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!

Super Readers

I'm so proud of all my students. At the beginning of the year teachers were informed that extra rigor would be enforced for kindergarten literacy. The new kindergarten benchmark goal this year was that 80% of students reach a reading level 5/6. I'm so proud of my class because they all rose to the occasion and even exceeded the expectations!

Measure me!

Measurement was introduced in math this quarter. We have measured everything from our feet to our entire bodies. Students went through a number of stations using a variety of materials as units of measurement. They created their own measurement books with partners. They had to make estimates first and then check for the exact measurement.

Bugging out!

The science unit continued with observing and comparing two kinds of snails; pond snails and long horn snails. The pictures below are of the final creatures we observed for the unit; sow bugs and pill bugs. Pill bugs were one of the students favorites and more commonly known as "rollie polies" amongst the kids. We learned about the different parts of the creatures; shells, legs, antennas, mouth, eyes, and segments. The bugs and creatures were observed closely to find these different features through a magnifying glass. We also discussed the habitats in which the different creatures lived in. While we focused on the importance of them needing their certain kind of habitat, If your child starts hunting for these creatures outside and tries to make them as new pets, I apologize in advance!

End of the year crazies!

As we are approaching the final weeks of kindergarten, children are anxious/excited/nervous/ready/not ready (whatever word you want to describe it as) for what's to come in first grade. Not to mention we are all eager for a summer break! The end of the school year can be a time of mixed emotions but learning still needs to take place. I've been using more and more positive reinforcement and reward incentives to create an effective learning environment for all. Behaviors are heightened this time of year and understandably so, but please reinforce the importance of good behavior during the school day. Students have been earning lunch with me if they are synergizing with their table groups and being leaders through out the week.

Wiggly worms

The science unit this quarter is "Animals Two by Two." We have been observing a variety of living creatures. We started the unit learning about two different types of fish; guppies and gold fish. We observed them, made inferences, and compared the two. We then moved on to worms. Students observed red worms and ground worms. Their are a bunch of brave scientists in the class, who didn't mind jumping in and getting their hands dirty digging for worms.

Feeling appreciated!

A huge thank you to all for the thoughtful notes, flowers, goodies, gifts and supplies!! I was overwhelmed by the many special surprises the students brought in for teacher appreciation week. Seeing my students smiling faces everyday is a gift in its own.

The Leader in Me!

Lake Myra was awarded the "Leader in Me" grant to start training our staff and getting the resources needed to become a leadership school. The idea is based off of Stephen Coveys book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and is being incorporated in school cultures all over. The seven habits are taught to children at any age to start instilling core leadership skills. The seven habits include; be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand then be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw.

The staff will begin the leadership training this summer. The habits are already being implemented into everyday instruction. We focus on a different habit everyday and discuss it during morning meeting. We set personal goals on what habit each student is going to focus on for the day and how. For example, " I'm going to think win win and help my friends clean up during centers so we can earn otter coupons." I've also been doing read a louds and then having the class explain what habits the characters in the story displayed.

This activity that is currently displayed in the hall is for habit one, be proactive. We read an emergent reader book, "proactive Pete." Students then wrote personal statements on how they are proactive at school and created their own proactive person. We are continuing to learn about each habit and sing about them every day. Here are links to the two songs we practice for the habits, you've probably heard your child singing them at some point! I have it stuck in my head as well. http://youtu.be/sYDCJR_ApEQ
http://youtu.be/Nwj2R0etQGUare,