Pumpkins

     It's a week about pumpkins!  Our class started the week making a KWL chart about pumpkins.  We listed what we already knew about them (our schema). 

 

     We learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin.  From seed, to vine, to blossom to green pumpkin to orange pumpkin and back to seeds, the cycle goes round and round.  We compared the pumpkin to the life cycle of an apple.

     We measured the circumference of a pumpkin.  First we predicted what we thought the size of his belt might be and cut a piece of yarn that predicted size.  Then we actually tested our yarn to see if it was too short, too long or just the right size for the pumpkin's belt (circumference).  Everyone in our class guessed too short.

 

     We worked on our observation skills using a pumpkin.  Before we cut it open, we had to draw what our pumpkin looked like, predict what it might look like inside, and guesstimate how many seeds we thought might be inside.  There were some interesting guesses.  All the way from five seeds to one thousand seeds were estimated.  We were surprised to find that there were about 300 seeds inside our pumpkin.

     When cutting out the jack-o-lantern, we were sensitive to our five senses.  Our favorite was the sense of touch when we helped scoop out the gooey pulp inside.  

     Hands on activities are the best things in kindergarten!  So what better way to observe the pumpkin life cycle than by planting pumpkin seeds and watching to see if they will grow over the next couple of weeks?

     Our families completed the At Home "Decorate A Pumpkin" Family Project.  Any materials could be used to decorate a paper pumpkin, and a story was to be written about the newly created pumpkin.  We had some terrific projects and stories returned to school.  Thank to all the families for your help!

    

    

Apple Days

     It has been a busy week full of apple activities.  Look at all the fun learning things we have participated in!

     * illustrated the life cycle of an apple

 

     * listened to a story about a little red house with no doors, no windows and had a star inside

     * cut open an apple and found the star inside

     * printed the star

     * read the book, Ten Apples Up On Top and created our own class book

     * drank apple juice, ate apple slices and apple sauce

     * graphed "how do you like your apples?"

     * used our fine motor skills to tear paper to create an apple

 

     * learned how to spell the word "apple"

     * learned poems, chants, and songs about apples

     * created patterns, sorted and counted apples

     * added the mini book, The Apple Tree to our book boxes

See?  It has been a busy week of learning in Kindergarten!

Life Cycle of an Apple

      Today we learned about the life cycle of an apple.  From seeds, to a trees, to blossoms to apples and back to seeds, the cycle is never ending.  Our class illustrated the cycle.

      We are learning how we can use our 5 senses to investigate apples.  We used all our senses today when we ate apple slices.  We looked at the slice very closely with our eyes, felt it, smelled it and of course, tasted it and listened to the crunching noise the apple made as we bit into it.

      Allie Alligator came to class today and brought the letter A.  We learned how to write the letter and learned the two sounds the vowel A makes.  When we used our nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty for word work, we were terrific detectives and found all the letter Aa's and highlighted them. 

    

       In math, we had apples with the numbers 0 - 10 on them.  After cutting them out, we put them in order and played a game called, "show me".  Show me the number 8.  Show me the number 3.  When we were finished, we put the numbers in order one more time on our paper and glued them down.

      We are trying very hard to learn our numbers 0 - 10.  Any practice you can give your child at home will help them achieve this target.

Apples

     October

 

        It is Apple Week in our Kindergarten class!  We learned so much about apples on our first day.  Ask your child to tell you:

                  * how to spell a-p-p-l-e

                  * our apple poem for the week

                  * the story of the little house with no doors, no windows but has a star inside

                  * how to find the star inside the apple

                  * the parts of an apple

       We started our unit by listing our schema (what we already know) about apples.

      I told the story of the little red house with no doors, no windows and has a star inside.  I then took an apple and cut it in half to reveal the star inside the apple.  The children were so excited to see the star!  They had no idea that a star was inside of an apple.

      In our writing journals, we wrote, "I like apples."

      During centers, some of the students used paint to stamp the star on the apple.

