100 Days to Celebrate

Today was the 100th day of school. The 100th day has become a milestone in the life of a kindergartener. We have been talking about reaching 100 since the first day of school. In Calendar Math, we represent each day with a straw and bundle groups of ten. The homework for the week was to come dressed in 100 of something. There were 100 stickers, 100 dinosaurs, 100 stars, and of course, 100 straws attached onto shirts. Students were delighted upon entering the classroom and found 100 balloons decorating the ceiling. It was a day to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of 100 days of school. Children shared their 100 shirts with the class and explained how they came up with their ideas. Activities included students drawing a picture of themselves now and what they will look like at 100 years old. There was a 100 day snack (10 different snacks on 100 place mat) and we hid 100 Hershey Kisses (numbered 1-100) and they had to find them and put them on 100's chart. We read books such as 100 Day Worries by Margery Cuyler and Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day by Joseph Slate.

The day was capped off 100 day cupcakes and a visit from Zero the Hero who talked about how things were 100 years ago. He showed antiques such as a washboard, milk jugs, and carpet beaters. This was surely a day of a hundred memories for our kindergarten students! (Special thanks to Melanie H. our class photographer, Elizabeth H. for the cupcakes, and Publix for donating the 100 balloons for our special day!) A slide show of the day will coming soon!!

Graduating Reading Mastery

We are very fortunate to be able to provide a safety net program for our students called Reading Mastery. This program is focused on phonics and blending sounds. Each morning some students in our class go out with Miss Karen and are provided small group instruction in phonics. We have found that this direct instruction approach bridges the reading gap for some children. When they make the letter-sound connection and they are reading using strategies, they are "graduated" out of the program. Our first graduate, "L." has been given her walking papers. Congratulation "L." we celebrate you and Miss Karen for your hard work and dedication to the students in the program!

100 Cans of Food for the 100th Day of School!

One of our 100th Day of school projects was to collect 100 cans of food for the local food bank. Well, we did more than that - we collected over 140 cans of food and the children were delighted in doing it! Each day, students would bring in cans of food and cross off the number of cans on the 100s chart. We worked backwards from 100 so we could see how many cans we needed to fulfill our goal. After all 100 numbers were crossed off, we started to make X's on the back of the chart and then count on to 100. The children were amazed to see how many cans the class donated. Thanks our wonderful Mall-ard parents for making this community service project a success.

Groundhog Day - Our Predictions Were Right

On Monday, the students learned the folklore of Groundhog Day. The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania's earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, "For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May..." Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800s. The first official trek to Gobbler's Knob was made on February 2, 1887. The children now know that if the groundhog sees his shadow, as the legend goes, we will have six more weeks of winter. Before the students left on Monday, we made a prediction chart as to who thought the groundhog would see his shadow and who thought he wouldn't. Well there were ten more children who thought that the shadow would be seen, and they were right! Many students came to school knowing that the groundhog saw his shadow and were very excited to tell their friends. They had a great time making groundhog headbands to celebrate!

Celebrating Our Adopted Friends

In December, we auctioned a decorated wreath and tree and donated the money to the World Wildlife Fund. The children picked three animals that they wanted the money to support: an Arctic Polar Bear, an Arctic Fox, and the Blue Footed Booby. This week we received adoption papers, stuffed animals, and a thank you letter from the World Wildlife Organization. The children were overjoyed to find out that their donations are really making a difference. They now have the cute stuffed animals and certificates of adoption to remind them of their new animal friends to the north and south of us!!

Writer's Workshop...after the holidays

When the children returned to school the first week after the winter holidays, it was time for them to enter their January writing sample in the monthly writing journal. They wrote about everything from waking up on Christmas morning to staying up on New Year's Eve. We had stories about going to Disney World and going to grandma's house. After the children were finished writing their stories, we asked them to go back to August's sample and see if they could easily read that writing? How about September's? When students flipped through their writing books, they found it hard to read. We discussed how much they have grown as writers and how important it is to write everyday. The journal they write in monthly is about five pieces of white construction paper, folded in half and each page slightly raised so that the names of the months are shown. At the beginning of the each month, a writing sample is taken so that student's writing growth can be easily assessed. They are free to write about any topic they choose. This is a wonderful way to glance at a student's work-over-time and for each child to feel proud of their writing growth!

