Class Promise: The Foundation of Our Rituals and Routines

After reading several books this week, including "David Goes to School", "Following the Rules", and "Being a Good Friend", students were asked how they feel about having rules and the importance of them. Questions such as, "Would you like if your friend didn't follow the rules of a game?" and "How would that make you feel?" were asked. We talked about rules all around us. For instance, in the car (road signs), at the store (waiting in line), and at school (fire drills). Students were invited to give their opinions on what they think would be some good classroom rules to follow. They came up with: no kicking, no hitting, being nice to people, and listening to the teacher. We summed up what they said and wrote it on our Class Promise chart. The students drew pictures of themselves to go around the promise and it is now posted in front of the classroom. Our promise is said everyday before we start our Skills Block lesson. Students are reminded of the promise throughout the day and asked to follow the rules of the classroom so that no one gets hurt and everyone has a chance to be heard. The foundation of our rituals and routines is in place with our Class Promise and the students are very proud to be a part of creating it!

Kindergarten - First Days at the Honky Tonk

The Honky Tonk is in it's first week of operation and student's are getting into the rhythm and flow of the classroom. Our highlights today included the start of "Star Names" where every student gets the chance to be the "Star" and his/her name is the focus of the lesson. Questions such as, "What do you notice about his/her name?" and "How many letters are in the name?" are asked. Letters of the name are cut up and mixed up and then put back together. Questions are asked of the student, "Do you have any brothers and sisters?"; "What do you like to do?"; "Do you have any pets?" Then the children go to their seats and draw a picture of the "Star" with something he/she likes to do. A book is made of all these pictures and is sent home with your "star" child on his/her day. Also today we read several books, namely, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom".

Students made their own coconut tree and used letter stickers up the tree spelling out their names. We read, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," and "Caps for Sale." These are two "Star Books" that the children will hear several times this month and will soon be able to retell the story by looking at the pictures. In Math Workshop, we read "Ten Apples Up On Top" by Dr. Seuss.That book is always a class favorite. The students then went to their seats and drew themselves with apples on their heads! Below are some pictures from free center time. It's no wonder that your kindergartener is tired...as you can see, we stay very busy at the Honky Tonk!!

Honky Tonk Is Open For Business

The first two days of Kindergarten have gone by in a flash. The change in the children from day one to day two has been amazing. Today they took their folders out of their backpacks and placed them in the bin, put their belongings in their cubbies, and went to their seats to do their morning work. Today it was name practice. We practiced how to come to the floor, how to line up and how to walk in line. All of these "mini-lessons" help the children learn the rituals and routines of the classroom. Today we started skills block with an ABC song and Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme song and dance. Then we read, "David Goes to School" by David Shannon. This was the lead in to our next lesson about rules and why they are important. Students had valuable input as to what our rules chart or what we call our "Class Promise" should include: being nice to each other, sharing, and no hitting. The class then decorated a face cut out which represents themselves. This will be placed around our new class promise which we will show you tomorrow. Today we had our first fire drill. The children were prepared because we practiced yesterday (the first day of school.) They did an excellent job! In the afternoon, we celebrated a birthday, played outside, read some books, and the students had some time for free play (which is so important in kindergarten). This is where they learn to share, communicate, and make friends with each other. The Honky Tonkin' Kindergarten is just getting started and we can't wait for each new day!

Orchestrating a Symphony of Student Success

As you may have noticed, the blog has changed from our "180 Day Aussie Adventure" to "Mall-ard's Kindergarten Honky Tonk." Each year our school theme changes and this allows our new school year to have a unique feeling of its own. The school theme this year is "Orchestrating a Symphony of Student Success." Our specific Kindergarten theme is country music. Our classroom is going to be the "The Mall-ard's Honky Tonk." We can't wait to bring you all the fun and excitement of our new Kindergarten class via this blog. We hope you sign up on the FeedBlitz located on the sidebar of the blog post. In this way, you will be notified when a new blog post has been entered through your e mail. Ya'll enjoy the new theme trailer and we will see all of our new "Honky-Tonkin" Kindergarteners real soon!