We will be trying a new activity on Fridays during morning circle. Students are invited to bring in one special thing to share each week. It must be small enough for students to transport safely from home to school in their backpacks. Those of you reading this blog tonight may help your student choose an object to bring for tomorrow. Each Friday we will be having a different theme, such as stuffed animals, baby pictures, etc. This week is free choice. I will remember to send home a note about show and tell tomorrow in your student's folders.
Please help your student remember to turn in their handwriting practice tomorrow.
Thank you to those of you who have turned in family turkey projects. They are due November 2.
All October reading calenders should be turned in tomorrow for a prize!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
October 28
This morning we walked to the South Saint Paul Public Library. As part of our community unit we are learning about different places that are a part of our community. We met Amy the childrens librarian who gave us a tour of the upstairs childrens area. We learned about how to get a library card, how to find books on the shelves and the many special family programs the library offers. It was a chilly walk, but we had lots of fun.
Here we are arriving. We were so thankful to be in a warm place full of books.
We spent time downstairs looking at the books that we will "grow into" someday.
This is Amy, our new librarian friend. She is telling us about library cards.
We had so much fun learning about the library!
Check us out! We are learning how to play a new math game called Spin a Number. It helps us practice cooperative group learning, counting from one to ten, taking turns and number recognition. This was our first time working in small groups. We did really well for our first time. This will be a favorite game to play during Free Choice time.
Here we are arriving. We were so thankful to be in a warm place full of books.
We spent time downstairs looking at the books that we will "grow into" someday.
This is Amy, our new librarian friend. She is telling us about library cards.
We had so much fun learning about the library!
Check us out! We are learning how to play a new math game called Spin a Number. It helps us practice cooperative group learning, counting from one to ten, taking turns and number recognition. This was our first time working in small groups. We did really well for our first time. This will be a favorite game to play during Free Choice time.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
October 27
Tomorrow we will be WALKING to the South Saint Paul Public Library:-) Please send your student to school in appropriate clothes and shoes. Our class will leave school at 8:40.
Today was a day filled with learning and activity. We read and wrote about the letter Z.
We reviewed the letter Y with a silly poem about a yak who loves her yellow yo-yo.
We created think bubbles that represented what we want to be when we grow up and what we hope to contribute to our communities. We have many aspiring singers, doctors, teachers, police officers, and politicians in our room. Our think bubbles are on display in our room on our classroom PYP bulletin board.
We focused on spatial words in math. We read ROSIE'S WALK to supplement and enhance our understanding of direction words: under, over, through, across, on top of, next to, behind, in front of, etc. The kids had fun playing Simon Says and listening to my direction words.
We reviewed our understanding of the word caring. We read a book called MY NOSE, YOUR NOSE as an example of caring friends. We understand that caring in kindergarten means being nice, asking friends to play on the playground, asking how our friends are feeling, helping those in need, and showing respect.
Next week's calendars were sent home in folders this week. Check for them:-)
As always, thank you for entrusting me with your child each day. I understand how important they are to you. Please know that I will continue to nurture their growth and development as whole learners. I am excited to work in tandem and cooperation with you this year. Enjoy your evening.
Today was a day filled with learning and activity. We read and wrote about the letter Z.
We reviewed the letter Y with a silly poem about a yak who loves her yellow yo-yo.
We created think bubbles that represented what we want to be when we grow up and what we hope to contribute to our communities. We have many aspiring singers, doctors, teachers, police officers, and politicians in our room. Our think bubbles are on display in our room on our classroom PYP bulletin board.
We focused on spatial words in math. We read ROSIE'S WALK to supplement and enhance our understanding of direction words: under, over, through, across, on top of, next to, behind, in front of, etc. The kids had fun playing Simon Says and listening to my direction words.
We reviewed our understanding of the word caring. We read a book called MY NOSE, YOUR NOSE as an example of caring friends. We understand that caring in kindergarten means being nice, asking friends to play on the playground, asking how our friends are feeling, helping those in need, and showing respect.
