Holiday Celebration

 If you could donate any of these items to make for a great week of holiday festivities, it would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!

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Celebration of Thanks

Hers a look at what we did before our Thanksgiving break...

We painted cards to people we are thankful for, made bracelets that told the thanksgiving story, read silly turkey stories, and made thankful pumpkin pie plates. 

I did a read a loud and the students then created turkey's where they put the main details on the leaves. 

I like to...

They are getting really good at pattern writing! Today we practiced using the "I like to..." pattern. We are working on spacing, using lowercase and upper case letters when appropriate, and ending sentences with a period. Even Mr. Pattison wrote about all the things he likes to do!

CAFE

All of my literacy instruction is based on the C.A.F.E. model. This stands for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanded vocabulary. We work on targeted skills and objectives for each area. This past week in centers we worked on sight words; stamping, writing and tracing high frequency words. We also worked on phonemic awareness,counting syllables in a word. A helpful trick we use to help us count the syllables in a word is to put our hand under our chin to see how many times our chin moves and that's the number of syllables. Then in listening they worked on the comprehension skill of retelling by drawing pictures of what happened in the story. With me in guided reading we spent time with pattern books and using different reading strategies to figure out words we don't know. Be looking for book marks I will be sending home with the different strategies to help your child. Example; lips the fish helps you figure out words by saying the beginning sound. This way you will understand what they mean when they say things like I used " eagle eye" and "chunky monkey" and can reinforce at home.

Teeny tiny and learning teens

Here's a look at some of the math centers we have been doing to work with teen numbers. We had spin a number, roll a number, represent a number, count a number, and count on from 10 to a teen number.

We've been practicing representing teen numbers using life sized ten frames. A student leader picks a number and counts out that many students to fill the ten frame and see how many more to get to that number. Example; 11= 10+1

What happened in the story?

Thank you to Saige and her mom for adding to our classroom library!! We enjoyed the story, "Secret Agent Splat" and used comprehension strategies to assess understanding of the text. To assess for comprehension I modeled representing key details in the story through pictures. The students were then given their own graphic organizer to come up with 4 key details they remembered from the story.

You didn't scare me!

We have been reading, writing and creating pattern books. As emerging readers picking up patterns in books is a foundational skill. We have been pointing out the repetition of high frequency words in the text we read. Here is an example of one of the pattern books we read to tie into our scarecrow theme. the students had to fill in the missing words. This activity practiced the use of using the reading strategy, "eagle eye." This means that you look at the picture to help you figure out the word. The words that were missing matched the picture on each page(example, cow, pig, etc,). They then had to stretch and sound out the missing words to write them out.

Investigating properties

In science this quarter we are learning about investigating properties. This unit focuses on how to sort objects based on size, color, shape, texture. We began our investigation using leaves and now are going further sorting objects based on the material they are made out of. We've also noticed that some objects are made of more than one material.

Purple Thursday!

The staff took purple Thursday to a whole new level today! We had a blast with the kids. Some things we did for bully awareness day were; we watched a brain pop jr video on bullying, listened to the Katy Perry song Roar and discussed the power of the lyrics, and set goals for the day to be super leaders!

Hands on learning

Here's a glimpse at some new literacy center activities. Sight words with magnet letters, matching upper and lower case letters with cupcake toys, and fiddle sticks. Fiddle sticks is a sight word practice game. Students pull out a Popsicle stick and read the sight word, if they get it right they keep it, if not the group figures it out and then puts it back. There are also sticks with red dots on them. If they pull them they have to put them all back. It's a semi competitive game to get them motivated to learn sight words.

Buh bye nap time

No more nap time you say?? That's right! You may think teachers enjoy this time but instead it's the complete opposite! This now means more time for whole group literacy. After recess we are coming back and unwinding by partner reading. I assign a pair of students with a leveled book and they then find a quiet spot in the room to read it together. I am teaching reading strategies prior to buddy reading to then apply as they go off on their own. This weeks strategy is using "eagle eye" this means to look at the pictures to figure out words we don't know. They are also pointing out sight words that they know. After monitoring their buddy reading I have them come back to circle to share what their book was about. This is an opportunity to synergize and build reading skills.

