Winter!

You only get to be 5 one time in your lifetime!  This is one of the sentences that drives my beliefs and daily intentions for kindergarten.

 Playing in the snow and enjoying the outdoors is one of our favorite past times in kindergarten.

Students love to explore, collaborate, problem solve and have fun in the outdoors.

We work hard to go outside three times per day to practice hands on, real life skills.

We are prepared for the weather each day so we can get outside and PLAY!  No wonder our crew mates are growing so much academically, socially and emotionally!

Ending Our First Learning Expedition

We ended our learning expedition, Toys and Play.    Ms. Fantastic Faythe gave us a mission to become Play Experts!  We learned how to make playing together fun by creating Play Commitments and playing together EVERY DAY!

After we became Play Experts, we were charged with becoming Toy Experts.  Each student reflected on his/her favorite classroom toy.  We studied the attributes of toys.  Each student wrote several sentences to name his/her favorite toy and describe it.

Finally, we collaborated to donate toys to a local children's cancer center.  Each kindergarten family donated a toy.  Our crew members wrote several sentences to name the toy, tell how to play with the toy and then gave each patient a heart print or well wish to help spread compassion on a high quality toy tag.

 

What a special way to end our amazing study of toys and play!

Get Outside!

 During our first Learning Expedition, Toys and Play, students have been persevering to become play and toy experts.  We collaborated to create our four Play Commitments.  

We decided to leave the walls of the classroom and play outside!  We used our mentor text to use our imagination while we explored and played outside.

We found out that playing outside requires the same commitments as playing inside.

We practiced including others.

We practiced sharing.

We practiced using kind words.

We practiced taking care of materials.

Math in Kindergarten!

 We believe in hands on, concrete mathematical instruction to help our mathematicians understand and remember mathematical concepts.

Students use cubes to model their mathematical thinking.

Students record their mathematical thinking.

Students talk about their mathematical thinking with peers to explain their thinking.

We use a learning target and a visible thinking for kindergarten mathematicians to learn from, refer to and reflect about using "I am the kind of mathematician who....".

We are authors!

 We kick off the year in kindergarten with immediately putting paper and writing tools in kids hands.  We believe writer's get stronger by writing.  At the beginning of kindergarten we draw pictures to tell our stories.  

We collaborated as a crew and looked closely at past kindergarten authors to create our criteria list.

Each student reflected on their own.  We celebrated what went well and set our individual writing goals.

We celebrated with a book party.

Each student shared his/her picture book with their table crew.

We are so excited to be authors!

Finding Our Identity As Readers

 From Day 1, we start the work of readers.  Each day the students are engaged in a mini lesson centered on a learning target around the work of a reader and a mentor text.  These first couple of weeks, we have engaged in familiar song books and abc books.

After whole group learning through a mini lesson, students work independently or with partners to apply what they learn.  Currently, students are reading the pictures to understand that books carry meaning and finding their identity as readers.

We know that we get better at reading by READING!  

After some independent practice, students clean up and bring a book to the circle.  Here is the important work of reflection.  Students share and listen to each other by reflecting using the statement "I am the kind of reader who...."

It is such a joy to see the crew members building their identity as readers.  You can build a love of reading at home by reading to your child each night for 20 + minutes.

Welcome to Kindergarten

 

The classroom is ready, I am rested and now all I need is a new crew full of curious, kind learners.  I can't wait to begin the adventure of exploring, playing, reading, writing and becoming mathematicians.

I am so excited to introduce my new crew to all my favorite books, tell them of wonderful adventures that me and my family have had and continue to have and learn to be kind, inclusive crew members.

This year will be filled with lots of new friendships, exploration, field work to the local natural area and hard work to impact our community.  Here we go!