PJ day

Here is a glimpse of the fun that was had today! Snuggling watching movies, creating Christmas presents, and gorging on various goodies! We even had Christmas carolers come by our room!  Thank you to the two parent volunteers who came in, for much needed extra hands and to all those that donated to make the day extra special! 

Treats treats and more treats!

With the count down to Christmas and so much excitement in the air, 

The craziness of it all can be hard to bear.

Donuts, candy canes, sweet treats there will be, 

because we all know sometimes there needs to be a little bit of bribery;)

*Thank you to the parents who have donated various items/treats to make this last week extra festive!

Yippee for earning a pj celebration tomorrow!!

Telling time

Our new math objective is to be able to tell time to the hour and half hour. Practice with your child when you can and ask them to tell you the time every now and then. 

Snowy Day Performance

Here are some pictures from last nights snowy day performance!! They did amazing, I'm so proud!!

Holiday helpers

A huge thank you to my parent volunteers that came in to read to us and make ornaments. Liam's mom, Mrs Hall(and brother, cooper) and Michaelas mom, Mrs Amber went above and beyond. If you are interested in coming in next week, let me know!! 

Did you do your Homework?

If the kids remembered, I sent home directions for them to give you for homework;) I've begun introducing our "how to" writing unit. This activity, "how to" make a leaf rub was designed to be very vague to emphasize the importance of being detailed in explanations for how to writing and to not leave out any steps. I gave them the green sheet and the materials to make a leaf rub and left them to it. They were boggled and ended up with doodles on their paper or hand drawn leaves. I then showed them and we edited the directions together to make it more clear. Their homework was to give this to you to try and then explain why it wouldn't work using those directions and they'd have to hopefully talk you threw it to give better steps! 

See ya later Alligator!

This weeks math focus has been comparing two digit numbers. Students are learning how to compare numbers by looking at place value( how many tens and ones) and using a number line. We created a human number line to compare numbers. We are moving away from "alligator" mouth and actual math talk, greater than less than and equal. The alligator mouth helps them visualize the mouth wanting to eat the larger number but if over used its not teaching them the actual term and significance of a number being compared to another number. 

Catching up!

I apologize for the delay in posts!! I thought these posted a while ago and I just noticed it didn't publish! I'll take lots of pictures this week to make up for it. 

Below you will see they created candy corn numbers with the place value representations. We are now comparing numbers(greater than/less than) using place value. If you are confused by any math homework sent home, don't hesitate to ever email me(or text me on remind)with questions. I'm happy to explain and totally understand that even though its first grade math it may be different than how you learned it in elementary school!

To wrap up the opinion writing unit, they wrote about what they would be like if they were a witch. I prompted them with "use your imagination to pretend you are a good witch and had powers to make the world better." They had to use their opinion to write about what they feel would be most important to use their powers on.

We just began our "how to" writing unit. Today they had to work in a group to write the steps to create a PB&J sandwich. After sharing out, they realized the importance of not leaving out ingredients or missing any steps. We will look at a variety of how to samples and they will begin to create their own. I'm looking forward to their thanksgiving how tos! They include; how to disguise a turkey, how to convince your parents you can have pizza on thanksgiving, how to help a turkey escape, and many more creative  prompts!

Fun Run!!

The kids did great working to reach their lap goals during fun run. It sounded like everyone beat their record from last year. Check out the green slips that were sent home to see how many they ran. It wasn't just about the number they ran, they all put in their best effort and had positive attitudes the entire time. 

Magic or science?

We experimented with a pencil, wire, clothespins, and a Popsicle stick to try to get it balance on its tip! With the help of the clothespins as counterweight we learned it would help balance the pencil straight up!! They were so proud and amazed with themselves!

Place value

We've started off math this quarter learning about place value and how to represent two digit numbers using tens and ones. Students are working in small groups and getting hands on practice with manipulatives to demonstrate understanding of place value. This week we will continue to work on place value with candy corns and fall themed activities! We may not be able to dress up and celebrate Halloween at school but we will still have festive learning themed activities!

Connecting with characters

As good readers we are working on retelling the book we read using story elements. Last quarter we focused on building good habits and then tackling the tricky parts. This unit we will be focusing on connecting with characters. This past week we filled out graphic organizers for character, setting, problem, and solution. This week,

students will read and retell narrative text with a special emphasis on characters.  Students will focus on characters’ actions in isolated parts of the book and as a pattern throughout a story.

