Mad Science! Week of Jan. 17-20, 2012

It's alive! This week we continued with our Five Senses and focused (literally) on our sense of sight. We began by making our own I Spy class book to focus on the details. The children worked with a partner and carefully placed several items on a tray. Then they wrote how many items could be found on the tray. Well see who has a sharp eye as we take a closer look next week. We also had a chance to look at items such as shells and coral borrowed from our Science lab. The children used hand lenses to get an even closer look and sketch what they saw. Next week we will learn all about our sense of hearing.

The students rotated through the LA Centers this week creating their own Letter Factory by stamping letters and tracing. They also created our new bulletin board "We Are All One And The Same" by making  their own crayons with the writing prompt: I am special because I can...  based on the book The Crayon Box That Talked which conveys the simple message when we all work together, the results are much more interesting and colorful.

In Math we finished up Topic 4 with a Topic Test. It wasn't all work and no play though. The children got to use gummy bears to practice sorting and graphing. It was a test of their will to not eat them until all were sorted and graphed! We will begin Topic 5, Comparing Numbers, on Monday.

Unfortunately our guest Author, Michelle Diaz Cannon, was not able to make her visit this week but has rescheduled for the same time next Tuesday (1:10 p.m., January 24th).

Enjoy the much needed rain this weekend!
Go Niners!

Week of January 9 - January 13

Happy New Year! We hope you all had a happy and restful Christmas break. The kindergarteners are back in full swing as they enter into 2012. One major change that the boys and girls have experienced is no naps after lunch! But, they are keeping their energy high until the very end of the day. They have also been adjusting wonderfully to two new subjects, Social Studies and Science. The students have been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in preparation for the holiday on Monday. The kindergarteners listened to the story, Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, and have written and illustrated some themes from the book. In Science, they have been introduced to the amazing world of the Five Senses which will be an ongoing unit throughout the month of January.

Math and Language Arts have also been keeping the students very busy.  In Math, the boys and girls have been working on their numbers and learning how to correctly write them in proper form. They have a topic test coming up next week! In Language Arts, we have started "Learning Centers". This week, we had a Phonics Center, a Journal Writing Center, and a Match It ABC's Center. Two tables concentrate on one center per day, and we rotate the centers in order for each table to participate in all three centers by the end of the week.  The students did a great job with the new routine!

Another change to our schedule is that, each week, the kindergarteners attend Friday Morning Mass. Our buddy class, the sixth grade, have been helping our students adjust to going to church with the rest of the school. Ms. Haas and I are impressed with how well behaved our class has been, and what a great influence the sixth graders have had on our students. Thank you sixth grade!

Reminder: No school on Monday, January 16 in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Have a wonderful long weekend!!!