A Hoot of a Kindergarten Class!

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

week of October 5 | snapshot

Last week was all about shadows.

We wondered...how are shadows made?

Do all objects have shadows?

Are shadows always black?

How can we make shadows that are not black?

What do people do with shadows?

To find out how shadows are made we made shadows in the classroom because the sun wasn't cooperating much and we watched Sid the Science Kid Shadow Investigation to see if you can see color or texture in shadows.

Then the students made shadow art. First the students drew a picture on white paper. Then they drew the same picture on a piece of black paper. Then they glued their shadow beside their picture.

To find out if all shadows are black, I tested with students by putting color paddles in front of white light to see how it affects the shadow.

Then we watched Peep and the Whole Wide World Shadow Play.

To find out what people do with shadows, we watched Shadow Hands.

The students had a blast in dramatic play putting on shadow puppet plays all week!

We watched Peppa the Pig Shadows.

I read the poem “My Shadow” by Robert Louis Stevenson and then asked them

to draw what they thought “the shadow” looks like.

Then we watched The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss.

The students liked guessing what the shadows were before the words were read.

The students put together and read their emergent readers, Colors of Fall.

My hopes is that they read them to you, as well!

{click here for this freebie}

Libby read hers to the class and they followed along!

Our Write the Room this week was Catch a Critter. The students either had to find the card with the critter and write the letters that were in their name next to the picture... or write the capital letter on the card in the box next to the picture... or decide which of the letter sounds the picture begins with and write it in the box. They really look forward to the theme of Write the Room each week!
{click here for this freebie}

The students were introduced to Monster Tally this week. We have worked on tallying in other activities. They had to find a monster and write the corresponding tally marks on their paper.

click here for the freebie

limited centers:

dramatic play- add a flashlight and puppets so students can create shadow stories

math- Shadow Statues file folder game- match statues to the correct shadows

discovery- add students’ silhouettes for students to identify themselves and their friends

computer-

Tigger’s Shadow Shape game http://www.gamesloon.com/free-educational-27/shapes-figures-games-240/winnie-the-pooh-tiggers-shadow-shape-42842.html

Shape vs Shadow http://www.turtlediary.com/preschool-games/puzzle-games/shape-shadow.html

listening- Gregory’s Shadow

art/writing- add black paint for adding shadows to paintings

blocks- add a flashlight so students can see shadows of their structures

We had some special visitors that got us real excited for the UWA Rodeo!

William's cousin, Daniel, came with a couple of his awesome friends and even brought some goodies! :D #happyclassrooms

Monday, October 26, 2015

Trick-or-Treat with the Library Thursday, October 29th

Friday, October 23, 2015

next week

26	27	28	29	30	31
Ms. Melody-Reader from Bright Minds Volunteer Reading Program at 9:15 am	Mrs. Gail-Reader from Bright Minds Volunteer Reading Program at 9:30 am	Dance and Gymnastics Pink Out/Wear It Wednesday-Wear pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness (If you don't have anything pink to wear, we will have pink ribbon ready to pin on each child.) Dance and Gymnastics 9:30-11:30 am	Pizza Day SWAP (Stations With A Purpose) 9-11 am with Dr. Minear's class---Mad Scientists Lab Sea Turtles presentation by class starting at 1:30 pm Endangered Species Costume presentation by class starting at 1:30 pm	Halloween Parties @ 2:45 pm Trick or Treat Walk in Lyon Hall @9 a.m. Trunk-or-treat in the Campus School Parking Lot starting at 2:00 pm	UWA @ Valdosta St

All parents are invited to attend the events of the week. If you plan to dress up for Halloween festivities, please remember to not be too scary. Our little ones may be afraid of some costumes.

Friday, October 9, 2015

next week

12	13	14	15	16	17/18
Pajama Day Ms. Lasandra’s B’day Ms. Kim’s B’day Fossil Lesson @ 1:30	Wacky Tacky Day	Dance and Gymnastics Walk with Wednesday @ 7:00a.m. Meet in the parking lot Cowboys and Indians Day Parents' Night Out forms and fees due	Pizza Day Faculty Meeting 2:30pm in Conference Room Around the World with UWA Day- pick a country to represent, be a slice, of pizza for Italy, be a taco for Mexico, wear a zebra mask, etc.	Spirit Day Parents’ Night Out 6:00p.m. to 10:00p.m.	Homecoming Parade @ 9:30a.m. UWA vs. Shorter @ 2:00p.m.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

week of September 28 | snapshot

In math last week, we had fun with Pumpkin Glyphs!

The students made jack-o-lanterns based on their gender, height, emotion, like of candy corn, and their Halloween costume this year.

Before we analyzed the data, we learned how to make tally marks. We will also spend more time on that this week.

Then we got busy analyzing the data!

Science was all about leaves and trees. We learned and drew the parts of a tree, learned all about photosynthesis, and what makes plants green.

We also got to meet the infamous James Spann! Well, he is in these parts, anyway!

If you are one of the few people, and I have met a few since I started telling people I have met him in real life person oh my gosh, then click here and read about this awesome man.

Anywho, we got to meet him and made it on tv for a millisecond. #happyclassrooms

click here to watch the video if you can't see it below :)

We are learning about rhyming and it seemed to be a little tricky so if you are riding in the car or washing dishes or folding clothes, try working on some rhyming words at home. We are getting better!

Ms. Jenna from Ruby Pickens Tartt Library came and had storytime with us. We are looking forward to seeing her next month!

We started our color word emergent reader and can't wait to put it together!

We are working hard on reading our color words every Morning Meeting!

FREEBIE

We are still enjoying spending time with Dr. Rolison's students and we are now checking out books from the Curriculum Library.

SWAP this month was all about leaves.

Each teacher chose a different activity to do with the students.

Ms. Alison read the story A Grand Ole Tree aloud. Next, the discussed the life cycle of an acorn and then made acorn treats using the Hershey Kisses, Mini Baking Chocolate Chips, Vanilla Mini Wafers and icing.

In Ms. Angie's room, the students sang “Leaves, Leaves, Falling Down” using red, yellow, orange and brown construction paper leaves as prompts in teaching the song. Then they read The Busy Tree by Jennifer Ward.
They discussed the many things that can grow on trees and who might use that thing.
Ms. Angie had acorns in her Mystery Box and the students had to guess what it was. They then learned “I’m An Acorn.” and then were able to explore acorns with magnifying glasses and to weigh and compare acorns, leaves, and pinecones using the balancing scales.

Ms. Byrne read the story Fall Leaves Fall. Then, the students learned the song "Autumn Leaves are Falling Down," and they used leaves like they read about in the story to do a leaf stamping/painting activity.

In our room, we read There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves. Then,we went on a Fall Leaf Number Hunt. I hid numbered leaves (1-10) all over the classroom and the students had to find one leaf. Once they found all of the numbered leaves, they brought them back to the rug and told me their special number. I then gathered the students in a circle with me in the middle and threw the leaves up. I asked each student to go find a certain number. Once they found all of the numbered leaves, they went back to the number tree a second time and glued them to the matching number on the tree.