Mr. Turkey Says ...

This past week, we spent some time getting ready for Thanksgiving.  Turkeys are everywhere in Kindergarten!  Those turkeys are becoming a little concerned as families begin planning their Thanksgiving menus.  They left a few messages for you and I hope you enjoy them.  The turkeys, of course, hope you take their advice.

Hannah's turkey says,  "Eat Valentine cookies!"
Cooper's turkey says,  "Eat steak!"
Jake's turkey says,  "Eat ham!"
Mason's turkey says,  "Eat chicken with bar-b-que!"
Colbey's turkey says,  "Eat chicken nuggets!"
Megan's turkey says,  "Eat macaroni and cheese!"
Kailen's turkey says,  "Eat fish!"
Caden's turkey says,  "Eat a hot dog!"

Dax's turkey says,  "Eat ham!"

Hunter's turkey says,  "Eat a hot dog on a bun!"

Brook's turkey says, "Eat a hamburger!"

Kortney's turkey says,  "Eat chicken!"

Savannah's turkey says, "Eat ice cream!"

Mark's turkey says,   "Eat mac and cheese!"

Koda's turkey says ,  "Eat hot dogs on a bun!"

Micah's turkey says,  Eat fried chicken!"
Noah's turkey says,  "Eat bar-b-que!"
Sierra's turkey says,  "Eat chicken!"

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, - It's a BAT !!!!

This past month the Kindergarten class had a lot of fun learning about one of the creatures of the night  - bats.  I, particularly, am not fond of the nocturnal creatures but learning about them and teaching the boys and girls about uniqueness of bats is,well, like therapy for the teacher.  The kids learned some great science words like: mammal, nocturnal, echolocation.  We learned how bats live in colonies and that bats have - fingers and thumbs!  We read the story Stellaluna and compared bats and birds - how they are alike and how they are different.  We learned there are many kinds of bats.  There are bats that eat fruit and bats that eat bugs. This makes bats very helpful and the farmers love this about bats.  We learned that there are vampire bats that live far far away and like to eat fish and lick the blood.  We learned vampire bats DO NOT live by us and DO NOT suck people's blood and turn people into vampires.  That stuff is just for the movies.  We listened to what bats sound like when they use echolocation.  We even saw a short video featuring a little brown bat and learned a song about echolocation.  The link is posted below.  You have got to check it out!  To top it off, we made a bat snack to celebrate our Brownie Points.  We used Oreos and candy - very tasty!  I hope the boys and girls learned a lot and the therapy always helps the teacher!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

The Echolocation Song    http://www.surfnetkids.com/video/bat_echolocation_song.htm

"And the Award Goes To..."

At the end of each month, grades K-6 meet in the multi-purpose room for our PAW Assembly.  It is at this assembly that Mr. Messersmith awards a student the monthly citizenship award.  The birthday boys and girls are recognized and each receives a birthday pencil as we sing them a happy birthday song.  Mrs. Witler gives us an update on AR --- which students have met their goals and how many days are left for the rest of the kiddos to reach their AR goals.  If it is at the end of the quarter, special recognition is given to honor roll students as they receive a certificate for their hard work.  And finally, one special class is awarded the listening trophy for sitting quietly during the assembly and this month the award went to .........THE KINDERGARTEN!!!! It was great ! The entire class all rushed up to get the trophy and held it high in the air commenting on how big and shiny it was.  Their teacher??  Well, she was beaming from ear to ear - very proud of her little kindergarten kiddos.   The very big and shiny trophy is on display in the Kindergarten classroom for the rest of this month.

Your child's very proud teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Red Ribbon Week

Traditionally the last week of October schools across the nation celebrate Red Ribbon Week.  Red Ribbon week is dedicated to a Federal Drug Enforcement Agent, Enrique Camarena, who was killed by drug traffickers in Mexico in 1985.  In response to his death, angered parents across the country began wearing red ribbons to symbolize their commitment toward the creation of a drug free America.

To help our youth in Winside, Mrs. Volwiler's high school YLC students came up with slogans to help them reinforce their commitment to stay drug free.  On Monday these students visited each class handing out red ribbons for the boys and girls to wear throughout the week.  Each day a special dress-up day and slogan was introduced.

