Show and Tell

He is showing his huge frogs before releasing them.

"Show and Tell" teaches the speaker and the listeners valuable lessons.  It gives the child speaking, more confidence to stand in front of the other children and tell about the item he/she brought in a clear speaking voice.  They learn to be interesting speakers by using adjectives and speaking with feeling.  It helps them feel proud of who they are.  "Show and Tell" teaches the listeners to be patient and wait for their turn to talk.  It teaches them not to interrupt and to focus on saying kind things.  "Show and Tell"  is every Friday in kindergarten.  Check the K-news to see what the theme is.  This week's theme was to bring something from nature.  Here are a few photos from the day.  I'm sorry to tell you that while I love flowers, I am allergic to them, so I took these beautiful flowers that they gave me and I set them outside on my patio.  They were a very nice gift.  Thank you! 

Nature Hike - Looking for Signs of Summer

Yesterday was beautiful day, so the kindergartners, Mrs. Kriz and I took the kindergartners out to the local lake to look for signs of summer.  The students quickly pointed out the green leaves on the trees and green grass.  We noticed wildflowers, dead fish, frogs, dragonflies, damselflies, mushrooms and more.  We hiked through the "spooky forest".  We looked at the bird nest boxes and the bird feeder complex that the past kindergartners help create for the lake.  We saw Franklin's Gulls flying overhead.  A Belted Kingfisher flew across the lake.  An Eastern Kingbird perched in front of us. They stood on the bridge and on the fishing dock.  We had a great time and saw a lot of nature in a short time.  This kind of adventure helps make students more aware of their surroundings.

A Leopard Frog sat still enough for a good look.

We quietly snuck up the hill to look for ducks in the water. 

One important thing I'd like them to learn is not to argue about where
they stand in line while on a hike.

This is the hike through the "spooky forest"!

They loved the bridge!

They were surprised to see this huge, dead fish under the bridge.

This fun guy is holding fungi {mushroom}.

They decided this bobber was a sign of summer fun!

The fishing bridge was a cool place to explore.

This girl found a dead dragonfly to show the kids. 

In kindergarten I teach them the difference between a creek, stream,
river and lake.

This leaf was see-through.

This Eastern Kingbird perched in front of us and gave us a good look.
It is a flycatcher and eats many flying insects.

A Sulphur Butterfly

"Its time to head back to school!"

Meet the Kindergartners

Weekly Testing

Each week I test the students individually to see how the students are keeping up with their skills.  They are unable to do a written test of course, so I use flashcards, toys and manipulatives.  This gives me a good idea of what skills need more practice and it also helps each family know what to work on at home as well.  I will usually send them home on Monday, but at the beginning I will send them home on Friday, so you can work on the ones they need help with over the weekend.

Wacky Watermelon Wednesday

Today was “Wacky Watermelon Wednesday”.  We learned about the letter Ww and how to write it.  We drew what the watermelon looked like on the outside and the inside.  We also did a Ww paper to practice hearing that sound.

We talked about how watermelons are a fruit that grows on a plant and that they grow from a seed. We reviewed how plants need: sun, soil, air and water to grow.  We learned how bees are important to spread pollen from plant to plant.  We found out that a watermelon was a living thing when it was on the plant.  We learned that a watermelon is very healthy to eat.

Next, we pretended we were artists and painted a picture of the watermelon with our own paint set.  My painting is the one on the cover of this booklet.

We also felt the watermelon and held it too. It felt smooth, cool and a little bumpy.  Most kids said it was heavy, but one boy said, “It’s literally not that heavy!” Some guesses on its weight were 150#, 20#, 210,050# pounds, but Mrs. Preheim weighed the watermelon and it weighed 11 pounds.

Later we told Mrs. Preheim a make-believe story about this watermelon being alive and going to the beach.  She typed it out for this booklet.

In the afternoon, the teacher cut the watermelon into pieces and we looked at it and smelled it. Then we sat outside and ate it.  It was yummy, but we sure got sticky!  We learned a lot from a watermelon today! 

This is the cover of their booklets.  I love their paintings and art work!

Play Time

"Play Time" is during the last half hour of the day and it is by far their favorite time of the day!  The kids love this time of day where they can play with the toys, build with the blocks, create at the art center, look at books, go to the science center or just play with their friends.  It is a valuable time for their social growth as they learn to share, take turns, include others and just plain get along.  If they don't behave during the day however, they may lose some of their playtime, so that is consequence that they have to deal with, if they choose not to obey.  Generally that is a good deterrent.  I have them play at the end of the day because that is when they are usually the most tired and I have trouble getting them to focus on school work.  There is a big discussion going on these day about the value of play for young children.

Science Outdoors

For science, we went outdoors to look at real plants.  We discussed the difference between trees and other plants.  We compared leaves, roots and stems.  The kindergartners seemed to really like this lesson about plants.