Medieval Faire

We had such a fun time visiting the Medieval Faire on Wednesday. We started our day outside voting for our favorite castle. Each classroom created a castle to enter into the contest. The K2ers loved seeing all the different castles and had favorites right away. All students and staff were able to vote for their favorite.

After voting we moved indoors for a musical performance. The students were taught about music from the medieval times. Here is a quick clip from a song they performed for us.

 

 

Lastly, we headed to the Faire. Students were able to choose from a crown or a shield to make and then had their hand at candle dipping. We then headed outdoors again to have a snack and play some Medieval games, saw some card tricks and even used marshmallow catapults.

 

Once back to the room we wrote and drew pictures of our favorite part from the Medieval Faire. Thank you to all those that helped to make the Medieval Faire such a fun experience for the kids at JA. We can't wait to see how "Kenny and the Dragon" ends on Friday.

 

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Medieval Faire tomorrow

Room K2 is ready for the Medieval Faire at Johnny Appleseed tomorrow, October 29th. We created a classroom "Coat of Arms" which is posted on our door and each classroom had to also create a castles. Here are some picture of K2's creations! 

Week in Review ~ 10/20 - 10/24

Last week was another busy week in K2. We continued our school-wide read aloud of "Kenny and the Dragon." The students are enjoying the story and can't wait to see if Kenny is able to convince the people of Roundbrook that Grahame truly is a nice dragon. We are also looking forward to the upcoming Medieval Faire on this coming Wednesday. If your child regularly purchases a school lunch, the day of the Faire (10/29) they will only be able to choose from sandwiches for lunch. There will be NO hot lunches served. In ELA last week we talked all about how tools help us to explore. We listened to the stories "The Handiest Things in the World", "Timimoto" and "Discover With Tools". The letter Pp was introduced and we listened to words and decided if it began with /p/ or ended with /p/. We listened for the following vocabulary words in our stories: tools, discover, fetch, rumble & defeated. Ask your child if they remember what each word means. In learning centers we worked with color words, sorted pictures by their initial sound, spied words around the room with the letter "p" in them, and wrote in journals about ways we use our hands. In Math we started Topic 4 titled "Comparing and Ordering Numbers 0 to 10." We decided if the number of items in one group was greater than or less than the number 5. Everyone did such a great job with it that I decided to introduce the greater than symbol (>) and the less than symbol. (<) Here is a cute song that I showed them from youtube about the Number gators "who always eat the number that is greater." Last week we also had our first turn with the iPad/MacBook cart. They are happy to be getting the cart each Friday. If they did not have a turn last Friday they will get one this week. As always, if you have any questions...feel free to contact me.

Medieval Faire - Wednesday, October 29th Teacher PD Day ~ no school for students - Tuesday, November 4th Veterans Day ~ no school - Tuesday, November 11th

Picture Day Reminder

Don't forget tomorrow, October 24th, is Picture Day. To get ready for it we read the following story's is afternoon.

 

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Math (Topic 4 - Comparing and Ordering Numbers 0 to 10)

Today in math we started Topic 4. On the paper your child brought home introducing the topic it had a section suggesting a book to read titled: "Ten Flashing Fireflies" by Philemon Sturges. I found a copy of the story on youtube so here it is in case your child would like to listen to it again or you would like to see it.

Fire Safety Visit from Firefighter Rob

Today we had a visit from Firefighter Rob from the Leominster Fire Delartment. He spoke to the class all about what to do if their hair and/or body catches on fire. Each student had a chance to go up with Firefighter Rob to demonstrate "Stop, Drop, Cover and Roll" in some way. He also reviewed some other important fire safety rules. Now is a good time to go over your families fire safety route at home and where your meeting place is outside in the event of a fire. Another important thing to begin practicing with your child is their address and phone number. Here are some pictures from our visit as well as a short video clip. Thank you a firefighter Rob for a great visit to K2!

 

 

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Our "Week in Review" ** 10/14 - 10/17

Starting this week I'd like to blog a "Week in Review" at the end of each week to keep you informed with what we are learning in the world of K2! What a busy week we've had so let's get started...

