Mem Fox Author Study - The Beginning

Our author study for the next few weeks will be on the works of Mem Fox. Mem was born in Melbourne, Australia and at the age of six months was brought to Africa with her missionary parents. The mission, Hope Fountain in Zimbabwe used to be called Rhodesia. She married and Englishman and finally moved back to Australia and had a daughter. She is an advocate for child literacy. She said: "Literacy has become the great focus of my life — it’s my passion, my battle and my mission and my exhaustion." Mem has received numerous awards ranging from the Dromkeen Medal for Distinguished Services to Children’s Literature in 1990 to Children’s Language and Literature Achievement Award from the Speech Pathology Association of Australia, 2007. When visiting her website, be sure to go the "How to Read Aloud" section. It is loaded with wonderful pointers on how to make reading to a child a magical and delightful experience for both parties.

With the first week of our author study completed, the students have heard the books Possum Magic, Night Noises, Time for Bed, and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge. In Reader's Workshop, we have started an attribute chart listing the title, character, events and interesting language of each book. We also started a chart on Mem's interesting life, took out our map and found Australia, and looked through piles of her books to get students excited about reading them. In Writer's Workshop, we learn how to develop our own small moment writing by using Mem Fox as our mentor. We are anxious to get the second week of our study underway and can not wait to hear the books Koala Lou, Shoes for Grandpa, and Hattie and the Fox.

Multi-senory Field Trip

On Monday we were invited to visit a neighboring school called J. Allen Axson Montessori School. They were hosting a multi-sensory safari field trip in their auditorium. They had animals represented from all parts of our globe including a lynx, tiger, jaguar, zebra, and water buffalo. The children learned about where they came from, their habitats, and how they are sustained. The students were invited to touch the animals and note how different each animal's skin felt. On our way to the school, we felt like we were on a safari getting there Donning our green field trip t-shirts and sneakers and carrying cold water bottles, we ventured to the safari. It was a hot trek but sure worth trip!

What's the Matter...with matter?

Hog heaven students have been up to their eyeballs in matter these past few weeks. We have been asking ourselves about matter and what matter is (anything that takes up space), together with the properties of matter. Students use their five senses to describe what it is that they see and feel when observing things. Today we went on a nature walk and students collected matter. They found stones, feathers, leaves, flowers, twigs, pine cones and ants. When they came back to the classroom, they took the items out of their paper bags and used their Science Journals to write about what they found. They described the items as rough, pointy, colorful, sticky and smooth. These basic lessons in Science are building the background knowledge that students will use and need as the years go on. They will scaffold what they know and build on it. But for right now, they are noticing the world around them and coming to realize that we are surrounded by matter, whether it is a solid, liquid or gas.

Writer's Getting Busy Writing

The first two weeks of school was used as a time to get students in the habit of writing again. We gave them time to "free-write". They wrote about their great summer vacations, visits to the beach, and movies they have seen. We were "getting their feet wet" and excited about writing again. This week was the start of a formal four week unit modeled after the book, "First Grade Writers" by Stephanie Parsons.

Specifically, we are working on a chapter called "Pattern Books". A pattern book has a predictable structure and format. It can have a repeated phrase or format that continues throughout the book. They are just like the books that most children are reading at this time so student's can draw a parallel between Reader's and Writer's Workshops. The books that the students write usually start out quite simple, but as lessons are taught and new ideas are presented, the books that the students' write grow in sophistication and are quite impressive. We can not wait to compare the first week's samples to the fourth weeks' and see the learning that has occurred.
Below is a sample of a pattern book that was written today titled "Glasses".

"Glasses" by Grace

"One day I got glasses. We got one pair. It was black and red."

"The next day I got another pair of glasses. They were pinkish purplish."

"The next day I got another pair of glasses. They were blue wire glasses."

"The next day I got another pair. It was turned into sunglasses. It was red with hearts on the side."

"Then I had all my pairs of glasses."

