I am amazed at how well the students are doing learning the routines of kindergarten! They have been job experts and have creatively incorporated tasks that I have traditionally done into their jobs. For example, when Lucy was caboose a few weeks back, she asked if she could do the "line-o-meter", a game I made up the first week of school to straighten out the line. By the end of her week as caboose, Lucy was not only straightening out the line with the line-o-meter but was also leading our "line check" - ensuring that all line members are in line with their feet on the line, their eyes forward, their hands to their sides and their voices off. In the three weeks since, each caboose has taken on the same tasks as their own. It is pretty cool to see this ownership happening so quickly with so many of our daily tasks. My ideal classroom is one that is run by self-directed learners working collaboratively to learn everything they can get their brains around! This group is well on their way to becoming these learners.
We continue to work hard on being good listeners during carpet lessons and class meetings. As a class we are getting better every day! Some of our students are already listening experts ~ always sitting criss cross with a still body, a voice that is off and a brain that is engaged! These experts have been really helpful in showing others who are still learning how to be good listeners all of the time.
Our marble jar is almost full, evidence of what great listeners we have become! After earning the final few marbles early in the week, the kids will work together to decide how we will celebrate on Friday. This process will include a brainstorming session that usually generates some very creative and often not-school-possible dreaming, followed by some reality checking/reeling in by me and culminating in a vote on the school-possible ideas generated. For the past few years, my classes have decided to celebrate by wearing pajamas to school and having extended dessert book time or extended post-cleanup dance parties. You may hear reports from your student this week about this process that reflect the pre-reality check dreaming ~ for this reason l will send out an e-mail on Wednesday night communicating the specific details for Friday's celebration.
We continue to work hard on being good listeners during carpet lessons and class meetings. As a class we are getting better every day! Some of our students are already listening experts ~ always sitting criss cross with a still body, a voice that is off and a brain that is engaged! These experts have been really helpful in showing others who are still learning how to be good listeners all of the time.
Our marble jar is almost full, evidence of what great listeners we have become! After earning the final few marbles early in the week, the kids will work together to decide how we will celebrate on Friday. This process will include a brainstorming session that usually generates some very creative and often not-school-possible dreaming, followed by some reality checking/reeling in by me and culminating in a vote on the school-possible ideas generated. For the past few years, my classes have decided to celebrate by wearing pajamas to school and having extended dessert book time or extended post-cleanup dance parties. You may hear reports from your student this week about this process that reflect the pre-reality check dreaming ~ for this reason l will send out an e-mail on Wednesday night communicating the specific details for Friday's celebration.
Music with Mr. Thompson! This week, we had our first music lesson with Mr. Thompson (David, (Felix's dad). David is a talented musician who has volunteered to teach music in all of our kindergarten classes this year! Our class will have this music lesson every Thursday morning from 10:10 to 10:40. The kids loved listening to his singing and guitar playing and then singing along to a few new songs he taught them. Mindy and I noticed lots of smiles and tapping feet as he taught the kids about pitch with two engaging songs ~ This Little Broken Truck and Borris the Spider. We knew then that he was a hit, and this was confirmed later in the day when one table of kids started singing one of his songs during a transition and immediately, every student (and their teacher) eagerly started singing along. Good stuff! Thank you, David! | Thank You, Volunteers! I would like to formally thank all of the adults in our classroom community that have supported our students' transition to kindergarten. This is not always a smooth and easy life change, and all of you have successfully supported your child through this transition, getting them to me each morning ready to learn. You have also been awesome at delivering delicious, healthy snacks when it is your turn. Thank you for this support - I know that these feats are not always easy to accomplish as a parent! I would like to give a special thanks to Angie G. (Chloe's mom), who dove right in as our Classroom Coordinator and helped me in so many ways throughout the first few weeks of school. I'd also like to thank Erin K. (Lexi's mom), our Volunteer Coordinator, who put together an amazing volunteer schedule and all of the volunteers she recruited. It is SO great to have our family members helping in our classroom, on the playground and in the lunchroom! Finally, I would like to thank Amanda V. (Matthew's mom) for taking on the Scholastic book ordering. This work will not only benefit your little readers but also results in lots of free books for our classroom. |