I can’t believe that school starts tomorrow! I am so excited to make new friends this year and have the best year ever! Here are a few stories to kick off the new school year:
Twas the Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing
I love the twist at the end! Read to see how the parents are feeling about school starting for their little ones:
Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! by Nancy Carlson
Kindergarten is so exciting and we will do so many of the things talked about in this book.
If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff
Just a fun story, but please, don’t bring a mouse to school! :o)
And one of my FAVORITES we will be reading on our first day, Pete the Cat Rocking in my School Shoes by Eric Litwin:
In the summer, kids should be able to have fun exploring and enjoying their childhood! But, there are some ways that you can sneak some learning into the fun!
Cooking and Baking
Reading and following recipes is a fun way to get kids interested in reading and math! Measuring ingredients is a great way for kids to learn relationships between different quantities and to get comfortable with fractions in a meaningful, real life situation. It can also help introduce them to ratio and proportion, and practice math calculations. If your child is whipping up a batch of cookies, why not suggest she double or halve the recipe?
Lemonade Stands or Bake Sales
Whether it’s brownies or beverages, running a “sales operation” involves lots of other skills besides making change. Advertising and creative writing are needed to draw in customers. What are the start-up costs? What is the minimum your child needs to charge to recover that money? What are people are willing to pay? At the end of the sale, ask your child to calculate his profit or how much he made an hour.
Board Games
Old-fashioned board games require a range of abilities. Social skills like turn taking and being a gracious winner can be practiced in any game. Connect Four and Battleship build visual perceptual skills. Games like mancala require logic and mathematical reasoning. And Monopoly and Life require players to use their resources to reach a goal, and encourage reading. You can also stock up on some classics and help your child start a club with friends. It may be a nice change from playing on screen!
Playing an Instrument
Reading music requires counting notes to create different rhythms. One four-beat measure could consist of a single whole note held for all four beats, two half notes of two beats a piece, or four quarter notes of one beat each. In other words, when kids are playing music, they’re practicing fraction skills without even knowing it!
Tech Support for Struggling Readers
While, most children are just beginning to read in kindergarten and first grade, some children need a little more encouragement and support to get going. If you are looking for some good apps to help, click here:
With help from some fantastic parents, we were able to plant, grow and even harvest vegetables in our school garden! We learned how seeds grow into plants and what they need to grow, while we watched them grow. Then we were able to harvest radishes and try them. Some of us liked them, some did not, but we all loved working in the garden!
On May 4, we celebrated Star Wars day. We had a “design your own spaceship” Lego challenge & made our own Yodas, along with a few more activities. We had a great day!
As part of our geometry study, we learned about 2 dimensional or plane shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, trapezoid, rhombus) and 3 dimensional or solid shapes (sphere, pyramid, cone, cube, prism, cylinder). We enjoyed building our own shapes with Ms. Eyer in the library and with Ms. Sorrentino in our classroom!
Be flexible! Flexibility is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
Assembly Read Aloud: Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
Gerald the giraffe longs to dance, but his legs are too skinny and his neck is too long. His knees buckle whenever he tries to twirl. At the Jungle Dance, the warthogs waltz, the chimps cha-cha, and the lions tango. “Giraffes can’t dance,” they all jeer when it’s Gerald’s turn to prance. But there is one little creature who believes in Gerald. “Everything makes music,” the cricket explains, “if you really want it to.” So Gerald starts swaying to his own sweet tune.
Books:
Zoom by Istvan Banyai
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
You might have had your hopes up that your mommy packed you a meatball hero with an ice cream sandwich on the side for lunch, but don’t get upset if it turns out to be a PB&J with some carrots. You’ve got to change the plan, and be flexible. Sing along with Ernie as he sings the Change The Plan Song!
This past week we completed our unit on bridges. We have read about bridges, looked at photos of famous bridges, painted bridges, and studied different materials that were used for our bridges. We began by looking at bridges in our area and discussed how a new bridge is being built right now!