Rituals and Routines: Settling in - in First Grade

Oh, how we love to loop! Having our kindergarten students come back as first graders is wonderful. After a short refresher course on the rituals and routines of the classroom, they are back, ready for the learning and challenges of first grade. They know that they start each morning reading books out in the hall. They unload their folders while they are out there. When the bell rings, the children come in and go right to their cubbies to deposit their belongings. Their morning work is waiting for them at their tables. This quarter the morning work is handwriting practice. Letter formation is modeled for them and they practice in their handwriting journals. After the pledge and morning announcements, the students are brought to the floor with a song. Our class promise (which we will share next time) is said and then we promptly start Skills Block. This is where they learn about capitals, punctuation, word families, sight words, vowels, and practice with skill games. It was a great first week in Hog Heaven and can not wait to make more memories!

First Day of First Grade

The first day of school is a very special and memorable one at Chets Creek. It is the day we love to "WOW" the kids and make the first day exciting and fun. With our new theme, "Cultivating a Community of Excellence", the principal Mrs. Phillips, and her team WOWed all of us with a day at the farm. But instead of us going to the farm, she brought the farm to us. There was a watermelon patch where the children learned some fun facts about watermelons. Did you know the average watermelon has 750 seeds? There were ducks, goats, mules, tractors, bee keepers, planters, and singers. The day had its own special magic that only the first day of school bring. Mall-ard's Hog Heaven is looking forward to cultivating the best crop yet of first graders yet. We will do it by planting the seeds of knowledge, watering them each day with new discoveries, and nurturing each one until they are ready to take on new challenges.

Welcome to First Grade!

We have been busy the last few weeks preparing the classroom for our new first graders. The school theme this year is "Cultivating a Community of Excellence". A lot of ideas popped into our heads about where we could go with this theme, however, the one that sounded "just right" was "Mall-ard's Hog Heaven". In the dictionary "Hog Heaven" is termed as a noun/slang and the meaning is: "A state of utter bliss or contentment." That is exactly what we want a child's first grade year to be! Learning, growing, making new friends, and having the time of their lives in first grade! We can not wait to get started on Monday. Hog Heaven will be open for business and we will be cultivating our community of excellence!

Summer Postcards Arriving

Because we loop our kindergarten class to first grade, we always ask that the children send us postcards during the summer. We love to hear about their adventures and vacations. We save the cards and use them for our first "Welcome Back to School" bulletin board. Above is a sampling of the postcards we have been receiving this summer. They love to see the board and find their pictures or cards that they sent to us. These postcards also are a great tool to use in Writer's Workshop if they choose to write about what they did during their summer vacation. So far we have received cards from Washington, DC, Mississippi, Georgia, Chicago, and of course, Florida. There have been lots of visits to family members, ocean resorts and theme parks. Our summer time window is going to be closing real soon. Teachers go back on August 16th and the students will be starting on August 23rd. Our bulletin board will be loaded with fun memories and we are sure, lots of stories to tell. P.S. Yes, that is a flip flop postcard :)

Postcard from Italy - Summer Vacation

As a way to keep in touch during the summer, we always send our looping class our addresses so that they can write to us. This also serves as a great "Back to School" bulletin board which welcomes the students back to school with their fun summer time adventures to share. We have received several postcards so far and everyone is having a great time in Chicago, in Orlando, or just at grandma's house. We received this e-mail postcard from our student "C" who has traveled to Italy and France for a few weeks. Wow-what a wonderful experience and we can't wait to hear more about it in August!!

Holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa is hard work! We had a great time in Italy and Paris. I didn't want to come home. Some of the highlights were seeing the Catacombs, Colosseum and Vatican in Rome; climbing to the top of the Duomo in Florence; taking a gondola ride in Venice; and in Paris the Eiffel Tower. Did I mention the food - especially the gelato? I can't wait to go back some day!

Summer Time for The Mall-ards

It is hard to believe that our Kindergarten journey has come to an end. The class of 2009-2010 is heading off to summer vacation. When we see them in August, they will begin their first grade year with us. It is wonderful to be with this great group of kids and their parents for another year...that is why we love to loop! The postings will be fewer but they will continue during the summer. Have a great summer...the Mall-ards are signing off or should we say flying off for summer vacation!! :)

Star Spangled Kindergarten Student

We wanted to share this rendition of the Star Spangled Banner from the talent show yesterday. Thanks W for the great job!