Monday - Wear Red Day

Tuesday - Shade Out Drugs

Wednesday - Don't Be Ridiculous -  Don't Use Drugs

Thursday - Use Your Heads - Don't Use Drugs

Friday - We Are PAWS itively Drug Free

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

Conferences

Parent-Teacher conferences are over and Kindergarten had 100 percent parent attendance! A firecracker cheer for the parents - ask your child to demonstrate for you.  :o)   It was very nice getting to spend a little time with each of you.  I apologize if your conference with me was a little later than scheduled or you were a little late to your next conference after attending your Kindergarten kiddos conference.  I do love to visit and get to know the parents.  Sometimes we do get a bit off topic but communication is very important to your child's education and it is important for your child's teacher and you, the parent, to be on the "same page" so to speak.  Great questions were asked and I hope I was able to answer them all.  But conferences are not the only time to communicate.  Feel free to e-mail me, drop a note or give me a call and I'll be happy to help you out.

October is just around the corner and I am amazed at how fast September has flown by.  October is a busy month for us.  We will spend time on fire safety as October is Fire Safety Month.  We will walk to the fire station with the first graders and get a good look as those big fire trucks.  We will study pumpkins and bats in as we get into the Halloween spirit.  ( No pun intended)  Red Ribbon Week is in October as we pledge to be drug free!  Before you know it we will be dreaming about drumsticks and pumpkin pie....

Thanks to all of you, for all of your wonderful support for all we do in Kindergarten.   You are a big part of  a successful start to your child's school career.

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

What Can I Do At Home?

A question I am often asked is "How can I help my child at home?"  There are so many things parents can do to reinforce learning at home.  Reading to your child is so very important.  Share this time to enjoy a good book or an old favorite.  Remember it is my job to teach the boys and girls to read, it is your job to teach them how to love books by reading to them.  But before children are even ready to learn to read they need to develop their phonemic awareness skills.  This simple means teaching them to listen to sounds and patterns in words.  It is strictly a listening skill.  Phonemic awareness activities are incorporated into our reading on a daily basis.  These are simple activities you can do while driving with your child, or while strolling down the grocery store aisles or while tucking your child in before you read that bedtime story. I have listed some phonemic awareness activities that you can easily do at home with your child.

Same/Different - say two words to your child if the words are the same word they say "same" or give you a thumbs up.  If the two words are different the give you a thumbs down.  You can also do this activity with rhyming words.

Stretch Out the Word - say a word but stretch out the sounds  c-a-t   then have your child say the word put together

Three in a Row - say three words that all begin with the same sound   map, mouse, man  have your child tell you the sound all three words begin with

Which One Does Not Belong - say three words, two of those words begin with the same sound   sun, sing, tree   have your child tell you which word doesn't belong and has a different beginning sound

Syllable Count- say a word to your child have them clap out how many syllable/word parts are in the word


I hope you enjoy these activities and I am looking forward to seeing you at our Parent-Teacher Conferences next week!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

A Little Older - A Lot Wiser - and Even More Blessed

Boy - What a day!   It was such a fun fun day.  I can't feel anything but young at heart today.  If you haven't already heard, the teacher turned 50 today!  The boys and girls filled my  day with smiles and laughter as they walked into the classroom wearing their "my teacher turned 50 today" stickers.  The tons of hugs, smiles, well wishes, and cards from so many students past and present just reminded me of why and how much I LOVE teaching!

It wasn't all party time in Kindergarten today.  In reading, we started blending our two sounds a and m to form the word am.  They learned how to say the word slowly, then sing the sounds, and finally read the word.  Have your little one demonstrate this at home.  This is the procedure we will use to sound out unknown words.  We also read sentences using our popcorn words and photo cards.  Today's sentence was We see the ______. They were nothing but smiles when they discovered just how easy it is to read.

We also had a little science mixed in with our reading today.  (which is another reason I love this new reading series) -   many of our literature selections are science and social studies based.  We discussed mammals and their characteristics and how some mammals are nocturnal.  See if your Kindergartner can tell you what a mammal is and what nocturnal means.

Thanks to all of those who have helped the start of our insect exhibit.  The jumbo magnifying glasses are out and all insects are ready to be inspected.  Real life learning is so much fun and the children remember it better as it has more meaning to them.  To help our room feel more comfortable for our new crawly little friends, we started  making our lady bug windsocks today.  We will finish them up tomorrow and have them ready to be hung in our classroom in time for Parent-Teacher conferences.

In Math, we have been working on number formation for numbers 1-4.  We have also introduced our first two shapes - circle and rectangles.  We used crackers - you guessed it - circle and rectangle shaped to help introduce the concept.  We love any excuse to eat in Kindergarten!

Special thanks to all my Kindergarten Kiddos, wonderful colleagues, and friends for making this a truly Wonderful Wednesday.  Now I am going to go home and take a nap!!!  I guess you get to do that when you're my age!

