17 Days and Counting

Dot Day

On September 15th it was International Dot Day. In celebration of Dot Day, we read the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. This day was started because of this book. We learned and thought about how the book taught us to be brave, try, never give up and most of all to help someone else. 

After reading the book each child created their own unique dot and thought about how they help at home or at school. Each dot now has a message that tells how they are helpful! We will continue to think about and work on being helpful to others.

We read the  "The Dot"  online on Tumble Books. You can get to Tumble Books by going to the library web page. It is on the the right hand side of the screen a little ways down the page. 

Inventory Bags

Accurately counting and representing How Many? is an important math skill. We had a lot of fun with Inventory Bags!  We counted, doubled checked to make sure we were accurate and then recorded how many items were in the bag.  We had to double check our representations too! We are working on showing How Many? in more than one way.  This is an activity that you could set up for your child at home.  Grab some brown paper lunch bags and fill them with items from around the house: spoons, uncooked pasta, wrapped candy, Legos, crayons, ...  Give your son or daughter blank paper and they can record How Many?  The kids also recorded the item in the bag by writing the word.  They were BRAVE writers and recorded the words "Just Like a Kindergartner!"  

Our Promise

So much reading, thinking and talking went into creating Our Promise.  We worked together to write the promise and then we all signed it with a drawing of ourselves as well as our names.  

Jerome Homecoming Parade

Pixie 4

We have heard from quite a few of you regarding marching in the Jerome Homecoming Parade on October 2nd.  Please return the pink form whether you can or cannot participate.  If you are marching, be sure to keep the pink form so that you have all the important information regarding times and places. 

We are looking forward to seeing our kindergarten super heroes for this fun activity!  Remember, you don't need to buy anything.  Use what you have at home.  Blankets and beach towels make perfect capes!  Take a look at your super hero teachers!

A big part of the learning we do in kindergarten is exploring and creating  on our own and collaborating with others. We spent a couple days doing those exact things using Pixie4. Pixie is a program on the computer or iPad that allows children to create pictures, write words, create stories, and record their voice and even take photos. Right now the children have learned how to paint, add stickers to their creations and add some words. This is a program we will continue to use throughout the year. It was very neat to see what each group was creating and talking about together. 

If you are interested in learning more about Pixie, just ask! This is a great educational program.

This blank piece of "paper" is an invitation to create anything a child can imagine!

Blocks

At this point, the kids have all had at least one chance to work and play with the new playground blocks.  As the kids create together, they have opportunities to work on their communication and collaboration skills.  They are problem solving and revising their work.  The are pretending, imagining, and experiencing the joy that comes from working hard and accomplishing something together.  We will add photos of block play each time we make a blog post.  Click on the Block! page at the top to see what the kids have been up to with blocks!