Star Spangled Kindergarten Singer from Maria Mallon on Vimeo.

Loads of Talent in Room 104

The Mall-ard Talent Show 2009-2010 was in full swing this morning. We had more talent than you could imagine! Ballet dancers, singers, poetry readers, interpretive dance, karate, guitars, piano playing, and even a singing of "The Spangled Banner" - we had it all. It was a great way to spend the morning and a chance for everyone to share their special talent. Note: The boys were over the ballerinas -- "Please no more ballerina dancing," said Michael. :)

Kindergarten Field Day: June, 2010

What a wonderful field day we enjoyed yesterday. There were nine stations which included tug-of-war, relays, high jump, racing and dancing. The centers were manned by Mayport Naval Station sailors who, with Chief Dillard, kept the action moving and fun. We had a BBQ hot dog lunch with chips, cookies and fruit. It was delicious after all of the exercise!!
In the afternoon, parents returned for our fourth quarter awards ceremony. The school year has only 2 1/2 days left...it was a fantastic year!!

Helicopter Visit - HSL-60 Mayport Naval Station

We started today with a special surprise. We had the opportunity to watch a helicopter land at our baseball field at our school. But it wasn't any old helicopter. It was Helicopter Squadron HSL-60 from Mayport Naval Station with Chief Dillard aboard (Mrs. Dillard's husband) which made the visit even more special for our Kindergarten class. The squadron came for fifth grade's career day. Air crewman on HSL-60 included Lt. Commander J. Cross, Lt. Commander D. Kapo, and of course Chief Dillard. It was a wonderful experience for the children to see the helicopter up close and have the air crewman explain the different features of the helicopter to the students. Thank you so much for coming and sharing your time with our students.

Bulletin Boards: A Snapshot of our Classroom 2009-2010

Looking over the past year's bulletin boards, we can take pride in the learning that our students have achieved. In Kindergarten, we celebrated their first drawings in "Ropin' in Kindergarten Writers", as part of the writing process, telling stories through pictures, stapling their first booklets, and just maybe find a few beginning sounds on the pages. As if dusted with magic glitter, stories began to unfold with great beginnings, lots of details, and wonderful closings. Students learned to create and follow their writing rubrics and explain why or why not their piece met or did not meet the standard. Students complimented each other saying what they liked about their peer's work. This practice was also carried over into Reader's and Math workshops and has become part of our learning day. As we look over the process of creating a bulletin board: planning, designing, selecting pieces, and writing up comments, we are reminded that the boards are a representative snapshot into our classroom. The last bulletin board for this year is a "Work Over Time" and one of our favorite boards of the year. In "A Noteworthy Kindergarten Finale'", two students' work is the focus: a beginning piece of writing from August, a middle piece from January, and a final piece from April. It is amazing to see the growth that has taken place. Looking at the accomplishments of all of our students' in writing, reading and math and what they have achieved this year has made both their teachers and parents very proud...and we look forward to looping this class to first grade next year. Can't wait to see how far they will go!

Poetry with Voice - Fotobabble

We have been working on our poetry unit in Reader's and Writer's Workshop for the past two weeks. The children have enjoyed throwing all the traditional writing rules out the window and experimenting with the free-thinking, free-feeling of poetry. Today our Technology Coach Melanie Holtsman had a few children read their poetry using a new program called Fotobabble. Fotobabble is a program that adds voice to a picture. Grace's poem is called "The Night" and Andrew's poem is called "Snakes". Enjoy listening to their poetic creations. We can't wait to use Fotobabble again!!

Mother's Day Celebration - Mall-ard Style

One of our favorite holidays to celebrate with the students is Mother's Day. There are many reasons why this is special. Of course, we want to invite the moms in to see their children perform but we also want to thank them for being such wonderful parents. It is our way of thanking them for the great year and the great kids that they have entrusted to our care. It is our hope that by making Mother's Day a big deal in the class, that this will be a special time for them, for years to come. We had the table covered with white tablecloths and flowers. Each child went into the hall and escorted his/her mom to her seat. After all the mom's were in place, the festivities commenced. We started off with "Slippery Fish" (a class favorite), then, "Here Comes the Sun" done in sign language; and finally "Alphabet Soup" the video can be seen after the slide show. A poem called, "Before I Was Your Mom" was read by a few students and then a slide show was shown with the child's baby picture and what he/she looks like now, together with our year in pictures. There were very few dry eyes in the house. Then it was time for the breakfast. The parents ate first, and then their child joined them. It was a magical morning full of laughs and tears...but one that will be remembered. Happy Mother's Day!!

