A Peek Into Reading Group

The kindergartners listened to a story by the Brothers Grimm called the Shoemaker and the Elves. They started a new homework assignment to write a question about the story. They shared the questions and we discussed them in class. The kindergartners acted out two scenes where the elves are making the shoes ( we will be using several shoes from https://vessifootwear.com/ for the play), and when they find the clothes the shoemaker’s wife made for them. We learned some new vocabulary words and completed comprehension activities such as drawing the havaianas the elves made, writing how the shoemaker and his wife felt after seeing the elves, and writing a poem.

A Peek Into the Next Two Weeks

-The students will be listening to a Russian folk tale about a frog who takes a trip.

-The students will complete writing and art activities.

-The students will write a question to share for group discussion.

 


A Peek Into Reading Group

This last week we read a poem about a storm. We listened for rhyming words through out the poem and practiced reading the purple highlited words. We discussed if we have ever seen a big storm like the speaker did in the poem. They talked about where they would like to be when their was a storm. They said they woukd like to be inside with their parents. The kindergartners created their own poem, and drew pictures of one of the types of stroms mentioned in the poem.

After Spring Break

-The students will be starting the next series in the Junior Great Books series. There will be different assignments and the format will look different. I will send out more information after spring break.


A Peek Into Reading Group

These last two weeks, we read a story called The Tin Forest. It was about an old man who lived far away from anyone and lived amongst trash. At night he would dream about a beautiful forest with plants and animals. He decided one day to build the forest of his dreams out of the trash. The students got to participate in  vocabulary activities to enhance their understanding of the words, discuss questions about the strory, and complete writing prompts. They really enjoyed acting out the scene where the old man builds the forest out of trash.

A Peek Into Next Week

-The students will listen to a poem about a stormy night.

-The students will learn vocab words: howling, prowling, and whine.

-The students will to write their own poem.


A Peek Into Art – February

We had a fun month together in Art Class!  We continued our travels back in time, all the way to Ancient Greece! We learned about the Ancient Greeks and how they told their stories through art on vases. We talked about how important story-telling is in art and how the ancient artists displayed their artworks all around them (on ceilings, floors, walls and their every day objects). We learned about the different styles of Greek vases and what the parts of the vases were called. Then we made Greek vases and told our very own stories, about our families, on them using colored pencils. It was really special to see each student draw their families and pets on their vases!
In celebration of Valentines Day this week, we used our liquid watercolors and q-tips to practice the art of Pointillism. The students very carefully traced hearts and then carefully added dots of color along the edges and inside of the hearts. Watching the students focus on this art project was wonderful, as they worked on placing their dots on the lines.
In Art this month we also learned about Eric Carle’s Draw Me a Star and talked about the color and methods this author, illustrator and artist uses in his work. Then we got to work making our very own star, similar to the one in the story! Each student was given a pre-drawn start and asked to carefully cut and glue squares of tissue paper onto it. After they finished, each student cut out his or her star and glued it onto a blue “sky” background. For the finishing touch, we added fingerprints of white paint on top of the tissue paper to recreate Eric Carle’s beautiful work! The students enjoyed cutting and pasting the tissue paper on to create a colorful collage!

A Peek Into Reading Group

Over the last two weeks we read a story of a little girl who got to go buy eggs all by herself for the first time. Her parents told her not to dilly-dally and come right home. On her way home, she wanted to pick apples and ended up dropping the eggs and breaking them. Her parents found out, but showed her grace and forgiveness. The kindergartners practiced reading the purple highlighted words, and continued to practice discussing and listening to each other. They participated in reading comprehension activities by drawing pictures, writing responses, and acting out a scene where Hetty walks across the stream with the eggs. At the end of the story, the group filled out an evaluation on how well they worked in discussion. They came up with a goal to listen to friends’ ideas and reasons.

 

A Peek Into the Next Two Weeks

-The students will read a story of a man who dreams of a different life.

-The students will participate in vocabulary activities.

-The students will learn about the genre fantasy fiction.


A Peek Into Reading Group

Over the last two weeks, we read a story called Screen of Frogs. It was about a lazy man who didn’t want to work. The moral of the story was that our actions affect others, and hard work goes a long way.

