Valentine's Day and 100th Day of School

February 14th was our Valentine's Day party AND our 100th day of school because of all the snow days we had earlier. We had a very FULL day of activities! First thing that morning, we had our last visit from Zero Hero. All the kindergarten students enjoyed zero snacks (donuts) in the cafeteria with Zero Hero. They counted to 100 by ones, fives, and tens. Everyone was so excited! Once back in the classroom, the kiddos worked on activities including a Stamp To 100 booklet and counting 100 snacks! Here are a few photos:

Their 100th Day shirts were so cute!

 Each child wore crowns saying they were 100 Days smarter!

 Later in the day the students exchanged their valentines after I read books about Valentine's Day and friendship. They ALL did a great job making their valentine's boxes at home. I was so impressed with their creativity! Thanks for helping them! Here are a few photos:

 





February 13th, the students made Friendship Hearts after they worked on a "Friendship Can, Like, Have" anchor chart. They wrote sentences from the chart on a heart and then drew themselves and a friend on the paper. I was proud of their work! Here are a few photos:

 Our Valentine's Party was in the afternoon. I appreciate everyone who helped make this so much fun for the kiddos by planning, helping with activities, and sending refreshments. You are the best parents! Also, thank you to Yogi's Pizza for donating 2 pizzas. Here are a few photos from the party:

 

As you can see February 14th was a very fun-filled day! Next week our unit of study will be Planets. The kiddos are going to work with partners to research a planet and have presentations on Friday, Feb. 28th. I'll keep you posted! :)

 

~ Mrs. Eilenstine

 







Another Snow Day!

I can't remember when we've had this many snow days in a school year! I am ready to come back and hope the kiddos are too! In the past 2 newsletters, I've informed you of our Valentine's Day party on Friday, February 14th. I want to remind you about our Valentine's exchange. If your child participates, please be sure he or she gives each child a valentine. We have 18 students enrolled (new child enrolled recently). We have 9 girls and 9 boys now. I will send home a class list as soon as we are back. I also want to remind you to help your child make a Valentine's box. Of course, this is optional. If your child does not bring one, I will provide white paper bags for him/her to decorate. Here are suggestions for DIY boxes: shoebox, cereal box, Kleenex box, oatmeal container, or other small box. There are several ideas on Pinterest or other Internet sites. I helped my grandson, Payton, make his box for school. We found the idea from Pinterest. I think he's going to add some "teeth" to the mouth. We only used a few supplies: a shoe box, construction paper, scissors, a marker, and tape.

 

Since we had another snow day today, I decided to make me a box too! I hope you have fun creating a box with your child. :)

I hope to go to school tomorrow! We are going to continue with our space unit for Tuesday and Wednesday. I'll read books about Valentine's Day and friendship on Thursday and "IF" we go to school on Tuesday the 11th, then we will celebrate our 100th Day on Friday along with Valentine's Day.

Be warm and safe!

~ Mrs. Eilenstine

Wow! It's Already February 2014!

Oh my! 2013 went by so fast and I am so behind with my blog posts! I will strive to keep up with this blog for the last part of the school year! Please forgive me! The kiddos have learned so much since school started in August and I'm so excited for the 2nd semester. It always amazes me each year to see how the young children change physically, academically, and emotionally. I finished administering DRAs (Developmental Reading Assessments) and even though we had a long winter break (Christmas and Snow Days), the kiddos did really well on their tests. Guided Reading groups are going well! There were a few changes to the groups depending on the children's scores and my observations. They will work on individual skills and strategies along with reading books on their independent levels. Please continue to read daily with them and review their sight words, letter sounds, and blends. In math, we are learning addition including word problems with sums to 10.

Here is a recap of our fall activities:

October - We enjoyed a field trip to Rutledge-Wilson Farm and Pumpkin Patch. The kiddos were able to see lots of animals, climb on tractors, pick pumpkins, play in a "barn and silo" jungle gym, and have a picnic lunch. We carved a class pumpkin and everyone enjoyed scooping out the pulp and counting seeds! The kiddos also estimated the circumferences of their pumpkins and used unifix cubes to measure the lengths. We had a Fall Party consisting of a costume parade, games, and refreshments. Thanks to everyone who helped make this a fun time for the kiddos! We participated in the door decorating contest for Red Ribbon Week (drug safety awareness). The students made mummy faces!

 

Our units in November were: Scarecrows, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, and Turkeys. We also had a Thanksgiving "Feast" with First Grade students.

 







 

Our units in December were: Bears, Santa, and Christmas. A favorite day was making Gingerbread Houses. Thanks to everyone who donated ingredients for their projects! Some high school students also helped with their projects. The kiddos also enjoyed a Polar Express day including wearing their pajamas to school! Of course, the most favorite day was our class Christmas party! Below are photos from the Music Concert and other activities in December:

 

 

We enjoyed an added week to our Winter break because of snow! But hopefully we won't have too many more snow days or we'll be going to school until June! :)

 

I hope you liked the re-cap of the past few months. I will try to post more often!

 

 

~ Mrs. Eilenstine