Your child's teacher ,
Mrs. Straight

Bugs BUGS BUGS

Creepy crawly things are so much fun to learn about.  Last week we started our unit on insects.  It is so much fun as we share our stories about bugs and where we've found them.  (Ask your little one to tell you about Mrs. Straight and her kitchen and ... the ants.) 

We began our unit by learning about the general characteristics of an insect - an insect has three body parts and six legs.  The boys and girls even learned a song to help them remember the names of the three insect body parts.  The words are found under the song tab of our blog if you'd like to sing along with your Kindergarten kiddo. :0)   Once we became insect experts, we began the study of different insects, beginning with ants. As we discover each insect, we will study where they live, what they eat and how they move.  We will chart our information and look for similarities and differences in the different insects.  It all sounds so "grown-up"  but these boys and girls are up to the task. 

Literature is how I've chosen to introduce our different insects.  Anyone who knows me or has stepped into our classroom knows how much I love, love, love books.  It has give me the opportunity to introduce fiction and non-fiction to the boys and girls.  I will incorporate technology through the use of the Internet as we look at close up pictures of the different creepy crawly critters.  Art activities will also be incorporated as we have fun learning about lady bugs and the life cycle of a caterpillar.  And nothing is more fun as hands on learning as the boys and girls begin bringing in insects they find and we examine them with magnifying glasses.

I hope you will share in the fun and help your young one contain an insect for us to examine ... no bees or wasps please :o) ... I think you know why.  We welcome ants, crickets, ladybugs, grasshoppers, caterpillars, butterflies, beetles...the more the merrier!  I can supply the ants...did I tell you to ask your little one to tell you the story about Mrs. Straight and her kitchen and the...ANTS!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

A Little Time Away

This post will be very short.  I am in Shelton, Nebraska today and will be here until Sunday.  I am on Nana duty helping out my daughter with the girls as she gets back into the routine with a newborn in the house.  I did let the boys and girls know I would be gone and their first concern naturally was "But who will teach us?"
Routine and structure are very important to young children.  I try to keep things as normal as possible when I know I am going to be gone but that's not to say it might be a bit of a struggle for everyone.

 Well, one needs a bottle and another needs her hair brushed...the life of a Nana.

Looking forward to an exciting new week when I return.....

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Sid the Science Kid

I love being a grandma actually a "Nana".  It keeps me young and hip with the 3-6 year old population.  Last summer my granddaughter, Karrigan, introduced me to a show on PBS called Sid the Science Kid and I was hooked!  I thought what a wonderful  way to teach science to young children.  The vocabulary is perfect, explanations are easy for little ones to understand, the characters are lovable and very relatable to young kids, and the science that is taught is awesome!  I wanted to record every episode and bring it back to the classroom.  I wanted to be Teacher Susie. Then I found out you can buy the episodes on DVD - so I did.

As you've guessed, I  have incorporated Sid the Science Kid into our science lessons.  For every episode, we will take a class survey similar to the one Sid will give his friends and then we will discus our survey results.  This will set up what we will be learning about.  I will show the Sid the Science Kid episode to the class the next day.  On the third day, we will do the experiment  similar to what the boys and girls just watched.  We will go back to our survey again and then journal our findings.  I don't know who will have more fun me or the kids!

Well, we did just that this last week and finished up today.  Our first Sid the Science Kid episode was all about estimation.  We estimated balloons and lollipops.  We will carry this skill over with our math as we introduce a traveling Estimation Jar.  We will do a few more estimation activities at school before we begin this take home adventure.  Please watch your BEE Books for information at a later date.

If you ever get the opportunity, I hope you will watch Sid the Science Kid at home and join in on all the fun!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

It's a Whole New World

On Friday, we finished up the Smart Start section of our reading series.  It was basically an introduction of our daily reading format.  We reviewed the alphabet as a whole and introduced four popcorn words (sight words).  

On Monday, we begin the meat of our reading series.  We will concentrate on one letter per week (on most occasions).  We will learn correct letter formation, listen for beginning and ending sounds for that letter and when appropriate we will begin blending sounds together to begin reading words.  We will also be introducing three popcorn words each week.  I will begin working with the boys and girls on sentence structure as they will soon begin writing.  I will be introducing the concept of naming words (nouns)  and action words (verbs).  The boys and girls will also be working in small reading groups as well as participating in whole class instruction.  Our reading series runs in cycles.  Week one and week two will be an introduction to new skills and on week three, we review the previous two weeks. the cycle will begin again.