Balancing act

This quarter's science unit focuses on forces! We began by trying to balance paper crayfish on our hands. The focus question they wrote In their research notebooks was," how many ways can you balance the crayfish?" Next students  made predictions and then tested it out. They found it very difficult until I gave them clothes pins to act as counter weights. We discussed how the counterweights work in helping balance the crayfish and then found more ways to balance it on their hands. They completed their notebook entry with "what I learned" and then "new questions I have." Next week, they are going to be blown away with how we can balance a pencil on its tip! 

Guided reading groups

This week in the word work station students are focusing on words with long vowel sounds and practicing letter land words. In writing they are picking a prompt from the "write about this" app on the iPad to create a detailed writing piece focusing on having a beginning, middle and end. As well as, using describing words to make their stories interesting. We have been having the fifth grade, "tech experts" come down in the mornings to train the kids on apps that will be used during center time. In the read to self center, students are asking and answering questions in their readers response journals while reading a "just right" book. During guided reading, we are focusing on reading strategies and what to do when they get to a word they don't know. The questions they are practicing asking themselves when they get to tricky words are, "does it make sense? Does it sound right?" The guided reading groups book focus is on non fiction books this week and they are continuing to ask and answer questions before, during, and after reading the text. Students that are excelling at this are doing this as written comprehension using evidence from the text to support their answers. Students who need support with this concept verbally answer questions we come up with as a group and I guide them to how they can find the answers. 

Data Notebooks

We are tracking growth through out the year. Using habit 2, "begin with the end in mind" we started the year off setting quarterly goals in reading, math, personal and work habits. At the end of each week we check in on our goals and track progress. At the end of each quarter you will be able to see the goals your child set and how far they've come! I will show you these at parent conferences and I encourage your child to join you to be able to share it with you. It's important for them to be part of these conversations and take charge of their learning. Eventually conferences will be student lead and it is a school wide goal as part of leader in me. I will be gradually incorporating student lead conferences, starting with hopefully at least having them present at the quarter one conference and being able to show you their data notebook. If you haven't already signed up for a conference, please do so on the website! The link is on a tab at the top of this blog! The conference date is the Monday after we track out, September 29th. If that date is no good for you, let me know and we'll work something out!

End of week...7?!

Here are some fun pictures... Time to sharpen the saw and have a great weekend! I hope you can all make it out for movie night! Also, don't forget fall fest is next Thursday! 

Leaders in research

We have been researching NC(state bird, flower, flag, tree, dance, animal, food, etc) for the Twima project. Check it out more at http://thetwimaproject.weebly.com/ 

We will create a poem from this research to be a part of the iBook that will have poems from classrooms all over the US to represent the different states. We are so excited to work with the fourth grade class to have Lake Myra represent North Carolina in this book. 

Personal narratives

In writing, we have been focusing on personal narratives. We are using the writing process to create a final piece for this unit. The first step is to think about a small moment they want to write about. Then, they plan it out using pictures. We also outlined their stories using a graphic organizer. The categories used to help them plan it out are, when, where, what you wanted, who was there, how you felt, and what happened in detail. After the story is planned out they created a rough draft using transitional words(first, next, last). Transitional words assist in keeping an order of events in the story. The words don't have to be exactly that way but they do have to have a flow and sequence to the events that are occurring in the story, as well as a closure sentence at the end. After the rough draft they edit their work and read it over with a buddy and then compose their final draft to "publish."

TWIMA- project

http://thetwimaproject.weebly.com/

Check out a project we are going to take part in soon!! Excited to have the help of one of our school techies, Elizabeth Adams with this! I'll keep you updated on our process/ journey of becoming a part of this poetry i-book. 

Daily five!

We've had a great week of guided reading groups using the daily five format. This weeks focus during reading groups has been to retell the beginning, middle, and end of the stories read. They are grouped on their reading ability for reading groups with myself or our TA and then they are mixed up on varying abilities for the other centers; read to self/buddy, listen to reading, word work, and writing. 

We started a new writing center based on writing prompts that are created from the app, "write about it." I can also create my own prompts from pictures I take to have a focus that goes along with the writing objectives for the week. During read to self they are picking a good fit book using the five finger rule(0-1 unknown words is too easy, 2-3 unknown words good fit, 4-5 too difficult). After they read the story they write what happened in the begging, middle and end in their reader response journals. 

For word work, the focus has been on writing this weeks word family words and creating more in the -op, -ot,  and -ock families. After they complete those word family houses they chose a word from each family to use in writing a compete sentence. Lastly, during listen to reading they are choosing a story to listen to on tumble books. 

Here's a look at this weeks centers! 

Math and More!