Brooklyn Bridge
George Washington Bridge with the Little Red Lighthouse
Tappan Zee Bridge
We read many books about bridges, including The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, seen here:
And 21 Elephants, seen here:
After discussing these bridges, we read the story Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beatty.
We talked about how we could design our own bridge. What could we use to build it? How could we make it strong? How big could we make it? We explored different kinds of wood, paper, and fabric to determine what would be the best material to use. We practiced copying some famous bridges and buildings in our block center, and using Legos, K’Nex, and other building materials.
And then we were ready to construct our own bridges! We learned that building bridges were not as easy as we thought! We had to change our thinking and our designs as we worked. We had to try out different materials. Some of our bridges even fell over, but we learned that determination and hard work pays off. We didn’t give up and we were able to create some very creative bridges!
This project was a great way to talk about mindset with the students.
Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference.
In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.
Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships. We learn about and talk about the the value in hard work and determination, problem solving and creativity.
Learn more about a growth mindset with Carol Dweck:
Below are five more facts about groundhogs and their special day!
A groundhog’s life span is usually six to eight years. Litters are normally born mid-April or May, and by July the young animals are able to go out in the wilderness by themselves. However, while in captivity, groundhogs have been known to live for up to 22 years. They can grow up to 3 feet in length and can weigh as much as 30 pounds.
Groundhogs are vegetarians. While they do sometimes eat insects, they mostly consume greens, fruits and vegetables. They also drink surprisingly little water. They get most of their liquid from the dewy leaves they eat.
Groundhogs are also known as “whistle pigs” because of their ability to sit up on their hind legs and make a loud, high-pitched whistle sound. They use this noise an alert about oncoming dangers, like coyotes or eagles. They also use this sound during the spring when they begin mating.
The tradition of Groundhog Day was brought over by German immigrants in the late 1800s. The town of Punxsutawney,Pennsylvania eventually became the center of the tradition. At the time, the “unburrowing” ceremony was planned by members of Groundhog Lodges, meant for socializing with others and enjoying meals.
The original custom never involved groundhogs. The Europeans originally used badgers or sometimes bears as their weather forecasters, as both animals hibernate and wake up when the days become longer and the sun’s angle becomes higher.
For even more facts about Groundhog Day…
Read: Groundhog Day by Gail Gibbons
Every February 2, people all across the country wonder about the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil. Will he see his shadow on that day or won’t he? Will spring come early or late? Here is information about Groundhog Day, its origins, and the animal at the center of this delightful annual event.
Overview: Persistence is the continuous effort to do or achieve something even when faced with obstacles.
The word of the month for February is persistence, sticking with something even if it’s difficult. Often children will ask for help with a task they perceive to be difficult, but if they just try it, they are able to accomplish the task on their own. Whether it be opening their snack, zippering their coat, tying their shoes, or even what to do if a pencil breaks. We talk about always trying your best first, and then asking for help if you really need it. It’s okay for something to be hard. Then the accomplishment will feel so much greater. Along with persistence, this is a great time to talk about encouragement, cheering a friend on. With some kind words, we can all go a long way. Here is another great story about be persistent, and getting some encouragement along the way, Eric Carle’s The Very Clumsy Click Beetle:
Assembly Read Aloud:The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
The girl has a wonderful idea! She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!? But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and the girl tries and fails, repeatedly. Eventually, the girl gets really, really mad. She is so mad, in fact, that she quits. But after her dog convinces her to take a walk, she comes back to her project with renewed enthusiasm and manages to get it just right.
A Visitor For Bear by Bonny Becker
Leo the Lightening Bug by Eric Drachman
Try and Stick With It by Cheri J. Meiners
Flight Schoolby Lita Judge
Long Shot: Never to Small to Dream Big
by Paul Chris
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
by Mo Willems
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
The Very Busy Spiderwritten and illustrated by Eric Carle
I Knew You Could! A Book For All The Stops In Your Life by Craig Dorfman
Below is a fun little animation that illustrates persistence!
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