Martin Luther King Remembered

Our read alouds this week included several books about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A classroom favorite was "Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King" by Jean Marzollo. Children heard the story of how he loved playing sports when he was young, especially baseball and basketball with his friends in the neighborhood. But when it was time to start school, Martin was very sad when he had to go to a different school than his friends. Martin's father was a preacher and he loved the big words his father used in church. He wanted to learn those words and be a preacher one day too. The students learned that MLK was a very smart child. Did you know he started college at fifteen years old? After he graduated, Martin not only preached to love your neighbor in church, but preached peace and justice for all people. As a birthday tribute, the children created pictures of Dr. King and now know a little about the man who had a dream many years ago.

"The Mitten" - A Great Retelling on a Cold Day!

One of our favorite stories to share with the children after the winter break is "The Mitten" retold by Jan Brett. It's about a boy who asks his grandmother to knit him a pair of white mittens. She warns him that the color is not a good choice because it's the same color as the snow. It doesn't take long for Nicki to drop one outside and it is soon found by a series of winter animals who make it their home. After the class heard the story a few times, we decided to retell it again via Reader's Theater. Our characters included a mole, followed by a snowshoe rabbit, a hedgehog, an owl, a badger, a fox, a bear and, finally a mouse. And then, of course, there was Nicki and his grandmother. The story comes to an end when the bear has a big sneeze, all the animals fly out, and Nicki finds his mitten floating in the air. When he returns home, the grandmother is puzzled as to the grand size of the one mitten. By retelling the story and acting it out, students practice sequencing, learn new vocabulary, (swoop, lumber, trot), and most of all have fun. "The Mitten" has become a fast class favorite, especially with everyone wearing their mittens on these cold Florida days!

Hanukkah - The Festival of Lights

Today we were fortunate to have "S" (a former student), assisted by her brother "J" (a current student), and father, Chip present the "The Festival of Lights" tradition to our class. "S" told the class that the festival is observed by lighting the nine-branched Menorah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash (Hebrew: "guard" or "servant") is also lit each night for the purpose of lighting the others. Hanukkah is a wonderful holiday of renewed dedication, faith, hope and spiritual light. It's a holiday that says: "Never lose hope." "S" told us the story of the victory, thru the miracles of Hashem, of a small band of Maccabees over the pagan Syrian-Greeks who ruled over Israel. The children loved hearing the story but, moreover, loved learning a new game "dreidel". Students were given eight Hershey Kisses and a dreidel and learned the symbols and how to play. A big "thank you" to the Chip, S and J for sharing this tradition with the class.

Time for Celebration - December, 2009

Today was our Holiday Breakfast and Gingerbread House Making Day! Students enjoyed a beautiful brunch which included bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, bagels, fruit and hot-griddled pancakes! After the breakfast, it was time to make our Gingerbread Houses. Parents manned each table and assisted the children in creating their very own Gingerbread House. It was surely an experience they will remember! Thank you Melanie for all of the great pictures! At this time, we would like to thank all of our parents for a fantastic year, filled with wonderful memories of their child. We wish all of you a very merry Christmas and Happy 2010!

Polar Bears, Foxes, and Birds -- Oh My!!

Each year around the holidays, our school participates in another Chets Creek tradition called the "Holiday Auction." Each class is invited to make something "holidayish" and display it in the front lobby. In past years, parents and visitors placed a bid on an item and the money raised went to the child's classroom. This year, we decided, as a school, to give back in some way to our community and/or the world around us. Our class is animal loving so we decided to donate our wreath money to adopt three animals (of the student's choice) from the World Wildlife Fund. The class chose a polar bear, arctic fox and...

...a blue-footed booby.

We will soon get a picture and literature sent to the class of our adopted animals and hope to raise more money for these special creatures at next year's auction. The picture below is the wreath that Mrs. K. Morris bid on an won together with a small decorated tree. The children are very excited to call these animals "their own" and hope they are around for a very long time!

December Writing - Holiday Excitement

With holiday excitement in the air, we thought it would be a good idea to funnel that energy into an art project combined with Writer's Workshop. Students were shown a sample of different size present boxes (see above picture) and asked to recreate them. They were given the construction paper, cut out the different shapes and glued them on the black paper. Then they were asked to write about each gift - who it is for and what is inside each one. This was a wonderful way for students to use their imagination and writing skills. Enjoy reading a sampling of the "present" writing!

Madison wrote:

"On Christmas, the red gift would be for Megan. The green gift is for my dogs, In the box was balls. The yellow box is for the Humane Society. The blue box is for Miss Karen."

Jack wrote:

"On Christmas, the big blue present is for Chatfield and it is going to be a Hess plane and a Hess train. The little green box is for Emmy's stuff - and a My Little Pony house. The yellow present is for my dad. My dad's present is a new Lo book. The red present is for my (mom) Coach Hall - a new pair of earrings."