We are back!!

Hearing the sounds of children fill the hallways was a wonderful sound after a quiet week of training last week. It was so great to be greeted with their hugs. Seeing their excitement to be back was wonderful! I will try to keep that excitement alive through out the second quarter:)

Pep talk

We can all use a pep talk sometime! We watched this video the first day back and we've been talking about being proactive and being in charge of your mood and choices. Watch this video for a little inspiration.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dl-gQLqv9f4o

Sharpen the Saw

The seventh habit is, "sharpen the saw." Take time with your child over track out to rest, refuel, and relax! We recently learned about this habit and how to balance your life. Learning, exercising, relaxing, eating and socializing are all aspects to having a balanced life. We take time everyday to sharpen our saw on the playground and just enjoy being a kid! 

Even Miss Quinn takes time to sharpen her saw! Take a look at what I've been up to...

The Leader In Me

Lake Myra was very fortunate to earn a $250,000 grant to become a leader in me school. What does this mean? Check it out at www.leaderinme.org 

I'm really looking forward to what's ahead for LMES. The staff will be trained over track out to start implementing the leader in me even more when the students come back second quarter.

Last day of the first quarter

We had a blast on our last day before track out. The kids worked so hard their very first quarter of kindergarten, I decided they earned a special celebration! They looked cozy and cute in their PJ's. 

They were excited and anxious to introduce us to their special stuffed friends at show and tell. We wrote about them and they were glued to their hips all day. Part of our celebration was going outside to play with chalk and bubbles. Then we came in for bagged lunch in the classroom and watched PBS shows. It was a great end to our first quarter together! Enjoy your time with them over track out. I look forward to seeing them in a few weeks and hearing all their stories.

Classroom website

I apologize that the tab I created to take you to the classroom website isn't working. I'm trying to fix it. In the mean time to access it you can go to http://missjennquinn.weebly.com

End of Quarter Conferences

Report cards are going to be delayed due to a glitch with the new electronic system. I have sent home a note from WCPSS explaining it in more detail. Students will receive report cards once we track back in. I will have final grades and assessments done in time for conferences still. We can still discuss your child's progress and I will let you know what you can expect to see on their report card. If you haven't already signed up for a conference, please do so! The conference day is Tuesday, October 8th(I apologize for the mix up on the newsletter).The link to sign up is below with the remaining slots. If for some reason none of those times work, let me know and we can work something out! I can't wait to brag about how wonderful all your children are doing:) 

Q1 Parent Conferences

Kid Humor

 Here's a little something to make you teachers and parents laugh! This video might be how you feel when you are doing math homework with your child or teaching a new math lesson. Click below to enjoy!

Show and Tell

Every Friday we have show and tell. Students can bring in something special to them to share. Show and tell is limited to one item and must come in a bag. The idea is that it should be a secret and the class has to guess what it is. Students should have three clues in mind or help them write it on a piece of paper to read to the class. 

September Birthdays

Happy birthday to Aniyah, Ricardo and Valerie this month!! Feel free to send in cupcakes for your child's special day. We enjoyed some yummy cupcakes for Aniyah's 6th birthday today:)

What could it be?

As scientist we played a guessing game that only allowed us to use our sense of touch. Students were able to explore the sense of touch through feeling around in a bag of items to figure out what it was or were blindfolded and put their hand in a substance. We also explored how we can make observations using our sense of hearing. I played different noises, the students made guesses then I revealed the pictures on the smart board of what it was. We will be testing out our keen sense of smell next! 

Fun Run

While it was a hot one, fun run was a success! Way to go everyone who participated and a big thanks to all the parent volunteers. 

Literacy centers

Guided reading groups have been up and running. This is a time where I pull groups of students to work on certain areas of need or to help further develop their literacy skills. While I'm working with 4-5 students at a time the other students are working at independent centers or with the TA, Mr. Chakmakian. The students rotate through centers to ensure that I'm meeting with all groups of students. The center activities you will see below are to enforce letter Identification and sound. Even once your child learns the alphabet, it is still essential to continue reviewing and practicing to engrain it as second nature. To be able to match the letter sound with the letter fluently will help them as emerging readers. Another center below is helping them to begin to stretch out and write three letter, cvc(consonant vowel consonant) words. The kids are very excited that we have begun to use the iPads! There are apps for phonics, sight word recognitions, reading, letter ID and sounds, etc. I will direct individual students to apps that will target individual skills. 