The kindergartners acted out a scene where the frog grabs the man’s leg. They had to react how they thought Koji would act. They responded to interpretive questions and completed worksheets that went along with the story. The kindergartners shared ideas with each other and even did an evaluation on how well they listened to each other.

A Peek Into the Next Two Weeks

-The students will listen to a story of a girl who gies to the store by herself for thr first time.

-The students will continue to work on evaluative questions.

-The students will learn vocab words: stumbled, examined, and nudged.


A Peek Into Reading Group

Over the last couple weeks the kindergartners read a poem called Every Time I Climb a Tree. The poem is about a little boy who enjoys climbing trees, and describes what all he sees while he’s in the tree. To start the reading we went outside and observed the trees and discussed what we saw and heard while observing. We then read the poem together and talked about how poems have rhythm, so we clapped out the rhythm together while I read aloud. The students got to write their own poem of a place that makes them feel free like the boy felt in the poem. They also drew what things the boy sees while he’s up in the tree. Because, it was the end if the volume, the students got to pick a character from the last three stories we read to ask a question.

A Peek Into the Next Two Weeks

-The students will listen to a story about a lazy rich man.

-The students will answer interpretive questions and complete activities about the story.

-The students will evaluate how well they shared and listened to each other during the story.


A Peek Into Art Class | January 2018

With Ms. Renee

We started off the new year traveling back in time to the very first artists: cave painters! We read The First Drawing by Mordecai Gerstein and talked about what it was like to live in the time of the cave people. Then we taped our “cave walls” to the walls of the room and made our very own drawing! We even signed them with our handprints like the cave people did.

Our next stop in time was the Ancient Egyptians! We learned that Egyptians also told their stories using drawings on stone, this time on the walls of their temples. We also talked about the dress of the Egyptians and how beautiful their clothing was, and that was probably purchased from a Girls Clothing store online. We read Let’s Visit Cairo by Lisa Manzione to learn more about Egypt and what makes this part of the world so unique. Then we decorated our very own Egyptian collars to wear over our clothes from The Fifth Collection! If you want to find the amazing world of matching clothes and accessories for family, friends and couples don’t forget to visit matching gear.

Next we traveled to Ancient Rome and learned about tesserae and the art of mosaics. The Romans used tiles to tell their stories on walls, ceilings and floors, so people started to imitate this on their homes, and learn to use different techniques and materials, like using 5KG buckets of weber grout for their tiles. Then we created our own mosaic using yarn and paper squares for our tiles.

Our last project of the month was an exploration of painting! The students had fun breaking into groups and traveling around the classroom visiting different painting stations. The students experimented with unique paintbrushes, rollers, painting with small cars, yarn and pom poms. It was so neat to see how involved and focused they all were while they did this!


A Peek Into Reading Group

Over the past few weeks due to all of the days off, the kindergartners listened to a story called The Fire Cat. This story is about a cat who constantly gets in to trouble, and then ends up doing great things after working with a group of firemen. We had an interpretive discussion about the story. We talked about why Mrs. Goodkind told Pickles he isn’t good or bad but “mixed-up”, and why was Pickles happy at the end of the story. They had to write down responses to questions and draw a picture of a scene from the story. The kindergartners even got to act out a scene where Pickles chased the smaller cats. They love getting to move and pretend to be the characters from stories.

A Peek Into the Next Two Weeks

-The students will listen to a poem.

-The students will learn about rhythm in poems.

-The students will practice choral reading.

 

 


A Peek into Art Class | December 2017

With Ms. Renee

Week of December 4th

This week, to kick off the month of December and our holiday program right around the corner, we decorated trees in the forest! Each student cut out three triangles for trees, added garland, decorations and then glued the trees to their background of chalk pastel rubbings. To finish off the holiday trees, we added silver and gold paint last to add some sparkle!

Week of December 11th

To begin class this week we each made a jingle bell bracelet using pipe cleaners, beads and a jingle bell. The students worked hard stringing the beads onto the pipe cleaners and were excited about their finished work! Using our jingle bracelets, the students helped read The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen. During various parts of the story, the students helped shake their bells so Ollie could find her reindeer friend.

Next we created a reindeer of our own, set against a snowy black sky (just like Ollie’s reindeer in the story!). The students worked hard to cut, glue and added painted snowflakes to their art work. Each reindeer turned out so cute and different!