There is also a Home to School connection for each week.  These will help you to become an active participant in your child's learning.  Watch your child's BEE Book for these activities and take-home readers.

It seems like so much but these primary years are the foundation for building great readers and writers.  It is a lot different from when you and I were in Kindergarten.  It is a whole new world!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

It Takes a Village

I know you've heard me say it before but I have to say it again - I love my job!  There is nothing better than seeing bright-eyed eager learners that love coming to school walk into your classroom.  And of course - the hugs!  But I have a confession to make, I don't do my job by myself.  From time to time you may hear your son or daughter mention some of these individuals and I thought you might like to know who the unsung heroes are.  After all it takes a village to teach a Kindergartner.

First and foremost there is Miss Topp.  She is my right hand gal.  She works with many of the boys and girls in the classroom.  We work very closely together planning out learning activities that help boys and girls learn in their best way. Miss Topp is in our classroom all day everyday.

 Miss Angie is the occupational therapist.  She comes to our school twice a month from the Educational Service Unit.  She is there to give me advice on how to strenghten fine motor skills for our kiddos.  She gives me ideas for activities to strengthen muscles to help with better gripping their pencils  or crossing the mid-line.  There is also Miss Kim, our Speech and Language pathologist, also coming to us from the ESU.  She helps me out with the boys and girls who are having troubles with some of their sounds and gives me ideas and activities we can do in the classroom to help them speak more clearly.  She is at our school twice a week.

Now there are my "other" little helpers.  There are many who are not physically present in our classroom but share their talents via the Internet or DVD or CD.  First there is Miss Heidi, a Kindergarten teacher who has developed a series of movement based videos put to music to help young children learn basic skills.  We have been doing our Alphabet Actions along with Miss Heidi and her DVD.  Later in the year, we will be doing some counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's  with Miss Heidi.  Dr. Jean is also an educator and she has put a series of CD's together also using movement and music.  We have learned her Days of the Week song.  We will learn the months to the Macarena with Dr. Jean.  And of course the kids LOVE Dr. Jean's "Tooty Ta'.  Research show that children retain more information when it is learned by/through song. 

The Internet is always a great source as there are so many wonderful teachers who are willing to share their ideas with others.  From them I have implemented our B.E.E books, Brownie Points, Zero the Hero, our Birthday bags, and a few other surprises for the class.

My job is always exciting and certainly rewarding.  With all of us working together, we can help your boys and girls be the best they can be - and I want you to know - I don't do it by myself - it really does take a village.  I must say our village is pretty great!

Your child's teacher and village coordinator,
Mrs. Straight

Fabulous Friday!

Here I am on sleep-in Saturday telling you all about our Fabulous Friday.  Unfortunately, my allergies got the best of me on Friday and I didn't get much done but I still wanted to fill you in on something very special about our Fabulous Fridays and that is Show and Tell.

Show and Tell is a very important part of our Kindergarten classroom.  It gives the boys and girls an opportunity to develop speaking skills - looking at their audience and using a strong leader voice.  These are things I work on with each student.  It also gives them a chance to build a vocabulary while the rest of the class learns good listening skills and how to ask a question.  But one of the best things I see happening during Show and Tell, is giving each boy and girl and chance for their "ME " moment - a chance to shine as they share something very special to them.  It really brings a fabulous end to a Fabulous Friday!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.  My plans - I am staying indoors where there is no ragweed!!!

Your child's teacher,
(Achoo!)
Mrs. Straight

Thrilling Thursday !

What a thrilling day we had.  Today, I experienced one of the many joys of teaching Kindergarten - when a child says "Mrs. Straight, I can read!"  We have been working on our first four popcorn words and student name recognition.  The boys and girls have done a super job learning to recognize and read these words.  When we have a big book we share, a sentence written for our morning message or one of our papers,  many of them can instantly recognize these words.  When I gave them their first decodable  reader last week, many big eyes looked up at me in fright and many a voice said "But, Mrs. Straight I don't know how to read a book". It wasn't long before the boys and girls were "discussing" over who was going to get to read the next book first. You got to love it!!!

Don't forget - Show and Tell is tomorrow.

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Wonderful Wednesday!

I am so very blessed.  I can honestly say everyday when I go to work, I am so happy to be there.  I love my job!  The boys and girls are so enthusiastic about learning new things and love the path we travel even if that path is a silly one. They encourage my indulgences in have fun while learning.

