Oh, Christmas Tree

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Ms. Bennett

1, 2, 3....

Counting Collections

We have been practicing counting collections since the third week of school.  During counting collections, each student and their partner pick a bag of objects and containers to count with.  These bags might include: beans, noodles, straws, buttons, pumpkins, erasers, foam objects, etc.  The containers might be: boats, dixie cups, clear cups, condiment cups, bags, boxes, etc.  First, the pair will decide if they would like to count by 5's or 10's (we just started counting by 5's).  Then they will place either 5 or 10 objects in each container.  The left overs are placed on the floor.

If they run out of containers, they simply place them in groups on the floor.  After they are done grouping, students will skip count using the containers- add the left overs, and figure out the number of objects they have.  Once they have their number, they write it on their dry erase board and raise their hand.  When their hand is up, I come count with them, check their answer, then they get another bag.  This continues until our time is up.  

You can practice counting collections at home! Your child can count anything.  I would recommend 50-100+ objects in a baggie.  Practice counting by 5's and writing the number (writing the number can be difficult). 

Happy Friday! 

Ms. Bennett

Workboard

Reading Groups Have Started!

Reading folders went home for the first time last week.  Depending on what reading group your child is in, folders will go home Monday or Tuesday.  In these folders there will be 2 books with sometimes flashcards and homework.  Reading with your child nightly will help your child's reading take off! When your child does homework, please have them use pencil and show quality work.  If your child reads the flash cards easily practice spelling.  

Each day, I will be pulling 3-4 reading groups.  During this time we will be either reading together or we will be working on skills specified for their group.  Right now there are 6 reading groups.  

While I am pulling groups, your child will be completing their work board.  Work board is completely independent work, and the noise level is expected to be a 0 or a whisper if they are asking a friend for help.  This helps reduce distractions at the reading table.  First they will...

Find their name on the work board pocket chart.  Here, they will find their first icon.

Next, they will find the tub that matches their icon.  In this tub, is their first assignment.  We go over how to complete every assignment on Monday. They will complete 2-3 icons daily, depending on how fast the assignment is.  When they are finished with everything, they can choose to read, go on the computer, or work with puzzles. 

If your child is confused, they are supposed to go look at the sample board first.  If they are still confused, they are supposed to ask two friends.  If they still need help after asking two friends, they can come ask me at the reading table.  

Please review these strategies for independent work with your child.  The more independent they are during this time, the more efficient we will be during reading groups.

Thank you for all of your support!

Ms. Bennett

Labeling

What is a Label?

We have been talking a lot about labeling in the beach buddy classroom.  Your students can practice drawing detailed pictures at home and label them.  This is how we introduced labeling! 

Long Time No Post

Time flies in Kindergarten!

Goodness,  I apologize so greatly that is has been so long since I have posted.  This is will a recap for all the fun we have been having!  

Pumpkin Carving

50th day of school

Parents:  There are a lot of group photos; however I do not have all permission slips back for posting pictures on the blog.  As soon as I have all of the slips, I can update this post with more photos and adding a group photo from pirate day! :)

Under the Weather

I have been so terrible the last few weeks with updating this blog.  I have been sick over and over again lately, currently with a terrible sinus infection. I will be posting more coming up, however; here are some dates to put on the calendar:

November 1st: Pirate Day

Don't forget to send your pirate day snacks and goodies!  This is what makes your child's Pirate Day so wonderful!  

November 5th: 50th Day of School

On this day we will be celebrating the 50th day of school, 50's style.  We will make records, dance to 50's music, and dress like the 50's!  Boys can wear jeans, a white shirt, and a leather jacket if they have it.  Girls can wear a silk scarf around the neck with a cardigan, and a poodle skirt if they have one. :) We will celebrate being 50 days smarter! (Please let me know if a parent would like to provide and help with root beer floats in the afternoon. :))  

Meet Mo

I hope your Beach Buddy has at least mentioned Mo Willems once in the last couple weeks.  Mo Willems is our author for the second half of the 1st 9 weeks.  His characters are hilarious, our favorite being Elephant and Piggie.  If you haven't read a couple of his books take a trip to Barnes and Noble this weekend just to read some.  You'll fall in love with his humor just like we have!

