Saturday, September 20, 2014
Are You A Bucket Filler? We Are!!
This was an amazing week! We are really starting to come together as a class. The students are settling into our routines much better and we were able to spend some quality time this week learning about how to make our classroom a fun, safe, and happy place to be.
This is something that I normally wait til a little later in the year to do, once the children know each other better. But my son, Max, inspired me to get started this week. Tuesday night he actually told me something about his day at school! Amazing, right?!? He said, "Mom, you know that book you have about the bucket? (I did actually know what he was talking about, too!) My teacher read that to us today." I'm thinking ok, great, but what a random thing to tell me. So I said, "Yeah? So what made you decide to tell me about it?" His response was, " Remember when I asked you for a hug after dinner and then told you I loved you? Well I was being a bucket filler." Now you might not know what a bucket filler is, but this brought tears to my eyes. I thought to myself there is no better time to work on making our classroom a fun, safe, and happy place than right now.
The premise of the book is that we all carry around an invisible "bucket" with our good feelings in it. People can either be bucket fillers by saying and doing nice things, or bucket dippers by being mean and say unkind things. And this book is a great way to help the children understand how to think about others and not just themselves.
So I scraped my lesson plans for Wednesday and we spent our day building our classroom community. It's not going to be a one day thing, but we are off to a good start. We read the Have You Filled A Bucket Book?, talked about ways we can be bucket fillers (and bucket dippers), watched a story about Chrysanthemum and identified bucket fillers and bucket dippers in the story, learned about the importance of teamwork in our classroom so we cab all succeed and the desk teams spent some time coming up with "team names". We will be continuing to focus on ways to be bucket fillers each and every day so that eventually it will become a habit.
I'm so proud of the kids and all their efforts. You can support out bucket filling focus at home as well. Tell your child when they do something that "fills" your bucket...maybe they cleaned up their toys without being asked, or acted really nicely toward a sibling. When you let them know they "filled your bucket", it will fill your bucket too!
Enjoy the beautiful weekend. As I write this I am sitting at Buffalo High School watching my son play flag football. I hope you are able to spend some time with your child this weekend in the outdoors. I know we will be soaking up as much of this weather as we can before it's gone!
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Settling In
After 7 days we are beginning to settle into a routine. We are working very hard on continuing to learn, practice, and master the routines, procedures and rules. We also practiced 2 fire drills this past week and bus safety. Next week we will begin to talk more about consequences for our choices (both positive and reinforcement) and will practice our lockdown procedures.
We have been focusing on what it means to be "independent" this past week. We read a story about Franklin learning to ride his bike. We defined independent as being able to do something all by yourself and talked about how being able to be independent requires practice. These lessons are important for the children as we will begin to transition into small group and independent work time over the coming weeks.
As for our learning this week the children listened to stories and we practiced retelling the familiar story The Gingerbread Man. We worked on letter recognition through exploration of magnetic letters and making words with them. We also learned about words parts or syllables and worked on hearing rhyming words. The children were also introduced to their writer's notebook and were able to make their first entry!
In math we spent our week sorting by color, shape, and size. We also spent time with our "ketchup and mustard" partner playing a simple game called "Match It!". One child placed some shape blocks on a sorting mat and their partner had to "match it" by placing the same blocks on their mat. While the game is quite simple, it is helping the children learn to take turns, work together, and communicate with each other. We also practiced counting objects up to 5 and tracing numbers to 5. I introduced the children to math stations this week as well. This month the focus is on exploring some of our math manipulatives and again learning to work together with another child in the class.
We were also able to get to the outdoor classroom and do some leaf rubbings. The children were very engaged and excited to be able to select leaves and then make a rubbing using a crayon. We brought our leaves and rubbings inside and talked about the different parts of the leaves, texture, and that each tree has its' own unique leaf that helps us identify it.
We had a very busy week! Have a great weekend!
We have been focusing on what it means to be "independent" this past week. We read a story about Franklin learning to ride his bike. We defined independent as being able to do something all by yourself and talked about how being able to be independent requires practice. These lessons are important for the children as we will begin to transition into small group and independent work time over the coming weeks.
As for our learning this week the children listened to stories and we practiced retelling the familiar story The Gingerbread Man. We worked on letter recognition through exploration of magnetic letters and making words with them. We also learned about words parts or syllables and worked on hearing rhyming words. The children were also introduced to their writer's notebook and were able to make their first entry!
