OHHHHHHHH - This is FUN !!!!!

When I was in college ("in the dark ages" as I like to joke), I took classes on teaching phonics.  As the years went on, I took more training in phonics and there was a common theme - teach to the senses children will learn and retain more information.  It made great sense and was backed up with lots of data.  I still include those techniques while teaching reading to this day.  We do "air writing" to reinforce what we have learned through movement.  I use song and dance to reinforce learning through auditory and through movement.  We read letters on crackers and eat them to reinforce what we've learned through taste.  We "write" on the rug  as we reinforce what we've learned through touch.  All of this is better than only doing worksheets.  Today instead of using a paper and pencil we used shaving cream and our pointer fingers.  I put a dollup of shaving cream on each student's desk and they hesitantly  - at first - spread it over their desks.  We then practiced writing our names, letters, numbers and shapes.  It was messy - but Ohhhhhhhhh it was fun!!! Check out the pictures below.

A Visitor in Kindergarten

Every moment is a teachable moment.  Even though we had finished our unit on insects, one of our Kindergarten Kiddos brought something in many of us had never seen before --- a praying mantis.  It was very cool!  It's long body made it so very easy to see the three body parts.  It's tiny slow moving head with two big eyes on either side and very noticeable jaws was fascinating to see.  Then we got brave (or I should say - finally I got brave) and we took him out of his jar and watched him move his very long legs.  The boys and girls got closer and closer as we watched him move around.  It was very hard to draw ourselves away to start our day.  We all decided --- VERY COOL !  Thank you to Mark and his family sharing their find with us.  Anytime something great like that comes your way, don't be afraid to bring it to Kindergarten --- we love visitors --- of any kind!

Yep - That is me touching a praying mantis!! As my granddaughter would tell me "Be brave Nana!" 

Morning Message

On Friday, I introduced our first Morning Message.  Technology is a wonderful thing as I am able to use our ELMO and project the message onto the white board .  The Morning Message serves many purposes.  I use it to reinforce our popcorn words.  The boys and girls look very carefully at the message for any of our popcorn words.  It is amazing how these words just pop up when we are reading!  They then get to come  up to the white board and draw a "popcorn" shape around the word.  The Morning Message also gives         Punctuation Pirate a chance to come and talk to the boys and girls about different punctuation marks in the message.  Punctuation Pirate also reminds the boys and girls that punctuation marks are very important as they come at the end of a sentence.  Captain Capitalization also pays us a visit as she teaches us all about capital letters and how we find them at the beginning of each sentence.  She also helps us remember that names of people and places begin with capital letters.  The boys and girls become familiar with how a sentence looks.  They also begin to blend and recognize familiar words.  I also get to share positive things I see the boys and girls doing and I write about things that are current in our lives.  I will send home a copy of the Morning Message home with the boys and girls so you can practice finding popcorn words at home.  I plan to do this once or twice a week .  Look for these in your child's BEE book.

Congratulations to Savannah Paulsen for making the closest estimation of the pennies Hannah brought for our Estimation Jar.  Savannah estimated there were 50 pennies.  The actual amount was 65.  Thank you to Hannah and her family for providing items for our Estimation Jar.  Now it will be Savannah's turn to bring something new for us to estimate.

Congratulations also goes to Caden Reed for receiving the Subway Award for the week.  His name was drawn from the PAW basket.  Next week, we will fill it again with the names  of boys and girls who exhibit good character in the classroom.  It doesn't take much to fill the basket as the boys and girls work very hard to get a PAW card. 

Your child's teacher,

Mrs. Straight                                                                           

Brownie Points

What a wonderfully delicious Wednesday!  Today the boys and girls got to make a special snack.  As promised, our Kindergarten kiddos were given the opportunity to make this treat if they filled the class brownie pan when they demonstrated good listening skills as a class.    Since we have been learning about fire safety, we made a fire truck snack using graham crackers, frosting tinted red, pretzels, cereal and gum drops.  Unfortunately, due to my new "old age" status, I left the mini Oreos at home so our fire truck had square wheels.  One of my very wise students noted that now Mr. Straight will get to eat them all ! :o)

The kiddos had a great and very messy time spreading their frosting on their crackers and of course licking their fingers.  Transforming these ordinary ingredients into something creative and yummy was so much fun!!
The brownie pan is empty once again but oh what fun we will have creating another yummy treat once it is filled again!

Check out the photos of our Brownie Point fun in the Photo section of our blog.

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Great Things Happen in Three's

It was a fantastically fabulous Friday.   Three great things happened.

First, we counted how many items were in our Estimation Jar.  Well, you may wonder, what is so wonderful about that --- the Estimation Jar has been done before in Kindergarten.  Ahhhh - but on this Friday it was different.  This Friday, we were going to find out which of the Kindergarten kiddos made the closest estimation.  Congratulations to Hannah Gubbels!  Her estimation was exact, as she estimated 19 popsicle sticks in our jar.  Hannah takes the jar home over the weekend to bring it back to school with whatever she would like to put in it.  We will make estimations on what Hannah put in the jar and on Friday we will find out who the next lucky Kindergartner will be to take home the Estimation Jar.

