Learning Stations (January 30 - February 3)

Theme is still about winter.

Science Station

I think it is important for Kindergarten students to draw conclusions based on their observations. Ice Cube Race allows the students to explore ice and how they can either melt into water or stay in the solid state. The kids are given five plates to contain ice: (1) outside our classroom leading to the playground (2) inside the classroom (3) rubbing their hands with it (4) blowing the ice (5) putting salt on ice. The kids will draw their conclusions based on what they see. Of course, more can happen if the time is extended beyond 30 - 40 minute blocks.

Here are some of the answers:
(AM)
Yellow Team
Joshua - Ice melts in different ways. Ice turns into water. If water freezes, it turns into ice.
Kai - Ice melts in many different ways and how you do it (e.g., blowing the ice)
Carter - Ice breaks. When you accidentally throw the ice, it breaks!

Red Team
Luca - Rubbing the ice with your hands makes it melt.
Sydney - Blowing on the ice makes it melt.
Ashley - Putting salt on the ice makes it melt.

Orange Team
Juliana - The fastest way the ice melted is with salt on it. Ice is very cold.
Siena - Blow it and it melts. Ice melts when you put salt on it.
Elizabeth - It can melt when it's hot. I know because when my hands were hot and I touched the ice, it melted.

(PM)
Red Team
Lincoln - The air from my mouth melts the ice because it is hot.
Charlotte - Rubbing the ice with your hands make it melt. My hands warm it up.

Orange Team

Walker - I learned if you put salt on the ice, it will melt. If you rub the ice, it melts.
Emily - When you rub the ice, it gets hot and melts.
Kate - When you rub the ice, it melts because your hands are hot.
Toby - The ice melts because of my warm hands.
Art Station

Using paper cardstock mittens, the students are colouring their mittens and making a pattern with foam characters or shapes. Then, punching four holes on the paper mitten, they can loop a small thin yarn around it for motor skills.

Literacy Station

Learning the letter 'I' through the poem Iguana in the ivy and differentiating the two sounds (long 'i' and short 'i').

Math Station

Two Worksheets with more or less sets. The children have to count each set and write the number on it. Then, depending on the worksheet, colour the one which is less or more.

After that, they play Wok N Roll where the children have to race getting all the needed toy 'rice' from a rotating wok.

Sand Station

The sand table allows the students to create things out of their imagination using the sand table.

More will be posted as soon as work is done through the week.

Show and Share: Tips!

Show and Share: Encouraging Your Child

When your child takes center stage for Show and Tell, he or she learns by doing. This aspect of kindergarten is designed to teach and reinforce skills your child might use throughout life, like talking, explaining, and logical and creative thinking. By guiding your child in choosing an item to talk about, you can be sure the experience stimulates the youngster's imagination. Show and Tell works better when kids take items that they really like. Toys are okay but maybe, your child’s presentation will be much more exciting – to him or her and to the audience – if it’s about a post card or letter received in the mail, for example, or something made at home with Mom or Dad. Other nifty items could be a photograph of a favorite person or from a special trip, a non-toy gift from a relative or friend, a one-page story you and your child have made up together, a picture of Mom or Dad as a child, or a natural object from outdoors, like a piece of quartz or a big pine cone. And because these items aren’t toys, they aren’t likely to cause arguments at school!

Also, consider helping your child prepare a short talk that doesn’t need a “prop.” Why not tell about last year’s vacation or a day of helping with yard work, or make an entirely imaginary tale? It doesn’t have to take a lot of time to get ready. A little creative thinking makes it fun for everyone.

Remember these ways to help: Start early to choose something to tell about. Think ahead about what to say about the item. Maybe even rehearse a bit with your child. You’ll be glad you got involved.

(Note: This was taken from the website, http://www.allsands.com/kids/showandtell_tui_gn.htm, but I edited it to fit my philosophy!)

Acorn Fundraiser on February 8!

