Thanksgiving celebration in class

This week students learned about Thanksgiving traditions and Native American symbols.

Kindergarten Performance

December 2nd is fastly approaching!!! We will be performing with four other kindergarten classes at 7 pm on Thursday, December 2nd. Our class will be singing "Frosty the Snowman" as well as four other songs.

The other songs we will be learning are:
1."Feliz Navidad"
2."Jingle Bell Rock"
3."Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer"

Please practice these songs with your child so that they will not be nervous on stage.

Our class is learning small hand movements to go with Frosty the Snowman to make it extra special. They are very easy so please do not worry!

Lyrics for "Frosty the Snowman" are posted below. I tried to post the video of the hand movements but for some reason it will not upload. I will put in parenthesis the movements next to the lyrics. I found a much easier to sing version of "Frosty the Snowman" that I will be practicing with our class.

Frosty the Snowman
Was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose(point to nose)
And two eyes made out of coal(point to both eyes)

Frosty the Snowman
Is a fairytale they say(shrug shoulders and put hands up as if saying "I don't know")
He was made of snow
But the children know
How he came to life one day(put one finger up in the air)

There must have been some magic(wave fingers in air)
In that old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head(place hand on head)
He began to dance around(turn around one time)

Frosty the Snowman
Was alive as he could be
And the children say
He could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me(point to audience then back to yourself)

Thumpety thump thump(bend down and tap knees for the whole verse)
Thumpety thump thump
Look at Frosty go
Thumpety thump thump
Thumpety thump thump
Over the hills of snow


Frosty the Snowman
Knew the sun was hot that day(wave hands by face as if you are trying to cool off)
So he said let's run
And we'll have some fun
Now before I melt away(shiver as if you are scared to melt)

Down to the village
With a broomstick in his hand(pretend like you are holding a broom)
Running here and there all around the square(make arms go back as if running)
Saying catch me if you can(wave goodbye)

He led them down the streets of town
Right to the traffic cop
And he only paused a moment when
He heard him holler stop(put your hand out as if to say "stop")

Frosty the Snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye(wave goodbye)
Saying don't you cry (pretend like you're crying)
I'll be back again some day

Thumpety thump thump(bend down and tap knees for the whole verse)
Thumpety thump thump
Look at Frosty go
Thumpety thump thump
Thumpety thump thump
Over the hills of snow

If you have never heard Feliz Navidad, you can hear the lyrics by watching the video below. Starring Ms. Hawas...

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

IMPORTANT!!!

Since we have such a short week, books will not be sent home on Monday. Thank you for being so understanding. Have a great week! :)

This is what we are working on this nine weeks:

Reading:

SKILL 1: Names letters (capital and lower case) *When you practice naming letters with your child do not practice the letters in order. This will help you to see if they really know the letters.

SKILL 2: Uses phonics and decoding skills to recognize letter sounds *Sing the letter sound song with your child, go on a sound hunt around the house to find certain sounds, and/or play sound BINGO.

SKILL 3: Identify pictures that begin with sounds made by: M, R, S, T, B, N, H, V *Draw pictures that start with the letters mentioned and ask your child what sound they start with. (Examples: mouse, rooster, seal, tiger, bear, noodles, hat, violin)

SKILL 4: Reads sight words without hesitation (I, see, a, the, can, you, we, my, like, to) *Remember that sight words are not supposed to be sounded out. They are heart words which mean they need to be known by heart. We practice every day by using one of the following methods: flash cards, making sentences, action signs, around the world games, BINGO, write sight words in shaving cream, use white boards, and/or whisper phones.

SKILL 5: Reads “short a” consonant-vowel-consonant words (examples: rat, mat, bat, hat)

SKILL 6: Discusses books with others (illustrations, opinions, predictions, characters, setting, cause and effect,) *While you are reading with your child every night ask them what they think of the book, what do you think will happen, who was in the story, what was the story about, were the characters inside or outside, etc.

SKILL 7: Draws/writes the beginning, middle, and end of story *Practice writing stories with your child. Tell them that they can write a story about our field trip but they need to tell you what they did in the beginning, middle, and end. You can also read a book with your child and ask them to respond to the literature.

SKILL8: Uses reading strategies effectively (use picture clues, make predictions, point to the words, stretch the word, does it make sense?)

