Catching up...

I apologize for the lack of blog posts last week! Now that parent conferences are finished I will have a lot more time for keeping you up to speed! So here's whats been going on...

 Signs of fall are popping up all around our classroom! We have new fall books to read in our library, new fall pencils to write with, fall words for our writing station AND pumpkin name tags for our cubbies.

After reading, A Day at the Pumpkin Patch, we examined real live pumpkins and then drew our own and labeled the parts in our Science journals. I was so proud of their beautiful pumpkin drawings and neat handwriting!

 "Turn and Talk" this is how we share ideas and work we've done with friends at the carpet. Ask your kindergartner who's their "turn and talk" partner and what they have talked about in the past (here they are dicussing their pumpkin drawings.)

We went for a "leaf hunt" last Wednesday! Talk about FUN! They looked for leaves that were already changing colors then we put them in our Science journals and wrote about their attributes.

Growing...

This week we started to see our pumpkins sprout! Pretty soon we are going to need to replant them in our under construction garden.

Nursery Rhyme Day

Book Boxes

This week we are practicing reading from our book boxes. In their book boxes they have their poetry journal, Science journal, handwriting journal and 2 books from our class library. We are focusing on finding words or letters we know, popcorn words and punctuation marks. We are also practicing how to hold and handle a book and turning from the corners of the page. After we have practiced this for a few weeks we will add more classroom library books and books that are on their instructional level. Ask your Kindergartner what books they selected for their book box!

Community Helpers

Yesterday we had a very special visit from Officer Grisso! He discussed:

• Why it's important to know your address and phone number
• When to call 911
• Why they should always where a helmet
• The different parts of his uniform
• Why we don't talk to strangers

Ask your Kindergartner if they remember why police officers are important to our community.

Pumpkin growing

Today we planted pumpkin seeds! We are HOPING they grow so we can transplant them into our under-construction garden! We discussed what plants (and living things) need to grow. Ask your Kindergartner if they know what a pumpkin seed needs to grow.

International Day of Peace

Today we participated in the Pinwheels for Peace Project where we displayed 500 handmade Pinwheels (made in Art class) on the school grounds for the the International Day of Peace. The project has been around since 2005 and this year they expect to have 3 million pinwheels spinning around the world to send a message of peace. For a video, a map of participants or to make your own pinwheels go to: http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com/pinwheelsforpeace/home.html