We LOVE learning!

First of all... we welcomed warmer weather this week!  The kids had a great time finally being able to go outside for recess!

In reading and writing we continued our study of amazing creatures... this time focusing on dinosaurs!  It was a great week to really focus on fiction/nonfiction and fact/fantasy.  We did some writing about factual information we had learned about dinosaurs, and some writing using our imaginations to create fantasy around dinosaurs!  Finally, we added a hands-on piece to create fossils!

In science we studied stars this week.  We began by asking "What are stars?"  We watched what Timone and Pumba thought about the stars: Astronomy 101 with Lion King Movie.

Then we did an experiment with a flashlight.  We looked at it close up and noticed how bright it was.  Then I walked farther and farther away, into the hallway.  The students had an a-ha moment when they realized that the light hadn't changed, but the distance from the light made it look much smaller...  "You mean all the stars are really other suns?"  Yep!

Then we learned that stars are different colors because they are different temperatures.  We looked at a flame and noticed the different colors within the flame, just like the stars.  Finally, we made delicious, different colored stars to eat, including Red Giant star cookies!

We LOVED all day Valentine's Day learning on Wednesday!

In math we did tally marks and graphing of candy hearts!

We had our Book Buddies come in and help us with Valentine's Day literacy.  We read a Valentine's book together, had some reading time in the library, and then came back to the classroom for a fun word building contest!  How many words can you make using the letters H-E-A-R-T?  The Kinders had some great ideas and found many popcorn words that they could make!  This might be a fun challenge to try at home!

Finally it was time for our party!!!  (As if we hadn't been partying all day?)  Here are our mailbags!

We played some games, delivered valentines to each other, and had lots of yummy food!  Thank you SO MUCH to all of the families who came, helped, or brought snacks!  It was lots of fun!

100 Days!

We are 100 days smarter!  And we celebrated all day on Monday!  We had several 100 second contests:  a contest to see how many times we could write our names, how many Popcorn Words we could read, and how many words we could write in 100 seconds!  

We made a 100's Day snack... thank you everyone for bringing 100 pieces of snack food to mix in!  It was very eclectic and yummy, as you can see!

In math we got to see what 100 looks like, in many different ways! Legos, cards, beads, toys, marbles, paint chips, track pieces, and wiggliest of all... 100 red wiggler worms!

We also decoded a secret message on our hundreds charts!

In writing we celebrated Hundred's Day by writing about what life will be like when we are 100 years old.  I told the kids that I time traveled to the year 2112 and took pictures of them.  (We must have been having a class reunion...).  We had a hilarious slideshow of everyone's old person pictures.  The kids said I didn't look any different in my old picture.  I guess that means I already look 100 years old!  Check out the great essays in the hall by the lunchroom!  

Monday afternoon we had our Idita-Read contest kickoff assembly, with special guest Jeff Wells, and his dog Cora!  He told us about how reading books about mushing when he was a kid sparked his interest.  He made his dream come true, and ran the Iditarod with Jeff King's kennels out of Denali.  The kids learned about the Iditarod race, and then made and packed their own mushers packs for the reading race, including "puppy chow", a compass, their reading log, and their first book to read, all about the Iditarod.  Keep track of reading minutes at home, and turn in your reading logs when they are full.  I'll send another one home.  Our class earns miles along the trail for the minutes we read, and the winners get a day dog mushing and a pizza party at Fast Eddy's!  The first class to the halfway point gets Gold Miner Sundaes with edible gold flakes, and vials of real 24 karat gold!  There are also cash prizes for the individual top three readers.  So let's Idita-Read!!!

On Thursday the kids got to read with Winter the dog for library time, to celebrate the Idita-Read contest.  They loved it!!!  

Our next project in writing was to write Fishy Poems, and illustrate them.  They were silly, but good rhyming practice!  It was also a great way to practice adjectives, which we have been working on lately!

Finally the day arrived for our field trip to the bank to buy a Helping Hand for the Food Bank with the money the kids donated.  We brought in over $67 to donate.  The kinders got a great tour of the bank... I think the money counter machine was their favorite.  Thank you to Cory and Lacey for showing us a great time!  They got to hold Canadian money, and then see all of the money in the safe. 

Next on our trip, we went to the Helping Hands Food Bank to see how their money would be used.  Helen Olsen gave us a wonderful tour and helped the kids understand how the Food Bank works and what its purpose is.  They kids all got to pretend to be in families and go "shopping" downstairs!  

Thank you to Julie Lance, Scott Holmes, and Michelle Erickson who were able to come with us on our journey.  We appreciate you, and couldn't do it without you!  It was a neat trip, and made our collecting coins much more meaningful, as the kids learned that they can play an important role in our community by lending a Helping Hand!

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Our Valentine's Party will be on Wednesday from 2:15-3:00.  We will play games and exchange Valentines, so if your child would like, they may bring one for everyone in the class.  Let me know if you need another class list of names.  We will be decorating cookies, so also please let me know if you would be willing to bring frosting, sprinkles/toppings, or a healthy snack!  Happy 💗 Day!

Trip to the Moon!

We began our week by inviting the Pre-K class in to do our Zoophonics letter sounds practice with us!  The Tok School Pre-K class is now adopting the same Zoophonics method that we use, so we had a zoo animal party on Monday!  Zoophonics is a method of giving each letter an animal and an action to help the kids learn their letter sounds in a multi-sensory way.  We did our animal actions with the Pre-K friends, and then enjoyed an animal cracker snack with them... saying each letter sound and doing the action before eating the animal cracker!  It was especially fun because there are several kinders who have siblings and cousins in the Pre-K class!  We plan to continue helping our Pre-K friends learn their letter sounds through zoophonics!  Ask your kindergartener to show you the action for each letter!  (Allie alligator says... Bubba Bear says....)

In writing we focused on the Trait of Ideas by writing our Boo-Boo stories!  First we came up with ideas for a TRUE story about a time when you got a band-aid.  Then the kids wrote their own stories and illustrated them...getting a real band-aid to put on their picture!

In reading we are now entering a fun unit on Amazing Creatures. After reading some nonfiction pieces about insects, the kids came up with their own research question and did research online to answer their question.  They did such a great job being curious and loved finding answers to their OWN questions!!!

Our solar system is now hanging up in the main hallway in Tok School.  The kinders have gotten lots of comments on their sculpture!  We even made the Wolverine News!  Here is the link if you haven't seen it yet!  Kindergarten in the Tok Wolverine News!

The big news of the week was the MOON!  We studied the phases of the moon in a yummy way with Oreos...

Gibbous Moon phase

Quarter Moon phase

Crescent Moon phase

We kind of went Moon Crazy this week... because of the Super, Blue, Blood moon event that happened early Wednesday morning!  I got reports that several of the kinders got their parents out of bed to watch it.  Way to go!  First thing on Wednesday morning, we geared up and went outside at 30 below to see the Super Moon with binoculars!  The moon was just setting, but we got some good views and watched it go down!

Wednesday afternoon we took a trip to the moon!  The kids got to experience low gravity bouncing on the moon as they became astronauts in our own room!!!  Notice the air tank backpacks.... :) 

Don't forget to work on your Moon Journals!  And have a great long weekend!