Minnesota Fun!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! Dan and I had a fun filled weekend in Minnesota. One of our favorite parts of the trip was the ice and snow sculptures at the Winter Carnival. Hopefully you were able to enjoy the nice weather, ours was a bit chillier :). 

Mittens or Gloves?

Today we read one of my favorite winter books, The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We then made hypothesis on whether we thought gloves or mittens would be warmer and supported it with a reason. We then put a thermometer in each for three minutes and discovered the mitten was warmer. We decided this happened because your fingers are kept close together and trap heat easier. Fun time! 

100th Day Fun!

What a fun fashion show we had today! They may wear their shirts again on Monday (the "real" 100th day) if they wish! We missed you, Henry!

Vocab.Fun!

The crew partnered up to discuss the definitions of our new vocabulary words. We read our story, Senses, and incorporated our science in with our lesson also!

 

Winter!

Today we started our new mini-science unit on winter. 

VIP: Alexander!

-          He made Truman a Lego Darth Vader Costume

-          He got a bunch of buddies together in the jungle, complete with a waterfall

-          Truman had an adventure at the Science Center where he got to see Mars Rovers, dig for pretend fossils and touch real fossils, watch the It’s a Blast fire demonstration, and see the Blue Angels plane.

-          And…a little treat at Culvers

Who Am I?

We made inferences last week on various animals according to clues and footprints. We then made our own footprints and clues for our new billetin board. Ask your kinder about this fun writing craftivity!(Elliott's is pictured below).

A Wonderful Weekend!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! We had a get together with our family friends whom I've been best friends with since I was one. We've added a lot of people in to our mix now, but us five have been through it all. Friendships like this are simply best! 

I also got to spend yesterday evening with my sweet niece, sister and mom for girl's night! 

Spelling Bee!

We are so proud of Alexandra for determination and courage at the school spelling bee. Kindergarteners are the youngest participants and are up against grades 1-5, so I am so very proud of them for having the courage to get up and participate! Congratulations to Darrion in Ms. Kargus' 5th grade class for the win, we are proud of all our Dragon contestants. My class got a compliment from Mr. Thomas on our respectful behavior throughout the spelling bee, proud teacher moment :)! 

Shivery Slumber!

Yesterday we did an experiment about dropping body temperatures for hibernation. We were lucky enough to have an extra set of hands, Mr. Watson, to help out during enrichment time. Their observation papers will come home soon! Ask your kinder for details!

Hibernation Day!

What a fun day! We earned our brownie point celebration so we also got to get comfy and watch Over the Hedge relating slime fictional fun to hibernation. We will be postponing our den building until Monday so we have a good chunk of time to complete them. THANKS formal the supply donations! We have so much to work with. We will also do our science test Monday.

Next up in science: Winter Weather!

1/25-1/29 Sight Words

Hibernation Day! Friday, 1/22

Just a reminder that this Friday, 1/22, is our class Hibernation Day!  The crew is welcomed to wear their pajamas for our cozy day of learning.  We'll end the day by building their own dens (still accepting materials to donate for this if you wish) in groups to finish our Hibernation, Migration and Adaptations..Oh My, unit!

VIP: Cole

Can't wait to hear about Cole's adventures with Truman, how fun!

Happy Sunday!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Spending my Sunday cuddled up with my niece as she's in deep thought about these football games...

Oh, Nuts!

Math game Friday! Incorporating our hibernation unit and subtraction. Not to mention, a very cute kinder to show off our game!

Genevieve says "Let's go Blues!" 

Another One Bites the Dust...

Lucky for Ms. Gegg he didn't need any assistance! That would be my weakness...teeth, but, boy oh boy are those toothless smiles too cute!

1/18/-1/22 Sight Words

STAR Test Tomorrow, Thursday!

 

We will take our STAR reading assessment in the computer lab tomorrow morning, Thursday.  Please be sure your kinder gets a good night's sleep and a healthy breakfast!  Reviewing sight words this evening would be helpful. 

City Museum!

What a fun day at the City Museum! A huge THANK YOU to all our chaperones, you are fabulous and deserve an uninterrupted nap :). We missed you, Cole!

MLK Mini-Unit

Today I kicked off our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. mini-unit through an activity that led us to a very in depth and mature conversation this afternoon. I gave half the class gold stars and the other half purple stars (stickers). They were not told what they meant. The kids with gold stars were called to line up first, sit at the carpet, participate in brain breaks, get drinks from the newer water fountain and were called on by me to share out. By mid-afternoon the mood in the classroom was much different. Those who had purple stars seemed sad, yet those with gold stars who were ecstatic at the beginning, were starting to slump down a  bit and have a change in attitude also. I finally called them all to the carpet to discuss things they noticed or how they felt throughout the day. This was a great intro to our MLK mini-unit for social studies. We read about MLK and discussed some vocabulary and will continue our discussions through the week. 

Mallinckrodt Welcomes Springboard!

