Friday, April 26, 2019

SPRINGing into Action!

Decorating recyclable containers for Earth Day
Earth Day is every day--that was a focus for kindergarten this week. From taking old yogurt containers and decorating them to replant our bean sprouts in, to cleaning up trash around our campus and on our Shirley Canyon hike this Thursday, I am so proud of this group of young activists. On Monday, more than one students shared that their favorite part of the day was cleaning up around our campus and classroom to help the earth. One of our students spied trash on the ground during our hike, and another student said to them, "Yay! You're helping save the earth!" Well done!

Other highlights of the week included starting a new read aloud picture story book about pioneers on the Oregon Trail. As this was how settlers ended up in the Tahoe area, it fits in well with our history unit. Students compared and contrasted how kids used to grow up long ago in colonial America, as well as during the westward expansion time. They were surprised to learn that, long ago in the 1700's, children weren't able to attend school unless their parents were very wealthy, and if parents didn't have an education, their children were likely to also not receive an education. What an amazing gift we have with free education for ALL students today, regardless of socioeconomic status!

Old Fashioned Vegas dress-up day
As spring unfurls into full bloom, students' energy and excitement for being outside increases. They greatly enjoyed being outside for Old Style Vegas Day pictures on Wednesday, as well as playing outside for our CHOICE time on Monday. They quickly and eagerly grouped up to play a tag game. A parent this week commented on what an adventurous and overall cooperative group this is, and I must agree! Overall, it's been amazing to see them start to blossom into caring and cooperative little humans. That's what kindergarten is all about!





Harvest of the Month!

Time to hit the California Trail!

Adventurers

Explorers

Friday, April 19, 2019

Seeds of Knowledge

Welcome back after a wonderful Spring Break! This week was all about plants, plants, plants. We reviewed and added to our knowledge that we gathered before Spring Break about the plant life cycle and how to plant seeds. The kids were highly motivated and loved talking about what they already know about plants and how to take care of them. It's awesome to see how many of them have had planting experience before, and I hope that this serves as a really good I.S. project for the rest of the year!
Subtraction Stories

We also introduced subtraction this week, and the students really seemed to enjoy it. We told subtraction stories, talked about what subtraction means (to "take away"), and did lots of practice problems with books, manipulatives, and pictures. It was a great introduction! I love seeing the kids' growth in math this year. 

Our Giving Tree
This week, we also focused on kindness to each other and to the earth. We read The Giving Tree, and discussed ways we can be kinder to each other and give to one another. They also read this book in Spanish with Ms. Monica! What a cool cross-language experience. 

Finally, we ended the week with a bang--repurposing old t-shirts into reusable bags. Almost the whole school was there to cut the t-shirts and tie them into bags. Students paired up with their book buddies, which they enjoyed! It was fun to be out in the sun, and doing something to help our planet! SO excited to see this spring weather! Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Planting!


Friday, April 5, 2019

Annnnd Break!

It's such a joy to be writing this from sunny Los Angeles this morning, and I hope everyone is enjoying their day wherever they are! Although this week was filled with heightened emotions and excitement for Spring Break, we still conquered our learning this week! Students learned about the life cycle of plants, as well as what plants need in order to grow, through fun music, songs, activities, and a version of rock, paper, scissors where the winner becomes the next part of the plant growth process, and the loser goes back down a step in the plant life cycle. Ask your kindergartener about it--they had a blast!

We tried new math games with addition this week, and I introduced a game called "tap it" with letter blends. I would say a word, and students would tap the letter blend they heard at the beginning of the word. Soon we will move on to digraphs, but we will continue to play "tap it" with both blends and digraphs. Students love it and are very engaged.

A final highlight this week was inviting in one of our students' younger brothers, who has Cerebral Palsey. She showed the class how his "gait trainer" works, and the kindergarteners were full of all kinds of questions about what Cerebral Palsey is, how he uses the gait trainer, and what all the different levers and knobs did. They were fascinated, and a very captive audience. What an awesome way to introduce them to kids with special needs so that they feel comfortable asking questions, and so that they can begin to understand how to be compassionate and understanding of kids with special needs.

I hope that everyone has a safe and restful Spring Break, wherever you are! I will be off the grid from Saturday to Saturday, and will be trying my best to not be connected to technology. Whether you're staying in the Tahoe area, or going elsewhere, enjoy the time and the break and don't forget to spend time together as a family! See you all in mid-April!




Plant Life Cycle "Rock Paper Scissors" Game

Tissue Paper "Stained Glass" artwork


Learning about Cerebral Palsey

Last Day Pics and more!

Walking in at the Closing Ceremonies Well, we did it. We made it! Congratulations to all these bright, spunky, energetic kindergarteners...