At SK, collaboration is a vital component to the learning process.  Teachers plan and implement a good portion of our curriculum with others in mind.  Community sources include visiting local shops and businesses, taking field trips, and inviting guest speakers.   A great wealth of rich resources, however, are found right here at school!  

Kindergartners in particular have numerous opportunities to glean from other classrooms  and share our ideas and activities with them.  Here are a few:

K Buddies with Mrs. Carpenter- Kindergartners, 1st, and 2nd graders listen to stories read by the children; assist in assembling a worm bin; and eat the "fruit" of their pasta sauce making labor!

"Karl Buddies" investigate just  how Kindergartners play in order to better understand our needs while designing our playground for us! 

Joanna, our Head of School, is our partner in thought and  in deed!!!

Mr. B's 3rd/ 4th graders  are on hand to share Farm themed stories and to design Kindergartner friendly Math games!

Chris' 3rd/4th grade class sprawls out with Ks for some great partner reading time!

Our "E Buddies" (Elaine's Class) participates with our Yoga Class and shares their  amazing collection of dress- up clothes and building materials!

Kindergarten Looks Like....

Socialization and Social Emotional Development are  vital components of  Kindergarten.  Children practice taking turns, being respectful to each other, and how to show empathy.   Many homeroom "Circle Times" are spent talking about our feelings, our likes and dislikes, and our past experiences.    Our skills, however, are modeled all through the day-while lining up, on the playground and during free choice time.  (Right) Kindergartners chit chat and share a pot of warm apple cider in china tea cups to take away the afternoon chill.

Sometimes Kindergarten Math looks like...

After much discussion, Kindergartners arranged themselves in a recognizable ABBABB pattern all on their own.  Previous lessons introduced the AB pattern using shape manipulatives.  

We  identified simple shapes-squares, circles, and triangles then quickly moved on to more complex shapes-spheres, cubes, and rectangular prisms.  

Another Math lesson involved using straws as the medium.   Kindergartners attempted making "symmetrical" figures.  The quest for symmetry was then all abuzz for the rest of the week. Ks excitedly mentioned finding symmetry in their drawings, classroom materials, simple origami activities, and even in their clothing!

This right/left mirror imaging  extended into nature when a Kindergartner pointed out  that our playground pine tree was symmetrical yet our "Yonder Tree" was not.  (The yonder tree was previously mentioned in a circle time song  that goes like this, "I had a rooster... my rooster pleased me... I feed my rooster under yonder tree...!:))

 Kindergartners used dominoes to work on some strategic problem solving in the round!  Each child was given two domino pieces and attempted to  match numbers with classmates and connect our pieces all the way around the table.   A lot of seat rearranging, suggesting, and giggles ensued as we repositioned ourselves for the task.  At the end, we boasted of using all but  two of the dominoes.  Critical thinking, visual discrimination, and lots of cooperation were vital components needed to complete the task.

Kindergartners tried our hand at assembling 3 dimensional objects, more specifically cubes (with the help of Dr. Georges dye cut machine) and  challenging cones.   After mastery, we became experts and assisted others with completing their shapes.

Language Arts

 Our Genre studies continued with Fables, Tall Tales, and Trickster Tales.  The month began with "Aesop's Fables" in particular.  We read how Aesop,  thought to be Greek slave,   often told these tales to get out of trouble and avoid tasks.   We discussed that the purpose of a fable was to teach a lesson  then read "The Angry Ant,"  "The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf,"  and  two versions of "The Ant and the Grasshopper."   We also supplemented our reading with a contemporary twist on the same tale-  The Wolf Who Cried Boy.   Kindergartners  discussed which version was preferred-  the traditional tales or the "gentler", more redeeming conclusions. 

 We also discovered  that "a "trickster" comes in many forms- a mischievous spider named Anansi, a family of hard working hares in Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens, and  a tiny girl, Clever Beatrice by Margaret Willey.   Although we read that "tales" have many names such as whoppers, gallyfloppers, and long bows,  the Kindergartners  concluded on their own that "tricking" is just the same as "lying!"

During quiet time, Journal Writing consisted of telling whether the grasshopper deserved to be without food  through the cold winter or was his fiddle playing enough of an exchange of goods and services.

Kindergartners also noticed that some of the letters in The True Story of the Big Bad Wolf by A. Wolf (a.k.a Jon Schieszka) were embellished with clues of the story plot.  We are now in the process of illustrating our own alphabet letters.   I brought in some of my very old college attempts at word illustration for motivation!



Social Studies

Kindergartners compared Aesop with  a story discussed the previous month about slaves who carried their basket-making abilities from Africa to South Carolina.   We handled  authentic "sweet grass" baskets at Circle Time and noticed the similarities in braiding patterns to the baskets  in a historical fiction picture book  titled,             A Circle Unbroken  by Margot Theis Raven.  The story told of how a family tradition of making baskets  out of the long grasses was carried across continents and passed down from one generation to another.  The craftsmanship on these containers was said to have been so well done, one could even carry water in them.    We also compared  the sweet grass basket patterning to our AB pattern activities in Math class.  Additionally, one child  made the connection that Aesop "The slave" and "the basket weaving slaves of Africa" were similar to Israelite slaves from her Hebrew teachings!

Karl Buddy Wednesday's involved in-depth buddy introductions, more "pool" dicussion, games of chase, and an original song! 

K Buddies added to our Genre Studies repertoire with hilarious  Appalachian folk tales!