Next week's calendars were sent home in folders this week. Check for them:-)
As always, thank you for entrusting me with your child each day. I understand how important they are to you. Please know that I will continue to nurture their growth and development as whole learners. I am excited to work in tandem and cooperation with you this year. Enjoy your evening.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
October 26
Today we worked really hard practicing the letter Y, using describing words to talk about shapes (round, edges, etc.) and learning about jobs in the community. We also read the book THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR to help us practice our counting and colors. Students brought home caterpillar sheets in their folders today. Ask them to retell the story for you using their drawings. We discussed our classroom rules again and talked about how rules can be different when we are in different places--home, versus school, etc. Look for a copy of our classroom rules in folders this week. If you still have October reading calendars, turn them by Friday for a special prize. If you lost yours during classroom transition, don't worry--we will start again in November:-)
Here we are hard at work on our community helpers books. We love to color and glue.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Reminders
Students brought their rest towels and paint shirts home to be washed last Friday. Please return them to school ASAP.
Yellow Math Link sheets went home today. Please indicate that you have done the activity by initialing the sheet and sending it back with your student no later than Friday.
We are excited to be getting a new student in our class tomorrow. Her name is Sophia. We can hardly wait to tell her all about Lincoln Center.
We will still be doing monthly book calendars. Please bring yours in by Friday for a special prize. November reading calendars will be sent home this week.
We will now have 19 students in our class. When it is your student's snack turn, please send enough for all students. We do not have any food allergies in our room.
Yellow Math Link sheets went home today. Please indicate that you have done the activity by initialing the sheet and sending it back with your student no later than Friday.
We are excited to be getting a new student in our class tomorrow. Her name is Sophia. We can hardly wait to tell her all about Lincoln Center.
We will still be doing monthly book calendars. Please bring yours in by Friday for a special prize. November reading calendars will be sent home this week.
We will now have 19 students in our class. When it is your student's snack turn, please send enough for all students. We do not have any food allergies in our room.
Community Helpers!
Welcome back. I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing week away from school. I enjoyed seeing and meeting so many families at conferences last Monday and Tuesday. Today was an exciting day in kindergarten. We kicked off our new PYP theme unit on Communities with a COMMUNITY HELPER Day. We had six members of our community come and speak with our students about how they help the people of South Saint Paul. All kindergarten students rotated as a class and heard about: a garbage collector, a policeman(woman), firefighter, city engineer, mayor and a parks and recreation representative. Check out what we saw:
We loved to watch the garbage man lift the trash bin off the truck with his special levers. We learned that this garbage truck does not collect trash from dumpsters. It is used for big construction projects like new roofs, and driveways.
We had so much fun learning about what it is like in the police world. We all got to sit in the front and back of the squad car. We compared and contrasted the cars we ride in compared to a police car. We learned that the back seats of a police car are hard so that people can't hide anything in the seats. We learned that police work hard to keep us safe in our communities. Our special helper Maddy even got to turn on the lights and the siren!
We were so excited to hear about what it is like to be a firefighter. We learned that South Saint Paul has two fire trucks. The firefighters have to live at the station for one third of the year. They are like a family because they spend so much time together. They use a ladder, a hose and an ax as their tools. As we were listening to the firefighters speak, we heard TWO firetruck sirens in the distance!
We really enjoyed learning about snow plow engineers. We learned that they cover the big plows in special black paper so the snow doesn't stick. They dump rock salt on the road to help melt the ice. They get up at 2 in the morning to make sure all of the roads are clear for emergency vehicles, and in time for us to drive to work and school. In the fall, they help blow leaves away from the streets. In the spring, they use street sweepers to get rid of dirt and salt.
This is Beth Baumann, the mayor of South Saint Paul. She helps make rules and laws for our city. We practiced "motioning" for new laws at school. We passed lots of new laws for our school that help keep students safe and help them learn. Mayor B. uses a gavel when a new law is passed. We learned new words for yes and no. If we agree to a law we say YAY. If we do not agree to a law we say NAY.
