Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's hard to believe we had temperatures in the mid 60s yesterday and today it's snowing! I hope you are safe and warm today. Last week we finished a "Dr. Seuss" theme. This week our theme will be St. Patrick's Day and rainbows. The kiddos will learn poems about Shamrocks and Leprechauns during our Shared Reading times and the following books will be read aloud:

 

 

I think the kiddos will enjoy the activities, books, and a craft I have planned for this week. They will have a writing activity based on catching a Leprechaun too! :) Here are a few links with activities, crafts, and coloring sheets for children: http://www.education.com/worksheets/st-patricks-day/  and

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/patrick/10kindergarten.htm. Of course, you may also find lots of ideas on Pinterest!

 

This week I will give assessments for the 3rd quarter report cards. As I mentioned in the newsletters, the children will be tested over everything that was not "mastered" for the first two quarters. Testing for 3rd quarter will be over ending sounds and addition. Please continue reading daily and reviewing sight words. Working on numbers 0-20 is also important (counting, recognizing numbers, writing numbers, adding, etc...).  For your convenience, the Common Core State Standards (Missouri Learning Standards) are provided on the right side of this blog. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Last week we had a few days of warm temperatures. We all enjoyed outside recess! Here's a photo of some of the kiddos having fun on the monkey bars!

 

 

Hopefully all this snow will melt and we will be able to have school tomorrow!  :)

 

 

~ Mrs. Eilenstine 

 

 



Dr. Seuss Week and Read-In

The kiddos had a fun time learning about Dr. Seuss and his silly, wonderful books! Even though we were out of school on Monday and Tuesday due to the snow, there was still time to enjoy lots of activities related to Dr. Seuss. Wednesday, our superintendent, Mrs. Vest, read Green Eggs and Ham to all of the kindergarten classes. Afterwards the cafeteria staff served green eggs and ham! To their surprise, most of the children really liked them too!

On Thursday, our class celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday which was on March 2nd. The kiddos made hats like the ones from The Cat in the Hat book and enjoyed hearing the book read aloud on a CD. For shared reading, the kiddos learned to read a shorter version of Cat in the Hat from an anchor chart. During word work time, they practiced "-at" words and rhyming. We also had yummy Cat in the Hat cupcakes for snack time!

The kiddos made "Thing 1 or Thing 2" from their hand prints. They turned out super cute! They also completed a writing prompt, "What would you do if Thing 1 or Thing 2 came to your house?" I think most of you would be surprised at their answers! :) I will send them home next week.

*Source: http://littlekinderwarriors.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html and http://seusstastic.blogspot.com/2012/02/seusstastic-seuss-week-freebies-ideas.html

 

 

Friday morning was our Dr. Seuss Read-In (Kindergarten and 1st Grade). Parents were invited to read with their children, have donuts & juice, and do a small craft. Also, I laid out each child's guiding reading books so they could read them to their parents. Unfortunately I was absent but hear it went really well. If you were able to come, I hope you had a good time! Next week I will continue with the Dr. Seuss theme and will continue to teach word families. Here's a link for your child to enjoy more activities related to books by Dr. Seuss: http://www.seussville.com/. Have fun!

 

Our weather forecast looks good so hopefully we will have a full week! Please remember that March 14th, Friday, is a snow make-up day. Have a great weekend!

 

~ Mrs. Eilenstine



 

Planets, Addition, McTeacher's Night, and Dr. Seuss Week!

February seemed to just fly right by and March sure is coming in like a lion with another winter storm approaching! I hope everyone stays safe and warm and hopefully we won't have too many more snow days.

The kiddos enjoyed learning about planets this week. The following books were read aloud:

 

During Writers Workshop, the students conducted their first research project with partners. Each small group researched a planet, wrote facts in a booklet, illustrated their planet, and then gave presentations on Friday. I was so proud of their hard work! Here are a few photos:

 

 

For math, the kiddos have been learning addition. The past few weeks they have worked on "ways to make numbers" (composing and decomposing numbers) along with word problems. I think their favorite activity was using the smartboard! We are so blessed to have this technology in our classroom!

 

Tuesday, March 4th, is our McTeacher's Night from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at the newer McDonalds restaurant in Lebanon (1st exit). It is a great opportunity to raise funds for our students! It was so fun the past two years and was a great success! I hope to see many of you there! Please note that "IF" we have a snow day on Tuesday, it will be cancelled and hopefully rescheduled.

 

 

Next week we will celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday with lots of activities. The kiddos already got a head start by completing a craft and writing activity to decorate our hallway. I found a couple of ideas from the following blogs: Mrs. Berard-http://www.firstgradefresh.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr.%20Seuss (writing prompt) and Shauna Williams-http://www.myshaenoel.blogspot.com or http://www.learnandgrowdesigns.com/2012/03/dr-seuss-cat-in-hat-craft-template.html?m=1 (craft pattern). I appreciate them sharing their knowledge and creativity! The children and I discussed how unique they are and things that make them special. They created self portraits with "Cat in the Hat" red and white hats along with writing, "I am I because....". Their ideas about themselves were so cute and helped promote self worth. I love the silly rhymes and quotes of Dr. Seuss and look forward to reading lots of his books next week! Also, Friday, March 7th is our Dr. Seuss Read-In. Parents are invited to come to our classroom from 8:00 to 9:00 AM to read with their child, have donuts & juice, and complete a craft. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!

 

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

~ Mrs. Eilenstine