Friday, May 27, 2011

It's a *zoo* in here!!

Even though this was from a few weeks ago, I promised some of my parents I would post!  My students worked soooo hard on their research projects and I was too proud not to share.  One of our state standards is to narrow a research question, appropriate to grade level and ability, and use outside sources to answer the question. My Kindergarten colleague and I chose to have students do a research topic on a particular zoo animal and asked them to present their posters during zoo week.  I was amazed at my students' presentations and all that they taught ME! Way to go guys! :) 
Students were informed that they had to be knowledgeable on their animal and be able to  share their poster with the class.  Below, Molly is informing us on all she learned about tigers. 
Kaylee went to the Knoxville Zoo and picked up some artifacts to share with our class about giraffes. She even took pictures of animals she saw and shared them with us!  
Of course we tied zoo into our Literacy Work Stations.  Students listened to Rumble in the Jungle during Listening time and learned about various animals in their rotations. 
Each day, we chose a different animal to focus on and learn about.  We charted webs and facts after we read informational texts.  Here is a bubble map we put together on kangaroos!
We even had time to squeeze in a few art activities. Kindergarten literally was a "zoo" that week! Students used brown finger paint to add the giraffe's pattern on its body.  Did you know that every giraffe has a different pattern? Also, we used a paper plate to create an elephant.  
Happy Memorial Day Weekend.  Love, Miss E

Monday, May 9, 2011

Teacher Appreciation Week!

This post is a little late as well...but I had to share. Check out what my students made me...and best of all, they kept it a surprise! (Anyone who teaches younger grades knows how difficult this task can be) I about died when my art teacher walked in carrying this blanket. Apparently one of my parents sent in a plain blanket and paints to our school's art teacher, asking her to stamp each child's hand print and write their name. I'm pretty sure my facial expression says it all.  I was totally surprised and thrilled with the gift! :)  I love my kiddos. 
I had to give everyone hugs.  
And here is the blanket with *most* of my class - not all of them made it in the photo.  OOPS!  So thankful for the sweet gift and the thought that went in behind it.  I will certainly treasure this gift for years to come.  To all of my parents reading - thank you for sharing your child with me.  Your child has touched me beyond words and I'm certain they will do great things in the future.  I hope all of my teacher friends had a great Teacher Appreciation Week!
Love, Miss E

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mothers out there!  Just wanted to share 2 little things my students put together for their Mom's.  I hope they kept it a secret like I instructed them to do! ;-) 
We planted our Mom's flowers and they started to bloom.  Yay! A few years back...we had no such luck and gave our Moms a cup full of dirt.  Oops. I'm sure they still loved it the same!  If that ever happens to you - no worries.  Just attach this poem:
I planted some seeds in hopes that they'd grow,
Something went wrong, I just don't know...
Instead of some flowers, it's a cupful of dirt.
I love you - I hope your feelings aren't hurt!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
This project is a favorite every school year.  Students are given scraps and are instructed to create their Mom's sleeping in her bed.  It is suppose to appear as if her head is poking out from under her covers.  We glue it on the front of a paper bag and attached the following poem:
Breakfast in Bed
Since it is your day,
I have something to say.
Don't lift your head,
Have breakfast in bed.
Just take a look...
You don't have to cook!
I don't like to brag,
But it's breakfast in a bag!
Happy Mother's Day 2011
Enjoy!
Inside the bag, we place: a napkin, apple, breakfast bar, and a tea bag.  Wished I would've gotten a few shots of some other bags.  A few of my students (I think) created their Mom's hair to look like it actually looks when they wake up in the morning.  It was sticking up and all over the place - hilarious!  I used scrapbook paper this year, but scraps from wallpaper books make great "bed spreads" for the bags as well.  Check out more mother's day stuff {here}.  Thank you again to all the Mom's out there and everything you do for your children.  To my Mother - I love you and adore you.  Thank you for ALWAYS being there.
~Miss E

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Going Buggy!

