Pumpkin Research and Free Art

These last two weeks we have been really getting into our groove. We hit 35 days that we have been in school today and it is showing. Students are becoming very independent, are helping one another and are really taking pride in our classroom :) This week we finished up our research on pumpkins and are excited to do our pumpkin experiment on Halloween next week!

Pumpkin Research

This week we worked with partners on our pumpkin research. Students picked their partner that they wanted to work with and researched pumpkins using books. They had to work with their partner to decide what they wanted to draw about pumpkins and then on one piece of paper they together created a picture. We are still ironing out the kinks but overall it went pretty well. The students favorite part was getting to share their work with the class. Then after we had each group share we connected our ideas with ideas previously shared which the students loved helping me with. I often heard "well this connects to... so lets connect our card to theirs!" 

A student colors their pumpkin orange.

A student labels their picture with their partner.

Our finished chart with all the pieces that connect!

Free Art Time

This past wednesday we had a special treat when I introduced the class to free art time. During one of our stations students truly got to create whatever they wanted with almost any art form. I put out coloring sheets, blank paper, lined paper, scissors, glue, watercolors, markers and more for students to just have fun and create something wonderful! They loved getting to be in charge and decide for themselves what they wanted to create. I really enjoyed watching them be so creative and take ownership over the art they were creating.

Leaf Hunt

Another activity I love doing in the fall is going on a leaf hunt! We looked for different sizes and shapes of leaves as well as using our senses on our walk. The kids really enjoyed it and have bringing me leaves all week to show me cool ones they found! 

I promise I will take lots of pictures on Halloween and for our pumpkin experiment. Cheers to a wonderful week ahead!

Best,

Miss Adams

Centers, Pumpkins and Bats

This week we have been diving more deeply into our Pumpkin unit, getting to explore some new and exciting centers and did some fun new art projects! Check out all the details below:

Centers

As we move into the middle of October students are beginning to work almost entirely independently at their centers for both math and reading. During this time students work on quiet activities while I meet and read with small groups of students. One of those centers is "write the room" where students take their recording sheet around the room to different task cards posted on the walls and write down the word or number on their recording sheet. I have been so impressed with how quiet students are while doing this and how much they enjoy it as well! Another center is doing a quiet task like a writing sheet or stamping. The students love getting to use the stamps! On Wednesday's we have special iPad time that is designated for science. This week students got to explore kid friendly videos about pumpkins! There were videos about turning large pumpkins into boats, how to carve pumpkins and of course how pumpkins grow. The videos were a huge hit and I had students ask if they could watch them again!

A student counts out colored counters during math centers.

A student completes the write the room.

A student completes a stamping center.

A student watches a video about pumpkin boats!

Bat Directed Drawing

At least every other week we try to do a directed drawing in class where I take students step by step to draw a picture. This week we did a bat directed drawing. We start by going through all the steps in pencil. Then this week I introduced sharpies as a way to outline our pictures so we can see them better after we have colored them. Finally after outlining the pictures students were able to use oil pastels to color in their bats and watercolors to paint the background. We learned a great lesson about what happens when we use too much water in our watercolors as many students had part of their pictures tear! But I also learned that we should probably use a thicker paper when we do watercolors next time :) They still turned out great and the students had a great time making them!

A student traces their bat drawing.

A student traces their bat drawing.

A finished bat drawing.

A finished bat drawing.

A finished bat drawing.

A finished bat drawing.

We are in the countdown to Halloween. I can't believe we are almost 30 days into Kindergarten already but I am loving every minute with your wonderful kiddos!

Smiles,

Miss Adams

Apple Tasting and Shared Research

This week was all about apples. From apple crafts to apple tasting and apple research, we did it all! Check out all the details and pictures below:

Apple Tasting

This week students were able to test different apples to share their opinions. I took the skin off of a red, yellow and green apple and gave out samples to students. Without knowing what color it was they shared their thoughts about the smell, taste and texture of the apples. Some were able to figure out the color of the apple based on the taste, but not everyone! Collectively everyone in our class liked the red apple the best, with yellow being the second most popular, and the granny smith being the least favorite! One of the students favorite parts was seeing the seeds and the star inside the apple. From here we discussed the parts of the apple that we could see (the stem, seeds and of course the skin). 

This is where we graphed whether students liked apple 1, 2 and 3.

These are some of the samples of apples that students tried.

This was the star we found when we cut open the apple!

Shared Research

This week was full of exploring apples, sharing what students already knew about apples and of course learning new facts about apples. Part of this was doing shared research. After I explained the activity students worked with a partner, with one notecard to share to come up with something they had learned about apples and draw it out to share with the class. The collaboration that I saw was phenomenal and I loved seeing students sharing their ideas and learning from each other. It was such a great moment!

Two students start drawing their ideas on their notecard.

Two students work together to draw the star inside the apple.

A student helps their partner with their picture.

Two boys help each other color their picture.

Estacada High School Parade

To end our week our class got to watch the Estacada high schoolers and many community members walk in the homecoming parade. It was fun because two of our high school helpers were in the homecoming court and the students loved getting to see them in the parade! They were a little disappointed that they didn't throw candy, but I think when the horses came by and pooped in the middle of the street it made up for it! 

I am loving every minute we get to spend together as a class. I love seeing the relationships that we are making as a class and how much progress we have made in just 3 weeks in Kindergarten! Cheers to the next week ahead!

