Reader's Workshop

We have been learning that there are 3 ways to read.
1. Read the pictures
2. Read the words
3. Retell the story

Today for the first time we went to our reading spots with our book boxes.  Our book boxes contain books we have made in class and also other interest books.  We are working on building reading stamina for reading as many minutes as we can. 
When we are at our reading spots we have to:
1. Get started right away
2. Read quietly
3. Read the WHOLE time
4. Stay in 1 spot

There are a few pics in the class phot link of the kiddos in their reading spots.  By the way we read for 8 minutes without stopping! We are going to keep working on building stamina! Out goal is 20 minutes of Independent Reading Time.

Upland Hills Farm

Friday we had our first field trip to the Upland Hills Farm in Oxford. Even though it was a bit chilly and muddy, the kiddos had a fantastic time! We got to watch a farm show and see different animals that live on the farm and what kind of food they give us. We also got to take a bumpy hayride through the woods and go on a storybook forest walk. The kids had lunch under the pavilion and got to explore the farm a bit.  They played on the playground, saw horses, bunnies, pigs and other animals. We all got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. Thank you so much to those parents that braved the cold and wet to come along with us! We really couldn't do it without you! Enjoy the pictures of our farm adventure!  If you didn't ahve a chance over teh weekend you can find the pictures under our Class Photo Link.

Sink or Float

  Today with our 5th grade buddies we put our scientist hats on to compare leaves and also to experiment how many pennies it took to sink them.  The kindergartners made predictions whether the leave would sink or flat when put in water and then predicted how many pennies it would take to sink it.  After they completed their predictions they tested their theories.  After they finished experimenting they did leaf rubbings and discussed how they were similar and different.  The 5th graders helped them record their answers. 
   When they were finished they made their own Black Cat Black Cat book which is modeled after Eric Carle's Brown Bear Brown Bear book.  We had a lot of fun being scientist and illustrators today!  The class photo link offers a few pictures from our meeting.

Jog-a-thon Assembly

Today we had our jog-a-thon assembly to find out our prize winners! It was so exciting to learn that as a school the students helped to raise a little over $38,000 for our school! Wow! Thank you so so so much to all of the parents that made our jog-a-thon such a big success! Paws from the Detroit Tigers even came to our school assembly! The kids were thrilled. Leo from our class was the big lap winner for the WHOLE kindergarten and Jack was our top money raiser in our classroom. As the top lap winner, Leo will get his name on our school plaque and Jack will have a pizza lunch for him and a friend on a special day. Way to go boys! All boys and girls are going home with a free ice cream coupon (Monday) and of course they already took home their t-shirt and sports bag! In the Favorite Pictures link are a few fun pictures from the assembly today. Have a great weekend!

Jog-a-thon

What a fun day at Bemis! Today was our Jog-a-Thon and the boys and girls had a blast! We got our green shirts on and headed to the track around 10:00. The other kindergarten classes participated at the same time as us. We ran around and around for 15 whole minutes! It was hard work but the kids did great. When we came back in we got super cool blue jog-a-thon bags as a prize. We want to thank all of the parents that worked hard to put the Jog-a-Thon together, it is a lot of work and they did such a fantastic job! If you came and cheered our kiddos on today- it was great to see you there! One of the things that we will be using the jog-a-thon money for is expanding our Kindergarten playground. The money raised will put up a fence around a larger area for our kids to play. We are also hoping to get some playground toys. Click on our Favorite Photo Link and you will find our Jog-a-thon album. Enjoy the pictures!

*** PAPER

Today at school we talked about what made a ***Paper  when it came to coloring.  We used the rubric below to guide our discussion to see what they noticed about the different pictures that were colored.  We talked about how it is important to stay in the lines, use colors that make sense and to not leave white space.  Using this rubric really helped children to see what their work should look like when they are done coloring pictures for their book boxes, story sequencing, writer's workshop like when completed.   After we went over the chart we did a story sequencing of the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme.  Students had to number the out of order pictures into order, color them and then cut them out.  Even though MOST children did not finish coloring (which was fine) my main objective besides the story sequencing was to get them to slow down and color using our ***Paper rubric. Please show the picture below to your child and ask them to tell you about it today. Please also ask them to explain the different faces and their meanings.   The Jack and Jill story sequencing is coming home in your child's folder today. Please go over the rubric and ask to tell you whether they thought they had a***Paper with what they colored and why.  Possible follow-up at home would be to have them finish the remaining pictures and using our rubric.
Hopefully seeing this rubric will help you discuss future with your child.