SKILL 9: Speaks to adults in complete sentences (this includes statements and responses to adults) *Students are learning to speak in complete sentences. Make sure they are not answering you with one word answers but full sentences. When you ask a yes or no question...If your child says only yes or no try to extend their sentences by saying "yes you would like more" or "no you did not finish your food" etc...

Writing:

SKILL 10: Uses inventive spelling which shows letter/sound correspondence *Students must learn to write using letter sounds. If your child writes using the beginning sounds of each word this is a positive step in the right direction. Students are learning that they need to stretch out words and write every sound they hear.

SKILL 11: Writes daily (pictures or words are done neatly and legibly) *Practice writing every day. If you go to the grocery store ask your child to help you write the grocery list. Thanksgiving is coming up and your child can write about what they are thankful for. Use a calendar and have your child practice writing the days of the week.

SKILL 12: Working toward meeting the elements of the Report Writing standard (gather, collect, and share information about a topic; maintain focus, stay on topic, and exclude extraneous information when prompted)

Math:

SKILL 1: Names numerals 0-15 *Use white boards, side walk chalk, shaving cream, and different colored markers to practice writing numbers. Anytime you see a number ask your child what number it is.

SKILL 2: Places numerals in order 0-15 *Make flash cards and ask your child to put the numbers in the correct order.

SKILL 3: Matches numerals with groups of objects 0-15

SKILL 4: Counts orally 1-20 *Count in different voices. I practice counting in high voices, low voices, silly voices, opera voices, etc. The students love being able to count in different voices.

SKILL 5: Uses attributes to sort a set of objects *Students need to know that they can sort objects by the same size, color, or shape. Practice using buttons, coins, shoes, shirts, etc.

SKILL 6: Recognizes and extends patterns *Draw a pattern for your child and ask them what comes next. Think about something that your child really loves such as a monster truck and say blue monster truck, green monster truck, blue monster truck, green monster truck....what comes next? This will keep them engaged since you are using a pattern with something that they like.

SKILL 7: Identifies units within a pattern *Students are learning the difference between AB and ABC patterns.

SKILL 8: Creates a pattern *Give your child three of two different color crayons each. Ask them to make a pattern. Red, Yellow, Red, Yellow, etc...

SKILL 9: Compares two or more quantities *Ask students what weighs more (a feather or a brick), what would hold more liquid (your hand or a milk jug), and/or what is hotter (boiling water or ice).

Skill 10: Uses sets of concrete objects to represent quantities

SKILL 11: Demonstrates an understanding of “more” and “less” *Use house hold items such as cups and put them in two different groups. Ask your child which group has more and which group has less.

As the nine weeks continue the skills get harder. Please practice these skills with your child at home. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at any time. I would love to help! :)

Field trip to Conner's A-Maize-ing Acres

What an amazing field trip we had. It took us an hour to get there but our class really enjoyed the scenery. When we arrived at the farm we had a special talk from the farmer in the barn. We rode on a cow train (even Ms. Hawas went on the train), went through a corn maze (it took us a while since some of the corn was knocked down), saw and pet some farm animals, and ate at the picnic tables together.

Thank you to all of our chaperons and parents. YOU are truly amazing! I'm so happy you were able to experience the "farm" life with us.

I would have to say this was the best field trip I have ever been on with a class. Ms. Gray, our principal, even made an announcement on the news about how wonderful all of the kindergarten classes were on the field trip. Wow! That is very impressive.

What was your child's favorite part of the field trip? Enjoy the pictures below.

What did you do this weekend?

This weekend I went to New York City to visit my brother. My dad met up with us and we had a great time together as a family. I would say it was a wonderful and busy weekend.

This is how much I love visiting NYC :)


I was super happy to see our class on Monday and hear all about what they did. What did you do? If you have any pictures you want me to share, you can email them to me and I will post them. Have a beautiful week!

Fall Centers

To celebrate fall we had four different centers on Friday, October 29th. Students made a wreath using leaves, candy pattern bracelets, a spooky scene, a cup of worms, and helped me count all of the seeds in our Jack-O-Latern. We had so much fun but we couldn't have done it without all of you! Thank you parents for your donations. Our class truly enjoyed every minute of our Friday fun. :)