During ELA we learned all about our Five Senses and what we can learn from using our senses. We read the story Senses at the Seashore and listened to the read aloud "A Feast of the Senses." We also had 5 new vocabulary words: explore, senses, finished, kneads, and feast. We worked with the letter Ss and introduced the sight word see as well.

In Math we have been working on counting and writing the numbers six to ten and we are almost finished with topic 3. We continue to work on writing numbers without reversing them. Any practice you can squeeze in at home would be helpful. For the "Problem of the Day" I introduced the use of math journals because I was SO impressed when I had the K2ers go back to their seats to solve my problem on their own on scrap paper. I only put 8 pages in their journals so that they can bring it home in a few weeks to show you.

This week at Johnny Appleseed we started our School-wide Read Aloud of Kenny and the Dragon. I think reading chapter books to children at such a young age is a wonderful thing to do because it teaches the students to make the pictures in their heads and exposes them to some wonderful vocabulary. A while back a notice went home to explain how the students of JA could help "decorate" our school dragon. It is about half-way filled so if you would still like to donate $1.00 to help defray the cost for our Medieval Fair on October 29th please send it in with your child with a note explaining what it is for. JA has been transformed into medieval times...here's a look inside.

And lastly, we had a Bus Safety program. The students went out back behind the school and learned how to be safe waiting for a bus, getting on the bus, sitting on the bus and getting off the bus. Be sure to ask them if they remember what their important job is when they go over train tracks while riding on a school bus.

Next week we will be talking about Fire Safety and have some Leominster firefighters coming in to assist with that.

Have a great weekend!

 

 

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Headphones/Earbuds

Starting this week we will be signing out the MacBook cart to use during our ELA learning center block each Friday. To keep the noise level down and so that all children can enjoy their computer time, we are asking that each child bring in a set of headphones or earbuds for their personal use. Please place them in a Baggie with your child's name clearly printed on it or please have their name clearly printed on the actual headphones. We want to be sure that each child is using only THEIR headphones or earbuds. The intention is for these headphones to stay AT SCHOOL for the remainder of the school year. Both headphones and earbuds can usually be purchased at "The Dollar Tree" or "Five Below" for a minimal cost. If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

 

 

 

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Walk to School Day

It was a beautiful morning to walk to school yesterday. The K2ers had so much fun and got a little exercise in at the same time. Here is a video highlighting our walk and some student work about what they saw on the walk. Enjoy!!

October Lunch Menu

I have had a number of students ask when a lunch menu is going to be sent home. We no longer get lunch menus to send home. They can be accessed by going to www.leominster.mec.edu and clicking on "Student & Family" and then "School Lunch." Here is October's menu for your reference.

 

 

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Problem of the Day

Each afternoon after recess the students come back to the room to work on our "Problem of the Day!" I try and create a problem that focuses in on what we are learning in math or to review a concept we just finished. We read the problem together and then circle the most important information from the problem that will help us to solve it. This week I have been giving the students scrap paper to go back to their seat to try and solve the problem on their own. Here are some pictures from today's problem that shows some students solving the problem on their own at their seat and some of a student solving it for the group and explaining how she solved it. Be sure to regularly ask your child what the "Problem of the Day" was.

 

 

 

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Walk to School Postponed to 10/9

Due to the predicted inclement weather tomorrow morning, our "Walk to School" has been postponed to Thursday, October 9th. A ConnectEd call will be going out this evening. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Nouns, Nouns Everywhere

This week we talked about nouns during our ELA block. We categorized picture cards by if they were a person, place or a thing. Today I showed them a "Schoolhouse Rocks" video for nouns and they loved the song so much that I promised to put it up on the blog.

Fun with "I Spy" Glasses

Today I opened the "I Spy" learning center for the first time. Students are given a task of what to "spy" and then they go on a search around the room. This week's task is to spy Mm words and write them on the recording sheet. This is a very well-liked center, especially when the "I Spy" glasses are brought out. I told the students they can only find the words when they have their special "I Spy" glasses on...I think they even believed me. Students who did not get a turn today will have an opportunity tomorrow or Friday. I just LOVE the enthusiasm of 5 and 6 year olds!

 

 

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