Service, Our April Character Word

On Wednesday we wore jammies to school to collect money for our friend, Jacob, who has been battling cancer for six years.  Thank you, parents, for your generous contributions.  Our class collected $202.62 on Wednesday and on Thursday wore Jacob's favorite color blue.  His mom hugged each one of my students when she heard the news.

A Special Visitor

Our principal, Dr. Stryjewski, visited our class on Wednesday during a subtraction lesson.  The math lesson was integrated wth literature as I read 10 Monsters in a Bed.  The students subtracted monsters as I read the book and then created subtraction sentences.  They took turns reading the monster poem to the class after the lesson and then back to their tables to color their own monsters.  My kindergartners were very engaged during the lesson and really showed their stuff.  Dr. Stryjewski said that they were great learners, very focused and well-behaved.  I was so proud of them.  They got cookies on Friday!

In Our Little Corner of the World

Kindergartners love to read to each other.  Here are Cora and Elena reading together in the book center.

Our Buddy Class visited us on Wednesday and brought how-to-draw books which they composed and drew themselves for us.  What fun that was!

What's Keen in Room 17?

EARTH DAY!  Happy Earth Day everyone!  My students have been working very hard this past week learning about how they can take care of our Earth and wrote and illustrated a book about it.  Way to go, kindergartners!

SUBTRACTION!  We are learning subtraction using pictures and objects, acting out situations, and writing subtraction problems. 

READING!  The kindergartners continue to advance in Guided Reading and look forward to working with a partner during Literacy Centers.

DEAR!  They love Drop Everything And Read.  They keep their leveled book in the pocket chart so it is readily available when we DEAR.

GRANDPARENT'S DAY!  We have been singing and reciting poems all week in anticipation of the big day when we put on a musical performance for our grandparents.

Pluses and Minuses

Tomorrow we take our test on addition.  The kindergartners have been using manipulatives and pictures to help them learn about addition sentences.  They know what 'plus' and 'is equal to' means and have been practicing this on their math workbook pages, the computer, and interactive board.  Tuesday we start subtraction.   We also finish up the last round of letter of the day on Tuesday.  We are rolling right along.  They are eager beavers.

If they seem to be high on sugar, it is because we have six birthdays in April and have been celebrating with treats.  The month isn't over yet!

My architects work sooo hard on their projects they hate to dismantle them when centertime is over.  The above pictures are some of their projects.  Owen made a log cabin and Austin and Aden are very proud of their rocket blaster.

FOURTH QUARTER FACTS

My kindergartners have been very busy writing sentences they compose in their letter of the day booklets.  They are very creative as they write facts about words that begin with that letter.   We have four more letters to finish before we will have completed four rounds of letter of the day.  The kindergartners have become very good writers and enjoy reading their sentences to each other as we begin our day.

They continue to advance in Guided Reading and enjoy working with a partner in Literacy Centers.  Sharing their work is always a very important part of their day.  We have extra reading practice each day as we DEAR (Drop Everything And Read).  They are enjoying this.

We are preparing for Grandparent's Day as we practice our special songs and poems.  The big day is May 4th and information and invitations will be coming home soon.  They are really excited!