PK-2 is lucky enough to be able to participate in Springboard this year.  Springboard is an affiliate of Young Audiences Arts for Learning.  The program PK-KDG will participate in is: On Your Toes: Exploring Story through Ballet.  Starting January 27th, we will participate in one, 40 minute session every Wednesday through the end of May!  At the end they will participate in a Show and Share where you will be able to see what they've learned! 

She has asked for the following in regards to student's attire:
-SOCKS
-Shoes that can be easily slipped on/off
-Uniforms they would wear for gym class (girls should have shorts under jumpers/dresses, etc.)

Evan I.'s News:

Truman & Dominic!

Truman got to spend the weekend at the Grebel household with Dominic! Can't wait to hear all about it tomorrow during Truman-Talk Tuesday. 

Making the Most of the Weekend!

This past weekend I got to spend time with one of my dearest friends, Tiffany, who was in town from Arizona and spent the afternoon snuggled up with my sweet niece, Genevieve. Time with friends and family are two things I cherish most! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. 

Wish List: THANK YOU!

A big thank you to the Butlers, Grebels, and Leibels for donating items from the classroom wish list. The stool is perfect so the teacher's assistant can now do all of the interactive math calendar in the morning instead of Ms. Gegg! 

Mad Science Assembly!

The whole school enjoyed a Mad Science assembly this morning, all about air!

100th Day is Coming!

Hip, Hip, HOORAY…It’s almost the 100^th Day!

In honor of our 100^th day of school, we will celebrate being 100 days smarter with lots of fun activities!  Each child will make a shirt that has 100 “things” on it or has a 100^th day theme.  Be creative as you wish!  They will wear their shirts all day, ON THURSDAY, 1/28, and we’ll show them off in a 100^th day red carpet event!  Use your imaginations.  I have found lots of fun ideas online, Pinterest had several…here’s a link if you are looking for some inspiration:

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=100th%20day%20shirts&term_meta%5B%5D=100th%7Ctyped&term_meta%5B%5D=day%7Ctyped&term_meta%5B%5D=shirts%7Ctyped

Mr. Thomas will be lending us some DJ equipment to set the stage for Pre-K and KDG to strut their stuff by class, so if you would like to come to watch, you are welcome to.  They will just walk down the "red carpet" and show off their shirt.  It won't be long and that's all they'll do so do not feel that you have to, we just wanted to extend the invite if you choose to.  It will be in the gym around 10:40-10:45ish.  Please sign in at the office and then head to the gym.  We will have a normal morning as usual, so please have your child arrive on time and do not come to the classroom with them so they can stay in routine.  Thank you in advance!  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Reading Fun!

We couldn't get into the library today, SO, we moved the chairs and got to read under the table (these are the moments I love KDG even more...they thought this was the most exciting thing!). So fun!

Super Writing!

I was so proud of this piece of writing in Dominic's homework notebook that I had to show it off! Way to go, Dom! 

Soccer:

Please email Kristi Johnson at k.j0419@yahoo.com if interested in a YMCA KG co-ed spring soccer team. Parker would like to be on a team so I've emailed the YMCA sports director to get more information. I do know practices start the week of March 17 and games go from April 19-May 21. I'll also need to know if anyone can help coach (I can be a secondary coach). I do remember the director saying the Y provides good materials to help learn to coach if you don't have experience.

Sight Words 1/11-1/15

Should be able to read and write...

Hello From Genevieve!

Stopped by for a quick snuggle with my little diva before job 2! She loves leopard like her aunt :)

Burrows of Fun!

Today in science we partnered up for a vocabulary match up. Next week they'll be starting an opinion piece on whether they'd Iike to hibernate or migrate and why. I told them to start thinking about ideas so they are prepared!

Classroom Wish List 1/6/16

• Our school does not have a colored printer and we have a copy quota for black and white, so I do LOTS of copies/printing at home.  If anyone has any "cartridge connections," I can always use color/bw for my Canon Pixma: MG2120 or my BW laser printer: HP LaserJet 1020  Thank you to the Grebels for the LaserJet cartridge!
• Small step-stool (for calendar wall) 
• Laminating pouches (used to laminate center work) 
• Expo wipes and or spray

THANK YOU in advance!  Your generosity is greatly appreciated :) 

Pen Pals!

Today we had some fun with our reading story, George Washington and the General's Dog. Before we read we partner shared our "wonders" about the book and then enjoyed seeing if our wonders were answered all while listening for our vocabulary words!

Heads in, Hinnies Up!

Discussing vocabulary words!

Kamani and Ellia's News!

Hibernation continuation!

Today we picked back up with hibernation, migration and adaptation by reading a nonfiction text and doing some comparing and contrasting.

Building Independence: Following Directions..Carefully!

We are really going to be working hard on building independence by following directions carefully the first time! I'll be using a "direction board" like below when we have more than three steps. I encourage you to practice at home also to build responsibility and independence by giving them a set of directions to follow. Have them repeat them to you and then complete them. They did great today! 

WANTED: City Museum Field Trip Chaperones

Hi Parents!  Still looking for City Museum field trip chaperones.  Due to it being a self guided field trip, I'd like very small ratios of parents-to-kids.  Please email me ASAP if you're interested in joining!  It is $5 for chaperones $11 for your kinder.