Today we introduced two new activities into our Kindergarten classroom.  The first was our "brain tickets".  An average person would just see a colored piece of paper with the words "brain ticket" written on it.  No big deal.  Ahhh - but what its represents is something of vast importance.  Our brain tickets are handed out with much reverence as we begin to use our brains and use great thinking skills in the classroom.  There is much ceremony in what they represent and boy do we have a good time passing them out!  I hope you will take some time and congratulate your little one on bringing home the coveted brain ticket and for being such a good thinker at school.

The second activity was the introduction of Punctuation Pirate to our classroom.  By just putting on a pirate hat and using my "Arrrg!" - pirate voice, I transport the kiddos to a different place as he teaches us all about punctuation marks.  Today he introduced to the boys and girls that a period comes at the end of a sentence. He will continue to visit our classroom along with some other great characters to help make learning fun and not quite so ho-hum.

So I thank my all of boys and girls for letting me be so silly and have a little fun while learning!

All parents get a thumbs up and a firecracker cheer ( ask your child to demonstrate) as all the boys and girls remembered  their library books for Library Day.  Fantastic!

I can't wait for tomorrow - Thrilling Thursday!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Teriffic Tuesday!

We had our special visitor on our tenth day of school today - it was Zero the Hero!  Zero the Hero is a special hero that comes to our classroom on any school day that ends in a ZERO!  The great thing about Zero the Hero (according to the boys and girls) is he always brings a yummy treat in the shape of a zero to share with the class! 

Everyday during our calendar time together we keep track of our days using straws. We add a straw each day until our very last day of Kindergarten.  Today we took the 10 straws from our ones pocket and bundled them up with a rubber band and moved our new group of 10 to the tens pocket.  Tomorrow - you guessed it - we will add one straw to our ones pocket to illustrate our 11th day of school.  By the time March comes the boys and girls wonder if we will have enough straws to finish out our year together.  Calendar time is an excellent opportunity for us to explore number patterns together.  Soon we will add pennies to help us count our days for each month.  We will gradually add nickels and dimes as we learn coin recognition.  Already we are using tally marks to help us count our days for the month.  This will help us learn to count by fives.  Each month we begin our tally marks again.

Don't forget tomorrow is library day as we celebrate  Wonderful Wednesday!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Marvelous Monday!

It was my first Monday with my Kindergarten kiddos.  For those of you that haven't heard, I am a grandma again and I was staying with my daughter's family as we welcomed little Kyla last Monday.  Mondays at the beginning of the year are a little interesting as we get back into a routine we are just beginning to learn about.  The first weeks of Kindergarten are like that - just learning how to be in school.  I am amazed at these little people who have adapted to the structure and routine of lining up and raising their hands.  We are still working on when it is OK to talk and not OK to talk in the classroom.  Some of them like to see how strong they are and try to "pick up" a special friend.  These are are typical behaviors we work on in the first few weeks of school.  After Labor Day I hope to have the boys and girls all on the "same page"  as they learn appropriate behaviors at school. 

However it isn't all about the behaviors.  We have started our new reading series "Treasures" by McGraw Hill.  I have introduced 4 popcorn words or sight words.  We call them popcorn words because they just pop up whenever we read.  I will have a running list for you as a tabbed page at the top of our blog.  I encourage you to make flashcards for these words and practice at home.  We are also learning songs to go with our color words - another page to our blog I hope to add by the week's end. 

In Math, we have begun exploring math tools like our pattern blocks and our teddy bears.  We have also started our numbers.  Don't forget to check out the number jingles in your child's BEE Book when working on number formations at home with your little one.

The beginning of the school year is an exciting time but more excitement is on the way as we expect the arrival of a special visitor in the very near future...stay tuned....

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

WELCOME!

Technology is a wonderful thing when it is used appropriately.  It is fascinating  how many of us have given in to try some amazing new tools - texting, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other sites.  This summer I had the opportunity to attend a technology institute in Norfolk with many of my fellow Winside teachers and learned many new things that will help me and my little students in using some great tools for learning.  It is a very exciting yet scary time for me to wander into this new world.  I would like to invite all of you to come along for the ride.   With this site, it is my goal to provide you with some insight as to what your child, grandchild, niece and/or nephew experiences in Kindergarten.  I will highlight some great learning experiences, activities, songs, and projects for you.  With the help of Mrs. Kollath, our elementary technology teacher, I will share with you some photos of our classroom and great links for you to try at home.  As a result I hope to give you a glimpse into our world and hope you will love kindergarten as much as do!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs Straight