Santa Visits Kindergarten

On Wednesday, December 20, Santa visited our classroom to check on how the boys and girls have been behaving. He also brought each one a bell from his sleigh and reminded them to put out milk and cookies on Christmas Eve.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Reindeer Stations

On Tuesday, December 19, our children learned about reindeer. We read a non-fiction book or informational text called Remarkable Reindeer. Next, we had the children rotate through all of the reindeer stations. We would like to thank Ms. Tamey, Cali Cherry's mom, for all her help on this day. She was kept very busy and we really appreciate her!!!!

The students designed and created their own reindeer.

Next the kids cut out antlers to make a reindeer headband and Ms. Tamey painted their noses to look like Rudolf.

The kids decorated a bag with a poem about Christmas Eve and filled the bag with hay for the reindeer to eat when they visit each child's house.

The children read and colored a non-fiction student book about reindeer.

Next, the boys and girls wrote reindeer facts using their best handwriting, spacing, and conventions (capital letter to begin the sentences and punctuation to end the sentences).

Finally, we posed for a reindeer photo!

More Gingerbread Kids Return to Pleasant Hill

Brinleigh's gingerbread girl traveled to Colorado to visit Roxann. Ginger learned all about the many places to visit in the state of Colorado. Brinleigh actually went there with her gingerbread girl for a visit and Brinleigh went snow skiing! Thanks, Roxann and Brinleigh, for sharing your cool book of adventures!

Kelsi's gingerbread girl traveled to Oregon where it rains a lot. She visited Wayne and Jinalyn. We learned that there are many huge trees in Oregon and logging is a big industry. Gingerbread girl went into the mountains and saw an elk and a "Yarder", an antique piece of logging equipment used to pull logs up the mountain.

Ethan's gingerbread boy traveled to Washington, D.C. with his great Uncle Mike. He saw the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

 Braylee's gingerbread girl traveled to San Antonio, Texas. She visited the Alamo, Ripley's Believe It or Not and Wax Museum, and the famous river walk. 

Wolfgang's gingerbread boy traveled to Fresno, California where it does not snow in the winter. While visiting he went to the pool, road bikes around the city, and started to miss Wolfgang.

Cooper's gingerbread boy traveled to Greensboro, North Carolina. He visited a Wendy's fifth grade classroom to see how the kids learn in NC. The kids were learning about fractions, Colonial America, and they worked hard on reading and writing. The Wright brothers flew their first airplane in North Carolina at Kitty Hawk. In Asheville there is the biggest home in America, called The Biltmore Estate. While in NC you can travel from the mountains to the beach in just a few hours. Gingerbread Boy had a good time as he flew home over the tallest mountain on the east coast, Mt. Mitchell.

Gingerbread Houses

Thank you to all who sent supplies and thanks to all who were able to help on Monday, December 18. Special thanks to GiGi, Asher's grandmother, for gluing the graham cracker houses together beforehand and for reading to the kids during setup and cleanup. Also, a special thanks goes to Nicole Cook, Aiden's mom, for cleaning up, organizing, and washing the tools used to make the houses. We had a wonderful time. Your children are very creative!!!!

December 18 Star of the Week

Ethan enjoys recess, Art, and playing with toys. He shared his special stuffed animal for his surprise item, Brutus. Thanks, Ethan.

December 18 Star of the Week

December 11 Star of the Week

December 11 Star of the Week

Silvia is good at Minecraft. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up. She enjoys soccer, Art, candy, and drawing. Her favorite TV show is Sponge Bob. Thank you, Silvia, for sharing your photos, your favorites, and your surprise item.

Grandparents' Day

Grandparents' Day Practice

Please click on the link above to hear some of our rehearsal for Grandparents' Day. You can see more of the students' faces in this video than in the video of the actual performance below. Of course, we are more animated in the actual performance. I hope you enjoy the videos.

December 8 Grandparents' Day Performance

Gingerbread Kids Are Returning Home to Pleasant Hill

Abby's gingerbread girl traveled to Tennessee. We learned the capitol city is Nashville which is known as Music City for all the country music that is written and recorded here. In Chattanooga there is a place called Lookout Mountain and on a clear day you can see seven states. Knoxville is located at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. Susie, the gingerbread girl, brought Moon Pies and Goo-Goo Clusters for our class to enjoy.

Silvia's gingerbread girl traveled to Orlando, Florida. We learned that you can visit Disney World there. Silvia's gingerbread also showed us a postcard of the Florida Keys where you can see dolphins and many kinds of shells.

Grady's gingerbread boy also went to Florida and learned about the manatees, alligators, and Sanibel Island which is devoted to shells. He also went to Southern Florida where there is the largest subtropical wilderness.

 Jenna's gingerbread girl traveled to Bakersfield, California. We learned that many fruits and vegetables are grown there. Over 80 percent of the carrots in the world are grown in Bakersfield. The Sequoia National Park is where the Redwood trees are one million years old. Also California's western border is the coastline of the Pacific Ocean. You can visit Disneyland, Sea World, and Death Valley which is a desert. 

