Pop Tops Galore!

I'm sure you have heard about the "Pop Top" craze in K1! As you might have read in the Newsletter, we are collecting pop tops for the Ronald McDonald house as our Service Learning Project this year. This is something that is very near and dear to my heart. I think it is fun for the children to collect pop tops and yes we all want to "win" the competition, but it goes so much further than winning a party. I love being able to collect something that is beneficial for needy children that are sick. I think that this is really important to stress the importance of "why" we are collecting pop tops to the children. And, when you're collecting for something that is worthwile, it just makes it more fun!! Thank you for your contributions!

Trees!

Trees! Along with our Fall unit, we have been talking about Trees as well. We have been discussing what animals live in trees, how we use trees, where trees grow and different types of trees. Last week, we took a peek (with our magnifying glasses), at the tree "cookie." This is a slice of the tree trunk. We were able to identify and count the rings on our particular piece.

I can spell owl!!

I just love Fall! What a great time of the year with great learning opportunities for our little ones. In Science we have had numerous discussions about Fall and more specifically, Owls. Last week, we talked about Nocturnal and Diurnal animals. This was probably one of my favorite discussions yet. Ask your child to identify a Nocturnal and Diurnal animal.

Leaves are falling!

Friday is Grandparents and Special Friends Day at Lakeside. As a class, K1 decided that since some Grandparents and/or Special Friends will not be able to attend, we would record ourselves singing! This is actually one of our poems for the week and we wanted to not only sing it......but sign it as well! I hope you enjoy our wonderful singing and our excellent sign language skills! Please share this with your family members who are not able to attend.

Problem Solving

One of the MANY things we like to teach our kiddos in Kindergarten is "Problem Solving." We had a very interesting Class Meeting today concerning strikes, what causes strikes and how we should address them. So, to factor in our wonderful Thinking Maps, we decided to make a "Multi-Flow Map" to break down the Strike System (see above). We talked about the various things that can "cause" you to get a strike and then the "effect" of getting a strike. A few of my favorite "Effects" were no t.v. and not getting to order school lunch. Oh, the things that are inportant to our little ones! :) I just want to say THANK YOU parents for providing a Effect (consequence) at home! Losing priviledges and taking things away may seem harsh, but in the end it is helping to develop good character in your child. It shows them that yes, there are consequences to bad behavior. This to me, is just as important as learning to read. Thank you again!

We were just enjoying Mrs. Smith read "Junie B. Jones" to us. What a fun way to end the night. :)

Kindergarten Lock In

Wow! Always one of my favorite nights ever and it gets better every year! Just to see these kiddos with pure joy on their faces...it really is priceless!

Circle Map.

We created a circle map for each of our 5 senses. These are the things we could "see" in K1.

Brace Map.

In Science, we have been talking about our 5 senses.

Tree Map.

How many claps (syllables) are in your name? Ask your child to tell you!

Here are a few of our Thinking Maps that we use daily in K1. Ask your child if they know what a Bubble Map is or what a Tree Map looks like! We LOVE Thinking Maps in K1, I'll show you a few examples above!

Art Station. Need I say more!?? It looks a little boring from this picture, but is a VERY fun, popular station. Right now the children are asked to draw their favorite "Nursery Rhyme" while at Art Station. There is an assortment of stickers, markers, paper, and hole punchers they can use. So, if you see tons of free "Art" projects coming home in your child's folder, they probably chose to go here during Free Choice time!

123 Station. The boys here were working on Peg Boards or Geo Boards. There are a TON of manipulatives at this station that the children use to count, sort and make patterns! 123 is always a big hit in K1! One of my favorites!

Here is our ABC Station. I do not have the children shown in this one. This station familarizes the children with the alphabet in all kinds of ways. We have letter stickers, alphabet games, magnetic letters, alphabet stamps, "Popcorn" words and tons more! Ask your child to tell you about "Chica Chica Boom Boom!"

Science Station. Probably one of our favorite stations. There are TONS of fun things like magnets, stethescopes, magnifying glasses, reptiles, etc. And we are just getting started! Right now the children are mainly exploring all the cool things!

Listening Station. Typically I have headphones for the children to wear as they are listening to the story. Somehow these might have been damaged during all the construction this summer so I am going to have to work on them. Right now the children will still be able to listen to the story it will just be outloud coming from the stereo.

This is our Writing Station. At Writing Station the children have the option of sitting at the writing table or on the floor with lap desks. There is loads of paper, markers, crayons, envelopes, dictionaries, you name it! We love writing in Kindergarten!

Library Station! Look at these cuties enjoying themselves! This is what Library Station is all about: Relaxing and enjoying a good book! I wish I could join them!

Here is some of our wonderful K1 friends at Computer Station. This week we have started "practicing" going to Workstations. We do not have any jobs to complete while at the staion just yet. We are still practicing the routine and cleaning up after ourselves. So far so good! They are doing a great job and looking forward to doing Workstations everyday!