November News

November was a quick yet busy month here in Kindergarten! Students were very excited to start learning Heart Words. Heart words are words that we see often when reading and use often when writing.  The reason they are called Heart Words is because in many of them, there is one or more parts that we have to learn by heart because they either don't follow the spelling rules or it is a spelling rule we have not yet learned. Heart words are also referred to as sight words.
Writing
Students have made a lot of progress in their storytelling this month.  Students started the year by learning how to draw people and places using shapes. Then they learned how to draw a background and practiced telling their story to a classmate. Next the students practiced using their letter/ sound knowledge to add labels to the people and objects in their picture. Then we started using our Heart Words and our letter/sound knowledge to try write a simple sentence to go with our pictures.  Here are some examples of their work. They are doing a great job!

Happy Thanksgiving! We ended November with a special Thanksgiving snack.

October News

Happy October!  This month flew by as students continued to learn about and practice the rules and procedures for Daily 5, Math Stations, and Center Time! We also had several special events this month!
Students have learned and practiced each part of Daily 5. These include: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listening to Reading, Word Work, and Work on Writing. Now that students are comfortable and independent (mostly) with each part they will do two each day, during Daily 5/RTI while myself and Mrs. Dellea  meet with small groups of students to work on specific skills. 

Read to Self

Read to Someone

Listening to Reading

Word Work

Math StationsWe do math stations about 3 times a week. Each station helps to build number sense as students work on reading, writing, and exploring numbers in different ways. During October, math stations included: Station 1-a Happy Fall color code activity. Students had to read the number and color the picture according to the color that matched the number. This activity was great for number reading and color matching. Station 2- Playdough Numbers. At this station, students practiced reading numbers, using playdough to build that number, and making playdough balls to fill in a ten frame. Station 3- Halloween Count and Graph. At this station, students practiced counting objects, graphing how many, writing the number, and then comparing. Station 4- Counting OnDuring October, we learned about pumpkins and had Pumpkin Day! The PTO set up a pumpkin patch  near the back circle and each student got to choose a pumpkin. Then during math time we did a pumpkin exploration. The students carefully observed their pumpkins using magnifying glasses; drew a picture of their pumpkin; used cubes to measure the height; used links to measure the circumference; counted the lines; determined if their pumpkin was small, medium, or big compared to our class pumpkins; and finally tested their pumpkin in water to see if it would float or sink.  

In October, we also had the Boosterthon which helped raise money for all of the amazing field trips and programs we have during the school year. This year's theme was Grandland  Adventure and each day during lunch, the students learned about one of the amazing National Parks in our country. After a week of fundraising and fun daily activities with our Boosterthon reps, all of the students participated in the Fun Run. It was indeed, so much fun! 

We ended October with Halloween fun. The students participated in a Halloween parade in the morning and then in the afternoon a classroom party with yummy snacks and fun games.

September News

We've had an amazing start to Kindergarten! 

We are having fun exploring classroom materials and learning the rules and routines of Kindergarten.

December News

December News
During the month of December, we studied Folktales. The students learned that folktales are stories written long ago and were passed down for generations by word of mouth before being written down. Students learned that the characters of folktales are usually animals that dress and act like people. Just like in fairy tales, there are often elements of three and usually contain a lesson to be learned.  When folktales are retold, the author keeps the important story elements.
While studying the different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears we focused on the characters, settings, and main elements of each story. 
At the end of our study, we celebrated with Teddy Bear Day. Students brought in a special teddy bear (or other favorite stuffy) and we did fun activities throughout the day.

 Another favorite folktale that we studied was The Gingerbread Man. For this study, we focused on the endings of each story, as well as the refrain (what the gingerbread man repeated throughout the story)

At the end we celebrated with gingerbread activities. Students made a gingerbread person glyph. 

I just love how each one is different ❤ 
They also made a gingerbread house for their gingerbread person.  Again, each one is so unique, which I just love!

In addition to these fun activities, we had a special Comfy Cozy day, where students could wear pajamas or other comfy clothes to school.  We went to a special performance by The Percussion Ensemble, enjoyed a read aloud of the Polar Express, and did a fun Polar Express craftivity.

We ended December with a class party. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures but we had a lot of fun playing Christmas Bingo, decorating a felt gingerbread person, and of course the best of all, decorating a gingerbread cookie with frosting and sprinkles. YUM!Thank you so much to all the parents that donated and a special thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Wirwicz and Mrs. DeBonis for helping at the party.
December was a busy and fun month with lots of learning! 
Next up......2022

Happy First Week of Kindergarten

We had an amazing first week of kindergarten!  This week, we spent time getting to know each other, learning the rules and routines of the classroom, exploring math materials and even starting math centers. We also starting working on our calendar skills and decorated our two bulletin boards while practicing our coloring, cutting, and glueing skills. It was a busy week full of laughter and fun.

