January Shenanigans

Hello all,

We have been busy getting back in the swing of things in kindergarten. It is easy to forget how to be in school, after two weeks away!

We have been finishing up our inquiry into sound and music. We made kazoos and practiced the difference between rhythm and beat.

We discussed good deeds and memorized a poem to that effect. We are knights and warriors for peace and justice in the school yard.

Brave and true will I be,

Each kind word will set me free. 

Each good deed makes me strong,

I will fight for the right,

I will conquer the wrong.

We have been excitedly entering the world of book-making with several class books, including a rhyming book and a book of the "right numbers." The children have been drawn to including writing into their play with the introduction of a writing station, stocked with many enticing paper and writing implements. Interest in words and sounds of letters are naturally pouring out through stories and play. These are beautiful moments to gently support literacy!

We have also been practicing story telling and sequencing through the story, Peter and the Wolf through finger puppets. This combined with a daily practice of "Catch My Sillies," which involves listening to a silly story and catching the inconsistencies in space and time.

We have been building number books and using every opportunity in class to practice counting. We move our bodies counting forward and backward. We notice and count how many children are in class everyday or who are not. 

Yoga has been a more common occurrence these days with new yoga mats donated by Doe Bay via Jen Edington. And we seriously enjoyed pulling out the parachute and playing game with it in the yard.

This past week we have moved into the realm of rainbows. What is a rainbow? What colors and sequences make a rainbow? How do colors mix to make new colors? These are all questions we have begun to explore.

Here are some more pictorial evidence of our recent endeavors:

Marbling acrylic paint project Colleen. 

An imaginative game on our new benches with some little animals.

Beginning our phonics work with the letter "s."

During a very rainy day, the children experimented with making a river from the rain catchment  barrel. "We are going to flood the whole island and become famous," they exclaimed.

Enthusiastic writers enjoying the assortment of paper products at our new writing desk. We have long rolls of paper, cards, postcards, envelopes, sticky notes, stamps, notepads and so much more to entice writing.

Teacher Emmy found a Lite Brite at the Exchange and the children quickly figured out how to use it.

Soaking up some winter sun.

A finger puppet backdrop for retelling of Peter and the Wolf.

Practicing our mountain and hills on small and large letter 'm.'

An epic all-school tug-of-war!

Baking banana bread.

Making 3-D art with forest debris.

Working with clay is a great way to strengthen our hands!

Sort blocks by color.

Rainbow math! Practicing our number sense with colorful manipulatives. 

We noticed how there were seven colors in the rainbow and seven days in a week. We have been practicing this song to learn our day of the week. Careful, its an ear worm! 

Following a spontaneous circus in the yard, we made a circus the next day with a tent and signage. After much practicing, we invited the older class to watch!

Thank you!

Emmy and Kelley