Jazz - ABZ at the Cummer Museum

This week the Mall-ards enjoyed a field trip to the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville. The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, built on the site of the home of Arthur and Ninah Cummer, opened on November 10, 1961. From Ninah Cummer's relatively small collection of sixty pieces that launched the museum, The Cummer's permanent collection has grown to over six thousand works of art encompassing eight thousand years of art history. The students listened to and tapped out different jazz beats and saw original works of art designed to pay tribute to jazz artists. They toured the beautiful gardens and then enjoyed an interactive part of the museum where they could draw, paint, and build things. A trip to the park for lunch was also included and that is where we got to see some real live Mallards!!Thanks to our wonderful parent chaperones and to Melanie H. for the great pictures.

Writing with a Purpose - Persuasive Writing

Researchers who study "real" writing affirm that students given "real" purposes for reading and writing beyond classroom assignments, and for "real" audiences beyond a teacher, made significant progress in both reading and writing.(Meier,2010). We have had many experiences writing real letters during this Persuasive Writing Unit. Students wrote letters to their parents requesting a movie, toy, or sleepover. (Some wrote to their grandparents if they thought the request wouldn't be granted by their parents.) They wrote to their friends in the classroom and the principal. After reading the true story of, "The Librarian of Basra" by Jeanette Winter, students saw how sometimes even with good persuasive reasons, requests are not granted. The librarian asked the mayor of Basra, Iraq, if the books in the library could be stored in a safe place. She feared they would be burned in the war. But he said no, so the librarian hid the books herself. The children enjoyed that read aloud.
As chance might have it, this week we received a letter from a teacher in Ohio on behalf of one of her kindergarten students. Emma, the student, has been tasked with writing a report about Florida. She asked if our class could help them out. So, we did. Each child wrote a letter to Emma telling her what fun things there are to do in Florida and everything they know about our state. When students were given this real world request of writing a letter to a new friend, they could not wait to answer her letter. The letters were mailed to Ohio and we can't wait to hear back from our new friend.

Dear Emma,
How are you doing? My name is Dominic. It never snows. It is really hot in the summer. Sometimes it rains. It is warm a lot. The bees are huge, the wasps are huge. Sometimes it is cold. I am six years old. I go to Chets Creek Elementary. The Jacksonville Zoo has lots of animals and Florida has lots of animals.
Sincerely
Your friend
Dominic

Reference:
Joanne Meier, Ph.D. provides research guidance for Reading Rockets. Dr. Meier has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of early childhood and reading education.

Persuasive Writing: Which Would You Rather Be?

Our persuasive writing unit is well underway. Students are learning the mechanics of letter writing, why it is important to write a letter, and the joy in receiving one. The genre of persuasive writing has been the topic for the last few weeks and children have been learning what it means to give their opinion. While reading the book, "Which Would You Rather Be?" by William Steig, students had the opportunity to discuss what they would rather be and the reasons they would want to be it. For instance, in this question/answer style book, questions such as, "Which would you rather be...a stick or a stone?; a mouse or an elephant?; or thunder or lightning?" were asked. These writers discussed the reasons why they would like to be one thing over another. Some would rather be lightning because of the bright light and others would like to be thunder because of the loud BOOM. Students were tasked to write a letter trying to persuade Miss Karen (our para) of what they would like to be and the reasons why. The below pieces reference if they would rather be an elephant or mouse, an apple or banana, or the sun or the moon. See if you are persuaded...

Dear Miss Karen,
I want to be a elephant and what do you want to be? I want to be a elephant because their trunks can lift up heavy things and they can crush tiny little things with their big feet and they make a cool noise with their trunks and they have big ears that help them cool off.
Your friend,
Kyle

Dear Miss Karen,
Would you want to be a apple or a banana? I would be a banana because they are so yummy. I forgot to ask you are you doing good? I am. And they are easy to peel. And they are healthy for you and they are a good snack.
Your student,
Grace E.

