Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Book of the Month: "Gingerbread for Liberty"

Today we read a great book based on a true story called "Gingerbread for Liberty" by Mara Rockliff. This story is based on the life of Christopher Ludwick a German baker who just loved his new country "America." You might think it was a lot for Kindergarten students to understand but they followed the story intently. They loved the part of how he saved all the broken pieces for the hungry children around his shop and how he fed the hungry soldiers. It was a wonderful piece of forgotten history that we all enjoyed reading. To celebrate the book, students enjoyed mini gingerbread men and it all of a sudden turned into their favorite book!!

Thanksgiving Day: What are we thankful for?

As is the tradition, the last day before Thanksgiving break we love to ask the children what they are thankful for. It gives them time to reflect on their young lives and say what is the most important to them: mom, dad, grandparents, brothers, sisters and school. The children drew and water colored their turkeys, cut them out and glued them on their Thanksgiving placements. They will be laminated as a keepsake for future Thanksgivings. Happy Thanksgiving -- Love - the Mall-ard class!!

Monday, November 23, 2015

Pow Wow: Beginning, Middle and End

 Family Make and Take Night - Making our igloos and Inuit village.
 Homework  - Create your own Inuit representative.
 Getting dressed for the big day.
 Final touches for Pow Wow.
We are ready to go and join in the 18th Annual Chets Creek Pow Wow - what a wonderful day!!!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Inuit Representatives - Making our Own

 After learning about the Inuits clothing, students were invited to make their own representative person. They know the weather is very cold in the winter and they need to dress it accordingly. They had time in class to talk about how they made it and what materials they used. They are learning a lot about our neighbors to the north.




 These are now on display outside our classroom.

Pow Wow Preparation - Kindergarten 2015

 The biggest event of the Kindergarten year is happening this week.  We are preparing for Chets Creeks 18th annual Pow Wow. It is a time when kindergarten students learn about the original people, also known as Native Americans. This year we are the Inuit tribe. Our class has the igloo representation hanging outside our class. On Friday, students and their families will be celebrating all of their learning in a culminating Pow Wow. Also joining in the celebration will be representatives from the Lenape, Iroquois, Sioux, Nez Perce and Seminole tribes. We are so grateful to have this opportunity to share what we have learned about the first Americans.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Pattern Books: Reading and Writing

During the past few weeks, we have been learning about pattern books which includes different types of formats, for instance,  question/answer, counting and opposite books. These are the books that most of the children are reading at this time. This week, the students were invited to pick a few books from their book bins and sort them.  They read the first few pages and the class would give their opinion on what kind of pattern book it was. Afterwards, students were encouraged to write a new type of pattern book that interested or inspired them.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Pattern Books - Planning, Writing, Editing

For the past few weeks, we have been learning and writing about pattern books. Pattern books are books that focuses on a topic and it can tell different things about that topic. It can be fiction or nonfiction. They range from just labeling a picture to writing stories with a common refrain. Today's lesson was about revision. Students were invited to get one of their favorite books from their folder and see what they can add to it and/or fix it up.  The big surprise was that they were allowed to use a red pen to do the additions or deletions. The results were amazing - just see what a little red pen can do to add more to a piece.
This pattern book is about butterflies.  Before the red pen the sentence was "Butterflies have colorful wings."  After the red pen, a sentence was added, "They have two wings."
"Butterflies have babies." "They have two babies." "Butterflies have eyes." "They have two eyes."
"I love butterflies."

Kindergarten Pow Wow 2019

Our tribe this year was the Inuit. Our students learned about the Inuit culture which included their food, housing and shelter. They sang ...