Kindergarten had fun learning about pumpkins this month. We started off by reading the book Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbel and learning the life cycle of a pumpkin. Then we talked about the parts of a pumpkin and even got to taste pumpkin seeds. Our graph showed that most of the class liked the pumpkin seeds. At the end of the week we were able to do a pumpkin investigation with our very own Pumpkin Jack! We predicted his weight, height, and circumference then measured to check our predictions. We were able to really see all of the parts of a pumpkin when we cut into Jack and carved him. The class practiced using describing words when they passed around a bag of pumpkin pulp.  Finally, when Jack started to decompose we took him outside so we could watch that process as well.

Kindergarten kicked off October with a pumpkin themed Cooking in the Classroom. We read a recipe for Pumpkin Patch Pudding and Mrs. Amanda helped them measure out the ingredients. Each student got a turn to measure, pour, and mix the pudding. While we waited for the pudding cups to chill we crushed up our cookie “dirt”. They really had to get those finger muscles working to break the cookies into small enough pieces. Then we added the dirt and candy pumpkins to our pudding and enjoyed tasting them. The students thought they were just getting a special snack but I loved knowing we were working on writing strategies and decoding words when we read our recipe, counting and sequencing when we made the pudding, and practicing our descriptive words when we talked about how the pudding tasted!

Kindergarten is off to a great start! Much of the first few weeks is about learning procedures, following the rules and making new friends but we have been able to get going on some of our curriculum as well. This year’s class has been eager to get started and we are already making great strides.

One of my favorite times of day in kindergarten is first thing in the morning when the students come in but before we are ready to get started on class work. This used to be my least favorite time. I was using paper and pencil morning work and desperately trying to keep order because the students weren’t enjoying what they were doing. That all changed when I discovered Morning Work Drawers. Now the students come in and find their name and the corresponding drawer number. They pull the drawer out and take it anywhere they want in the room to get started on their work.

These drawers are filled with academic skills but they are also focused on working all those tiny finger and hand muscles that are so often overlooked. Best of all, the students LOVE them and are excited to get to work every morning!

Early in the year the drawers are filled with simple tasks like punching brightly colored paper with a hole punch or linking colored clips together. The good news for me is that the drawers will use the same manipulatives all year while the skills focused on will get more and more challenging! The students aren’t stressed and are engaged in their work and I know they are working on all kinds of skills needed for the years ahead. Take a look at the pictures to see these new kindergarteners hard at work in the first fifteen minutes of the day.

I love watching kindergarten learn to write! They come in knowing how to write their name and possibly a few other words and leave able to write a topical paper of a few sentences. What a difference a year makes! But it isn't always easy to get them to that point. These guys have so many great ideas that it can be hard for them to pick just one and to stay with that idea until they finish their work. Most entering students are just not ready to sound out words and form complete sentences. And some are terrified to stand in front of an audience and present their work. From the beginning of the year we work on creating weekly "papers" by following five steps: brainstorming, rough draft, peer editing, final draft, and publishing, or presenting, our work. With enough repetition the class becomes very comfortable putting their ideas down on paper and sharing them with each other. One of my favorite things to see is our "peer editing" day where the students work in groups to critique their papers. The suggestions are almost always helpful and the students are learning how to respectfully work with others to make their work better. Then on presentation day everyone is excited to tell about the suggestions they made if their partner used those suggestions. Such great collaboration going on in kindergarten! 

Kindergarten has completed 100 days of school! We have been talking about this day from the very first day of school when we put up a 1 on our number chart. The excitement of the class grew as we watched the chart get closer and closer to that 100. I did have to let a few friends know they weren't done with kindergarten just because we made it to 100 although it will be here before we know it! 

We've been prepping for our big day by counting by 1's and 10's and adding a popsicle stick to our buckets every day. Most of the class is able to count to 100 by themselves by now and the ones that aren't quite there have learned a few tricks to help them out when they get stuck. One of the most helpful things they have learned is that 100 is 10 groups of 10. At home, with the help of their parents or siblings, they filled a bag with 100 items. That really isn't too hard when you put 10 items in each of 10 containers. Already multiplying at 6 years old! We also wrote 100 words, counted 100 steps, found 100 kisses and put them in order, made a trail mix with 10 of each of 10 kinds of snacks, counted how many times they could chew a starburst candy, and wrote about what we thought we would do when we are 100. One of the class's favorite activities was doing 100 exercise while counting to 100. Thank you Jack Hartman videos for making exercise fun!

Parents came out for a 100 Day Celebration where the class rotated through 8 learning activities. We prepped a lot ahead of time and the stations ran so smoothly! The class built with 100 Legos, stacked 100 cups, tried to make creations with 100 marshmallows and toothpicks (the kids really had to use their brain to get those marshmallows to stand up), linked 100 numbers in order, made a necklace with 100 beads, used paint daubers to make a 100 gumball machine, worked on a sight word reader about being 100, and my personal favorite, counted how many licks it took to eat a sucker. The sucker group was so quiet and busy I am thinking about doing this activity for every party!

We had a "one"derful 100 Day!