On Wednesday February 8th, each class will need maybe four to five volunteers for the Acorn Cards fundraiser. With the volunteers' help, the children will draw a picture and the parents will have a chance to order folding cards, postcards, calendars, and placemats with the child's artwork! I might even do my own! LOL! Blythwood will receive a certain percentage of the proceedings.

Kindergarten loves art!

Pyjama Party on Feb. 7!

The kindergarten classes will have a pyjama party on February 7. There will be lots of fun and music. A special clown will come to our classes and make the activity a truly festive one. There is a need for each child to contribute $4.50 for the activity. So, please be reminded to hand it to me as soon as possible. And we will have juice boxes and treats for the children.

Oh, I must remember to pack up my gorilla slippers!

Happy Pyjama Day!

Reading Groups Dates Are Here!

Guided Reading is a very important part of my literacy program. It is important that adults model the proper way of reading books of interest to children. This is a great opportunity for my parents to be involved in leading a guided reading program. The program will happen usually during the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month unless something unusual makes me move the date. But here are the prospective dates:

The following will be the dates for the Reading Groups:
February
- Feb. 15
- Feb. 29

March (Due to the fact that March 10 - 17 is March break, we are having two consecutive Wednesdays)
- Mar. 21
- Mar. 28

April
- Apr. 11
- Apr. 25

May
- May 9
- May23

June
- June 6
- June 20 (five days before my 16th birthday!)

I am looking forward to this new challenge for our wonderful students!

Kindergarten Registration Day: Feb. 7!

On February 7, Blythwood will open its doors to new prospective Kindergarten students. Please feel free to tell friends and families that you know who have children in the neighborhood and are ready to have a super duper time in Blythwood. I will be manning the station from 9 AM to 10:20 AM and want to meet our new parents in the neighborhood. Please spread the word!

Learning Stations (Jan 23 - 26)

Theme for the week is Chinese New Year. I tried my best to keep all the stations revolve around the theme.

Math Station


The children are learning about symmetry. Symmetry means that both sides of the mask must be the same, as if the half of the mask is the reflection of the other half.

Some of the masks done in the class:

Literacy Station

The children are learning about the letter 'H' through the poem Horse by the Hay. They once again will learn the sound of the letter 'H', practice writing the letter 'H' 'h' and colour their horse.

See James and John discussing their work!

Art Station

The afternoon class is making their Chinese lanterns by colouring a beautiful pattern and making slits in the middle of the paper.

Meanwhile, the morning class is making their dragon puppets with paper bags, construction paper and googly eyes. The afternoon class will make their own dragon puppets during Wednesday afternoon.

Science Station

To keep the Chinese New Year as the Year of the Dragon, I decided to create a teacher-directed lesson/inquiry about a real life dragon, the Komodo Dragon. With a chart paper, I drew the picture of a komodo dragon as an illustration for the kids to see. After researching over the weekend about the Komodo Dragon, I zoomed in the important scientific facts of the said animal: reptile, biggest lizard in the world, predator, dangerous. The kids looked so shocked when I told them that in 1970, a tourist wandered away from his friends and sat in the shade. The only thing that they could find of him was his camera. Many of the villagers suspected that he was eaten by the Komodo Dragons!

The children had to cite an important fact that they learned from the discussion which I write on a strip of construction paper. This is the interesting fact that they put on their worksheet. Afterwhich, they label the parts of the Komodo Dragon either by writing the words or pasting the words.

Sand Station

The children create mountains and hills using sand.

Officer Marcie Visited Kindergarten

We had a wonderful guest last week. Officer Marcie came to our Kindergarten classes to explain the importance of our police force in the community. The police is a very important community helper who helps to protect us everyday. Officer Marcie talked about how the children can recognize a police officer when they see one and know that a police officer is a safe adult to come for help. The children were so excited that they never stopped raising their hands to ask questions which were outlandish at times but nevertheless made the teachers chuckle and smile!

In the afternoon, Officer Marcie brought another police officer, Officer Julie! The children were all buzzed up about our special guests.