Dear Miss Karen,
I'm going to be the moon. (It) is so bright and shiny and beautiful. An the moon is my favorite color silver and because the moon is bright its not so hot at night and not very much bugs at night and with stars too and on the moon there's astronauts.
Your friend,
Jack

Cultural Arts Week

This week our school celebrated the cultural arts. Everyday there was an assembly featuring an artist of some kind. We had a drum ensemble, African story tellers, a poet, puppets, and a banjo player. Two days this week, we had a special visit by a dad of one of our students. Mr. Matt came to play the piano for the children in the front lobby. They enjoyed this close up view of a musician playing the instrument he loves. The Charlie Brown theme song was a favorite along with a jazzy version of Jingle Bells. The kids got up and danced to the music. We want to thank Mr. Matt for the great performance and to let you know that your son was beaming with pride. Come back and play for us again, Piano Man!!

Nothing Like a Good Book!

Pictures do say 1000 words. Snuggling up to a good book is a wonderful thing to do in Kindergarten. A parent sent this picture in and labeled it "My Little Reader". What a great feeling to see your child getting comfortable and excited in preparing to read a favorite book. After a few pages, the lure of sleep was too much temptation for even the most interesting read! That's OK - she can pick it up tomorrow!

Egg Hunt Fun for the Mall-ard Ducklings!!

Our ducklings were lined up in a row while traveling to Ryan's house. Our "walking field trip" to the bunny patch was one of the best ever and we didn't have to pay for a bus!! Mrs. Wilkening made sure the path was clearly marked with welcoming bunnies and hanging egg decorations. They were greeted by the Easter Bunny, too, who helped hide the hundreds of plastic eggs. The students were assigned numbers one through thirty-five and their quest was to find and collect only the eggs with their specific number. It was the calmest most relaxeing egg hunt we've ever been too. After the eggs were collected, activities were planned by Coach Hall with numerous variations of relay races. Before we knew it, the pizzas and side dishes which were provided by parents, were ready. Thanks to all our volunteers who made this a great kick-off to Spring Break. And thanks to Romy, Ryan, Nikki, Melanie, and all the parents for your help during this festive morning of fun and memories for the children! Afterward, the ducklings waddled back to the classroom for some "down" time, of course!

Author Visit from Pamela Duncan Edwards and Illustrator Henry Cole

We were very lucky yesterday to have a visit from one of our school's favorite authors, Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrator Henry Cole. As Ms. Edwards talked to the children about her new book (Princess Pigtoria and the Pea), the students were entertained by Mr. Cole who sketched pictures at the same time. Pamela Duncan Edwards is a bestselling author of more than twenty-five popular picture books. Her titles include: While the World is Sleeping, Livingston Mouse: Roar!, A Noisy Counting Book, Honk, Some Smug Slug, The Worrywarts, and Clara Caterpillar. Pamela grew up in northern England and taught preschool for eleven years. She moved to the United States with her husband and two sons over twenty-five years ago. After moving to the US, she became a children's librarian and author. After their presentation yesterday, many children and parents had the opportunity to get their books personally autographed by Pamela and Henry. It was a real treat and great experience for the students. Listen to a special reading of her new book below:

Untitled from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Eric Carle Author Study Celebration

Today we celebrated the end of our author study of Eric Carle and the fabulous books that he has written. Books that were studied during workshops included The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Busy Spider, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, From Head to Toe, The Very Lonely Firefly, and Eric Carl's favorite book, Do you want to be my friend? There were other books that we used as read alouds which children enjoyed making connections to and comparing them to other books they have heard. This was a wonderful way to introduce students to an author study.
Today, children wore their caterpillar shirts and had fun rotating in centers set up with other kindergarten classrooms. These centers included: reading Mr. Seahorse (a book that the children did not hear before) and an art tissue paper project whereby children glued tissue squares onto an outline of a seahorse, cut it out, and placed it on a blue paper background; next was the Pancake Center - a homage to the book Pancakes, Pancakes - they played bingo or watched an Eric Carle moving while waiting for their pancakes. Then outside fun - an obstacle course including running through tunnels while sequencing an Eric Carle book. Finally, we integrated technology by utilizing a Smartboard. Because Eric Carle books are about animals, the activity revolved around sorting herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. Special thanks to Melanie H., Pam G., and Nicki H. (all classroom parents) for that activity. The afternoon was full of more Eric Carle books that we did not get to read during the author study, include "Hello Red Fox" which was a big hit with the children - their eyes played tricks on them -- followed by more art activities and of course, our caterpillar cake compliments of Elizabeth H.which will be on the next slide show. The day was about the children celebrating a great author and our goal was accomplished!!
More pictures will be coming shortly.