Math stations are up and running! This is one of my favorite parts of the day because it's incredible to see how they take charge of their learning to discover answers using strategies taught. Math block is usually composed of a whole group lesson followed by independent practice and/or stations if time allows. After each skill has been thoroughly taught and practiced I will assess for mastery to determine if I need to create skill groups to reinforce certain areas of need. The stations are created to review previous math strategies and tasks learned, as well as, provide exposure to knew tasks/skills that require applying knowledge and understanding of what was taught in the daily lesson. Math talk is modeled and teacher guided during stations to use higher level thinking and understanding of how they came to an answer.

Readers workshop weekly overview

Mrs Darrows, 4th grade class is going to be buddy reading with us on Fridays! We will do guided reading groups Mon-Thurs and then do an engaging project activity on Fridays to go along with the weeks reading focus. This past week we focused on classroom rules and readers workshop expectations. For our Friday activity, the students heard the story "No David!" and we discussed the importance of rules. Following the discussion they did a first grade rules writing assignment where they had to write about the important rules they have learned. Then they created a David character to remind us how crazy it would be if there weren't rules in school and if students didn't follow them!

Writers workshop

Our writers workshop has started off on how to brainstorm ideas for topics to write about. The kids brainstormed people, places, animals and things they can write about to refer back to through out the writing unit. We are focusing on writing detailed stories so we begin by telling the story to a partner and they ask questions to help each other make their stories more detailed. The students are also practicing how to sound out words by saying it, clapping it, and then writing it. I've been drilling in their heads that I don't want to hear, "How do you spell...?" It's important not to give them a crutch by spelling out words and rather have them work through tricky words by sounding them out, to help them become better writers! 

Learning in action

I am a firm believer of the power of working in small groups. We have been practicing how to collaborate and share ideas. Students are assigned roles at their tables to help the discussions and activities run smoothly. There's a table leader who passes the cone to whoever is talking, a recorder, time manager, and question leader. It's going to be a continued process to practice to work effectively in group settings. We are off to a great start and have heard great ideas being thrown around during our research(science/ ss) time.

It's been crucial to lay the foundation of how readers workshop runs and I have been slowly introducing reading stations. I've assessed all students reading abilities and will begin guided reading groups this week. We are using the daily 5 model. Students will read to self/buddy reading, guided reading, have a listening/computer station, writing station and word work station. We've gone in depth discussing their roles and my roles during readers workshop. We will be going deeper into how to pick a "just fit" book to read independently this week. One great trick to encourage your child to do at home is the "five finger rule" if they open a book and don't know more than 5 words on a page, it's too difficult. If they know every word on a page, it's too easy. They should aim for around 2-4 unknown words a page.

Starting off in first!

We had a great first couple weeks getting to know one another and learn the classroom expectations. Below they are playing a game on the iPods to answer questions about me, for a get to know me game. We will be incorporating technology a lot this year and using iPads and iPods to creating projects/ book reports and use higher level thinking.

Every week students have to synergize together with their friends at their tables to get table tallies. The table with the most table tallies at the end of the week gets to eat lunch with me! Below they are also taking a brain break to get the wiggles out. We had a lot if fun these first two weeks. I can tell it's going to be a great year!

Meet the teacher

It was so great to meet you and your children tonight! We greatly appreciate you filling out the mass amounts of forms and signing sheets. If for some reason you weren't there tonight or couldn't complete them all, no worries! I will send anything I(or the school needs) next week. If you need access to the supply list you can access that on the class website(the tab is above). I will also be sending home different social media forums that you can all connect with me threw to follow the class and get any important class updates or reminders. 

I'm looking forward to a magnificent year with your children! Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or wishes you have so we can all have a successful year together!! My e-mail is jquinn@wcpss.net

Classroom projects

I'm excited for my rising first graders to be joining me in a couple weeks! I've been working away in my new classroom to make it bright and welcoming for the students. I've actually taken time this track out to creat my Pinterest projects. I highly recommend to other teachers getting the white board roll for their guided reading table. We are going to use it for Venn diagrams to dig deeper into text read, and unknown vocabulary words they come across while reading. I've tried contact paper with construction paper underneath but they don't hold up well. This roll seems to adhere really well. I found mine at a local teacher store for $18. I'd recommend applying it with another person and using a scraper to smooth out the bubbles. I also duct taped the edges to keep it from peeling up. 

Another project I did was the book crate seats. I went to Home Depot and had them cut the plywood to fit(I recommend bringing the crate with you). I used a foam mattress pad for cushion and staple gunned the fabric around it. Put a ribbon loop for easy lifting to access the books inside. 

Quinn's Kindergarten Video '14

Ice cream sundaes

Ice cream day was a huge success! EWe had quite the selection of toppings to chose from, thanks to the donations. The kids graphed everyone's favorite topping, wrote how to create the perfect sundae, and had to write me a persuasive letter convincing me they deserve the ice cream:)

Bubble Day

Beach day

Made to measure

We are wrapping up math this year with measurement. Students are learning they can use different objects to measure. We started learning about height using shorter and taller to compare. They brought in their favorite stuffed animals to measure and compare heights. We also compared students heights in the classroom. Then I started introducing length and we measured things around the room using our feet. They had to find objects longer than their foot and shorter than their foot. 

Here are some of the centers from this week including measurement, addition & subtraction, and missing addend.

Last week of kindergarten

I can't believe it, the last week of school is approaching! I'm excited for the fun themed days I have planned for next week. To recap;

Monday- beach day (dress ready for sunshine) Popsicle treat 

Tuesday- bubble day

Wednesday- ice cream sundaes 

Thursday- popcorn and movie day. They can come in light weight pjs(students in flannels on the playground don't last too long) and bring their favorite stuffed animal. 

Friday- end of year celebration @ 2:30

Other important announcements:

* I will be teaching first grade next year. Unfortunately, administration does not take requests. As much as I'd love to take everyone with me, it's not what's in the best interest of everyone. It will be good for most of them to have a fresh start and new dynamic. They can be comforted knowing I'll still be close next year:) 

* We are sad that Dr. Argent will be leaving us because of his great influence at the lake. It will be hard to fill his shoes but if you would like a say in the qualities you want in the next principal, come to an input meeting at the school next Wednesday(voice messenger was sent out). I'll get back to you all on the time. 

More measuring!

We did measuring notebooks with twelve different stations. We used a variety of objects as units of measurement(sticky notes, bears, square tiles, paperclips,books, snap cubes, index cards). They are getting good at estimating and comparing lengths.

Animals 2x2

Our science unit this quarter involved investigating different creatures. We observed and compared two types of worms(night crawlers and red worms), fish (guppies and hold fish) and bugs(pill and sow). We learned about how they move, eat and breath. We compared the differences between similar creatures.

End of Year Fun!

The school year is coming to an end in three short weeks!! I'm asking for help from the families to help pitch in and make our last week together extra special. If you are willing to donate items, please click the link for sign up genius below. Please turn in all items by next Friday, June 20th. The themed days will take place the last week of school, June 23rd- 27th. Items that need to be refrigerated or put in the freezer there is a staff fridge I can store them in. 

Sign up to donate items here

Loop at the Lake: May 23rd

*We do "loop at the lake" every Friday for announcements. Here is one that recaps leadership day a bit!

Kinder Orientation

Beating the heat!

It may be hot, hot, hot outside but we are still finding ways to have fun in the sun!! We are doing bubbles, water play, side walk chalk, and jump rope. Please keep a change of clothes in your child's back pack incase they get a little too wet and messy!

Celebrating Great Behavior

As part of the PBIS(positive behavior interventions and support) committee we came up with a new school wide reward systems to reinforce good behavior through out the school. The idea is to be fishing for compliments. Every time another staff member gives a class a compliment they earn a fish. Compliments can be about "s.w.i.m.ing" in the hallway, behaving well in specials, being quiet in the library, cleaning up and being respectful in cafeteria, etc. When a class earns 50 compliments they earn a special celebration. We were one of the first classes to earn our celebration and the class voted on Popsicles and extra recess:) We are working on earning another celebration before the end of the year! 

Adding and subtracting

Here are a look at some of the math centers. Top left, adding dominos(students have to count the dots and fill in the blank with the correct number tile). middle left, math word problems showing your work. Top right, fishing for facts(pulling numbered fish to create addition and subtraction problems). Bottom, leap frog spinner game to add and subtract the numbers they land on. 

Leadership day

Leadership day was a huge success. The students did a great job singing songs about the habits and greeting guests to our classroom. The students lead an activity on the smart board to inform the guests how we work on being proactive and chose our own weather. The visitors enjoyed their visit in our classroom and were impressed with how students answered and lead the discussion. Meredith and Jaeden greeted them at the door and shook their hands. Saige, Zariah, and Barry gave a short speech on what it means to chose your own weather. All other students participated in the discussion and sang the seven habits with the hand motions. Natalie spoke on stage to all the guests about the habit, seek first to understand then to be understood and taught the hand motion. Curtis shook hands to guests in the hallway and answered open questions about leadership at our school. Everyone did a great job and showed how well our classroom has adapted the seven habits. We will perform the song at the end of year celebration and videos will be posted to the lake Myra website for you to check out! 

Farewell to another friend

We are sad to see another dear friend in our class move away and have to go to a new school. Andy is a sweet kid and was always making others happy. We will miss him and wish him the best at his new school!