The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Today we were working on retelling stories.  We had read The Very Hungry Caterpillar earlier in the year, but I thought that we could revisit it.  Last year I made felt pieces to go with the story.  We used them to retell the story.  Each child picked a piece or two.  When we got to their spot in the story, I had them put their piece into the middle.  The students all helped saying the words in the story that were repeated over and over.

I loved all the details that this boy put into his work!

After we were done telling the story, I had them respond to the story through pictures or words.  Each student got a blank piece of paper and retold the story on it.
The students did a very good job at remembering lots of details.  I was very impressed!  Here are a couple of samples of their work.





I loved how this girl organized all her thoughts!



Similarities and Differences

Today we were looking at physical similarities and differences amount the students in our class.  We had worked with this outcome before and we came up with hand signals to show same (clasping hands together and then pressing inside out) and different (one hand in a fist and the other open). We use these hand signals as visual clues when we talk about same and different. So, today we just began with a short review. The kids did a good job of remembering and were able to give me examples of how they could sort the kids in the class ( boys/girls, glasses/no glasses, etc). Every student got a picture of themselves, plus they picked a picture of a classmate. They then glued them on a paper and they wrote one way that they were the same and one way they were different from their classmate. They did a great job of finding a similarity and a difference!

Responding to Dance

One of our Kindergarten outcomes is to respond to arts expressions verbally and non-verbally.  I am not much of an artsy person, so I'm always looking for new ideas to help the Kindergarten students love art.  I was looking for an activity for the day after Halloween.  I knew my kids would still be wound up and would need something exciting to get their attention.  I decided to look on youtube to see if I could find some kind of Halloween dance video that they could respond to.  I came across last year's dancing with the starts Halloween dance.  It was a pretty neat video and I thought the kids would be interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-Ws3rBVaoo

After watching the video, the kids discussed the video . . .

What did you see?
What did you like?
What didn't you like?
How did the dance make you feel?
How do you think the dancers wanted you to feel?


I then gave them a sheet of paper to respond to the video through pictures or words. Here's a sample of their work.

The kids had a great time!  All of their pictures were very creative, with people drawn upside down to show how they were standing on their heads, some had movement lines, etc.  My daughter (who is in my class) told me that was the best part of her day!

All About Snow

We still have lots of snow on the ground!  I was sure that by now it would have all melted, but I'm starting to think that we will be stuck with snow until April!

Today I tried an All About Snow book with my kids.  We were working on an ELA outcome - creating messages, and also science - explore features of our natural surroundings.  We started the lesson by listening to a book on Tumble Books called I Like Snow.  It was an informative book that explained different facts about snow.  After listening to the book, we brainstormed different things that we knew about snow (both from the book, and things that we just knew).  I then showed the students the booklets I had made (each one was made from one piece of paper, cut into four and then stapled).  We discussed the word non-fiction and shared examples of non-fiction books. We also reviewed the four words on our word wall (I, a, and, the) and I put the portable word walls on their tables. I went through the booklets with them, showing them how they would write one piece of information and one illustration per page.  Finally, the students sat down and created their book.

As the kids finished writing, they brought their books to me and read them.  I transcribed their words on the page.  Once everyone was finished, I had them share their books in partners, and then I read each book out loud.  They were sooooo excited to hear their books read aloud!  The kids were amazed to see that everyone's book was different!

Today was our first day really trying out our portable word walls.  I was so impressed that a couple of kids actually used them and spelled those words correctly without any prompting from me.

Tin Can Stilts

My kids were a little busy today!  As  I was looking for something in my cupboard, I came across the tin can stilts that I had made last year.  I pulled them out and they were a hit!  The kids took turns clomping around the room on them.  They are great for working on gross motor skills and balance, plus they got rid of a lot of energy!

These work great using old coffee tins.  Simply hammer a large nail through opposite sides of the top of the can and then tie some heavy string in a loop.  Thanks to Jill for the idea and Jeff for the great hammock string!!

Examining the Effects of Heat on Snow

It has been snowing for two days!  The kids have been so excited to finally have snow on the ground.  And, it is that great, heavy snow that is perfect for making huge snowballs!

One of our outcomes in science is to observe the effects of heat energy on snow.  We had a discussion in the classroom about where we find heat.  They came up with answers like:  by the heater, in the sun, by the fireplace, in the oven, on the stove, etc.  So, we went outside and gathered small containers of snow.  We came back in and put the containers in different places to see what happened to them.  Even though I'm pretty sure that all the students know what happens to snow when it melts, they were all amazed to see that when we removed the put of snow from the stove that it was water! and we could pour it down the drain!

We came back to the classroom, and the students represented their learning through drawings and/or words.

The Snow melted in the microwave.

 

Kindergarten Word Wall

This morning I made my word wall for my Kindergarten classroom.  I included just 4 words:  I, a, the, and.  I put the word wall down underneath my white board at the front of the class.  I showed the words to the kids and we discussed them.   We talked about how easy those ones were to spell and how often we used them when we were writing.  I also told the kids that these were our "no excuse words".  Because they were such easy ones, and they were up on the wall for us to see, then there was no excuse for us spelling them wrong.  So, our goal from now on is that when we use those words, we will spell them in conventional writing.

I also made my portable word walls.  I used a file folder and glued in the list of our four words.  As the students learn more words, I plan on making other folders in different colours.  The students that are ready for more words will be able to choose the portable word wall in the colour that I have assigned to them.  We are going to try them out tomorrow when we do our journals!

 

I made one extra copy of the words and posted them on my door.  As the kids come in and out of the room, I'm going to get them to read the words.

SK ECEC

I spent the day at the Saskatchewan Early Childhood Education Council. Miriam Trehearne was one of the keynote speakers and also offered two other sessions throughout the day. She is such a great speaker and I always find so many ideas to take back to my classroom.

One thing I want to do when I get back on Monday is to find a spot for a word wall. I know this isn't a new idea, I've even had one in past years. But, with the emphasis on learning through play in Kindergarten, this was one thing that I have let go of.  After hearing Miriam today I felt the need to bring it back. She talked about "no excuse" words which kids should have no excuse for spelling wrong. So I think I will start small and create my board.

I'm also wanting to create what Miriam called "portable word walls". These were just the word wall words posted into a file folder. These would be easier for kids to use and copy from. What a great idea.