read Farra and Luca's favorite book: The Day the Crayons Quit Thank you Mrs. Polito for taking time to read to us. We loved it!

On Tuesday we held our very own election at Fuller Meadow. Using the books Duck For President by Doreen Cronin and My Teacher For President by Kay Winters we learned a bit about the election process. It was a lot of fun. We read a poem titled Our Presidents and made a chart of what we already know about the President's job. 

by Deanna Jump

The students knew that the President: * takes care of our country  * takes care of the American people * takes care of schools * makes the rules * helps the world * prays for people
Next, we read the story Duck For President and made our own paper Duck.

Then we read the book My Teacher for President  and we talked some more about what it means to have an election and the importance of voting for a candidate you believe would make the best president.

 We talked about the two candidates in our election and we created a chart listing the positive qualities of each: Duck and Farmer Brown. 

After that, the students created posters encouraging others to vote for the candidate of their choice. The students presented their posters and told why they chose that candidate. 

Finally, it was time to vote. Farra checked off each voter and handed them their ballot. They entered the voting booth to make their selection and then put their ballot in the ballot box.

Once all of the votes had been cast, we counted the ballots and the winner was.......... Duck!

Kindergarten Standards: SL.K.5 Speaking & Listening: Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail. Sl.K.6 Speaking & Listening: Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Favorite Stuffed Animal

Last week, Mrs. Baker read Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley and Lauren Castillo, to our class as part of  Global Read Aloud. This is a wonderful story about a little girl on vacation with her family and how her special stuffed animals help her fall back to sleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night. This was something that many of the children could relate to. In addition, Mrs. Marshall taught our class some strategies for calming the body and mind. We were so lucky to have them teach us. As a follow-up each student brought in a favorite stuffed animal. They took turns telling about their stuffed animal and why it was special to them. With guidance they took a picture of their stuffed animal and created a Chatterpix which I then turned into an IMovie.  Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! The students had so much fun dressing up and showing off their amazing costumes as well as enjoying some yummy treats, games, and activities during our classroom party. Thank you so much to the parents who donated paper goods and goodies for the party. Thank you to to Mrs. Miyazaki for helping prior to the parade get everyone in costume and thank you to Mrs. Florentino, Mrs. Polito, and Mrs. Young for helping during the party. Everyone had a great time.

Daily Five- Work on Writing

Last week we began our second Daily 5 station- Work on Writing. Each day, after Read to Self, the students get their writing notebooks and practice writing words from around the room. They add an illustration to help them remember each word. At the end of the session, students get to share the words they have written. Work on Writing has quickly become a favorite classroom activity!

Reading, Reading, Reading!

This week's blog post is all about reading!  
On Wednesday, Mrs. Velez surprised the class by being our first mystery reader. The students were so excited and enjoyed the story Pinkalicious, Mia's favorite. Thank you Mrs. Velez!

This week we enjoyed our first book as part of Global Read Aloud. Global Read Aloud was started in 2010 with the goal of using one book to connect the world. Since then over 1 million children around the world have participated. Global Read Aloud runs for 6 weeks and during that time we try to connect with other students in different classes, schools, states, and countries if possible.
Our first book was Nana in the City, written by Lauren Castillo. It was a wonderful story about a boy whose Nana lives in the city. At first the boy finds the city a scary place but after his Nana shows him the beauty of the city, he can't wait to go back.

After reading the story, we talked about the elements of a city and answered the question: Is Middleton a city? No, the buildings in Middleton are not tall or close together. A city has lots of people and cars, Some children made a connection to the story by talking about going into Boston. 

We then looked at pictures of  city skylines during the daytime and night time and created our own city skylines. It was a lot of fun.

Finally, I am excited to share with you how we are doing with our first Daily 5 activity: Read to Self. The students are doing a great job building their stamina and we are up to 12 minutes of sustained readimg.  During the past couple of weeks we have been working hard to practice this important skill. Each day the students get their book baggie and find a comfortable spot in the classroom. This spot must be a place where they will be able to do their best reading and not distract or be distracted by others. 

Next week will will add to our Daily 5 activities by beginning our practice of: Work on Writing.
Stay tuned......

Ingaldsby Farm

Today's field trip to Ingaldsby Farm was so much fun!  First, we went on a tractor ride and learned all about the different foods grown on the farm.We stopped and learned about some of the cows that live on the farm. Next, we picked our very own pumpkins. Finally, we had yummy apple cider and apple cider donuts and played at the farm's play yard. 

Later that afternoon we spent time observing our pumpkins. We used our senses to talk about what they look like and how they feel. We counted the lines around them and measured their height with cubes. We even tested whether they would float or sink. All of our pumpkins floated but some turned sideways in the water. It was a a great pumpkin filled day!