Pocket Days

     It was Pocket Day in Kindergarten.  We counted and graphed how many pockets each person was wearing.  Vanessa had nine pockets on her clothes and that was the most.  The students brought something in their pockets to share.  They gave us a clue about the item, and we took several guesses to see if we could figure out what was in the pocket.  We then made a class book titled, Pocket, Pocket, What's in Your Pocket?   

     Our focus letter is P.  The students came up with many words that begin with the sound of P.  We laced up a construction paper pocket and then had to find pictures on a worksheet that began with the letter P and cut them out.  Then they placed the P pictures in their P pictures.

     The students brought home a Petey Penguin project tonight.  Petey only eats foods that begin with a P.  If he eats food that doesn't start with a P, it makes him sneeze.  The children are to find P foods from different media or they can draw pictures and place them on Petey's plate.  The project is to be returned to school tomorrow.  I can't wait to see them.

     Besides are letters and sounds, our class is learning "by heart" words (words that we know on sight).  Our list as of today includes:

         I    name     see     a     yes     no     like

      Any practice you can provide on letters, sounds and by heart words will help your child meet our kindergarten learning targets.

      In math, we are practicing every day on counting.  Today the students were given a counting plate and we practiced counting out a given number of bears to place on our plate.  This is another area that can be easily practiced at home.  Have your child count spoons, hangers in the closet, books, toys, Legos, or whatever is available.  

 

Teddy Bears

     Most of my Kindergarten teaching centers around themes.  I find themes, besides being familiar and fun, provide us with many opportunities for learning.  For the last couple of weeks, our theme has been Teddy Bears.  Using bears, we practiced colors, directional words, patterns and counting.

    The unit was started by reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. We sequenced the characters in the book using magnet pieces.  We cut and colored our own pieces and placed them in a bag to keep so we could retell the story at home.  The most fun was chanting the story frame using the students' names.  "Mary, Mary, who do you see?"  "I see Johnny looking at me."

     Using circles, we learned how to draw a bear.  Drawing builds confidence while improving fine motor muscles.

     We learned our first nursery rhyme of the year - Fuzzy Wuzzy.

     Our color word for the month of September is brown.  We listed things that are brown and learned a song that helps us to spell the word.

     The first letter to come to class was the letter B. Bubba Bear brought the letter.  We worked very hard all week to identify words that started with a B sound.  We practiced writing both the capital and small letters.  When forming our letters, we always start at the top and "dive down".

     We made Bubba Bear out of a capital B.  We made another bear using B items - buttons, beans and bows.  And one more bear we made was a 5 senses bear.  After learning about our sense of sight, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling, we created this bear.  (Growing Kinders blog)

     We couldn't have a bear theme without reading Goldilocks and The Three Bears.   We read different versions of the story and retold the story using magnets, drawings, and acting.  The concept of big, medium and large was reinforced by cutting and pasting a matrix using chairs, bowls and beds of Papa, Mama and Baby Bear.

     A Kindergarten standard is to distinguish fact from fiction.  We used the bears to help us with this standard.  Discussing the differences from real bears and story book bears was quite interesting.  Our class participated in a Family Project to find three facts about bears, write them down using a source at home and return our findings to school.  

     We concluded our bear theme with a Teddy Bear picnic.  Students brought their bear to school for the day, and the bears participated in many activities during the day with us.  This little bear was so active that she had to visit the nurses office and receive stitches for a torn seam.

     At the end of the day was our picnic.  We started by singing and acting out Dr. Jean's Cool Bear Hunt.  Then we took our bears and went on a honey hunt around the room.  Baggies with Honey Comb cereal were hidden around the room.  The students and their bear had to find their honey and gather together outside for the Teddy Bear picnic.  At the picnic, we had our Honey Comb, teddy grams and glasses of milk.

     Pictures were taken of each student holding their bear.  I will make a class book with the pictures and frame, "I see Jenna with her bear."

     Tomorrow is Pocket Day!

                                  



  

Rosie's Walk

     Last week, the children enjoyed the story, Rosie's Walk.  Ask your child who was in the story, what happened and what was their favorite part.  We practiced directional words by cutting out animals and gluing them in a specific, given location on a barnyard scene.