Kindergarten

Our classroom has been filled with non-stop activity since I last wrote. We successfully hatched and released all 21 monarch butterflies. Cries of “Buen viaje!” and “Hasta luego!” filled the air as the butterflies took flight on these warm and sunny October days. In addition, each student has now completed their life cycle poster, which are hanging in our rooms. It was amazing to see their concentration as they studied the live butterfly on the table, trying to paint it with accuracy. You will see these posters, and much more student work, at parent-teacher conferences next week. I’m looking forward to spending time with each of you to discuss the wonderful progress that your child is making!

Phonics and handwriting instruction continues, and the class is becoming skilled at hearing initial consonant sounds and learning which letters correspond to them. We read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Who Do You See?  together, and the class is having great fun writing and illustrating their own Halloween version of this (“Ghost, Ghost, who  do you see? I see Skeleton looking at me!”). In other LA news, we’ve now finished Charlotte’s Web (which I’ve been reading at rest time), and each as written about their favorite part of the book. We’ve also shared books about Fall, taken some fall walks using all our senses to notice the changes, and begun our books on the four seasons.

Math has been fun! Creating with pattern blocks remains a very popular choice. The children are also learning to recognize, extend, and create their own patterns using unifix cubes. Patterns we’ve focused upon this week included AB, AAB, and AABB. Next week we’ll get more complex with ABC, AABC, and perhaps even ABAC!

You’ll see in the slideshow that my son Toby, a BCD alum, stopped by to read stories to the class. A few of the children were a bit mystified as to how I could be his mother, since he’s a good 6″ taller than me. I think they all believed me eventually!

Enjoy the following slideshow. This one includes the promised photos from Grandparents Day. (If this doesn’t open automatically as a slide show, try clicking on the top photo and it should open the album up. You might then have to use the cursor buttons to see all the photos. If so, sorry! I’m still getting this technology down!)

Andrea

Busy times!

On Tuesday of this week, Jessica visited our classroom to talk about Rosh Hashanah with the class. She first read a book about the holiday, and then everyone had fun making apple centerpieces out of construction paper. Jessica also bought in a delicious snack of challah and apples, which we dipped into honey as we all wished each other a “Sweet” New Year!  I want to thank Jessica for coming and sharing this holiday with us, and I also want to extend an invitation to all parents that if there is a holiday or family custom or book or activity you’d like to do with the class, I’d love to find a time for you to do that. Just send me an email and we can make it happen.

We had our first Lunch Bunch last week, courtesy of Vivienne’s family. All enjoyed a delicious meal of penne with pesto, fresh fruit, and a divine carrot cake for dessert. Appetites were great and the class really enjoyed the meal! Thank you, Milana and Vivienne, for starting our Lunch Bunch meals off so successfully!

Grandparents Day was a great success! The All-School Assembly was terrific, and PreK-3 did a wonderful job reciting their original A-Z poem for all their visitors. Earlier in the week in the classroom, the children created beautiful hearts out of Sculpey (plastic clay). These were attacked to strings, and together, grandparents and grandkids created beaded necklaces for each other. We had also written a book, What We Like to Do with Our Grandparents, that was read aloud.  The class also recited poems and sang songs. I loved the opportunity to get to know your families a little better. A great time was had by all!

Here, below, another slideshow. This one includes shots of my daughter Monica leading movement classes with the PreK and K kids, our trip to Magic Wings, our Rosh Hashanah celebration, as well some of our in-class happenings. Photos of Grandparents Day will be in the next blog. Enjoy!

Such busy days! Since I last wrote, we’ve had 19 little caterpillars become 19 huge caterpillars – and now each is starting to make a chrysalis! And on Friday, we were lucky enough to actually see them change (once they begin, it happens quite quickly, so we had to start alert). By Monday, all should be beginning their amazing transformation!

We’ve also finalized our classroom rules. They’re written up on chart paper with a sparkly gold border, and each child got to choose a silver, gold, or bronze marker to sign their name. Their final rules are as follow:

1. Make smart decisions.
2. Be really nice to everyone.
3. Take good care of our stuff.

Each child is working on acquiring a relaxed and comfortable pencil grip. We’ve started handwriting, and they’re learning to write numbers first. The children are excited to be using their handwriting books!

On Friday afternoon, my daughter Monica, a dancer and choreographer, led the PreK and K kids in some fun movement activities. It was a treat to have her in the classroom, and the children enjoyed moving as butterflies, cats, puppies, cheetahs, jaguars, and even cows 🙂   I will post pictures of that event soon.

It was great to see you all at BTS night.  It’s going to be such a fun year!

Enjoy the slide show below, and have a good weekend.

Andrea