Sorry!

So sorry! Bad Kindergarten teacher here. I haven't posted any information or pictures lately. Here is just a "hodgepodge" of pics from our classroom:

We love our Heidisongs DVDs! I have seen a HUGE improvement on our sight word recognition. Heidi is a Kindergarten teacher in California and developed the DVDs to help her own students. She uses catchy tunes and movement to help the kids learn those tricky sight words. Thanks to our fabulous SCE PTO for purchasing these for our Kindergarten students! Below are some pictures of our Daily 5 routines, Read to Self and Read to Someone:

Here are some February activities:

Sequencing how a plant grows:

Some 3-D shape fun:

We have been doing a fun unit on fairy tales for the past week. I used to teach this unit a long time ago and I absolutely love it! The students are practicing how to compare and contrast stories, write about character traits, and understanding those difficult question words such as who, what, where, why, how, when.

The fantastic fairy tale templates came from a first grade teacher named Mrs. Terhune. I found her wonderful stuff on pinterest. Hope you enjoyed just a sample of all the hard work we have been doing in Kindergarten since February! Can you believe only 31 more days left of school? We still have so much more to do. We will be busy little bees for those 31 days! Thanks for working with your children at home on all of the skills that need reinforced.

Arctic Animals

Finally, the camera was found and I was able to take pictures of the "cool" work we've been doing with Arctic animals. First up was the penguins:

Here is a schema chart. We talk about how our schema is information we think that we know. Then we add new information to the middle of the chart. Our misconceptions are things that we have proved to be false in our research.

These penguin pictures and writing turned out so cute. The kids worked so hard on them.

Next up are the polar bears. We first started our polar bear unit with a little riddle for the kids to fill in the blank. Some of their guesses are interesting.

This polar bear is sleeping. See the "ZZZZZ..."

Achievement reports are almost done and will be sent home on Friday. Inside your envelope will be a letter explaining the report and a conference form for February. You may keep the achievement report but please return the signed envelope and the conference form. I have marked on the conference form if I need to see you for a conference. If I do not need to meet with you at this time, you do not need to return the form.

Stay warm!

Happy New Year and Assessment Time!

Happy New Year to everyone! I cannot believe it is 2012 already. Sorry I have been slacking a little with the blog since December but we have been so busy around these Kindergarten parts! With the achievement reports going home at the end of the month, I have been doing a lot of assessments. Many of our Kindergarten assessments are done on a one-on-one basis so I feel like that is all we have been doing lately. Our new achievement reports will give you a lot of good information about the progress your child has been making so far this year. Remember, we are only half way through the year and we have a lot more to learn. The items listed on the achievement report are END OF YEAR standards. If your child gets a (P) please don't think they are not meeting grade level expectations. They are progressing towards that end of year goal. When you get your child's achievement report and have questions, please contact me.

The last week and a half, we have been studying Arctic animals such as penguins and polar bears. I have some cute work we have been doing, but I am waiting for the digital camera to take some pictures. They will be coming soon! While you wait, ask your child about some penguin or polar bear facts.

The Elf on the Shelf is Watching You

Look who showed up in our Kindergarten room on December 1st! It's Elfie! He is Santa's friendly helper elf who watches us at school all day and reports back to Santa every night. Each morning or afternoon, when the students come in the room, Elfie always finds a new place to observe us. Elfie was even kind enough to give us a book that tells the students all about him.

Just in case Santa is in need of some more elf helpers, we decided to fill out some Elf Job Applications! I got this idea from Cara Carroll of First Grade Parade. These are too cute!

Christmas came early for Mrs. Shriver! Our FABULOUS PTO here at Sycamore Creek purchased five volumes of Heidisongs sight word DVDs! Heidi is a Kindergarten teacher and reading specialist in California who created these DVDs to help Kindergarten students learn their sight words. She has a cute song and a dance for each word. I hope the kids will enjoy practicing their sight words in a new way. I can't wait to show them!



I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we are all looking forward to a wonderful holiday season.

More November Fun!

Today, Mr. Felker from Pickerington Ponds Metropark visited with our Kindergarten students. He talked to us about animals that live in Ohio's woodlands. The students had so much fun learning about woodland animals from Mr. Felker and doing some animal crafts.

Here are some of the cute animal crafts we did:

We have also been busy doing some Thanksgiving work. Take a look!

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday! We all have so much to be thankful for!