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

We Went Bananas For Our 100th Day

WOW!  I cannot believe we've already had 100 days of wonderfully fabulous fun!  Most of our day was based on the number 100 and we had a  great time!  Enjoy the pictures of our day ----

Modeling our 100 day crowns and glasses

                                               

                                                     Our 100 link chain

                                     Working on our 100 acts of kindness

Here is the final product!



100 happy faces!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                                                                                       100 tractor pictures

                                      100 kernels of popcorn

100 pennies

                                               

                                              A house made from 100 Q-Tips





A house made from 100 Legos



A necklace made with 100 beads and a bell



Draped with 100 colorful paperclips




A box decorated with 100 stickers




A volcano made from 100 pebbles
and one inside to make it rumble

                                                                                 

A beautiful picture made from 100 art foam pieces




                                                 

100 peanuts

                                                                    

100 pictures of Derby cars




100 marshmallows



A necklace made from 100 Fruit Loops

100 macaroni shells

100 Fruit Loops in this yummy necklace



 

100 pennies!

                                                

                                            

Our 100 Hershey Kiss hunt. We matched
the numbers on the bottoms of the Hershey
Kisses hidden around the room. 
We even got to eat them later!

                                         
                                                 

A surprise visit from Zero the Hero!!
Other activites from our day included reading 100 words, receiving 100 day pencils and stickers, melting 100 ice cubes, listening to stories about the 100th day of school, and counting to 100 by ones, tens, and fives with Miss Heidi

                                                               
Not only did we go bananas over all the fun, we enjoyed banana splits with a lot of yummy toppings at the end of our day.  Sorry there is only one picture but the teachers decided to finally join in and have our own tasty treat!