It's Zero the Hero Day!

The kindergarten classroom had a very special visitor today - it was Zero the Hero!  Each day as a part of our opening exercises we count the days we have been in school.  Today was our tenth day together.  Since our day ended with a zero, Zero the Hero paid us a visit.  He will continue to see us on each day that ends with zero.  It is another great way to reinforce our counting skills.  As an added bonus, Zero the Hero always brings us a treat that is in the shape of a zero.  Today we enjoyed some very tasty Vanilla Wafers. Yummy!  Hurry up day twenty!

New Bee-ginnings

WOW! Things have been a buzzin' in the Kindergarten classroom!  The boys and girls have been busy little bees learning all about being in school.  I must say I am really impressed and oh so proud of my Kindergarten kiddos!
 
For our first full week of school, we began working in our reading series.  Our reading time is actually broken down into four separate learning times during our day.  First, we have Shared Reading time.  It is during this time I share all kinds of literature.  We learn about different genres such as poetry, informational text, fantasy and reality.  We learn about characters, settings, main ideas and sequencing.  We also work on our comprehension skills.  After PE we settle back down to ABC/Word Work time.  This is where I teach phonics to the kiddos ( letters, sounds and blending to read words), we learn and practice our sight words, and practice our rhyming skills.  Next, it is Work Buddies time.  The boys and girls break down into pairs and go to their stations while I run reading groups.  This gives me an excellent opportunity to work with kiddos in small groups on their phonics and reading skills.  Whew!  All of this takes place in the morning.  The last section of our reading time happens in the afternoon.  It is our grammar and writing segment.  It is during this time we learn about how letters make words when we write and putting words together can make sentences.  We learn about capitalization and punctuation.  We learn that we need a great idea first before we can write. We also will learn how to organize our thoughts and write sentences.  For our grammar time, we will discover nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns.

All I can say is that after one week successfully finished, the boys and girls in my Kindergarten class did an awesome job adjusting to our busy reading time!  I couldn't ask for a better group of busy little bees! Oh what a busy little hive our Kindergarten room will be!  I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

The New Crop is Just About Ready

It is a day the whole Elementary School looks forward too.  The day the REALLY little kids come to school for Kindergarten Round-Up.  Their eyes are filled with a little bit of fear - the fear of the unknown and excitement - it is finally their turn to go to school.  Today we welcomed a new group of little kiddos to the world of PAW Power.  Our group was a little small as everyone was not able to join us today.  We had not a single tear or a frantic look for a parent but only enthusiastic children eager to begin a wonderful adventure. The boys and girls spent sometime getting used to their soon to be new surroundings.  We read a story, did a mimio activity, painted, played with magnets and drew faces on our teddy bears.  After about an hour, the little kiddos went to the library to play a few more games while I had the opportunity to visit with the parents.  I am almost certain they very quickly went into information overload as I introduced them to the new world of Kindergarten.  As our morning came to an end, parent and child were brought back together as they joined us for a very yummy lunch.

This was such a special day for child, for parents, and for this teacher as we all get ready to let go and watch our kiddos climb to the next branch of the beanstalk.

Nebraska State Reading Conference

The 38th annual Nebraska State Reading Conference is officially over.  My arms are sore from carrying bags full of catalogs and other information from reading vendors, booklets, and handouts from the various speakers.  My notebook is filled with notes of great new ideas, research, and activities for teaching reading to my kiddos.  I purchased books to expand on the ideas I received from the various experts.  I met many new and wonderful teacher friends from different areas of the state.  We shared ideas on what works and doesn't work so well in Kindergarten.  Who still has rest time?  Who does guided reading?  How do you manage centers? What reading series do you have and do you like it?  I also had the opportunity to spend uninterrupted time conferring with Ms. Loetscher, Mrs. Kollath, Mr. Stubbs, and Mrs. Stubbs on our own reading series -   things we like about it and how we will implement things from the series for next year.

It is a wonderful opportunity to have this gift of professional time from our administrators and the support from the parents of our kiddos as we take time off from our classrooms to learn and grow as teachers. 

