LEARNING ABOUT MEASUREMENT

We have been learning about measurement by measuring our shoes and school supplies. In kindergarten, we don't use the standard measurement of inches, but rather we use non-standard measurement, such as plastic cubes. You will enjoy these photos of our students tracing their shoes, then measuring them with the plastic cubes. We know that children learn best by actually doing things, and this activity was beneficial for our students in their understanding of measurement. NOTE: Many of our students' shoes were 10 cubes long. I wonder what size that is...

Duval County Literacy Week

January 24-28, 2011, was Duval County Public School's Literacy Week. On Tuesday, January 25th, students and teachers all read for about 30 minutes at the beginning of the day. This is what a hallway of readers looks like!

Chicken Soup With Rice

During Reader's Workshop, Mrs. Doiron read Chicken Soup With Rice, A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak. Published in 1962, the character in this little book talks about eating chicken soup with rice during each month. Some of the activities he suggests are make-believe and others are possible, which led us into a lively conversation about "real" and "make-believe". Students wrote about this book in their Reader's Response Journals, then we ate chicken soup with rice with our lunches. You may want to go buy some of this soup, since all the children in our class loved it, and many had seconds!

FREE PIZZA !!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Austin, Ethan, Jakob, Sara, and Shawn. They have each earned a free Personal Pan Pizza from "Pizza Hut" as a part of their "BOOK IT" program. Students have taken a new book log form for the month of January. Remember, if students read (or listen to) ten books during the month, and return the form to school, they will earn a free pizza for the month of January. Keep reading.....

Book Talk

As a part of our last Reading unit, students heard three counting books: Benny's Pennies by Pat Brisson, Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell, and Ten Little Puppies by Elena Vazquez. On Friday, January 14th, we had "Book Talks". We recalled the three books, and students were asked to pick which one was their favorite. Then children gathered in three groups with the three teachers (Mrs. Doiron, Ms. Kirkpatrick, and Ms. Anthony) to discuss their favorites. We talked about why we liked the book: the illustrations, the story, or perhaps the characters. We discussed connections we might have. What does the story make us think of? A "text-to-text" connection is when a book causes us to think of another book, a "text-to-self" connection is when the book makes us think of something in our own lives. For example, Feast for 10 might make us think of when our family gets together for a big meal, or Benny's Pennies might make us think about Bunny Money by Rosemary Wells (another book in which the character has money to spend). You may want to have a Book Talk at home, too. Try it - its just like "Oprah's Book Club"!

January Flag Raising

On the first Friday of each month, our entire school gathers around the flag pole in the courtyard for a "Flag Raising". We watch the flag being raised, say the Pledge of Allegiance and School Conduct Pledge together, and sing a patriotic song. Our principal, Mrs. Gray makes announcements and recognizes faculty and staff's birthdays. Sometimes we have guests from our PTA or business community. January's "Flag Raising" was short, due to the cold weather, but our spirits weren't dampened a bit.

MORE COUNTING FUN

Our students are practicing counting objects and pictures up to 15. They had lots of fun counting little toys - farm animals, wild animals, teddy bears, and even bugs! By the end of the year, we expect our kindergarten students to be able to count objects up to twenty. Your child can practice at home by counting socks, shoes, forks, spoons, toys, cans or boxes of food, or anything of which you have more than ten. Keep on counting...

Sorting in Science

In early January, students practiced sorting in Science. They sorted toys by color (reds, greens, yellows, etc.) and type (food, cars, animals, etc.). They also sorted buttons by shape (circles, flowers, hearts, squares, triangles, etc.) and color. Our students have learned about the many things that scientists do, one of which is sorting. We love Science!

Christmas Party

I thought you would all like to see the photos of our Christmas Party on Friday, December 17, 2010. Thank you to those of you who prepared food and treats for the party, especially Mesha Smith and Dorothy Akins. We appreciate all of those who were able to come to the party to celebrate the holiday with us.