Welcome

Welcome to Kindergarten!  

I am excited to be your child's teacher this year. While it may be starting differently than we would expect, I know we will have a wonderful year, full of laughter, fun, and learning. 

Click on the link below to learn a little bit about me!

Get to know Mrs. Ochoa

Classroom News!

It has been an exciting couple of months in Kindergarten! 
                October NewsBecause of Covid, we were unable to take our fall field trip to the apple orchard. Instead, the PTO arranged for the pumpkin patch to come to Fuller Meadow. Each student got to choose a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and then we conducted an investigation using the pumpkins. Students drew a picture of their pumpkin, measured its height in cubes and its circumference in links. They counted the lines and tested it in water to see if it floated or sank. At the end of the day, students were able to take their pumpkins home. As you can see from our photos, it was a lot of fun.

November News

In November, we learned about elections and after reading the books The Night Before Election Day and Duck for President we conducted our own election. The students had so much fun learning about the voting process: going to our classroom voting site, casting their vote, and putting their ballot in the ballot box. After everyone voted we tallied the results to find the winner. As you can see it was a close election!

We also had fun reading books and learning about scarecrows.

December News

December was very busy in Kindergarten. During the month of December we learned about folktales and read different versions of Goldilocks and The Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Gingerbread Man and many more. During this unit of study we focused on Characters, Setting, Problem, and Solution. We also compared the different versions and discussed what was the same and different. 
After reading different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, we celebrated with Teddy Bear Day. Students brought in a favorite teddy bear or other special stuffed animal. The favorite stuffed animal got to experience a day in kindergarten. I think they were tired at the end :)

 After reading The different versions of The Gingerbread Man and comparing the endings, we celebrated by doing a STEM activity with Mrs. Baker. The challenge was to create a trap, to trap the fox long enough for the Gingerbread Man to cross the river and get safely to his house. The students loved this challenge and seeing their creative spark shine through was something special to watch. 

We ended 2020 with a special Comfy Cozy Day. Students were invited to wear their pajamas or other comfortable clothes. We enjoyed listening to a read aloud of The Polar Express and created our own Polar Express trains. It was a magical day.

I hope you enjoyed some insights to some of the activities we have enjoyed during the past few months.
January highlights to come......Stay tuned!

Our First 2 Weeks!

We are off to a great start!  The students have been getting familiar with the classroom, the daily schedule,  the expectations and the routines related to safety, as well as arrival and departure . They have been busy learning about each and doing some fun activities related to name games and the beginning of the school year. Below are some pictures from our first week.

Our New Classroom!

Exploring the Playground!

Special Books and Activities

The Kissing Hand story and activity

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom story and activity

Willoughby Walloby 

The Wheels on the Bus


Looking forward to what next month brings!

Lego Day!

Happy Lego Day!

Today our class celebrated National Lego Day. We learned  how Legos were invented by watching a short animated film called:The Lego Story,  created our own Lego character, and of course built something from Legos. It was a great, creative filled afternoon. Tomorrow we'll add some writing to go with our creations but for now......

First, we watched the Lego Story to learn about the history of Legos. We learned that Legos come from Denmark and the person that invented them, started by making wooden toys. It took a long time and a lot of work before legos were invented. We also learned that there is a huge amusement park called LegoLand where you can see large models of buildings and other things made from legos. To watch thevideo, just click the link below. 

The Lego Story

Next, we designed our own Lego person. We had a lot of fun thinking about what type of lego person we wanted to make.

Finally, we used Legos to create something. It was exciting hearing the conversations taking place & how different each creation was.

Final Creations!

September News

September was an exciting month in Kindergarten. It was the month of many firsts....the first day of school, the first time eating in the cafeteria, the first time buying lunch, the first time playing on the playground, the first whole school assembly, the first field trip......and so many more special moments. 
Below are some highlights of the first month of school....

First Day of School

Playground Fun

International Dot Day

Super Hero Day

Building Our Reading Stamina

Work on Writing
Practicing writing words from around the room

Using the Smartboard for Math

Center Time Fun Learning to make Center Time choices with the choice board

Johnny The K

Apple Picking at Smolak Farm
Click on the link below to view our field trip video

Smolak Farm

It was a wonderful first month in kindergarten!