Choice Time   Don't bother with the toy... just give them the box!!!

Umbrella Dances at A.M. Recess!!!

Our trip to Wild Swan Theatre did not disappoint!  Enthusiastic and interactive audience participation added to a delightful retelling of "Frog and Toad."  Kindergartners appeared delighted that the stories were by Arnold Lobel, the same author/ illustrator of some of our fable stories!!!  

Have A Great Week!!!!

P.S. Thank you Everyone for attending Parent/Teacher Conferences last week and for your comments and input. Kindergarten had 100% Family participation!!!

Yoga Friday (In Pajamas) with Dom!

  

Wiard's Orchard Trip!

Apples were scarce due to this past year's weather conditions.   Kindergartners, however, were not lacking in activity! 

Kindergartners concluded that if you just take one of the first trails going back to the beginning, you couldn't possibly get lost in the corn maze. 








We noticed several ears of corn still centered on the stalks.  The cobs reminded us of one of our "Trickster Tales" heard this week during this month's "Genre Studies."   Tops and Bottoms written and illustrated by Janet Stevens  told of how some clever rabbits tricked a lazy bear out of "the middles" (ears of corn) by giving it the "tops" (corn hairs) and "bottoms" (roots) for his agreed upon portion of the crop harvest.

So many pumpkin choices, so little time!

The hayride provided some great family and friend snuggle time. 

Bales of hay and a large pirate ship climber provided some great gross motor activities.













Local cider and donuts were a great treat to very a sweet trip to the Orchard!

Toledo Zoo Trip: Domesticated vs. Wild Animals!

Kindergartners arrived at the Toledo Zoo with smiles, a wish list,  and lots of energy.  We inspected the area and made our financial contributions to the coin fountain.   We perused  the "African Savannah" while waiting for an informative train ride.  We noticed that the savannah exhibit housed guinea fowl and peacocks just like the ones we saw at dairy farm earlier in the month.   The presence of ostriches, vultures, and wildebeests  were decidedly different, however.   







We seemed to really fancy all of the sculptured animals (sometimes in lieu of the real creatures) and desired to stop and pet each and every one!












There was also much discussion about  bee hives, prehensile tails, and giraffe's tongues.











Kindergartners were pleasantly surprised by a splash of water on the glass as this polar bear exited the water!




(Overheard) "They're (polar bears) not as big as you think!"









Beautiful and bright foliage decorated our surroundings.  Tufts of this colorful "flag grass" were crowned by small chirpy birds.








Kindergartners inquired about how our "Reading Corner" pool traveled all the way to the zoo.  "It is the exact same pattern!" someone noted.  We had also been discussing and creating "patterns" in our classroom this past week! 

Taking time to measure up!!

Kindergartners were able to make some great "Farm to Table" connections even here at the Zoo.   We were pleased to see that the primate's diet was rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, but were a little concerned that some of the produce stickers had been left on!  Fiber maybe.

Silhouettes of aquatic animal sighting seekers!

Grandpa Mendez captured the perfect moment to a nearly perfect day!!!


A very special Thank You to all of the wonderful Parents, Grandparents, and our Classroom Volunteer who accompanied us on our trip!!

In Search of "Library Lions"

Kindergartners listened attentively to one of the sweetest stories ever, Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen.  This story told of a curious lion who wandered into the library and learned proper etiquette (including the rules  of "quiet voices" and "no running") while there. 

After the story Kindergartners boarded our school bus in search of our own "library lion."  We eagerly entered the Mallett's Creek Library (after noticing the garden on its rooftop)and were warmly greeted by the Librarian  seated at the Circulation Desk.  








Although we didn't find any real lions, we immediately spotted a realistic illustration of one on a book located on the recirculation cart!  We browsed through lots of books, found a puffer fish in the aquarium, played with toys, and engaged in some interesting games and audio stories.  










By the way, a special thank you to our new classroom volunteer Shevi for assisting us in getting most of our computers up and running.  


                                                                         

Before departure, Kindergartners  assisted in renewing our library card, scanned and checked out classroom book selections; and received stickers, book marks, and brochures to share with our families.   

We also practiced, at Miss Merriweather's (a character from the story) request, "No running unless you have a good reason."  
We will, however,  run back to the library (with good reason) real soon !   

October Dates at a Glance & Snack Schedule

October 2012 Dates at a Glance

October 5th           No School-Staff Development

October 12th         Trip to Wiard Orchard, 9 A.M.  Volunteer Chaperons needed!  

                            (Fee of $8.99 per adult required)

October 19th         Trip to Wild Swan Theatre's "Frog and Toad", 

October 15-19th     Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences (Please sign up by e-mail)

October 22nd         No School 

October 31th         Eco-Fair- wear costumes made from recycled materials

Weekly Snack Providers:

October 3-4th       Clara F.

October 8-12th      Ben

October 15-19th    Eliza

October 23-26       Clara B.

October 29-Nov.2  Mason

November 5-9       Mason

November 12-16    Sana

November 19&20   open

November 26-30th open

December 3-7        val

Oh Say, Can You Saw...

Our friend Matt (also our school's Business Manager) asked if our Kindergartners would like a saw for our resident pile of wood.  Of course we said, "YES!"  After making and delivering tons of "tool themed" birthday cards to Matt, we tried out  our new acquisitions.   We practiced our fine and gross motor skills, the art of taking turns, being patient, and the  more importantly, the power of "kid power"!   Sawing and hammering were just the activities we needed at the end of another great day!