Writers workshop

When I asked the question whose favorite subject is writing, every hand flew up in the air! Writers workshop is a time for students to start developing emerging writing skills; writing down letter sounds, handwriting, stretching out words, putting thoughts on paper, etc. This week we are working on putting thoughts to a story or event they are writing about in a sequential order. They are creating books page by page of what happened first, next, and last. After the students have finished we will begin the editing process or looking back over our work to make it the best it can be and then we will "publish" to share with the class.

Help us win $ for our classroom!

There is a contest going on for NC teachers to win up to $1000 towards their classroom! As a beginning teacher funds are low and materials are in high demand. This would be a wonderful opportunity for the class. Please take a minute to vote for me!!! Be sure to cast your vote here: http://goo.gl/LQfmLG

Becoming Scientists

What is a scientist and what do they do? These are the two essential questions we use to start our first science unit. After exploring what different scientists do and the steps they use to form ideas, we started to try it out ourselves. One of the first thing scientists need to do is make observations. As scientists, we stepped outside our school to observe nature and all the surroundings in the environment around us. Students shared what they saw, heard, touched, and smelled. Through exploration the students discovered that scientists use what we call "the five senses." 

We are going to be focusing on each sense individually to get a better understanding on how we can make observations using them. The first sense we focused on is the sense of taste. What better way to start the unit right?! I can't say we tested anything too exciting though. I used baby food to make this taste testing game a mystery. Students weren't allowed to see, smell, or feel the food(at least not in its original state). Even if the kids peeked the mushed up pears, bananas, peaches, carrots, and apples hardly resembled their original state to give it away. By taking away their other senses, it helped them to only hone in on the sense of taste. Students had to try to take what they already know to make observations on the food through taste to discover what the food was. Check back soon to see how we explore the other senses!

Learning Letters

We have now met all the letter land characters. We are working hard to memorize letter names and sounds. We have been practicing tracing letters, using flash cards, and doing letter finding activities.

Mathematicians in the making

We've been busy learning how to count to 30 and write numbers 1-10. We sing, dance, exercise, stretch, and use silly voices to practice counting daily. There are a variety of fun you tube videos we use (count to 20, get fit count to 100, help me count, and chicken count). Feel free to look them up at home to have fun helping your child practice counting! Here's a look at what we've been doing in math centers...

Look at me I'm Practicing writing numbers!

Doing great showing how to write the number 8! Number sheets put in sleeves to use dry erase markers on. 

We've been practicing writing and representing numbers in a variety of ways. Here is an example of play-doh number mats.

Number puzzles; matching numbers to its different representations ( ten frames, tallies, pictures)

End of year celebration

I'm so proud of all of them! I'm going to miss seeing their bright, smiling faces. I told them they can always come visit and I hope they do. They will have a special place in my heart as my very first class of students! 

They did a great job singing about being leaders and going off to first grade! 

Here are some of the pictures of students with their awards. If you didn't get a good one of your child please let me know and I'd be happy to e-mail you it. 

Give a hug lady bug!

Our end of the year saying and craft to go a long with it. Thanks to Mr. Chapman for being a great guest reader and reading, "Ladybug Girl Goes to the Beach."

Popcorn and movie day

The kids came into school comfy cozy, bringing their favorite stuffed animal. We tried and graphed different flavors of popcorn. We wrote about a movie experience we had and watched Horton hears a who. A nice relaxing day before our celebration!

Sundae day

We had our very own ice cream shop in our classroom. We had a large variety of toppings. We graphed our favorite toppings, wrote about how to create the perfect sundae, and then of course had to make some!!

Bubble day

For bubble day we had bubble contests, tried all different flavors of bubble gum and graphed class favorites. 

Beach Day

For the last week of school we had a different themed day everyday. Here's a little of beach day...

Enjoying every last second together!

The class earned lunch outside with me!