Fire Prevention with Fireman Chris

Fire Safety With Fireman Chris on PhotoPeach
Every year we are lucky enough to have Fireman Chris come to talk to the children about fire safety. He brought with him all of his equipment and a slide show of the various fires he has experienced. The main focus was centered on having the children see how different he looks with his firefighting equipment on and not to be afraid. The fact is that many youngsters may hide during a fire if they see and hear someone that looks scary - which is the way a child sees a fireman with his gear on. After the presentation, Fireman Chris read a book about fire safety. The students loved having him visit and so did we. Thanks again Fireman Chris for taking the time to teach our kindergarten students about fire safety.

Literacy Character Parade

Literacy Character Parade Oct.2011 on PhotoPeach


It was the perfect time to take a few pictures before the parade started. We had characters from cowboys to Star Wars. After the parade, students came back to the room the enjoyed a variety of center activities. They made orange and black patterned bracelets, spider hats, ghoul bags, boo pops, and decorated sugar cookies. The fun continued into the night when the children came back to school and trick-or-treated through the halls and then outside to the Fall Carnival.

Halloween Reading and Rhyming Time

Just before our Literacy Parade (pictures to come), Mr. Hector read a few books to the class. For this book, he had the children name the rhyming words they heard after he read the sentence. It was a great "treat" for our students to once again see someone enjoy reading as much as Mr. Hector. Right after the reading, the children lined up for the parade. They were all dressed as characters from the book they were carrying in the parade. Reading a few books was the perfect way to kick-off our literacy celebration.

Mother Goose With Some of Her Favorites

The Mother Goose Pumpkin Masterpieces are on display in the front lobby of the school. Represented are: "Jack and Jill", "Three Blind Mice", "The Old Lady and the Shoe", "Hey Diddle Diddle", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", 'Little Miss Muffet", and "Hickory Dickory Dock", "Humpty Dumpty", and "Little Bo Peep." The children had a wonderful time creating their nursery rhyme pumpkins. Thanks again to are great parent volunteers for all of their help.

Common Core and More About the Standards

The Mission Statement for the Common Core Standards is:
The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.
Our state is one of the 45 states that now have adopted these standards. The standards are not a curriculum but they do spell out what students should know and be able to do at the end of a school year. If you are interested in what these standards are, look on the extreme right side of this blog. You will see a tab labeled "Common Core App." Click on this widget and you will find out what the standards are for kindergarten through 12th grade. It is our goal to give our students the tools they will need to become successful in their lives and these common core standards are the first step in attaining that goal.

Discovering Number Worlds

Today every student received a log in name and password to SRA Number Worlds. This program's math instruction is explicit, intense, and supportive. It takes students from where they are and systematically guides them to each new level of mathematical thinking. This is a supplemental activity that can be done at home to enhance your child's math skills. We are looking forward to hearing comments on how your child is enjoying these activities. A link "Number Worlds" can also be found on the side of this blog directly under the "Reading Tip of the Day."

Literary Pumpkins: Stage One

Every year during this time, the lobby is festooned with Literary Pumpkins. Each class picks a favorite class book and they decorate a pumpkin or pumpkins to emulate the cover of the book. Throughout the years, our pumpkins have been "Piggies", "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and the "Australian ABCs". This year our pumpkins are going to be from Mary Engelbreit's Mother Goose Book . There will be one big "Mother Goose" pumpkin and various nursery rhyme characters around her, for instance (The Dish and the Spoon, Humpty Dumpty, and Jack and Jill).
Today, we had parents come in to supervise the children's painting of their pumpkins. We can't wait to see the finished products tomorrow!!

Helping with color choices.

Having a lot of fun working with the children.

Llamas, Pajamas, and Dr. Horner

On October 6, 2011, we were visited by a special visitor, Dr. Donnie Horner. He helped us celebrate the "Jumpstart - Read for the Record" campaign just as thousands of other kindergarten students from around the world were doing by reading Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. Dr. Horner is Jacksonville's Education Commissioner. Dr. Horner read Llama Llama Red Pajama like he wrote it! The children were on the edge of their seats with the way he interacted, questioned, and made connections with them and the book. It was a treat to have Dr. Horner in our class and hope he can visit again soon. As for our little llamas, they came dressed in their pajamas and some decided to stay in them all day!! That made for a very comfortable and memorable day at school!

"Llama, llama red pajama feels alone without his mamma." Dr. Horner asked the children if they knew how the llama felt and if they ever felt this way.

A group picture of the class with our guest reader.

Morning Readers

In August, kindergarten students would meet in the dining room to be picked up and brought to their classrooms. Now that the children are familiar with the school and where their classroom is, they have the opportunity to use this early morning time to read a book while they are waiting for school to begin. Starting at 8:30 a.m., students are invited to sit outside their classroom and read and discuss books until the start of the school day @ 9:00. We have a wagon of books for them to choose from at all different genres and reading levels. The patrols that are assigned to our hallway are there to ensure each child's safety, make sure each child has a book, and then collect their blue communication folder and book in a bag. When the bell rings, the students hand back to the books to the patrols and line up to come into class. We are now ready to start the day!