I asked Officer Marcie how important is it for a police officer to know their ABC's and 123's. And she told the little ones that it is very important for them to know how to read and write because they need to write their reports to their boss and colleagues, read signs and do a lot of important things concerning literacy.

The children loved Officer Marcie's visit so much that James D. asked me twice while I was checking attendance the next day, "Are we going to have a police officer visit again?" I chuckled at James' cute question!

Thank you, Officer Marcie and Officer Julie, for visiting!

Learning Stations (Jan 16 - 22)

For this week, I decided to focus our learning stations on snow and winter.

Art Station

Using coffee filters, the kids made snowflakes by folding the coffee filters and cutting small holes and shapes. Once they have finished their snowflakes, the snowflakes were stapled to our bulletin board which has the classroom tree. Afterwards, they colored their yellow activity sheet (e.g., sun, lemon).

Literacy Station

The children focused on the letter 'G'. I had a teacher-directed lesson reading the poem 'Goose in a Garden' on a chart paper. We identified the words starting with the letter 'g', demonstrated how to write the letter and made sure that they understood the letter 'g' phonetically. They went back to their table to accomplish the letter 'g' worksheet.

Math Station

The math station had the children playing a game where they were in the middle of the circle of the snowflakes and turned around while reciting the poem 'Snowflakes all around... Pick a snowflake off the ground'. Then the student stopped and picked up a snowflake to identify the number. If he identified it correctly, he keeps the snowflake. But if he was wrong, the snowflake is returned back to its place. The student with the most number of snowflakes wins.

After playing the game twice, they make their tangram shapes which they loved to do. Some did it more than once!

Science Station

I have decided to use the science sheet I made concerning the life cycle of a pumpkin. I read the book entitled Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. Then, we discussed the different stages in the life cycle of a pumpkin. After that, the children have to cut and paste the different pictures of the life stages of the pumpkin in the order that it happens(e.g., seed, sprout, plant, flower, pumpkin).

The sand box station had the children create little burrows and mountains which their tractors and trucks can go through.

The water table had the children using water wheels to create waterfalls and motion all over!

It was a wonderful week of learning stations this week!

Guided Reading Group

Guided Reading will allow an adult to have a small group of students increase their chance for success in reading by going through a book and learn how to read it via the words, pictures and other clues (e.g., background knowledge)

1. I have placed a list of the groups on my classroom door. The guided reading will happen every second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. For February, we will have February 8 and February 22.

2. A table will have a parent volunteer. And I will need five parent volunteers to handle a table. There will be a total of five tables. A table will have three kids (AM) and four kids (PM). If you are interested, please notify your respective class parents.

The guided literacy strategy will encompass two literacy activities: reading and writing.

Here are the series of steps/strategies I am thinking of to implement:

Reading

1. Each child will be handed out the book that we have decided to use for a table during that day. Show the title page to students, ask what they think the book will be about. Read the title to the students.

2. Walk the students through the book one page at a time. Point out each picture and ask the kids what they see. Try to impress in their minds what the language of the story is about. Introduce the vocabulary of the story by reading and pausing at each page to review what you read. Elicit the correct word to describe what is shown in the picture.

3. Introduce the high frequency words of the book. The high frequency words will be seen on the cover and the worksheet as well. Repeat the words to the children so that they can say the word and make sure that they know the words phonetically.

4. During the actual reading, parents are going to model the reading. Model reading to students by first reading the story while they follow along. Point to each word as you read. I think we need each child to have their finger point each word. After reading the book, let the students assume more and more responsibility for the reading. Read again and pause on words that they may be able to guess based on picture clues and allow students to supply the missing word. Students will become more adept at reading the high frequency words repeated on each page.

5. After model reading, instruct them to read aloud beginning with the cover. Allow them to read at their own pace. Tell them to point to each word as they read. Monitor their reading as they do. Provide prompts as needed. If students pause on a word, suggest that they try to sound out the first letter and then subsequent letters or to look at the picture for clues.