Homework King and Queen

In an effort to get children over the hump of not wanting to do homework,we came up with the Homework King and Queen of the Week. Being chosen is taken very seriously and is considered a very high honor in our class. Children have been speechless when their names were announced. They have the opportunity to tell the class what their "secret" was in getting their homework picked. This tradition started months ago and each week the students wait with great anticipation for the drum roll and the announcement. Homework has to be done neatly and in its entirety. Miss Karen, our paraprofessional, carefully scrutinizes each sheet and then determines the winners. The children receive a crown and get to choose out of both the treasure box and the treat box! Wow - it gets no better than this!!

Voicethread with Us - Leprechaun Visits the Mall-ards!

We think the children will remember this St. Patty's Day for many years. They had so much fun bringing in their traps, telling us how they made them, setting them up, and hoping to be the one who caught the leprechaun. The biggest surprise came when they returned from lunch and saw all the mess that the little green man made while trying to take everyone's gold. Chairs were tossed, traps were closed, and gold was taken. Besides green footprints left on the counters, green glitter in toilet, and a note on the board, he did leave a cookie for each child.

We were very lucky to have Mrs. Holtsman come and photograph the events for all to see and today she came in to teach us about the fun in digital story telling. Today we are adding a special feature and would like for you to participate. It is called Voicethread.

Digital storytelling is using digital tools (online) to tell stories. The benefit to doing it online is that you have a much larger audience for your story and you can get immediate feedback and additions to your story. The website Voicethread allows you to upload photos and create a digital story from them. We uploaded the photos from our St.Patrick's Day activities yesterday. We would love for you to take a moment to add a comment with your child!

Here's how you do it. Go to the website for Voicethread. Click sign in or register for an account. When the login comes up, click register. Register for your free account. You may have to then go to your email account to verify this account you created. Now, go back to the blog to view the voicethread and click the bottom left hand button that says sign in. Once you are signed in, you go to the photo where you would like to leave a comment and click the comment button under the photo. You press "record" and it will allow you to record what your child would like to say for that photo. Some examples may be: what they liked in the photo, what they remembered about what happened...etc. Your computer microphone will record his/her voice. If you want to push the webcam button it can even record a video comment. If you have trouble with the sound, you can push the telephone button to get a phone call to record your comment.

Having all of the boys and girls share their thoughts and memories will complete our digital story. We can't wait to hear what the children and you have to say!

Very Hungry Readers- Let's Hear That Book Again!

Yesterday we had two special guests come in and read one of their favorite Eric Carle books to the class. "K" is in fourth grade and held the big book while her sister "M" who is in second grade read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Both are former students from our class and we were so happy to have them share what they remembered from the Eric Carle author study. "M" also wore her Very Hungry tee shirt especially for the occasion. It was wonderful to see how happy they were to relay their memories with the class. Thanks girls - you both did a great job!!

Very Hungry Kindergarteners Love Eric Carle!

We are off and running with our Eric Carle Author Study. Students are learning about Eric Carle and his art, his family, and his love of nature. So far the class favorites are: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug, and Eric Carle's favorite book, Do You Want To Be My Friend? In Writer's Workshop, children are writing a response to literature. Their retellings have great beginnings, lots of details, and great endings. A great beginning may sound like this, "Did you know Eric Carle wrote about a ladybug who wasn't friendly...?" In Reader's Workshop, they are making connections to his books and learning about story maps. Last week the children had fun in Reader's Theater retelling The Grouchy Ladybug story. We had a visit from The Very Hungry Caterpillar (one of last year's students came dressed up) for that retelling. Students also decorated t-shirts for our Eric Carle celebration at the end of the month. We are very excited about our author study and can't wait to read the next book.