Josey wrote:

"On Christmas, I would give the blue box gift to Chase. It would be a spy tank. The green box gift would be for Lily. It would be a rose. The red box would be for Lexie. It would be a crown. The yellow box would be for Lauren. It would be a new puppy."

'Tis the Season

It is already that traditional time at our school where we decorate the holiday tree in our front lobby. Each class creates a string of garland with each classmates picture on the strand. Snowmen, hands, ornaments, and musical notes are adorning the tree this year. We added a string of beautiful Christmas stockings. Thanks to JB for putting up the tree every year and placing each strand on it so perfectly. Another tradition that we do (a classroom project) is collect pet supplies to give to our local Humane Society. We have collected dog bowls, towels, bleach, detergent, and pet toys for the animals waiting adoption to a good home. This year we are having a representative from the Humane Society come and speak to the children and he is bringing his dog. We will then present them both with the gifts to bring back to our animal friends. After all, ...'tis the season!!

Thanksgiving Feast - Remembering the Pilgrims

With all of the previous weeks devoted to learning about our tribe, the Lenape, today we shared a few books with the children and talked about the first Thanksgiving and the story of the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. Students had lots of questions and they knew lots of answers, especially how the the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn. They heard the story of dropping a fish in with the corn seed from our own Miss KK during their visit to the tee pee during Powwow. Thank you to our wonderful parents and grandparents who made this day possible. Mr. Buddy and Mimi (Josey's grandparents) fried two turkeys which was our main course. Our classroom moms came in with mac and cheese, potatoes, corn, fruit, brownies and cookies and helped us so much. We have so much food, we decided to make tomorrow "Thanksgiving Day #2" and we will have a repeat of today's feast. After all, the first Thanksgiving lasted three days - so we're just trying to make this as authentic as possible :) !! The students and teachers of the Mall-ard class wish all of you a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Powwow: The day finally arrived !!

The day of Powwow finally arrived. The children were so excited saying how they hardly slept the night before. The slide show will tell the story of a truly remarkable event! Thanks to Melanie H. for the great pictures!

Lenape -- "Oh Did You Know...?"

As we have been learning about our tribe, we have put together a song that helps the children remember fun facts about the Lenape. The yellow sheets in the video are their song books. Each morning they would learn something new about their tribe and draw a picture to go with the words. Below is the result of the song - we are so proud of young Lenape!

Lenape - "Oh, did you know ... song." from Maria Mallon on Vimeo.

Wigwams and Family Fun

Last night families had the opportunity to come to school and make their very own wigwam that represented the dwellings of the Lenape nation. Students painted a plastic jug (that was cut in half) with glue and placed felt pieces on it that represented bark. Our wigwam village is sitting outside our classroom and will be taken home after our Powwow on Friday.

Lenape Nation - "The Original People"

Homework was a family project this week. Students and parents were invited to create their own Native American Lenape tribe member. Families were asked to research the tribe on the internet and dress the cardboard cut out accordingly. We were "WOWED" by the representations of original dress that came in. Children also put their chosen Native American name on the cut out. Students had the opportunity to share their Lenape boy or girl with the class and tell how they made it. We have received numerous comments on how much fun this family homework project was and how much each family has learned about our adopted tribe - "The Original People."

Pow Wow Preparation

THE EVENT of the Kindergarten year is fast approaching...it's time for the annual Powwow. Each Kindergarten class is learning about a specific Native American tribe. The tribes include the Inuit, Hopi, Nez Perce, Seminole, Sioux, Iroquois, Nootka, and our very own Lenape tribe. The Lenape come from the areas of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Students are not only learning about their food, clothing and shelter, but also, how much the Lenape are so similar to them. The Native Americas loved to play games, fish, and help at home. The students have been working on the turtle shakers and shell necklaces that they will be carrying and wearing during our Powwow. Homework has included storytelling, picking a Native American name, and decorating a Lenape girl/boy on a cardboard cut out. We read a wonderful book called, "Rainbow Crow" that was an authentic story past down from the Lenape tribe. In Reader's and Writer's Workshop, we are making our own "All About the Lenape Tribe" book that we will soon share with you. In Reader's Workshop, the class learns about nonfiction conventions (labeling, captions, headings) and in Writer's Workshop, we are modeling the overall look of an "All About" book. On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to visit a 5th grade class that was also studying the Lenape tribe and they shared their diorama and information with us. Upcoming events include "Make and Take" night, where parents and children are invited back to the school to
make their own wigwams (see below).

Shared Reading: The Little Yellow Chicken by Joy Cowley

The children have a new favorite big book, "The Little Yellow Chicken" by Joy Cowley. It is a story based on the folk tale, "The Little Red Hen." It was introduced on Monday as a shared reading. Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience. We use a big book because it has enlarged text so that all the children can see. During the reading, we involve the children in reading together by pointing to or sliding below each word in the text. This provides children the opportunity to participate and behave like a reader. Shared reading models the reading process and strategies used by good readers such as moving from left to right, word-by-word matching, and using intonation. Shared Reading creates a risk-free environment, allowing children to focus on the enjoyment of the story. Every day a new skill and focus was added. The first day the book was introduced. Questions such as, "Does this book look like fiction or non fiction?"; "Does the chicken look happy?"; and "What other books have we read by Joy Cowley?" The next day, we picked up on fluency and intonation. Sight words were discussed and located in the book. The third reading focused on locating groups of words in the book. Today, we used the letter combination chart which lists vowel combinations (ou, ee, ea, ay) and blends (fr, bl, gr) as a guide to help find these pairs of letters in the words of the book. We used Wikki Stix to circle the letter combinations in the book. We enjoy shared reading of big books because it brings the class together as a reading community and provides us with a shared love of reading...thanks Joy Cowley for the wonderful story!

Glogging - Is That Really a Word?

Our goal this year is to introduce more technology into our school day. We are preparing children for a world that is now run on technology and we can not afford to have our students lagging behind in the global marketplace. What better place to start but in Kindergarten? Most students have already been introduced to the computer and computer related games: PSP, DS,I-Pod, Wii and X-Box. They have used lap tops, cell phones, understand texting, and of course, the Book Log Wiki. They are surrounded by technology. So, why should it stop when they enter the classroom? With the guidance of our expert technology coach, Melanie Holtsman, the students have created our first official word family glog. A glog (refers to a graphics blog or in other words an online rich media poster. Our first class-made glog was incorporated into the Skills Block work session of our day. After brainstorming "at" family words for a few days, students were invited to come up to the laptop, download a picture from Google Images (for example, a cat) and upload it onto the glogster. Check out our first "Made by Mall-ard's Students Glog" and see what the students have designed. Our goal is to make a new glog for the rest of the word family words we encounter this year (ap, ip, ot, etc.) You can now officially add "glog" to your technology vocabulary!!

Fun Friday Treats - Halloween Style

Every Friday in our class we celebrate a week of learning with something we call a "Fun Friday Treat." Parents sign up at Orientation and Open House to bring a treat for the whole class on Friday. It can be anything from ice pops to cupcakes. Students love when it's their Friday to bring in the treats for the class. Today's treat had a Halloween twist that the children just loved and I'm sure Mrs. Smith just loved making! Aren't they just spooktakular?

Literary Characters - Dressed Up for the Parade

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
One of our favorite traditions at Chets Creek is the Literacy Character Parade. Students dress up as their favorite literary character and parade around the halls of the school for all of the older students to enjoy. We had pirates, fairies, angels, GI Joes, Star Wars, cowboys, cowgirls, and Scooby Doo represented. Enjoy the pictures that our official class photographer, Melanie H., has taken for us!

Fun at Fall Centers

After the Fall Literacy Parade, students and parents were ready to join in the fun and create some holiday crafts. Making spider bags, decorating picture frames and cookies, designing ghoul bags, monster head bands and candy corn people were all some of the delightful projects that entertained the children. This was a great ending to the traditional parade and one that the students will remember! Special thanks to our parent volunteers who expertly ran each center!!

Fire Safety with Fireman Chris

Everyone was excited today because they knew that Fireman Chris was making a special visit to the Mall-ard's today! Fireman Chris talked about not playing with lighters and/or matches; having family fire drills, and the importance of stop/drop/and roll. He showed a slide show and video clips. Students loved the clip of the fire truck speeding down the highway to put out a fire. They also watched another clip of firemen putting out a fire and hearing the heavy breathing in a smoke filled room. Fireman Chris wanted children to see him dressed up in fireman gear so they would not be afraid and hide if they ever were in a fire. We had the lights turned off in the classroom and he came in, crawling on the floor asking, "Is there anyone in here?" His gear was "glow in the dark" and he was easy to spot. Afterward, the students asked him questions and told him some of their related stories. Then, Chris read the book, "Fireman A to Z". It was a wonderful experience for the students to see a fireman, ask him questions, and learn so much about the importance of fire safety -- thanks Fireman Chris!