 The second wonderful thing that happened is when I got ready to draw a name for our PAW basket to see who would get to take home the Subway award, I was awed by all the cards that were in there!!!  The boys and girls are doing a great job illustrating good character traits in the classroom by being respectful, responsible and kind.  Our first name drawn was Kortney Rees.  Way to go Kortney!

Of course, the highlight of our Friday was our field trip to the Winside Fire Station!  Chief Don Skokan and volunteers Chris Olander, Brian Petzoldt and Kyle Skokan did a SUPER job as always talking with the Kindergarten and First Graders about fire safety.  They had a very informative video for the kids to watch on exactly what to do if there ever is a fire at your house.  It stressed the importance of practicing at home fire drills and planning TWO ways out of your house.  You should always have a meeting place once everyone has safely left the house.  Kyle Skokan demonstrated for us all the things a firefighter needs to wear to stay safe so they can help rescue people in case there is a fire.  Then we divided into four groups as each fire fighter took the boys and girls around to take a closer look at all those trucks.  We got to see all of the very important equipment they need to use to do their very important jobs.   We all gathered back into one big group as the firefighters passed out important information for us to take home to our families.  We  all also got to take home fire fighter hats.

Before we left, we showed our appreciation to all of the volunteers on the Winside Fire and Rescue Squad as they give us their time to help keep us all safe.  If you see a Winside volunteer fire fighter walking down the street, I hope you will join us in telling them  THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO! 

Oh and please check out our pictures from our visit on the "Photos" page of our blog.

It was a fun day as great things happen in three's!!!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Go Big ---- Kindergarten!!!!!!!!

Well, the Huskers won big against Kansas St and all is good with the world!  All is great with Kindergarten as the class earned all of their Brownie Points today.   Once in the morning and once in the afternoon the Kindergarten class helps me assess their listening skills for the day.  If we come to the conclusion the boys and girls were great listeners and worked hard to get all of their work done, the class gets to put a "brownie" in the pan we have hanging on our white board.  When the pan is full of "brownies", the boys and girls will help  Chef Bon Apetit' make a special snack.  The Kindergarten class has worked very hard so on Monday we will make our surprise snack.  I will empty our Brownie pan and we will start again earning those brownie points.  

Tomorrow is a fanatically fabulous Friday as we visit the Winside Fire Station.  We will also count the items in our Estimation Jar to see who got the closest with their estimation. The student with the closest estimation will get a turn to take the Estimation Jar home.  The kiddos have also been working hard on earning PAW cards.  PAW cards are earned by students who demonstrate good character.  When a student  earns a PAW card, he/she puts it in the PAW basket.  On Friday, I will draw a name from the basket to see who will receive the Subway certificate for the week. A special THANK YOU to Subway for donating the Subway certificates.  That student will then have his or her name submitted to Mr. Messersmith for an opportunity to get a free movie pass. 

Well, it is way past this Kindergarten teacher's bedtime so I will sign off by saying Go Big Red and GO BIG KINDERGARTEN!!!!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Read Me A Story Please!

Today was a very special Library Day.  The girls and boys were treated to something very special as Mrs. Hansen's Jr/Sr high School study hall group read to the Kindergarten kiddos.  I could tell something was up as we entered the library, I  heard some of the kids squeal "Oh goody ! Here come the Kindergartners!"  Each child was able to find a comfy spot in the library as the "big kids" read their library books with them.  It was a wonderful sight all the smiles - big and little.  The library was full of noise but a joyful noise of kids sharing books.  Mrs. Witler took some pictures and Mr. Messersmith walked through liking what he saw.  When it was time to line up I don't know who was more disappointed, my kids or the big kids.  We are really looking forward to our next library day!

Just a reminder, our first quarter of school comes to an end next week. This week and next week I will be assessing our first quarter skills.  Many of these assessments will be done in a one on one situation.  We will also be doing some assessing in small group and whole group settings depending on the type of assessments.

Check out the Song page as new songs have been added - with more coming soon!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

STOP-DROP AND ROLL

This week begins Fire Safety Week, a very important and serious learning time for our Kindergarten Kiddos.  We started our unit with a book titled I Am Fire by Jean Marzollo.  It is a great book written for young children showing how fire can be helpful when handled properly by adults and when fire can be harmful.

It is my goal not to frighten or distress the boys and girls but stress the importance of knowledge and always being prepared.  We will learn the basics of Stop Drop and Roll, "stay low and go", "get out and stay out", the importance of practicing fire safety at home,  knowing how to dial 9-1-1, and learning how to keep our families safe.  We will finish off the week with a trip to the fire station.  It is a lot of information and I encourage you to discuss fire safety at home as a family.  Check the batteries in your smoke detectors, practice at home fire drills and discuss a meeting place for your family.

On Tuesday, I will teach the boys and girls a couple of fire safety songs. Don't forget to check out the Songs page of our blog tomorrow.  I know you'll want to sing along!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight