KC Kids 2010-2011

Last Day!

2011-06-02T13:41:00.001-04:00

It is our last full day of school. Here is what we did:

- Assembly - ask your KC kid about the flash mob. :)

- Cleaned the room

- P.E.

- Practiced for tomorrow's performance

- Free time at Lexia

- Recess

- Closing Circle

Performance is at 8:30 in the gym. School is dismissed from the classroom immediately following the performance - around 9:30.

Table Top with Games ~ Summer Lists ~ Seniors ~ Playing Outdoors

2011-06-01T15:24:00.000-04:00

Table Tops

We read this book and wrote lists of what we want to do this summer.

Some seniors came to our class to tell about their trip to China.

We played outside at the end of the day!!

Happy Birthday, Taylor! ~ Math Table Tops ~ Class Picture ~ Our Year

2011-05-31T14:09:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday, Taylor!!

The math area was open for Table Tops.

We finally had everyone here and it wasn't raining, so we took our final class picture. The final page for your child's scrapbook is coming home today.

We wrote a book about kindergarten for the next group of KC kids. We used photos to illustrate the book. We have calendar in kindergarten.

We take P.E.

We water plants.

We tell our teachers how we are going home each day.

We have a daily schedule.

Cookie Soup!

2011-05-27T14:44:00.000-04:00

We read Stone Soup yesterday and Cookie Soup today. The class decided that cookie soup sounded better than stone soup. Here is the onion crew cutting onions for the soup.

Broccoli and Cauliflower

Asparagus

Corn, Green Beans, and Garlic

The cookie is floating at the top. The soup is ready to cook.

The soup was delicious. People came from near and far (or from down the hall) to see what was cooking in our room.

Who would have thought that we got such delicious soup from one cookie! :)

Talent Show

2011-05-26T20:17:00.000-04:00

Thank you!!

2011-05-26T15:33:00.000-04:00

The class wanted to thank Mrs. Bruggeman for being our room mother this year. The class decided to make her cupcakes and put on a talent show. We taped the show and will try to post it later tonight, so please check back.

Surprise!!

Musical Assembly ~ 4th Grade Buddies

2011-05-25T15:19:00.001-04:00

After Assembly, we played with our 4th grade buddies. We were thrilled to have a nice morning, so we went out to the playground to play. The LS Strings performed at Assembly. Ask your KC kid who the villain was!

Additional pictures from today are posted in KC Photos.

Camping in KC

2011-05-24T21:15:00.000-04:00

We went camping today.

Our Tent

Our "Campfire"

Morning Meeting

Journal Writing

A Camping Necessity - Gorp

Making collages of what we would take camping.

We read this book while sitting outside and looking at the clouds.

Everyone looked at the clouds and shared what he or she saw.

We made our own Spilt Milk pictures and wrote about them.

We rested in the tent. The girls had the first turn, and then the boys went next.

Happy Birthday, Adeti ~ Table Tops ~ Measuring Fun

2011-05-23T15:26:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Adeti!

Having a Restaurant

Cool Coloring Pages

Building

Watering the Plants

Teamwork!

While Mrs. Korda and Mr. Connick measured how much everyone grew this year (from 1/2 in to 1 in), the class measured each other.

Measuring the Board

A compilation of math pages came home today. We can't believe that there are only 7 full days and the performance left this year. Yikes!

Pre-K Play ~ Strings Concert

2011-05-19T14:25:00.001-04:00

We had a busy day that included a few extras. We went to the Pre-K play this morning, went outside in Science, said good-bye to the baby chicks, enjoyed a strings concert, and ran around during an extra recess.

We look forward to seeing you at conferences!

Wolves & Sheep ~ Math ~ Class Story

2011-05-18T15:25:00.000-04:00

We read a very fun book about a few wolves trying to infiltrate a flock of sheep.

We made masks to act out the story.

Sheep

Wolves

Kids

We worked on math sentences.

We played a math game called Clear the Board. Ask your KC kid how we determined the winner. It wasn't necessarily the person with the most cubes.

Math Patterns


We wrote a story at the end of the day. Everyone brought home a copy of the story.

Happy Birthday, Connor! ~ Letters

2011-05-17T14:29:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Connor!

Things are still growing in KC!

We read one book about a dragon needing someone to take care of him (his mom comes through) and one book about a little boy asking his mom for a pet.

Everyone wrote a persuasive letter asking for something. Look out - these letters are coming home!

Table Tops ~ Hiccups ~ Dimes

2011-05-16T13:30:00.000-04:00

Making Puppets

Building

Building and Math Patterns

Math Facts

We read about a hippo who had the hiccups. Ask your KC kid who got the hiccups after the hippo got rid of them.

We wrote and illustrated our own cures for the hiccups.

We looked at dimes today. Here is what we noticed.

Tooth Day ~ Nickels ~ Farewell to Senior Buddies

2011-05-13T14:23:00.002-04:00

It was tooth day in KC. We counted how many teeth we have.

We made mouths with tear-away teeth to help us keep track of lost teeth through the years.

Yesterday we explored the penny and today the nickel. Here is what we noticed about nickels.

Today was the seniors last day. The K classes sang a song to them.

A flash mob danced to Thriller.

Everyone went to the playground to play.

Someday... ~ Stories

2011-05-11T14:50:00.000-04:00

We read a book about a little boy who wants to do it all. Then the class wrote on dream catchers what they want to be someday. We are hoping their dreams come true!

The class used magnets to create a story. Here is one story that was written today.

The class was divided into three groups, and each group started a story, but each student wrote his or her own ending to the story. These endings came home today.

Knuffle Bunny ~ Math Fun

2011-05-10T15:21:00.000-04:00

Between yesterday and today, we read all three Knuffle Bunny books. We noticed many things about the books and stories -- what was the same and what was different. Ask your KC kid what they noticed about the covers and the stories.

The kids made a timeline chain of their lives. It was fun to see what they remembered from the last five or six years.

We played math games, constructed math patterns, and created figures following a pattern card.

At the end of the day, the class sorted buttons and made math sentences from the piles.

These buttons are sorted by color, and the math sentence would be 6 + 4 = 10. We wrote the math sentences on white boards.

Wood Working ~ Chicken Egg Link ~ First Grade

2011-05-09T15:25:00.000-04:00

Mr. Cicetti had the class wood working today. Everyone loved it. The pictures will be posted on KC Photos.

There is a new link on the blog. Click on the K Science Chick Eggs Link on the right side to watch the eggs.

The K students visited the 1st grade classrooms and teachers today. Each 1st grade teacher had about 5 minutes to say hello and tell a few things about first grade. Here is what the class remembered about the visit:

There will be homework Monday - Thursday, but not Friday

They will need to read 15 minutes a night

Some of the teachers stay the whole day and some stay 1/2 a day

There aren't any water fountains in the rooms

There aren't any bathrooms in the rooms

There is a lizard in one of the rooms

There are math books

There are passes for restroom, nurse, and drinks

The 1st grade students don't rest

The 1st grade students have DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) or Chill time

Special Friend's Day

2011-05-06T13:31:00.000-04:00

Special Friend's Day was fabulous. Thanks to all of your visitors for joining us. The pictures are posted in KC Photos. Click the May album to see them.

Writing

2011-05-05T15:13:00.000-04:00

Some very cool creations during Table Tops.

We read a few garden-themed books, and then we wrote and illustrated garden-themed number and color books.


We cleaned the room for Special Friend's Day.

We also had Math Workshop, Spanish, Swimming, and Library. At the end of the day, we watched the K movie that we will show tomorrow.

Wednesday Happenings

2011-05-04T13:19:00.000-04:00

No pictures today, but here is a run down of what happened in KC:

Class pictures were taken in the classroom instead of outdoors.

The KC kids helped assemble the scrapbooks that will come home at the end of the year.

We finished Writing Workshop.

We had Music and Spanish.

Growing Words ~ Wheel of Fortune

2011-05-03T14:45:00.000-04:00

We brainstormed words for our growing theme and illustrated them.

The words are now posted around the room.

We had our last Math Group today!! And...how did we already get to May!!

We also completed a math page, finished Reading Workshop, started Writing Workshop, and played Wheel of Fortune! Hope our message comes true.

Forced Perspective Pictures

2011-05-02T15:30:00.000-04:00

We read a book called Scarlette Beane about a little girl who grows gigantic vegetables. We talked about perspective and tried to create some forced perspective pictures.

Arman seems to be smaller than celery! We wrote stories based on these fun photos.

Our plants are looking good!!

Our class photo has been rescheduled for this Wednesday.

Happy Birthday, Samantha! ~ Wedding ~ Math Games

2011-04-29T15:36:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

In honor of CA's 100th birthday, the second graders danced us through the decades during Assembly.

It was Royal Wedding day in KC. We made tea sandwiches.

We made crowns.

We created invitations.

Sandwiches are ready to go!

After lunch, we watched some videos of the Royal Wedding.

We played math games in the afternoon.

Proud Jenga Moment!!

Magic Bean Stalks ~ Word Problems

2011-04-28T13:30:00.000-04:00

We read two additional Jack in the Beanstalk stories. One was similar to the stories yesterday, but the other was from the giant's wife point of view. It was very interesting. Ask your KC kid about that version. After reading the story, we made magic bean stalks.

We measured the length of the "grown" bean stalk.

Jack is almost to the top of this bean stalk!

We worked on word problems in math. In this example, we might say: 2 donkeys were in the barn - it was raining, so 1 cow joined them - now 3 animals were all together in the barn. Each student told their own story using a barn and a tree as the setting. We say "all together" for addition, and we say "were left" for subtraction.

Jack in the Beanstalk ~ Library ~ Bulletin Board

2011-04-27T14:23:00.000-04:00

We read two similar versions of Jack and the Beanstalk and then "planted" some beans. We'll see how they sprout in the next few days.

We had a lock-down drill this morning. We watched a video about plants during the drill. After it was over, we went to the library. We always come back from the library and use the last couple of minutes before recess to read our new books.

The bulletin board is starting to bloom. We'll post more pictures when it is in full bloom. This is my favorite bulletin board of the year. You'll have to stop by to check it out.

The pool was ready for swimming today! Tomorrow will be another Jack in the Beanstalk day. Ask your KC kid how today's books were similar.

Growing ~ Shape Search

2011-04-26T13:31:00.001-04:00

We continued working on the flowers for the K bulletin board.

The petals and center are almost in place.

Most of our plants are growing, but we have a few that didn't sprout. We keep checking for growth and change, and we write about it in our journals.

Our flowers are ready for the bulletin board. We'll post pictures when everything is up.

We had a shape search at the end of the day. The class looked around the room for cubes, spheres, and cylinders.

Growing Bulletin Board ~ Indoor Recess ~ Wheel of Fortune

2011-04-25T14:44:00.000-04:00

We painted and colored paper this morning. This paper will become the flowers for our Growing bulletin board.

You should have heard the cheers when indoor recess was announced! I guess the class isn't sick of the rain, but I sure am!

We played Wheel of Fortune in the afternoon.

We also had Drama this morning. It was a fun-filled, packed day!

Magical Day ~ Plants ~ 4th Grade Buddies

2011-04-22T13:50:00.000-04:00

Bill Boaz (Ms Boaz's nephew) put on an amazing magic show for the Lower School this morning.

We tried to guess the card that Katie pulled from the deck, but he wasn't quite right. He clarified that he drew a deck of cards, not just her card.

He then "pulled" her card from behind the first one. We're not sure how he pulled the second one out because it was a drawing...right? Bill is from Cleveland, but he comes to town each summer to teach at the CA summer camp. Check out the CA summer camp guide to see when he'll be here.

We planted lettuce, thyme, basil, dill, and chives.

Our grass and mystery plants are starting to grow!

We will also meet with our 4th grade buddies at the end of the day to work on an art project together.

Sunshine!

2011-04-21T15:28:00.001-04:00

We made worms yesterday before we left.

Sooo happy that we moved our outdoor day! We took a long walk this morning.

We walked into the woods and heard birds singing, a woodpecker, and mowing.

At the pond, we heard frogs and saw geese.

We walked through the fields.

The farm fields were bare this spring.

In the afternoon, we planted flowers in the Kinder-Garden.

Wormy Day!

2011-04-20T13:07:00.001-04:00

We each got a "pet" worm to observe this morning.

Did you know that worms don't have eyes, ears, or noses? Worms eat their way through the ground and make the soil better for plants.

We used magnifying glasses to observe closely.

We wrote our observations in our journals.

Tracing the wiggly worms was interesting.

Some people just loved playing with them - actually many loved playing with them. Check out KC Photos for all (over 70) the wormy pictures!

We walked them to the Kinder-garden that is part of our playground.

The worms are in their new homes.

Remember - Dress down tomorrow for our Exploring E Day rain day! Dress for the weather because we're going outside!

Magic Seeds - Exploring E Day moved to F Day (Thursday)

2011-04-19T13:26:00.001-04:00

This was our morning message.

We read about Strega Nona's magic seeds and what made them grow faster and bigger.

We worked in partners to write magic words to help our plants grow faster.

We read our magic words to the plants and blew kisses. Ask your KC kid how many kisses we blew. We now have to wait...back to that thing called patience!

We examined our plants and wrote in our planting logs.

A few plants have sprouted!!

When we return from the library, we always find a comfy spot to read.

We didn't swim today because the pool is broken. We'll keep our fingers crossed for the next D day.

Exploring E day has been moved to Thursday (F day - Fantastic Findings F Day)

We are hoping for better weather on Thursday.

Dress down clothes - layers are recommended.

Table Tops ~ A Long Time

2011-04-18T13:38:00.002-04:00

These guys were very creative, and it was fun to see them worked together to make their creation.

We read Mouse and Mole. They plant a garden and then have to wait for it to grow. We discussed what takes a long time and then wrote about it.

Our word today was patience, which was also part of the mouse and mole story. We read books, played a phonics bingo game, squeezed in some math and played outdoors.

Mystery Seeds ~ Senior Buddies ~ Time

2011-04-15T14:41:00.001-04:00

We planted mystery seeds today. First, we looked at different seeds and described them.

The students are working in teams. Each team looked at their seeds, compared them to seeds in books, and wrote about the seeds in their logs.

Growing grass and mystery seeds. We should have some sprouts by next week.

We saw our senior buddies. We played in the classroom and outside. See all the buddy pictures at KC Photos.

We read The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. This book follows a grouchy ladybug through her day going hour by hour. We used clocks to follow along with the time in the book.

Planting Grass ~ Word Family Game ~ Comics

2011-04-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

First you put in soil...

then some seeds...

and finally some water. Now we wait and watch it grow.

Phonics fun using the computers.

Writing stories using a comics generator.

Writing an email to parents.

Planting Grass ~ Word Family Game ~ Comics

2011-04-14T15:28:00.000-04:00

Having trouble loading pictures. Here is what is coming:

We planted grass in decorated cups.
We played a Word Family game using the Smartboard and computers.
We used a comic generator to write a story.
The kids wrote an email about their day.

I'll try to add the pics from home tonight.

Phonics Dance Assembly ~ Raft Game ~ Growing

2011-04-13T14:46:00.000-04:00

We performed the Phonics Dance at Assembly.

Everyone was nervous, but they had fun.

We played a trading game that reinforced counting by 5s and reinforced exchanging. Players rolled a die and took that number of beans. They traded 5 beans for a plank of beans (5 beans glued on a stick), and then they traded 5 planks for a raft (5 planks glued together). It was a fun game!

We started our Growing unit.

Everyone wrote and drew what they already know about how things grow.

Lexia ~ Blocks

2011-04-12T15:06:00.000-04:00

We played Lexia, the reading software, this afternoon.

We had indoor recess at the end of the day. A couple of the K classes played together with the blocks that are in the hallway.

Short Day!

2011-04-11T12:29:00.000-04:00

Lots of fun at Table Tops. Lincoln Logs were popular!

Stamping Fun!!

Yes, it was sunny yesterday!

Making Puppets

Puppets

Fun Friday

2011-04-08T13:17:00.000-04:00

We had some amazing builders at Table Tops.

Writing Journals are coming home. Half of the class will write with Bill and half with me. In a few weeks, we'll switch groups. The idea is to have fun writing, but this is an optional activity. Kindergarten spelling is expected.

Today was a math workshop day. We exchanged pennies for nickels and dimes and compared the number of cubes using the < & > signs.

Remember - Monday is an early release day. School ends at noon.

Ocean Fun!

2011-04-07T14:42:00.000-04:00

Table Tops had a beachy feel this morning.

Gobblet Junior continues to be a popular game.

We made sea creatures in KA during our Ocean Rotations.

We made ocean mobiles in KB.

We made oceans in a bottle in KD.

In our room, we had the Ocean Olympics. Here we are crossing the ocean like a crab.

We also played limbo and danced the hula.

We watched an ocean movie after our ocean rotations.

Senora Robeano took the class outside during Spanish class, and PE was also outside today.

Estimation Jar ~ Art Field Trip

2011-04-06T14:09:00.001-04:00

Averie brought in 120 rocks in the estimation jar. It was harder to estimate the amount because the rocks were different sizes. We had fun giving it a try.

The entire K went to see the Pizzuti's art collection. It was very generous of them to open their house to us! Thanks!

Love their faces as they see what is painted on the back of the head.

Chimes

Looking out the window was also very cool!

We've had a busy day. This afternoon, we drew the art pieces that we liked best.

Exploring Art

2011-04-05T13:03:00.000-04:00

We read two fun books that got us thinking about art and drawings for tomorrow's field trip. Ask your KC Kid about -ish drawings. Also, what strange object did the mice discover in Seven Blind Mice?

We drew pictures and then wrote about our art.

We also wrote books, worked on handwriting, played short vowel games, and drew pictures of the manatees from the zoo.

Art field trip tomorrow. We will eat lunch at school, and please wear regular dress code.

Star Student Averie ~ Word Families ~ 4th Grade Buddies

2011-04-04T15:19:00.002-04:00

Averie is our Star Student. She is excited about Easter. She likes to play soccer, and her favorite food is sushi. Someday she wants to be a famous singer and play the guitar.

We worked on additional word families.

We played games with our 4th grade buddies. See the rest of the photos at KC Photos.

Shikhara's Birthday ~ Zoo!

2011-04-01T14:20:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Shikhara!

We had a great day at the zoo! Thanks to all the parents who came today!! The new polar bear exhibit is wonderful!!

It was a lovely day to be outside!

The aquarium and manatees are always fun to watch.

The elephants were very funny to watch. 10TV was taping a segment today. If you go to WBNS - 10TV's website and select the videos options, you can watch what they taped. It's called Zoo Day: Elephants. The elephants helped pick the winners of the next round of basketball.

So...if you wait until it is time to go to get a picture of 17 kids, it's an uphill battle. :) Next year -- a picture when we get there! Check out all the pictures on KC Photos!

Manatees

2011-03-31T13:26:00.000-04:00

We read a few manatee books and made manatees.

We played math games.

We copied the ocean words that were posted around the room into our dictionaries.

Check out all the manatee pictures in KC photos.

Zoo Trip Tomorrow!

Pack a lunch - no straws, everything disposable

Dress for the weather - should be better than the last few days :)

How Big Is A Foot?

2011-03-30T14:44:00.000-04:00

We read this book today. The king wanted to give the queen a bed for her birthday, but they had problems figuring out how big the bed should be. Ask your KC kid how they ended up measuring to make the bed.

We measured our own feet and cut them out.

One Adeti foot

We used our "feet" to measure people and things around the room.

Today also included: math workshop (calculators, greater than or less than, and math games), Math Groups, and a very snowy fire drill.

Bedtime Routines ~ Words and Building

2011-03-29T15:23:00.000-04:00

We read Mortimer and then wrote about our bedtime routines.

The bottom of the cups have letters written on them. They made words first, and then they stacked them.

We have new table tops - watercolor painting, playing kitchen, bristol blocks, and books.

New Tables ~ Reading Workshop

2011-03-28T13:07:00.000-04:00


We have new seat assignments.

During reading workshop, we got new reading books, worked on the word 'some', the short /o/ sound, and word families. We read two books by Robert Munsch and wrote about spring break.

2011-03-25T23:20:00.001-04:00

Please remember to send back:

* swimsuits

* snow pants or large sweat pants to help us through the season of mud

* snow boots or rain boots if your child no longer has any boots at school

* art smocks

Estimation Jar

2011-03-11T13:17:00.001-05:00


Robert brought crayons in the estimation jar. There were 268 crayons!

We taped the Phonics Dance, and I am trying to add it to the blog. I'll email when it is loaded. We usually play Lexia on E days, but today we had free choice. Everyone was excited!

Have a great spring break!

We'll see you on Monday, March 28.

Early Swim ~ 4th Grade Musical ~ Octopus Videos

2011-03-10T13:57:00.001-05:00

We swam first thing in the morning with KA. It was beach day, which is always a favorite day in swimming.

We watched the 4th grade musical called A Kid's Life. The kids aren't able to use their techno gadgets and have to learn to have fun from grandma and grandpa. It was awesome to see our 4th grade buddies on stage. The final performance is tonight at 7pm.

The octopus videos that we watched are now on the blog. The third one really is an amazing video of the octopus's camouflage ability.

Octopuses and Octodogs ~ Ocean Words

2011-03-09T14:39:00.000-05:00

It was octopus day! We read about octopuses, watched a few videos, and ate octodogs. Here is a picture of the octodog maker and an octodog.

We listed and illustrated the steps to make an octodog. These how to writings will be hanging outside of our door.

How to make an octodog!

These are the ocean words that the class wanted to add to their dictionaries.


Each word is now illustrated and hanging around the room.

In math, we measured the length of sharks. Some sharks are 3 feet long, and some are 30 feet long! We also sequenced our morning routines.

Star Student Robert ~ Sharks! ~ Doodle Stories

2011-03-08T14:10:00.001-05:00

Robert is our Star Student this week. Tacos are his favorite food. He wants to play football someday, and he likes to play Legos.

We read a few more books about sharks. We made sharks and other ocean animals using tangrams.

We had a lot of fun making paper sharks.

Sharks!

Scary Shark Faces!

We created three doodle stories before heading to P.E.

Sharks and Mardi Gras

2011-03-07T16:32:00.000-05:00

Cool Towers During Table Tops

The class read about sharks and then made a shark. Here is the body being cut out.

Shark Parts

Teeth

Shark Parts

Fins

Here is one side...

and the other.

Charlie's mom and brother visited the class to explain how their family celebrates Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday.

They gave us beads, we danced, and we ate cake. It was a fun way to end the day!

Food Chain ~ Table Tops ~ Wax Museum ~ Math

2011-03-04T13:16:00.002-05:00

The first picture is of our edible food chain. The sunflower seeds are the plankton. The goldfish are the small fish. The cracker is the larger fish. Avery is the largest thing in our food chain - who gets to eat everything! The second picture is the fabulous marble run that was built this morning.

Food Web or Food Chain

The class has a good understanding of the ocean food web.

We visited the third grade Wax Museum this morning. Each third grader selected a historical figure to research and present. Arman's brother, Sean, researched and then become Jimmy Carter.

We are working with attribute blocks and sorting them according to their attributes. Here they are sorted by shape. We also sorted them by color, size, and thickness.

Math games were also available.

Students could also sort shells and use them for patterns.

"Over In The Arctic" Video ~ Scuba Diving

2011-03-03T15:50:00.001-05:00


The class acted out the book Over In The Arctic while it was being read. You can watch the class act out the arctic fox page. At the end of the day, Frances' dad shared his scuba diving video, explained how to scuba dive, and shared his gear. It was very cool. Ask your student how divers let other divers know that they are OK.

Estimation Jar ~ Gertrude McFuzz ~ Sight Word Game

2011-03-02T14:22:00.000-05:00

We estimated the Legos that Arman brought in the estimation jar. There were over 200 Legos!

We read Gertrude McFuzz and then made our own versions of Gertrude. All the Gertrude pictures will be on KC Photos. Connor made his Gertrude out of markers.

Samantha made her Gertrude out of feathers.

Charlie used blocks.

The class played a new game for practicing Word Wall words. Once the words were created using the cups, the cups can be stacked.

These are the words that we practiced. Each cup has a letter written on the bottom. Students put the cups together to make the words.

Star Student Arman ~ New Poem ~ Digital Date

2011-03-01T13:30:00.000-05:00

Arman is our Star Student. His favorite food is lemon ice cream. He would like to be on American Idol someday. He likes to play football and Xbox.

We have a new ocean poem displayed in the room.


We started writing the digital date during calendar.

Blocks & People ~ Plankton

2011-02-28T13:52:00.000-05:00

Our block builders and students playing with people combined forces this morning.

We watched a plankton video, looked at plankton pictures, and then created plankton for our oceans.

A Turtle Story

2011-02-24T12:43:00.003-05:00

We read a few more turtle books and shared what we had learned about turtles. We used our knowledge to write a class story. Our turtle story is below:

One day a mommy turtle was laying her eggs and there were people coming near her. Then they told other people and they knew where the nest was. The turtle made a hissing sound to tell the people to go away. The mommy turtle was burying her eggs. The ghost crab dug and dug and got to the eggs. Just then, the eggs hatched. The egg tooth helped the baby turtles hatch. One ghost crab came and ate one baby turtle. The rest of the turtles used their flippers and pushed to the ocean. They swam to the seaweed. They grew bigger. When they were grown, they came back to that beach where they were born and laid their own eggs.

Turtle Day!

2011-02-23T13:24:00.001-05:00

This was our morning question. They did an awesome job of showing and telling us where turtles are found.

We read two books about turtles and used the books to research how turtle shells look.

These fabulous turtles are coming home today!

You will notice that some of the turtles are tagged. One of our books explained that animals are tagged so that scientists can track the animals to keep learning about them.

Oceans ~ Ocean Opposite Books

2011-02-22T14:09:00.001-05:00

The Atlantic Ocean is now up.

The Pacific Ocean is up. The Indian Ocean and Arctic Ocean will go up tomorrow.

We created ocean opposite books.


After we create books or write, the students can listen to their stories using "telephones" or they can share their stories with a friend.

I taped Katherine reading her opposite book. I am hoping to post it to the blog later today.

Jumping in the Ocean ~ Yamado! ~ Assembling Sentences

2011-02-18T13:28:00.002-05:00

We read a book called Splash in the Ocean and then wrote books along the same theme.

Writing Books

Using a fun writing idea book, we created funny stories and illustrated them. One illustration was on the board.

Another illustration was in the book.

The words with an illustration.

The words with a different illustration.

Story and illustration #2

We also assembled sentences. The sentences were made using one stick from each color.

This is the book with the writing ideas. Each page has a doodle and a made-up word. You create the story by adding to the doodle and using the word in the story. Our stories and illustrations were created by teams of three.

Happy Birthday, Lia ~ Waves ~ Estimation Jar

2011-02-17T14:06:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Lia

We sang an ocean song about the four oceans.

We divided into four groups or oceans and made waves. Our room will become the ocean soon!

Charlie brought Mardi Gras necklaces in the estimation jar. There were 15 necklaces.

Star Student Charlie ~ Ocean ~ Math

2011-02-16T14:10:00.000-05:00

Charlie is our Star Student. His favorite food is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. He wants to be a football player, and he is excited about having dinner with his cousins at a restaurant.

Today we dove into the ocean. The class drew pictures of what they know about the ocean. These pictures will be posted in the room, and we'll add additional pictures and information as we learn more.

For math today, we explored with the calculators, told number stories using the plus sign, and selected from other math options.

Valentine Photos ~ Writing Workshop

2011-02-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. We are graphing candy.

Candy Graphs

Delivering Valentines

The Party!

We started our day with Assembly, worked on short vowels and the words 'be' & 'we' during reading, and finished the day with Art class.

We also had Writer's Workshop. Students write silently for 5 minutes and then choose to continue writing or add an illustration.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T13:25:00.000-05:00

We are having a great day! We graphed candy hearts, witnessed the marriage of Q & U, practiced our word wall words while tossing a bean bag, and created a Valentine story. The party is coming up soon!! I will take lots of picture at the party, but they won't be posted until later tonight or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Katherine ~ Valentine People ~ Writing ~ Dress Down

2011-02-11T14:14:00.000-05:00

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Katherine!!

We read a few valentine books and made a valentine person.

We did some writing in the afternoon.

Senora used the Smartboard for Spanish class.

Valentine Person

Students are permitted to dress down on Monday to support 1st-4th grade students participating in Jump Rope for the Heart. Students can wear full dress down - jeans, athletic pants, etc. If students have a red top, it would be nice to wear it to support the Jump for the Heart event.

100th Day!!

2011-02-10T13:32:00.001-05:00

We are having a fabulous 100th day!! We shared and sorted our 100 collections. We made the number 100 out of cookies.

We made crowns with 100 stamps.

We made necklaces with 100 pieces of cereal.

Dot to dots with 100 numbers

100 Day Olympics

Olympics


We estimated which jar held 100 cubes. Ask your kc kids which one had the 100. You might be surprised...they were!

Check out the KC Photos for all the pictures.

We also went to the pool after lunch to watch the 6th grade naval battle. We watched a race between four of the ships. It was very exciting!

Doodle Stories

2011-02-09T14:30:00.002-05:00


We had a busy day, especially for a Late Start day! We had math groups in the morning and Science, Spanish, and P.E. in the afternoon. We had a few minutes between specials when we played a Doodle Story game. The game starts with a small doodle. People take turns adding to the doodle and adding to the story. Each story was three turns long, and then we started a new game or story. Here is the doodle and story from one game.

Remember - send in bags of 100 items by tomorrow.

There Was An Old Lady... ~ Snowflakes ~ Math

2011-02-08T14:05:00.001-05:00

We read this book today.

We retold the story by drawing pictures. Some chose to make the pictures into books.

It's snowing in KC!!

In math today, we talked about probability. What's the probability that Mr. Connick will have to give out one or two pieces of candy?!? We also walked on the number line. We walked or counted by 1's, 2's, and 5's. We added steps and subtracted steps.

Thanks for sending in the bags with 100 items. We need them by Thursday.

Mittens by 2's ~ Estimation Jar ~ Winter in the Hallway

2011-02-04T13:35:00.000-05:00

We read two books with mittens in the story We noticed that mittens come in pairs, and we listed all the different things that come by 2's - ears, eyes, nostrils, arms, legs, arm pits, feet, etc. We made pictures and put pairs of mittens in the pictures. We counted the pairs of mittens by 2's.

Samantha brought in 51 pom poms in the estimation jar. We counted them by 5's.

Our winter scenes are now hanging outside of our room.

Our mitten pictures are hanging in the K hallway.

If you haven't had a chance to see it, we have a wintery bulletin board in the K hallway.

Star Student Samantha ~ Borax Snowflakes ~ Winter Scenes ~ Measuring

2011-02-03T16:25:00.000-05:00

Samantha is our Star of the Week. She likes sub sandwiches. She is looking forward to Valentine's Day. She likes to color and sing.

Here are our Borax crystals or "snowflakes".

Everyone made a snow scene and then wrote about it.

The snow scene was either at night (black background paper) or during the day (blue background paper).

During math, we measured items around the room using connecting cubes.

Table Tops ~ Snowflakes

2011-01-31T13:49:00.000-05:00

Playing Games

Puppets

Art

Games


Puppets

We made snowflakes out of pipe cleaners.

We suspended the snowflakes in a Borax solution.

We are growing snowflakes!!

Telling Time ~ Rhymes ~ Pattern

2011-01-28T13:01:00.002-05:00

Earlier in the week, we read a fun storybook, What Time Is It, Mr. Crocodile?, that introduced time. During table tops, some of the boys got the clocks and the book back out.

We have a new poem. The class noticed that some of the words in the poem rhyme. We put red squares around the 'op' words and circles around the 'ot' words.

We had a tricky calendar pattern. Can your KC kid explain the pattern to you?

Exploring E Day - January

2011-01-27T13:39:00.000-05:00

We went outside twice. We wanted to make a snowman, but the snow wasn't good for packing. Instead, we made snow angels.

We made patterns and wrote words in the snow.

Say....snow!

We used the snowman supplies to make snowman drawings. We used the carrots for the noses and decorated with bird seed.

We took a walk after lunch. We stopped by a creek to see what was in it.

We listened to a story.

We wore the class out!!

Tomorrow is a pep rally.

Students can wear CA t-shirts or regular uniform tops.

Students must wear uniform bottoms.

Gavin's 1/2 Birthday ~ Estimation ~ Exploration E Day/Pep Assembly

2011-01-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Gavin!


Gavin brought markers in the estimation jar. After we each estimated how many we thought were in the jar, we counted the markers by 2's. There were 44 markers.

Remember - tomorrow is dress down day for Exploration E Day. We will go outside, so please dress your child for the weather.

We have a pep rally on Friday. Students are permitted to wear "spirit wear" (any Columbus Academy t-shirts, etc.) from the waist up and regular dress code from the waist down. Of course, regular dress code from head to toe is always fine.

Star Student Gavin ~ Writing Stories ~ Snow!

2011-01-25T15:54:00.000-05:00

Gavin is our Star of the Week. His favorite food is corn. He is excited about riding his 4 wheeler, and he wants to be a wrestler.

The class did a lot of writing today. Some stories were written on white boards, some stories were written in books, and some were written on paper.


What's a great way to start our unit on snow - sledding!! Check out all the pictures on KC Photos.

Remember - Thursday is Exploring E Day. We'll be outside a few times during the day. The students will put on all of their snow gear, but everyone should also come dressed for the weather. It is a dress down day. Dress in layers!

Chinese Dancers ~ Parade ~ Math Page

2011-01-24T14:44:00.001-05:00

The Kindergarten classes got together to watch two OSU students perform Chinese dances. The Chinese women are studying at OSU and minoring in dance.

One woman danced the first dance alone. She used a fan as a dance prop.

The women then danced together for the final dance.

We made Chinese puppets a few weeks ago. We paraded our puppets around the room while Chinese music played.

We completed a math page this afternoon where we counted to 50 using tallies (groups of 5) and then counted to 20 using pairs of mittens (counting by 2s).

4th Grade Buddies ~ Estimation Jar

2011-01-20T13:04:00.000-05:00

We met with our 4th grade buddies today. We shared some of our work, drew pictures, and played games. The pictures have been added to KC Photos.


Lia brought 134 counters or disks in the estimation jar. Some of the disks were counted into straight lines of 10 and some were counted into piles of 10. It was interesting to compare what 10 looked like in a line vs. a pile. There were 7 piles of 10 (or 70 counters) and 6 lines of 10 with 4 singles (64 counters). We then discussed which group had more, the piles or the lines. Ask your KC student if they remember.

'at' Words ~ Star Student Lia ~ Chinese Festival Day

2011-01-19T13:23:00.000-05:00

We are 'at' experts!! Look at all the 'at' words that we know. This resource is now in the room for spelling and reading help.

Lia is our Star of the Week. Her favorite food is sushi. She is excited about her tooth falling out. She wants to ride in a horse show someday, and she likes to ski.

This is our last week of studying China, so the K classes have a culminating activity which we call our Chinese Festival. Each classroom celebrates with a different activity. The students made hacky sacks or shuttlecocks in KC.

They played a memory game in KA.

They played BINGO in KB.

They made panda puppets in KD.

Charlie's Birthday ~ Table Tops ~ The Cat in the Hat

2011-01-18T13:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Cool Creations during Table Tops

Sand Fun

We read the The Cat in the Hat and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back! Everyone picked her or his favorite part of The Cat in the Hat to share. Some drew pictures.

Some created objects from the book.

Some acted out parts of the book.

MLK, Jr.

2011-01-14T13:18:00.000-05:00


The MLK, Jr. Assembly was lovely. In the afternoon, we read another book about Martin Luther King, Jr. and wrote about our dreams. We also played a game called The Muffin Man to show how a message can travel from one person to many others.

Have a nice weekend. See you on Tuesday!

Imaginations and Artists ~ MJK, Jr.

2011-01-13T14:41:00.000-05:00

Dressing up was very popular this morning. It seems to always take a few days for everyone to jump in, and when they do, they have so much fun!

Magnetic pictures were also popular.

We read one book about Martin Luther King, Jr. and another about Ruby Bridges, the first child of African descent who went to a non-segregated school. We had a good discussion about what it means to be nice and include everyone. Tomorrow morning we have a MLK, Jr. Assembly with all three divisions. The K students will sit with their senior buddies during the assembly.

Star Student Simon ~ Mooncakes

2011-01-12T13:48:00.001-05:00

Simon is our Star of the Week. His favorite food is pizza. He likes to wrestle with his family and play football with his dad. Someday he wants to play soccer and be a wrestler.

Simon brought 21 cars in the estimation jar.

We read about Mooncakes. These are round cakes with sweet fillings eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. We made our own version of Mooncakes.

Yum!! Some were filled with grape jelly and some were plain.

Math Workshop ~ Chinese Zodiac

2011-01-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

We had three stations today for math. One station was an online pattern game.

At another station, students built towers that were either smaller or larger than a five cube tower. They explained the size difference of the towers, and then they figured out how many were needed to make the towers equal.

The last station was a domino and number card memory game. The players had to turn over a domino and then the matching number card - a domino with five dots and the number 5 card.

We read about the Chinese zodiac today. Students born in 2004 are under the sign of the monkey, and students born in 2005 are under the sign of the rooster.

Shadow Puppets

2011-01-10T10:39:00.001-05:00

Instead of reading a book, we watched videos of stories told by shadow puppets. These videos are now posted at the side with the China videos.

The class made either Chinese men, Chinese women or created their own puppets.

We took turns sharing our shadow puppets.