Diamond D Ranch - Our First Field Trip

Our first field trip was to the Diamond D Ranch. The children enjoyed a nature walk where they saw a tree hit by lightening, maple trees, and pine trees. At the end of the walk, they were given fish food to throw in a lake. When they did that, all at once catfish sprang through the water! It was quite a surprise! Then we went on a tractor ride through the cow fields and fed some cattle (almost got stuck in the mud). After, we stopped to feed the goats, deer, and baa baa black sheep who was there with her 2 day old lambs. The children rode ponies, played in the bounce house, and got turned upside down in a spinning barrel. We had great parent chaperones who helped make the trip a huge success! We had a lot of tired kids on the bus ride back to school, so we're sure they had an early night's sleep! Thank you to Melanie H. for the wonderful pictures for all of you to enjoy!

Pumpkin: Fruit or Vegetable? - Ask the Kindergarteners!

Fall is in the air...especially at the Mall-ards with our room resembling a pumpkin patch. The Pumpkin Science Unit started last week and students were invited to bring in their own pumpkin. We have all sizes and weights represented which made for some great lessons on sorting and classifying. The 5 E's model is being used to plan the unit: engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate. We engaged the students by having them share their background knowledge and charted what they know about pumpkins and then asked them what they want to know about them. We had lessons on what "Same" and "Different" means so that students can build on a common knowledge base. In this way, they can explain what they see when they examine their pumpkins. They explained by sharing their data and extended their knowledge by making connections and then evaluated by reviewing what they had learned. In this specific lesson, students were given an apple slice and pumpkin slice. They explored then using their five senses and magnifying glasses. They noticed what was the same and different about them. They noticed that both had seeds which raised the question, "If an apple has seeds and a pumpkin has seeds, is a pumpkin a fruit like an apple?" Then we researched our question on the computer (Glogster) and found out that, "Anything that has seeds on the inside or outside is classified as a fruit." We then cut up a few items and had the children decide if it should go in the fruit or vegetable tray remembering what they have learned. So, believe it or not...a pumpkin is a fruit...just ask a kindergartener!!

Hopscotch Paths - Enhancing Patterns

A fun and exciting way to enhance the learning of patterns is one of our favorite lessons in Math Investigations - Hopscotch Paths. At first the students are very curious when they see us drawing on the carpet with chalk! Not only is this is an excellent way to get their attention, but it also extends patterns to a physical activity. Surprisingly, some children have never played hopscotch or have ever seen it, so this was a great game to enhance schema and have them learn a new game. After a demonstration, students were invited to give it a try - one square for one foot and two squares for both feet. The one-two-one pattern was quickly learned and the children had a lot of fun with it. Then they went back to their seats to find squares of paper for them to construct their own Hopscotch Path. They could get as creative as they wished, however, it had to show a pattern. They loved using their fingers to hop down their path. Next week, we'll be bringing out the chalk during recess. I wonder how many different hopscotch paths we'll find...

Celebrate the Joy of Reading With VHC

Today we celebrated reading with children and teachers from around the world by reading Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". A program named Jumpstart Reading for the Record started in 2006. It is an international campaign whose goal is to bring preschool children together to read the same book, on the same day in communities all over the world. Today, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar was read aloud in classrooms, libraries and homes from Japan, Germany and Brazil to cities and rural communities across America. While it was being read, props from the book (apples, plums, and oranges) were being munched by a sock puppet caterpillar (thanks Lee)! We know that reading aloud with children lays the groundwork for strong literacy skills and future success in school. We love The Very Hungry Caterpillar, enjoyed being part of this worldwide event, and can't wait for our Eric Carle Author study to read more books by this beloved author!!

Baa Baa Black Sheep... Wool and So Much More!

During our morning Skills Block (a time dedicated to learning letters, sounds, (phonics), phonemic awareness, and shared reading), a nursery rhyme a week is introduced. Nursery rhymes are a wonderful way to teach these skills because they are short and easy for children to remember. The bonus is they give numerous opportunities to develop many levels of phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is defined as the awareness of sounds (phonemes) that make up spoken sounds. This includes rhyming, alliteration, ending, beginning sounds, and blending sounds to make words. There is overwhelming evidence that early learning of nursery rhymes and rhythmic poems, songs, and chants enhances early reading skills and phonemic awareness. On Fridays, we like to have a culminating, hands on activity to go with the rhyme. Today, the room was buzzing with the children making the next page in their nursery rhyme book, Baa, Baa Black Sheep. Using paper bags, construction paper and cotton, they made a wonderful keepsake to remember and share all they learned...wool and so much more!