Literary Character Parade and Fall Celebration!

Friday, October 29, 2010

What's Inside of a Pumpkin?

Today we wrapped up our pumpkin unit by cutting a pumpkin open and taking a look at what's inside!  We found lots of "goop", seeds, and made the observation that it's hollow.  We got to explore the pumpkin by using our five senses...saving "taste" for tomorrow- Mrs. Ciupak and Mrs. Cole are going to roast the seeds for us to try. :)

Literary Pumpkins

When you walk through the front lobby of Chets Creek the last week of October each year, you will see a plethora of Literary Pumpkins.  Literary Pumpkins are pumpkins that are transformed into story book characters. This year, our class decided to create Marley, from John Grogan's Marley Goes to School.  We love reading John Grogan's children's series about Marley's adventures.  We would like to thank Mrs. Fetzer and Mrs. Panossian for helping our class create Marley and for all of their time and dedication in making this first time experience for our kindergarteners memorable!  Below are pictures of our finished product. :)

 

Our First Field Trip: Diamond D Ranch

On Tuesday, October 19th, we took our first field trip to Diamond D Ranch.  We rode ponies, went on a nature walk, fed goats and catfish, and went on a tractor ride into a cow pasture.  The cows came right up to us so we could feed and pet them!  Click here to view photos of our fun-filled day!

Our Little "Pumpkins" are Growing into "Spook-tacular" Scientists!

We are finally back up and running after a few technical difficulties!  Thank you for your patience!

We have put on our lab coats and "carved" our way into our Science Pumpkin Unit!  Yesterday we observed a pumpkin and drew and labeled what we saw.  Today we created a KWL Chart (What we know about pumpkins, what we want to know, and what we learned).  We contributed many facts on pumpkins already, using our prior knowledge, and generated some great questions!  Once we have finished this unit, we will be able to fill in the "Learned" portion on the chart. 

We conducted an experiment today asking the question, "Does a pumpkin sink or float?".  The students made a prediction whether the pumpkin would sink or float when dropped in a container of water.  They arrived at the conclusion that a pumpkin will sink.

As you may know, pumpkins are supposed to float due to their hollow middle.  So what happened with our pumpkin?  We took a closer look and attempted the experiment again with a smaller pumpkin (ours was medium sized), which did float (they are supposed to regardless of size due to it being hollow).  So why did ours sink?  According to our research, if there are any holes in a pumpkin (we have used them in other activities prior to this experiment, so it is possible), water is able to get into the hollow cavity, which would flood it causing it to sink.  Pumpkins are less dense than the water.   An object floats if its mass is less than the mass of the water it displaces when it is placed on the surface.  

 

A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener: Open House 2010

If you were not able to make it to Open House on October 4th, or would like to see "A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener" again, here is the slide show we shared. Enjoy! :)

We Are Growing into Great Mathematicians!

In Math Investigations, we have been exploring our math manipulatives and sorting objects based on their color, size, and shape (similar attributes).  You may have heard about the many colorful, beautiful buttons we observed in class!  This week we have been collecting, sorting, and reading data.  On Monday, we counted how many girls and boys we had in our class and made a t-chart. We then made observations about our results.  We came to the conclusion that we have more girls (20) than boys (15) in our class. On Tuesday, we had buttons in our Counting Jar and had to make a representation of the buttons on a sticky-note, later collected, compared, and observed as a whole class. Some of us made tally marks, while others made a different shape. Below are pictures of students creating a different way to represent the six buttons in our Counting Jar.

Today we asked the question, "Are you the oldest child in your family?"  17 students were the oldest sibling in their family and 16 students were the youngest.  We made a t-chart and listed the students' names under "yes" (the oldest) or "no" (the youngest).   We arrived at the conclusion that more students are the oldest in their family than the youngest.

Take a Peek at Our First Week!

What a Week!

We had such a great first week of Kindergarten! We have already learned so much. We are really getting the hang of being big Kindergateners. When we come in in the morning, we unpack our home-school folder, our lunch and our snack (that has our name on it) and turn them all in to the places they are supposed to go. Then we get started with our Readers' Workshop and Writers' Workshop. After reading and writing, we head to lunch. Remember, if you are buying a lunch, you must bring in $1.50 until August 31st. After that, you can use mylunchmoney.com (link is to the right) and put money in your child's account through the website.

After lunch, we head back to the class for Star student name and skills. We have been learning all about letters and their sounds. Next, we have Math and then Resource. Make sure you check the resource schedule on the calendar on the front of your home-school folder to make sure you are dressed properly for the resource for that day. And finally, after Resource, we have Science/Social Studies where we are learning how to be scientists! At the end of the day, we head out to recess and have snack! We pack up and head home. Be sure to write a note in your child's folder if they are changing the way they are getting home and date it for that school day. Remember, Kindergarten dismissal is at 3:00PM!

We hope everyone had a fun first week of Kindergarten. I know Mrs. Ciupak and Mrs. Cole did! Have a fun weekend and see you bright and early on Monday. We have so much more to learn!

Welcome Kindergarteners!

What a fabulous first day!  We definitely are going to be growing great minds this school year!  We started off the day listening to a storytelling farmer who sang songs with us.  From there, we took a tour of the school and practiced our lunchtime routine.  Back in the classroom, we sat in a circle and played the name game, "Hikety, Pickety Bumblebee", to learn each others names.  We then read The Kissing Hand (a first day favorite!), by Audrey Penn, and made Chester (the main character) puppets with a first day poem.  Later on in the day, we got to participate in our first day WOW activities.  An animal farm, bee keeper demonstration, planting seeds of our choice, and a look at a tractor were just a few of the stations!  Tomorrow your child will receive their first Chets Creek t-shirt. :)

 Just a few friendly reminders:

Drop-Off
Please remember that you will drop your child off in the cafeteria at our designated table. Please start a good-bye routine and stick with it. If you are in a routine and confident with it, then your child will feel more comfortable when you leave.

Dismissal
Please make sure that your child knows how he or she is getting home each day. If your child is a car rider, you MUST stay in your car and drive through the loop. Please do not park your car and walk up to get your child; we consider that a walker. If your plans for dismissal change, it is very important that you let us know in writing. You can write a note on your child’s home-school notebook’s communication log.  Unfortunately we don't always get to check our messages or email until the end of the day after dismissal.  If there is a true transportation emergency, please contact the main office and they will get in touch with us.

Snack
Your child is encouraged to bring a healthy afternoon snack. An apple, banana, fruit bar, dry cereal in a bag, etc., are great choices that will keep throughout the day (please do not send items that need to be refrigerated). We ask that snacks be put in a baggie labeled with your child’s name, for they will be collected in the morning and distributed during snack time. Due to nut allergies, we ask you not to pack products that contain them. Drinks are not necessary.

Behavior Guidelines
Daily behavior will be recorded each day on your child’s calendar on his/her blue home-school notebook. Here is what each color means…

White: Great Day!
Yellow: Warning
Blue: 5 Minute Time Out
Green: Note Home, 10 Minute Time Out
Red: Office Referral

We use a color coded card system in our classroom.  If a child is not following directions and has been warned, they will be told to "flip their card".  Not flipping your card all week and staying on white results in a Fun Friday treat!  Please make sure to talk to your child about their behavior each day. Thank you for your support!

We are so excited to get this school year started!  Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have!