The title of my post says it all.  I have literally been going buggy.  Between cheerleading tryouts, wrapping up the end of the school year, graduate school, and distributing our school's yearbooks...I haven't slept much!  Been living at school lately! :)  Ha...good news is, this is my last year as Yearbook sponsor.  Hooray!!!  Anyways...I am posting stuff from 2 weeks ago.  This is just a snip it of our insect week.  We had a great time studying bugs.  After reading TONS of nonfiction books, making webs and bubble maps, and watching Brain Pop videos...here is what we put together!  My students just LOVEEE creepy crawlies.  Me on the other hand - not so much.  EEK!
We used our fingerprints to make ants and ladybugs.
We made a bee book.  "Here is the beehive, where are the bees?  Hiding quietly, where nobody sees.  Are you sure?  Let's peek in the hive.  One, two, three, four, five...OUCH!!"
  A few Ellison Di Cuts and a paper plate...and wallah! The Life Cycle of a Butterfly. 
Students made a lady bug book and added dots to the front cover.  On the inside, we reviewed positional words and students placed their ladybug to match. 
"I'm beside the cricket."

Sorry I've been such a slacker.  I've got TONS of posts coming soon.  My camera is overflowing with photos.  Happy Weekend! ~Miss E

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Spring is hatching!

We've been studying Easter this week and with that said, I was able to throw in Oviparous and Not Oviparous animals.  If you haven't figured out by now...I'm notorious for throwing a multitude of things together and knocking out lots of curriculum standards in one swoop! ;-)  ha ha Yes!! For help, you must check out this corresponding unit at {Chalk Talk}.
We read the book Chickens Aren't the Only Ones by Ruth Heller and sorted animals that do and do not lay eggs.
We also have been working on hatching this little guy!  (Picked up at the Dollar Tree) He has finally come out of his shell and is getting BIGGER by the day. 
Check out the chicks we made, too.  This art activity goes great with Easter AND oviparous animals! :)
 We sequenced an "Animals from Eggs" story.
 And made our own class book! 
A chick hatches from an egg.
 A bird hatches from an egg.
 An octopus hatches from an egg.
 A spider hatches from an egg.
 A dinosaur hatches from an egg.
 A turtle hatches from an egg.
We also made tie dyed eggs using coffee filters, markers, and a spray bottle.
Happy Easter! ~Miss E

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Non Fiction Writing Idea

I just love stalking browsing blogs and finding great printables I can use in my classroom.  I hope to figure that out and post some cool stuff one day. Maybe a summer goal?!? Anyways, I found this WONDERFUL nonfiction book at A Place called Kindergarten and it correlated with our reading series unit, not to mention writer's workshop - so I HAD to print it and use it with my students.  How about that...killing 2 birds with 1 stone?  Score!  Check out what we did...
We've been reading and identifying lots of non-fiction books with our "Amazing Creatures" unit. We read a book called Beetles by Edana Eckart and began filling out our writing ideas

We know that Nonfiction writers research topics to write about and we were able to research and find facts on beetles.  
*Some glow in the dark
*They eat many things

*Some glow
  *Many colors
Nonfiction writers label their pictures - a skill we're working on in writer's workshop.  Here are some of our illustrations and labels. 
You can also find fun facts in Nonfiction books. Here is what we found out about ladybugs!
I was pretty pleased with how they turned out and uber thankful for the freebie!  Hope you enjoy, happy weekend. ~Miss E

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Dino Week

Whoo hoo!  We are having so much fun studying dinosaurs.  We've started out each morning by engaging in a little "Chit Chat".  I just love chit chatting with my class.  It gives my students an insight on what's to come and gets them excited to learn.
On Tuesday, we had a visitor come and bring real bones!  We enjoyed touching and learning about human bones and afterwards, we made comparisons.  Here is a Venn Diagram we filled out, comparing dinosaur bones to human bones. Students even watched a brain pop video on fossils. 
Afterwards, we made our own fossils and studied them like real palentologists do!
 Can't forget about a little art project.  We made our own dinosaurs and added spikes.
 More to come... ~Miss E