In math we spent our week sorting by color, shape, and size. We also spent time with our "ketchup and mustard" partner playing a simple game called "Match It!". One child placed some shape blocks on a sorting mat and their partner had to "match it" by placing the same blocks on their mat. While the game is quite simple, it is helping the children learn to take turns, work together, and communicate with each other. We also practiced counting objects up to 5 and tracing numbers to 5. I introduced the children to math stations this week as well. This month the focus is on exploring some of our math manipulatives and again learning to work together with another child in the class.
We were also able to get to the outdoor classroom and do some leaf rubbings. The children were very engaged and excited to be able to select leaves and then make a rubbing using a crayon. We brought our leaves and rubbings inside and talked about the different parts of the leaves, texture, and that each tree has its' own unique leaf that helps us identify it.
We had a very busy week! Have a great weekend!
Sunday, September 7, 2014
3 Days Done
Well we made it through our first week of Kindergarten!
It was a great week. The kids are all starting to get the hang of some of the expectations and routines. We will be continuing to talk about rules and expectations and practicing them each and every day. Please remind your child each day that school is their very own important job, and that you expect they will listen, follow directions, and work hard so they can learn and have fun.
We were able to meet our Gym teacher Mr. Fischer both Thursday and Friday. We also visited our Outdoor Classroom. Our first experience focused on getting out there, and then using our eyes to observe our surroundings. The children all had clipboards, a sheet of paper, and some crayons and their goal was to draw three things that thought no one else would notice. They were then able to get into groups and share what they drew. We will be going out again this week (hopefully the weather is cooperative).
We have read many stories and are beginning to share some of the "Forever Books" that you have sent in. We will continue to practice our listening skills this week and also work with our names to help lear about letters.
In math our focus has been sorting and tracing numbers 1 and 2. The children were able to meet their "ketchup" or "mustard" partner on Friday. A portion of math time will include partner work each day. Talking and working together is a great way for the children to develop their understanding of concepts.
Hopefully everyone was able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weekend! Make sure that your child is getting plenty of sleep each night. Kindergarten is hard work!
It was a great week. The kids are all starting to get the hang of some of the expectations and routines. We will be continuing to talk about rules and expectations and practicing them each and every day. Please remind your child each day that school is their very own important job, and that you expect they will listen, follow directions, and work hard so they can learn and have fun.
We were able to meet our Gym teacher Mr. Fischer both Thursday and Friday. We also visited our Outdoor Classroom. Our first experience focused on getting out there, and then using our eyes to observe our surroundings. The children all had clipboards, a sheet of paper, and some crayons and their goal was to draw three things that thought no one else would notice. They were then able to get into groups and share what they drew. We will be going out again this week (hopefully the weather is cooperative).
We have read many stories and are beginning to share some of the "Forever Books" that you have sent in. We will continue to practice our listening skills this week and also work with our names to help lear about letters.
In math our focus has been sorting and tracing numbers 1 and 2. The children were able to meet their "ketchup" or "mustard" partner on Friday. A portion of math time will include partner work each day. Talking and working together is a great way for the children to develop their understanding of concepts.
Hopefully everyone was able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weekend! Make sure that your child is getting plenty of sleep each night. Kindergarten is hard work!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
First Day Hooray!
Well what a first day!
We practiced what to do in the lunch room. We went to library (no book checkout yet), music, and the S.M.A.R.T. room. It rained and rained and rained and we had inside recess.
We read Animal Park - An ABC Adventure, Clifford's First School Day, and Look! I Can Read!
Everyone drew a self-portrait and practiced their name. We also learned about same and different and sorted our shoes!
I'm exhausted and I'm sure your child is too. Take some time tonight to talk about thier day, enjoy some quiet time this evening and make sure your child gets a good night sleep! We have another big day tomorrow!
We practiced what to do in the lunch room. We went to library (no book checkout yet), music, and the S.M.A.R.T. room. It rained and rained and rained and we had inside recess.
We read Animal Park - An ABC Adventure, Clifford's First School Day, and Look! I Can Read!
Everyone drew a self-portrait and practiced their name. We also learned about same and different and sorted our shoes!
I'm exhausted and I'm sure your child is too. Take some time tonight to talk about thier day, enjoy some quiet time this evening and make sure your child gets a good night sleep! We have another big day tomorrow!
Working on Self Portraits
Working on Self Portraits
Working on Self Portraits
Working on Self Portraits
Inside Recess
Working on Self Portraits
Inside Recess
Snack Time
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