Cali's gingerbread girl returned to us from Texas City, Texas. This city is in the southeast part of Texas and is right on the Galveston Bay. The city of Galveston is located near the water which is the Gulf of Mexico. It is approximately 760 miles from Pleasant Hill. The weather was warmer there, about 80 degrees. Cali got a Christmas book we read and a book of 100 Things to Know About Texas. Texas is the largest state in the contiguous United States. The Texas flag is called the “Lone Star Flag” and has three colors: red to represent courage, white to represent liberty, and blue to represent loyalty.

Movement is Essential for Our Brains

Exercising for a Brain Boost to Test

Daily Brain Breaks

Each day we do several brain breaks to help our mind and body grow. Please click on the links above to see a short clip of some of our movement activities. 

Pajama Day WOW Party

We had a busy pajama day. Miss Masters read us The Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends. We practiced our Christmas songs for Grandparents' Day. (Watch later this week for a video of our songs.) We also enjoyed eating gingerbread cookies as we told Miss Masters to have a Merry Christmas! Her semester is over this week at UCM, and she will be back with us every day in January.

 We are a happy class, wearing our gingerbread hats! We can also be very crazy and silly!

December 4th Star of the Week

December 4th Star of the Week

Cooper did a fabulous job reading his favorites to the class! He enjoys soccer, wrestling, and making crafts. He has a dog named Snickers, and his favorite subject is P.E. Thank you for sharing today, Cooper, and for the great clues for your mystery item, a transformer.

Thanksgiving Feast

Our classroom of Native Americans sang and danced for the Pilgrims today in the cafeteria. After this celebration, we sat down across from our Pilgrim friends to eat our feast. Thank you so much to those of you who sent the items for our children to enjoy.

November 20 Star of the Week

Click on the link here to listen to Jenna share with the class.

November 20 Star of the Week

Jenna likes to ride her bike, she enjoys Art, and she wants to grow up to be a teacher. She read us two stories that she wrote in class this year, and she gave us great clues to help us guess her surprise items (a bell from Santa's sleigh and a toy train). Thank you, Jenna!

November 13 Star of the Week

Aiden's Star of the Week Video

To hear Aiden share about himself, just click on the link above. Aiden enjoys recess, Lego Star Wars, playing with toys, and soccer. When he grows up, he wants to be a police officer. Thanks for sharing, Aiden!

Cell Phone Sally

We attended an assembly on Friday to learn about when and how to make a 911 call. Cell Phone Sally showed us a video about the importance of knowing what to do in the event of a real emergency. Your child brought home a small white bag which includes information that was shared with your child. Your child would benefit from you discussing this important matter with them.

Cell Phone Sally told the students to dial 911 when there is an emergency. She also instructed the kids to stay on the phone to answer important questions. Do not hang up until the operator tells you they have all of the information they need.

November 6 Star of the Week

Kelsi shared some photos, told us her favorite things, and gave us amazing clues for her mystery item, a stuffed animal puppy. We learned that Kelsi enjoys P.E., basketball, making art work, and the book Three Billy Goats Gruff. Thanks, Kelsi!

First Quarter 100 Book Readers

These children read 100 books during the first quarter of kindergarten. Great job kids! We already have more students who have reached this goal for second quarter. Watch for their photo at the end of second quarter.

Brinleigh, Cali, and Wesley read 100 books!

Measurement

As we were learning about the letter Ii and the short vowel sound, we read and enjoyed the book Inch By Inch by Leo Lionni. Before we read, we predicted what the inchworm would do, and we predicted why the book had this title. During our reading, we revised our predictions as we heard the story. We also used visualization to help us understand the story, making a movie of what we would see, hear, and feel as we were measuring other birds in the wild. We really imagined hearing the nightingale's song as the inchworm measured away until he escaped becoming his dinner.

After enjoying the story, we used our math vocabulary to complete a measuring activity of our own. Rather than using a ruler with inches, we used linking cubes to make an estimate and then actually measured three classroom items: a chair, a table, and a book. In order to make a sensible estimate, the students collaborated with their partners to think. Will it take more or fewer blocks than the example modeled? Once each partner recorded an estimate, the partners started the actual measuring. After recording the number of blocks, the partners evaluated how they did with their first estimate. Before moving on, they were encouraged to think: Will the number of blocks to measure the chair be greater than or less than the number of blocks to measure the table?

A Great Fall Party!

Thank you, families, for a wonderful Fall Party! A great time was had by everyone. We appreciate everyone who sent in items and those who were in attendance.

The children rotated to four different stations. They enjoyed pumpkin bowling!

At a second station, the kids made a cute turkey.

The boys and girls moved to the hallway to have a race pushing a plastic spider across the finish line by blowing through a straw.

At the fourth station, each child guessed how many candy corns were in a container. They also colored some fall pictures.