Smiles,

Miss Adams

Welcome to the Blog!

Hello Everyone,

First I wanted to say thank you for popping by to read our classroom blog. Life can go by so fast that I wanted to provide you with just a brief summary of somethings we are doing and learning at school. If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me or send me a note. I want to make this for you! So I am always welcome to feedback :)

Fine Motor Work

One area that I try to work on a lot at the beginning of the year is strengthening students fingers! We draw and write every single day so our fingers need to build up stamina too! This week students got to use Theraputty which is sort of like silly putty except, it is very difficult to stretch, thus strengthening your fingers as you play with it! Win win! At home you can help by supporting your child's pencil grip and having them do any type of tracing, connecting the dots, lacing or beading. You will see some more fine motor pictures of beading and weaving in the next section.

Centers Expectations

This week was all about practicing our centers time. This is basically station work where students are assigned a table and have a few quiet activities they can choose from while I pull small groups of students to read/write with them. Students got to explore our classroom library, beading and weaving, as well as whiteboards and playing learning games on iPads. We have been practicing the 3 rules of centers: using a whisper voice, working the whole time, and putting things back how you found them. They have really been doing a great job! This week we will be making the centers a little bit longer as we build our stamina!

Classroom Agreements

Now that we are 12 days into Kindergarten we were able to have a discussion about things students want to learn in Kindergarten and what we have to do as a class to help each other learn those things. The picture of our poster below shows 3 rules or agreements that the students helped come up with as well as some pictures with those rules. The pictures help them to have a visual of what each of those rules look like in our class. There are some empty boxes because we are going to keep adding pictures as we experience more things in class this week! 

Thank you so much for checking out our blog! Stay tuned next week for photos from our Jog-a-thon, our first time at Playworks and more!

Smiles,

Miss Adams

Boats and Measurement

This week we had so much fun diving into different forms of measurement, whether objects will sink or float and of course making boats. The students loved it and it made for great pictures :)

Boats

To start off our discussion about boats we discussed things that sink and float. We did a fun experiment to see which objects would sink or float and some students were surprised that heavy things could float and vice versa. From there we talked about the parts of a boat and how different types of boats move. After that I gave students materials to make their own boats. I had lots of students make very cool sails, some of which worked very well with the wind.

Then came the fun part. We went outside to test our boats. First we tested the boats in the water by themselves to see how we could get them to move. Then we did a penny measurement test to see how many pennies our boats could hold, and finally we tested them with plastic people for fun.

Measurement

In Kindergarten students learn about weight, height and length and capacity. This week we focused on all 3, but had students measuring height and length. This weeks measurement challenge was to measure lines that I put on the ground and to measure each other. The students had so much fun figuring out who the tallest kid was in the class and who the shortest is. Kids got to use both inch cubes and larger wooden blocks and it was fun to hear squeals of "you 66 cubes, I'm 64 cubes!" The students really enjoyed it and I loved seeing them practice their counting and help each other figure out the lengths of the lines and each other.

This next week will be our last blog of the year with lots of photos from our fishing trip on Thursday! So stay tuned for that!

Best,

Miss Adams

Duck Update and Recycled Puppet Making!

Hello Parents,

What a crazy few weeks we have had. Our ducks hatched and I don't think the kids could have loved them more. They became a special part of our classroom :) We also had the wonderful opportunity this week to make our recycled puppets with Artist in Residence Kelly. This was a super fun chance for kids to make a puppet based on one of Eric Carle's animals from his Brown Bear book. Check it out:

Ducks!!

This week students were really able to see duck personalities come out. The kids wanted to watch them every moment of the day so they didn't miss them playing in their water, stretching their legs or wings, and of course running around our pen. On two different days this week the students got to watch the ducks swim. The first time was in a small pool on our carpet. I told them that we were watching them so we could draw a picture. When we were sitting around the pool I had a student ask if they could get their writing journal so they could start drawing while they watched the ducks. Before you knew if kids were writing 2 and 3 sentences about what the ducks were doing in the water! It was such a cool moment that really showed me how ready they are for first grade! 

Puppet Making

This week students got a glimpse into the world of puppetry. First we explained to students that we were going to make puppets based on Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle. Once they picked their animal they were able to go shopping for the pieces to resemble their animal. Kelly (the art teacher) was great in teaching them that they might have to use their imagination and that these puppets weren't going to look exactly like their animal and that was ok.

After students picked their parts, the next session students did a variation of paper mache with glue and torn paper to make their puppets the right color. The torn paper method is how Eric Carle actually illustrates his books which was a fun connection for the students.

After they had glued on their paper onto their bodies students were ready to assemble the parts. Kelly explained to students that if we glued all the parts together they wouldn't be puppets, they would be statues! She showed them that when the legs, arms and heads move them they become puppets who can talk and tell stories.

The students had so much fun making these puppets and they turned out so great!

Art Show at the High School

On Friday we were also able to walk over to the high school to see the art display high school students had put together. It was great because the kindergartners got to see the high schoolers doing their art live at the school and see various art forms as well. The kids were so excited to take art as a class when they get to high school!

The students see a High Schoolers clay animals that she made. She told students they took 4 hours each to make!

It is crazy to think that this week is one of our last full weeks of schools before we get ready for summer. 16 days left!

Smiles,

Miss Adams