6. Ask the children at the table what did they do when they couldn't read a word. Encourage them to share their strategies with their peers. Ask them if the pictures helped them.

7. Ask the children about the book they read. This is for comprehension. What was the book about?

Writing

The children will have a worksheet for them to practice writing a sentence from the book. The worksheet will allow them to follow the model sentence and eventually they will write the sentence themselves.

1. Before they try to write, model to them how to hold the pencil.

2. Remind them to follow the lines as they write the letters.

3. Tell them to take their time writing the letters.

4. After writing, let them read the sentence to you.

I hope this helps you in understanding this new learning strategy that I would like to involve the community as well.

Here is an example of guided reading (there are many ways to do it). Click on video below:



See you soon!

Sand Table Started Today!

I decided to remove the structures because other teachers use it. I needed a centre/station devoted to the classes. So, I added the sand table as one of the centres.

Water Table... Hooray!

I have now the water table in my room! Thanks to Mr. Munson for taking time from his very busy schedule to assemble it!

And as you can see, some of the sea creatures have jumped into the water table behind my back. Oh! Oh!

New Things for 2012!

Happy New Year to everyone! After enjoying a two weeks off (I was surprised that by the second week, I was ready to go back to school), it gave me time to think about the different things that I wanted to do for my Kindergarten class:

1. Math Strategies Primary during computer class

Math Strategies Primary is a software program to help children understand the basics of mathematics. Designed for children ages 4 to 8 (Kindergarten to 3rd grade), the program guides the child to an understanding of the basic fundamentals of mathematics.

What I did was each child was assigned to a specific computer. When the child logs in with his/her account, the software will record his/her success or difficulties with the said concept (e.g, counting and quantity). In preparation for this, I had to go through 22 computers importing the class lists. It was a challenging job but I think it will be worth it! I will generate the reports ad hoc and give the parents a copy.

2. Implementing Learning Stations

What can give more variety to the learning objectives to the children? What can I do to make sure they are more successful and truly engaged in the activities that I have designed for them? During the vacation, I read more about learning stations or centres where a certain station or centre will be devoted to one learning objective. Having children who are still developing their cognitive abilities, focusing on one major task will enable them to concentrate. So, I have decided to design learning centres. The learning stations will follow a theme. For this particular week, the theme is based on the poem Baa Baa Black Sheep.

The children have been grouped into teams by color: red, blue, orange, green and yellow. Everyday, each team will do a center and at the end of the day, the task must be completed. For Fridays, we have catch up day to finish activities for the week.


Art Station

Ryan and Micol painting their sheep.

Kieran painting his sheep.

Science Station

Playing with magnets is a hands on activity for children to learn more about magnets.

Literacy Station

I am going through the letters of the alphabets which I think is a must for the Kindergarten students. We are now doing the letter 'F'. Aside from practicing the letter 'F', the Frog by the Flower poem said that he is surrounded by friends. So, I asked them to give their frog at least four friends by cutting and pasting insects I saw on the internet!

Math Station

Shearing the Sheep game makes the kids practice counting, taking turns, cooperation and having fun at sit down games! Kids will take turn picking a card with a number from 1 to 3 and will 'shear' his sheep (represented by small fluffy balls) and put the balls into his paper bag. The first one that places all the balls into his/her 'bag of wool' wins. The children were really good at playing the game with sportsmanship!

Structures Station

Kindergarten students have to use only two kinds of structures to make their own structure. And see the amazing results that they have done with the given toys!

James with his structure!

Carter and Josh doing an amazing structure!

Charlotte and Sarah working hard at it!

And other amazing results:

I also found out that we have a water table stashed away in the basement! So, I have requested to bring that up to the Kindergarten room. I have to change the water every week. I think it will be fun for the kids to see water at its best. We have a bin of plastic sea creatures waiting to swim in that classroom.

I also prepared the sand table which will replace the structure activity.

Hope you enjoyed this piece of news! Let me know what you think!