Our teacher was having such a great time, she forgot to take pictures of our guest from the Parks and Recreation Department. We learned how important it is to take care of our parks by keeping our dogs on a leash and by picking up after them. We learned that South Saint Paul has many parks to play football and disc golf.
I am sure that the students will have much more to tell you. The pictures will probably jog their memories:-)
We loved to watch the garbage man lift the trash bin off the truck with his special levers. We learned that this garbage truck does not collect trash from dumpsters. It is used for big construction projects like new roofs, and driveways.
We had so much fun learning about what it is like in the police world. We all got to sit in the front and back of the squad car. We compared and contrasted the cars we ride in compared to a police car. We learned that the back seats of a police car are hard so that people can't hide anything in the seats. We learned that police work hard to keep us safe in our communities. Our special helper Maddy even got to turn on the lights and the siren!
We were so excited to hear about what it is like to be a firefighter. We learned that South Saint Paul has two fire trucks. The firefighters have to live at the station for one third of the year. They are like a family because they spend so much time together. They use a ladder, a hose and an ax as their tools. As we were listening to the firefighters speak, we heard TWO firetruck sirens in the distance!
We really enjoyed learning about snow plow engineers. We learned that they cover the big plows in special black paper so the snow doesn't stick. They dump rock salt on the road to help melt the ice. They get up at 2 in the morning to make sure all of the roads are clear for emergency vehicles, and in time for us to drive to work and school. In the fall, they help blow leaves away from the streets. In the spring, they use street sweepers to get rid of dirt and salt.
This is Beth Baumann, the mayor of South Saint Paul. She helps make rules and laws for our city. We practiced "motioning" for new laws at school. We passed lots of new laws for our school that help keep students safe and help them learn. Mayor B. uses a gavel when a new law is passed. We learned new words for yes and no. If we agree to a law we say YAY. If we do not agree to a law we say NAY.Our teacher was having such a great time, she forgot to take pictures of our guest from the Parks and Recreation Department. We learned how important it is to take care of our parks by keeping our dogs on a leash and by picking up after them. We learned that South Saint Paul has many parks to play football and disc golf.
I am sure that the students will have much more to tell you. The pictures will probably jog their memories:-)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Minnesota Children's Museum
Last Thursday, our kindergartners visited the Minnesota Children's Museum. We had so much fun learning about community helpers, Japan, what it's like inside a spaceship, playing with bubbles, operating pulleys and levers, etc. It was fun for me to see the students' faces light up when they discovered something new. Here are a few pictures from our day.
Meet Your Teacher
I thought this would be a great time and place to let you get to know a little bit about me. This is a picture of my little sister, Lily and me. My sister Lily is also a teacher. She is on the right.
I am from Boulder, Colorado.
I love to run. Most recently I finished my second marathon.
I have a dog named Lucy. She is one year old.
I also have a cat named Bailey. She is five and she lets Lucy know that she is queen of the house.
My favorite color is purple. I love, love, LOVE cupcakes.
I love to be at school. I love to learn new things and teach them to other people.
I am from Boulder, Colorado.
I love to run. Most recently I finished my second marathon.
I have a dog named Lucy. She is one year old.
I also have a cat named Bailey. She is five and she lets Lucy know that she is queen of the house.
My favorite color is purple. I love, love, LOVE cupcakes.
I love to be at school. I love to learn new things and teach them to other people.
A Room Tour
Here is where we will be spending our time for the next seven months. We are so excited to learn in our new classroom community.
Welcome!
Hello Families! Welcome to our kindergarten classroom website. I am so excited to share all of the wonderful things that happen in our classroom each day. Please check here for important happenings, calendar reminders, and to learn about what we are doing as a classroom community each day. Along the left hand side of the blog, you will find links to various websites that I believe you and your kindergartner will find useful. Most are reading, math and science oriented. Along the right hand side, you will find an updated calendar detailing upcoming events, birthdays, our weekly specials schedule and our snack schedule. My goal is to write a post at least 3 times a week so you know all about the learning adventures we have. As always, feel free to contact me at anytime by email (jetshokin@sspps.org) or phone (457-9117) with questions, suggestions and comments. I am so excited for our year together!
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