My class has worked so hard to get to the point of being able to write down their ideas. We are finally getting the hang of it! This week the students wrote their first “essay” about plants. We gathered our ideas using an idea web on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday the class created their rough drafts and on Thursday they got together with a partner to do peer editing. I loved hearing them share their ideas with their partners. After hearing some constructive criticism the students went back to their tables to make changes to their papers. On Friday they presented their papers to the rest of the class. We will keep working through this same process for the rest of the year. Eventually the students will be writing two to three sentences instead of filling out a sentence frame. It is so fulfilling to see their progress and pride!
Every year the St. James classes choose a community service project. This year the kindergarten classes chose to serve the Children’s Advocacy Center of Texarkana. We bought bags and hygiene items so that every child that comes through the center can have something that belongs to them. Once all of the items were gathered the students worked hard to fill each bag with a toothbrush and toothpaste, a comb, a towel, washcloth and deodorant, and a small fidget toy. It was so rewarding to see the care that each student put in to make sure the bags were complete. Altogether we filled 100 hygiene bags!
We’ve been busy learning about nouns! The parts of speech can be an abstract concept for young children so I like to give them fun, concrete ways to reinforce those concepts. The students have learned that nouns, or naming words, as we sometimes call them are divided into three groups: people, places, and things. Sometimes we add a separate category for animals. I do not introduce the concept of nouns also being ideas yet. Last Friday we made binoculars and went on a “hunt” for nouns around our campus. Every student had a clipboard so they could document their noun sightings. It was wonderful to see them grasp the idea that everything they could see on our walk was a noun! What a fun way to end our noun study.
Once a month the kindergarten classes have a Flashlight Friday. They bring books, flashlights, and a stuffed animal or blanket from home. The lights go off and the flashlights get turned on. They love that they are getting out of “school work” for part of the afternoon. I love that for 30-45 minutes they are snuggled up with a good book and a friend to share the joys of reading. Sometimes I hear the words, “but I can’t read”. Although now that they have quite a few sight words under their belt and are beginning to sound out some words those comments are happening less often. I try to remind them that not all “reading” is done with words. The illustrations tell an important story as well!
We celebrated Halloween last week at St. James and it was so much fun! It was exciting to see some giant pumpkins and compare those to the small pumpkin we carved in class. We read the book Pumpkin Jack and studied the life cycle of a pumpkin. Our Pumpkin Jack is starting to decompose quite nicely. So gross and so cool at the same time! Many thanks to Mrs. Denise for the hayride and Coach Nicole and the middle school students for the games. Halloween at St. James is a group effort!
