Wow! What a week! We start with 100 day and end with Groundhog day! We will certainly be busy!
For Kindergarten this week:
I have had a conversation with one of the teachers in which we were discussing Author studies. I would be happy to do an author study with your class. I will plan one for each month until the end of the year. To that end, this month I will be talking about Mo Willems--the author of the Pigeon books, Knuffelbunny, and the Elephant and Piggie books. I will also have other things available, so you don't have to choose this option.
Choices for this week:
The Quiltmaker's Gift (I will continue to have this option until everyone has done it!)
The 100th day of School
Punxsutawney Phyllis
Mo Willems author study.
For PreK
Since I didn't see most of you last week I will plan on reading Winter is the Warmest Season, or The Big Orange Splot, or Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. I also have a PreK Groundhog book to read on Thursday, if you would like. I will have the books ready, just let me know which one you would like when you come. Thanks!
In Technology news:
I'm sure your kids have been telling you about ABCMouse.com. We have been using this in the Media Center since December. I would encourage you to use this in your classroom as well! It is free to schools, and it is aligned with the Common Core Standards. It is an awesome site and fits very well with our curriculum. Just go to www.abcmouse.com to set up your account. Click on the right top corner where it says Schools/teachers. You then set up a password, and can enter your entire class. If you need help with this, let me know. Last week I received an email from them about whether or not you should teach children the letter names or sounds first. Their answer was directed to parents and they said that while phonics and letters are very important, it is even more important to talk to and read to your child. I thought this was right on target! So I would give it a try!
Have a great week!
I hope all of you are keeping nice and warm this week!
In Technology news:
In the district and even in our own building, there have been some problems with laptop power cords. Please if you notice anything wrong with yours, don't plug it in! Bring it down to me so it can be replaced immediately! Remember, safety first!
In the Media Center this week for Kindergarten, I have a few choices:
To go with your fabric unit, I will read The Quilt Maker's Gift and share how to make quilts. We will then make quilt squares for a quilt to hang in the Media Center.
If you are studying winter, I can read, The Snow Day, a fun book about a teacher who thinks it will be a snow day! We will then make snowflakes.
To lay the ground work for our research project, I will read Stephanie's Ponytail and we will look for copyright symbols. This lesson can stand alone before we do the research project. I have decided to do this as a class project. We will use our "Wonder board" to find a topic, then use the Super 3 method of research, to find out about it.
For PreK:
Since I will only be seeing the afternoon classes this week, I was thinking of reading, The Missing Mitten Mystery or another snowy book.
Or if you would rather, I have some other thoughts:
For the Buildings unit: The Big Orange Splot--or Wait! No Paint for the am classes that didn't hear it.
For the Clothes unit: Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, or Does a Chimp Wear Clothes?
As always, I am happy to find things to read that go with your curriculum! Any suggestions are always welcome!
I am finally getting back into the swing of things! Thank you for all of your kind words and thoughts!
For Kindergarten this week I am continuing the study of "The Mitten" I am NOT reading the Jan Brett book so that you can read it in your classroom. If you would like me to, I will! (just let me know!) I am planning on reading "The Mitten" by Alvin Tressault and "The Old Man's Mitten" by Yevonne Pollack this week. I have a Smartboard activity where we discuss all the different stories!
On the computers they have been playing ABCmouse.com and WiggleWorks. If there is any other great sites you have found, please let me know. If you would like them to learn TypetoLearn Jr. I will help them get started. It would help if you could enter their names into this program under your classroom.
Looking ahead, I know some (or all) of you will be studying Fabric with the Foss unit. Please let me know when this happens, I would like to share my love of quilting with your kids! Also coming up, I am going to use my "Wonder Board" to talk about research. Each class will pick a "wonder" and we will use the "Big 3" method of doing research to find out the answer. This process may take several weeks.
For PreK I will be reading books about winter. If there is any specific book you would like me to read, please let me know! I have one called, "Winter is the Warmest Season" that I would like to read this week.
A technology reminder: your computers could be re-imaged at any time. This means you need to always save your documents to your "h" drive. The reason the technology people do this each year is because it cleans the computers of any unwanted problems, and adds any updates that are necessary to make your computers run smoothly.
Have a great week!
