Literacy Pumpkin(s) for 2013 - A to Z Animals

 Our literacy pumpkins are on display in the main lobby. This year we chose the book "Animal ABC's" authored by the World Wildlife Fund. We chose the Jacksonville Zoo as the setting for this awesome entry. The children picked an animal from the book. Their homework for the week was to decorate a pumpkin to make it look like their animal. We have a panda, toucan, seal, newt, penguin, quail, zebra and miscellaneous other creatures. The students had a great time showing their animals to the class and seeing them altogether in the zoo. Thank you to our Room Moms - Mary for the zoo-tacular platform with all the extras and to Christa and Claire for all you have done to help with this creation. It is a show-stopper!!

Partner Reading

About twice a week the children enjoy sharing their books with a partner. During this partner reading time, they sit side by side with the book in the middle so that each child can see the book. The books in their book bins may include leveled books (A,B,C etc.), Dr. Seuss, an ABC book, star books (Caps for Sale, Harry the Dirty Dog, or a fairy tale), math trade books, and/or books we make in class. This is about 15 minutes out of our Reading block where children get to practice with a friend the strategies learned in the mini lessons. Each partner has a role of listener, reader and/or helper in decoding words. Partner reading is a great time to introduce a friend to a new book and share their thoughts about the books they read.

Visiting the Chicks

 Our Kindergarten students were invited to a Fifth Grade Science class to see and learn about the recently hatched chicks. The chicks will be in the incubator for a few weeks and then get moved to the chicken coop.

 The students had the opportunity to see the chicks up close and ask questions about them.

The chicks will be here for a few more weeks...staying warm under the light.

Our Itsy Bitsy Bulletin Board

  This is our first official bulletin board for this year that is located outside our classroom. Our "Itsy Bitsy Steps Thru Standards" showcases some of the work the children has been doing over the past few weeks.  This includes illustrating the story into three major parts, drawing rhyming words, an interactive art project for students to say the rhyme and move the spider up and down the waterspout, and interactive pieces of the rhyme for another type of retelling. This is by far our favorite class nursery rhyme.

Science - Observing

In Science, students have been learning about some of the tools scientist use such as hand lenses, scales and thermometers. In this experiment, our young scientists used an eye dropper and water to determine whether an item was absorbent or not absorbent. They used paper towels, a sponge, wax paper and a baggie. The items were then separated as "absorbent" or "not absorbent".  They were observing what happened after water was placed on the objects. Then these observations were logged in their Science Notebooks.

Mrs. Wishy Washy - Shared Reading

 One of our favorite classroom big books is called Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley. In this book, rhythm and repetition help the children easily read along after hearing the book a few times. The cow, pig and duck love to play in the mud, but Mrs. Wishy Washy wants her animals to be nice and clean. After she washes them, they wait until she goes back in the house and then they run back to play in the mud again. Students had the opportunity to retell this story and act it out during Reader's Workshop. "Oh lovely mud," they said.

Having fun with Mrs. Wishy Washy!

Spotting Sight Words and More...

This sentence strip chart borrows a few lines from one of our favorite books "Caps for Sale." Pointing to the words while reading this chart, students learn that each word is separated by a space, sight words (in, the, down, to, me), color words (red, green, blue, etc.) and more importantly rhyme and repetition. These types of interactive activities are all a part of our literacy block each morning and help build a strong foundation in reading.

Jump Start - Reading - Counted in the World Record

 Today our 39 students joined millions of other school children across the country and around the world to celebrate literacy by reading "Otis" by Loren Long.  The organization that sponsored this event  is called "Jumpstart's Read for the Record".  Jumpstart is a national early education organization that recruits and trains college students and community Corps members to serve preschool children in low-income neighborhoods. They help children develop the language and literacy skills they need to be ready for kindergarten.

Otis is the story about a fun loving tractor that befriends a frightened calf. They become inseparable until the farmer buys a bigger and newer tractor and puts Otis out to pasture. Then one day, the calf got stuck in the mud and the new tractor could not get him out. Otis came along and saved the day.

We helped to make our reading count in this world record breaking event!