During this study we are also learning about:

* talking and thinking bubbles

* tone of voice

*friendship

*manners

* author's purpose

Apple Week: A Look Back

The Beach Buddies' Love Apples!

We started off our week reading the book: The Seasons of Arnolds Apple Tree

After reading this, each table got to make one of Arnold's Apple Trees.

The students absolutely loved making these trees!

Friday: Apple Day Fun

Friday was a very crazy, busy day in kindergarten.

We started the day off my reading about all the different

kinds of apples, and started cooking our apple sauce.  

Then we tasted the three different color apples

and rated them.  From this, we graphed our favorite

apple by color!  We spent the whole week sorting and graphing so we 

knew that our picture graphs ALWAYS start from the 

bottom!  After recess, we found 7 different ways we 

could sort our apples.  From this, we completed our apple

investigation.  What fun! We measured our apples, made predictions

and stamped the inside of our apple. We ended our day by

eating our apples, tasting our applesauce, and drinking apple cider.

YUM! I hope your beach buddy had just as much fun as I did!

Thank you Parents!

The Beach Buddies Love Books!

Thank you to all the parents who bought scholastic books this month!  You should had seen their faces when the big box arrived Friday right before we dismissed.  I wish we had just 30 more minutes left in the day because they were pleading to take them home Friday.  Books will be going home Monday, yay!

Because we had so many orders, and we spent over 400 dollars, our classroom added these books to our class library, plus we still have thousands of points to spend!

THANK YOU PARENTS!

Coming up this week:

-Bring an apple Friday for sorting, graphing, and tasting

- Practice counting by 10's to 100

-Practice the sight words! (magnetic sight words will be coming home tomorrow :) )

-Wear blue on Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday

Good Night Beach Buddies!

-Ms. Bennett

Wonderful Recap on Week 3

Parents,

I am sorry these postings are not yet happening twice a week (my goal for this semester).  It is still very busy in the Beach Buddy classroom as we are still learning social skills, how to transition, and the rules of our classroom.  Week three was full of learning shapes, nursery rhymes, patterns, numbers 1-10, and the color O-R-A-N-G-E.

Here are a few things we got to do this week:

Nursery Rhymes:  Hey, Diddle, Diddle- Jack be Nimble- and 1,2 Buckle my Shoe

See if your student can remember the steps for how to follow instructions.  Then review the previous two posters. :) 

For the last two weeks we have been studying 

our first author, 'Kevin Henkes'.  Kevin writes most 

his stories based off character traits.  We have been 

learning about rules, self identity, and how scary it can

be to come to school for the first time.  If you have any

Kevin Henkes books, feel free to send them in.  We

will start a new author study in 2 more weeks.

See if your student can spell orange! They are red and orange rock stars!

In this activity, your students were to color their pencils, cut them, then

 put them in order from 1-10.  I just need to say "WOW".  They did such a great job!  Now keep practicing counting 1-50.

Happy Monday Beach Buddies!

Ms. Bennett

Social Contract

Your children came up with our social contract as a class.  Look how smart they are!  These are the rules that they are promising to follow throughout the year.  Everyone will sign the poster and it will hang in our classroom all year.

1. Keep our hands and feet to ourselves

2. Listen to the teacher

3. No scribbling

4. Use kind words

5. Raise your hand to talk

6. Come to school to learn

7. Will not play with our tools (ex. drumming on our crayon boxes with our pencils :))

8. Respect our school, teachers, and students

9. Be safe!

Students will also be signing this paper copy of our social contract.  I will then make copies and send them home so you will have a copy. :) Thanks in advance parents!

-Ms. Bennett

Take a Look at Week 2

Week #2

What a great week 'Week 2' was!  The Beach Buddies' are finally getting into the swing of things and learning all about why we come to school, how to treat others, and that they do not want to be a 'class monster'.  Here is a little look at our week:

Week 2 was red week.  The Beach Buddies' learned how to spell the color red through a song, circling the color on our poster, and highlighting the word in their poetry journal.  Also, 95% of our class wore the color red on Wednesday   Thank you parents!  Next week is orange week.

Week 1, we learned how to get the teachers attention.
Please review this with your child.  This is one of the
hardest things for a 5 year old. :)

Week 2, we learned how to pay attention.  We have to
stop what we are doing, look at the teacher, and listen! :)

Welcome Beach Buddies!!