Every year that I have attended the conference I have come back with so many new ideas, activities, routines, and information on new reading research.  This year was definitely no different.  Last year I was introduced to the practices of Debbie Diller a reading expert and consultant to many teachers around the country.  Her specialty is Literacy Centers and teaching reading using small group instruction along with whole group instruction.  I did my research for more information over this past summer after  purchasing more books by Debbie Diller during last year's conference. I put some of those ideas into practice this year -  but things just didn't feel right as the Kindergarten kiddos went through the procedures of our group time.  After attending 3 of my 5 sessions this year at the conference, I received more direct instruction on how to make this component of our reading time more purposeful and child driven.  I now have more tools to help my kiddos become GREAT readers and I am so excited to put these practices into play.  The other sessions I attended were just as helpful as I gained more information on Phonemic Awareness - another very important component of learning to read.

Once again, I'd like to thank our very supportive parents and administrators as we continue to work to make a difference in every child's life.  A job we all love and cherish.

Oh and parents you may want to let your kiddos know that Mrs. Straight learned so much that our Kindergarten day will be even more fun and exciting as ever!!!  I can't wait for Monday!

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

The Celebration Heard Around the World...I Think

As a teacher, I have my students best interest at heart.  When I work on my schedule, I go through several drafts as I plan out our day together.  I take into consideration what things are best to teach during different parts of the day and prioritize them.  Reading Math and Writing always come first. Teaching five year olds can be a challenge as they get tired during the day so I always schedule in a rest time during the afternoon.  The boys and girls have been troopers as they lay quietly on their mats with classical music playing for 25 minutes. Many of the boys and girls even fall asleep.  This last month we have had many special days in which rest time was taken out of our day.  I noticed the boys and girls going straight to the agenda for our day and when rest time was no where to be seen, a collective hooray was heard.  OK - OK I can take a hint the boys and girls no longer needed their rest time - my kiddos were growing up. So on Thursday, I sent the rest mats home for the rest of our school year and boy was there a celebration in Kindergarten - - - I am almost sure at least everyone in the county heard it!  :0)

Your child's teacher,
Mrs. Straight

Great Teachers In Training

Each year Wayne State College instructor Cheryl Suehl arranges with area primary teachers to have her students travel to area schools to present 2 stories and a correlating activity to their elementary classrooms.  I love it when these young men and ladies visit our Kindergarten classroom.  Their nervousness soon turns to enthusiasm as they begin to interact with the kiddos. In the many years I have welcomed these college students I have never been disappointed with their possibilities as young teachers.

This year we welcomed Miss Makayla and Miss Nicole.  Each was very professional as they contacted me and made their arrangements to present in our classroom.  Each young lady was prompt and prepared with their lessons.  Each was great as they read their stories, gave directions for great activities and was wonderful as they interacted with the boys and girls.  Each a great teacher in the making!



Miss Makayla reading to the class.



Miss Makayla visited first with a wonderful dental health story and an activity in which the boys and girls glued marshmallows (teeth) onto a paper plate to create a healthy smile.  She then present each child with a toothbrush and floss so they could practice brushing and flossing their teeth.  On her second visit she read a Valentine's Day story and the boys and girls made flowers made from Tootsie Pops to give to their parents.  She also gave one to each Kindergartner.

Miss Nicole was the second to delight the class.  She also read a dental health story.  The boys and girls then painted yucky yellow teeth a healthy white  to help make a beautiful smile.  For her second visit, Miss Nicole read the story Big Smelly Bear.  The boys and girls then painted their own smelly bears with brown paint mixed with coffee.  The boys and girls agreed their bears were very smelly but very cute.

February Fun!

We decided to take a break from letters, sight words and numbers to have a little February Fun.  We have decorated our classroom with a different wind sock adorned with the familiar symbols of February.

                                                         
                                         A Valentine wish from the Kindergarten class
                                                 "Will you be my Valentine?"

                                     Of course, we had to decorate our Valentine bags to hold hold all the Valentines from our Kindergarten friends.  Yes, these are very full!

Our hopes are that each and every one of you have a wonderful Valentine's Day with friends and family.

Hugs and kisses and Valentine wishes 

from your child's teacher,

Mrs. Straight