We will be using my blog at  Scholastic until the end of this school year.  Please visit us there to learn more about events and activities in our classroom!    

My students love to read!  They just can’t get enough!   Visit my Scholastic blog to view some of the methods we are using in class to help create this lifelong love of reading.

I encourage you to spend a little time this holiday break reading with your child!  Reading is a gift that will last a lifetime!

Learning about maps in kindergarten can be lots of fun!We began our unit by reading Me On The Map by Joan Sweeney. Our class learned to identify our continent, our country, our state, our state’s capital, our city, and so much more! Students also had the opportunity to use Google Earth to locate our school and community.

Take a look at some of our work!

You may have noticed a chill in the air, pumpkins ripening, and leaves changing to the most beautiful shades of color.  Fall is my favorite time of the year!   It is also  the perfect time to bring the great outdoors inside the classroom.

Here’s a list of  activities we enjoyed “falling into”!

• going on a nature walk around the school collecting leaves
• using leaves to create animals and people
• comparing and contrasting apples and pumpkins using a venn diagram
• doing a pumpkin investigation
• sequencing the life cycle of a pumpkin
• creating trees of the four seasons
• reading fall themed books

Take a look at some of our favorite books!

Join us next week to view some awesome “FALL” activities!

Our class had a blast learning all about the farm!  Our culminating activity for this unit was a trip to Kidz Kountry Farm in Southaven, MS. 

Our friends at Scholastic sent each student in our class a copy of Big Red Barn, by Margaret Wise Brown.

Thanks Scholastic!

Take a look at this slideshow of our trip to the farm!

Almost every week we emphasize a different letter of the alphabet and its sound.  Teaching letters and sounds should be a fun experience for students.  I like to use a variety of auditory, visual, and hands-on activities.  This week our class learned all about the letter Pp.   Take a look at our activities from our letter Pp party today!

We found the letter Pp and pictures that begin with Pp in magazines.

Look at these yummy pizzas we made! 

 Take a look at our pretty plump pumpkins!

After reading, If You Give A  Pig A Pancake, our class enjoyed delicious pancakes along with popcorn, pretzels, and pickles.  We washed it all down with punch!

With the help of parents and the generous contributions of others, our class received the Listen & Learn Letter Sounds Program from Donors Choose last year.  This week we used this listening center to listen to the sound of letter Pp and complete other interesting activities on the write and wipe cards. 

Nursery Rhymes are great tools to use when teaching a variety of kindergarten skills.  The learning of nursery rhymes, chants, songs and poems can significantly enhance early reading skills and phonemic awarness.  My students enjoy and look forward to visiting the pocket chart center each week to learn a new nursery rhyme. 

To view some of our activities check out our photos and video below.

Students are working together to put the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty, in the correct order.

This is a picture of our Humpty Dumpty project.

 Here’s a picture of Jack and Jill!

We can sequence the lines to Jack and Jill in our pocket chart center!

Take a look at some of our illustrations of Jack and Jill.

We hope you enjoy our video!
 

I would like to dedicate this week’s post to our outstanding prinipal, Ms. Rita White.  Ms. White was voted Tennessee Principal of the year this week!  The teachers and students at Riverwood Elementary celebrated this momentous occasion by lining the driveway of our school and welcoming her back with flowers, signs, and lots of hugs. For a full story and video of this event visit ABC24 News.

This is the sign our class made to show Ms. White how “Beary” special she is to each of us!

Here are a few photos from our celebration.