Valentine's Day

The girls learned a new game today.  After we read the Word Wall, the girls were put into pairs to play the game Word Slap--a game where cards with our Word Wall words are spread on the floor between the two girls.  The teacher reads a word aloud and the first girl to slap the word card, keeps it.  Needless to say, there were many giggles during this game.

Getting into the Valentine's Day spirit, we worked on our graphing skills during math. The girls were then given a handful of candy hearts and sent back to their seats to sort and create their own graphs.

Before our party, we read The Day It Rained Hearts.  

Then Adam Herb presented the game 😂

The girls created cards with bouquets of hearts.

Finally, they opened up their valentines.  It was a wonderful day!

Melted Crayons and 100th Day

Last week the girls learned about transition words such as first, in the beginning, second, then, after that, next, finally and last.  On Friday, the girls made melted crayon hearts and will create a How-To class book using the new transition words they have learned.

Today we celebrated our 100th day of school!  The girls walked into our room this morning through streamers, with "Celebrate" by Kool & the Gang as their soundtrack.  Our day was filled with different activities, all centered around the number 100.  Take a look below to see how Pre-First celebrated.

First, the girls listened to 100th Day Worries.  

Then we took a picture of the girls and used the app Aging Booth to fast forward time and get an image of what the girls will look like when they are 100.  The girls--and their teachers--got a huge kick out of seeing each other as 100 year old ladies.  They then wrote about what they will look like, what they will be doing and where they will live when they turn 100.  This was, by far, their favorite activity of the day.

Here are some of the center activities the girls completed:  

• 100 Chart--the girls had to color in certain numbers on their 100 chart to create a picture.  Make sure you ask them what it was!  
• 100 Exercises--the girls did 6 different exercises, each exercise was a 100 count.  Some of the exercises were jumping jacks, twists and hops.  Needless to say, there were a lot of water breaks taken during this center.
• 100 Dots--the girls used 10 different paint colors to make groupings of 10 Q-tip dots.
• 100 Cup Structure--the girls were given 100 cups and had to build a structure out of them.  This was one of their favorite centers.  Make sure you ask your daughter what her structure looked like!

Digraphs and Hibernation Charades

Over the past several days, the girls were introduced the digraphs, "sh" and "ch". Today we brainstormed some th and wh words as a class, then the girls went back to their seats to write several words on their own.  The girls partnered up and completed a digraph worksheet together. We will continue to focus on all the digraphs we have learned (th, sh, ch, wh) in our word study period.

We also discussed the difference between hibernation and torpor.  The girls took full opportunity to put their acting skills on display as we played charades.  The class had to decide what the animal was and if it went into hibernation or torpor.  Be sure to ask your daughter which animal she portrayed.

Transition Words

We have begun planning our next Writer's Workshop book.  The girls will be writing a How-To non-fiction book using the transition words that they were introduced to today.  We sorted the different transition words (first, after that, etc) according to where we would use them in a story.  Then we used these words to help us arrange the steps of how the girls get ready for lunch. 

Next, the girls listened to Shoes From Grandpa by our Author of the Month (Mem Fox) and sequenced the events of the story using transition words.

In math, we have been working on place value using base 10 blocks.  The girls have done an excellent job of grasping this concept and have graduated to using the hundreds blocks. The girls even made Mrs. McMahon and Ms. Brooks do a funny trick by completing a challenge question--make sure to ask them what it was!

Publishing Party and Frozen Food

We had our second publishing party this morning with the kindergarten classes.  Our girls loved reading their Make Noise books to our younger friends and had a great time celebrating this big accomplishment.

The past several days the girls have been learning place value by working with base 10 blocks. They have learned that a cube represents one and a ten cube rod represents ten. The girls have been writing and modeling numbers using these blocks. Next week we will begin working with the hundreds place!

In science we did an experiment on reasons why some animals hibernate in the winter. They were given pineapple that had been frozen in an ice cube.  They had to attempt to get to the pineapple and eat it; the girls discovered that this was not an easy task.  As they were gnawing their way through the ice, we talked about how difficult it was to actually get the food out and how hard it must be for animals to find food in the winter.  Then the girls were given fresh pieces of pineapple and were given the green light to go ahead and eat them.  We talked about how the pineapple smelled, what it tasted like, and how easy it was to bite into and eat it. The girls realized, at the end of the experiment, that one reason some animals hibernate in the winter was due to the difficulty to find and eat food; it is not easy to smell, find, or eat!

Many thanks to our mystery readers this afternoon!

Sh digraph and Phil

Punxsutawney Phil has been a much talked about animal for the past two days.  As we start our hibernation unit, Groundhog Day could not have come at a better time!  The girls made their predictions for tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to live stream his decision.

Today, we began our day with a language arts lesson that focused on the "sh" digraph.  The girls watched a funny Electric Company video that highlighted the digraph "sh."

After the video, we brainstormed more "sh" words.  Then the girls returned to their tables and made a large "sh" out of seashells.  They wrote some of the words we brainstormed onto shells and glued them around the "sh".

100 chart and Penguin Enemies

The girls were introduced to the hundred chart last week during math.  They watched a short video that taught them the basic ways to use a hundred chart.  The girls then received their own charts and had to find and shade certain numbers that the teachers called out.  We also looked for patterns on the chart.  The girls ended their lesson by using the "Mystery Numbers" app on their iPads, which is a terrific app that utilizes the 100 chart.  If you have an iPad and are looking for a great math app for your daughter--this is an excellent one!

Killer whales, skuas and leopard seals...oh my!  The girls learned that these 3 animals (and one other scary being) are the penguin's biggest--and scariest--predators.  We looked at some pictures online and also got a lot of information from some stories in our classroom library. Then after we learned about each enemy, the girls then made torn paper scenes, depicting the penguin in a perilous situation with a feared predator of their choice.

The final products!