Zoo Field Trip - One of our favorite places!!

The day was a little chilly, but that didn't bother a bus load of Mall-ards on their way to the Jacksonville Zoo! The children were waiting weeks to visit the zoo, one of their favorite places, with their classmates. The zoo adventure started with the educational presentation which focused on up-close and hands-on animal encounters in a traditional classroom setting. The program targeted Kindergarten curriculum and has been developed in conjunction with the Sunshine State Standards, NCEE New Standards, and the Duval County Schools District Performance Standards. Students saw an owl, chinchilla, and lizard to name a few. Then it was off to the zoo to gaze and admire the other animals including elephants, zebras, giraffes, and snakes. It was amazing to hear the vocabulary words students used to describe the animals. We heard "Don't they look cozy?" and "That giraffe looks curious." Also, we have just started our Eric Carle author study and have read the books, "Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too," and "From Head to Toe." These books talk about animal's movements and what their parents and babies are called. For instance, a kangaroo male is a boomer, the mother is a flyer, and the baby is a Joey. Science and Language Arts was explored during this wonderful trip to the zoo. While traveling the zoo sights, students were given a "Search for this Animal" booklet and received a sticker when they spotted one on the list. Thanks to Mrs. Holtsman for the great pictures and Mrs. Farrulla for the Search and Find zoo booklets. And thanks to our twenty plus chaperones who accompanied us on this trip!!

Letter of Thanks

If you remember, we collected over 100 cans (140 to be exact) of food for the 100th day of school. We recently received this letter of thanks from BEAM (Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry). We thought it was nice of them to send out a note of thanks so promptly. The students enjoyed seeing and hearing the letter and they know that what their families contributed went to a very good cause. Each student received a copy of the letter attached to the weekly newsletter. They were very proud of their community project and so are we! (Click on the letter to read it.)

Valentines' Day - another fun day in K

Valentine's Day was another day to celebrate! Students came in very excited to deliver their cards, candy, and flowers to their classmates and teachers. Homework for the week was to decorate their mailbox and address their cards. The boxes that came in were so creative. They were made out of cereal, tissue, and gift boxes. We think the parents had more fun making them than the kids!! During the morning, children delivered their cards and in the afternoon we made hats, cards, and read books. For math, students sorted and graphed candy Valentine conversation hearts. It was a great day to be in Kindergarten!

Science Standards: Day and Night

In Science, we have been learning about how the earth rotates around the sun, how the moon rotates around the earth, and how the earth rotates like a slowly spinning top. And because the Earth moves this way, day and night create a pattern every 24 hours. You might think that learning these concepts would be too much for kindergarten students but they are very interested in learning about it. One activity was having a student holding a globe while another walked around him representing path of the moon. Another activity was holding a flashlight and slowly moving the globe to show how day and night happen. The standard states that students recognize that day and night are a pattern. After the activities, students created their own day and night pictures and we taped them together representing the continuous pattern of day and night.

Math - Any Way You Slice It!

This month our bulletin board is called, "Math Can Be Divided Into Many Parts." We focused on Math and all the different ways we integrate it into the student's kindergarten experience. We start the day with "Calendar Math." This is a structured math activity whereby students use the monthly calendar as the central focus. Besides knowing the answers to today is..., yesterday was..., and tomorrow will be..., students are asked, "On what day was February 5th?" or "How many days until our field trip?" Each day we are in school, it is noted on a sentence strip and counted. Students may write/draw a story problem using dominoes or work as a small group to find an answer to a problem. In the afternoon, we start math with students writing the problem of the day in their math journal. This warm up serves as a review of previously learned math concepts. Students are called to the floor with a number song and/or math literature. Next, math vocabulary is reviewed by asking students to explain three words from the chart. For example, data, arrange, and representation are words on the chart. Then it is focus time where the actual lesson is presented followed by active practice and ending with share time. Choice time is incorporated every few lessons for students to have time to practice previous investigations. So as you can see, math is divided into many parts...any way you slice it!