Poetry

We have been busy learning about and exploring poetry.  Did you know that you can write a poem about anything??  Well, you can.  We started out by listening to lots of poems written by Shel Silverstein.  Then Mrs. Hemsey chose some poetry books that we could just look at and explore.  They were really cool!

   

   

   

We loved exploring the poetry books.  We discovered that you can write fiction and nonfiction poems, too.  Then we decided to try writing one together.  We decided on a topic, which was Rainy Days.  Next we brainstormed ideas and shared anything that reminded us of rainy days.  Then we came up with this:

Next step is to think of our own topics and to write our own poem.  Stay tuned...

Frog Story Problems

This week we completed our frog story problems.  Much like the sea creature problems we created in February, the kindergartners created and wrote their own story problems about frogs.  We did the writing part of this just like we would do a Writing Workshop lesson.  Then we took it a step further by not just writing the problem…we illustrated it as well.  Take a look at some of our awesome work.  We have some pretty amazing writers and illustrators in this class!

   

   

   

Animals 2 x 2

We are getting started with our new Science unit, Animals 2 x 2.  Here is a little preview of the creatures we will be learning about.

We will learn about pill bugs and sow bugs.  This is new for us this year!

   

Goldfish and guppies as well as water snails are back this year.

And, of course, the ever popular incubator.  We are hoping to hatch 6 baby chicks on or around May 19.  We will keep you posted!

Learning About Opinions

One of the things we have been discussing lots lately is opinions.  In our Reading Workshop read aloud stories, we talk about the opinions of the author and even the characters in the stories often.  We are learning that people have different opinions and that is O.K.  We do not have to agree with the opinions of others, but we do need to respect them.

For example, take my friend Sophie and I.  Sophie happens to be an Iowa State Cyclone fan and everyone knows Mrs. Kurt is an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan.  We decided to have a little fun with our differing opinions and each wear our University of Iowa and Iowa State shirts on the same day.  We showed that although we may not agree on which team is the best, we do respect each other's opinions!

Thanks for being a good sport, Sophie, and for helping us learn that it is O.K. to have a different opinion!

Readers Theater

On Thursday afternoon, our class was invited to a Readers Theater performed by Mrs. Hanson's Third Grade GT class.  The story they read and performed for us was called Three Hens and a Peacock.  

It was kind of cool that they did this story since we have been reading different versions of The Little Red Hen.  The third grade GT students did a great job.  They read their parts with clear, loud voices so we could hear and understand what they were saying.  We loved it!  When the play was finished, the third grade students let us ask questions about the play.  It was fun for us to see and they did an excellent job!

   

   

  

   

Thanks for inviting us to see your play, third graders!

Story Structure Maps

Last Friday on our staff development day, teachers spent the morning working on literacy.  One of the things we learned about was story structure maps.  We actually had to read a couple of new classroom books and make our own story maps.  Since this was something new to me, I decided that getting a little extra practice would be good.  I enlisted my kindergarten students to help me learn to get better at this.

We read two different versions of the classic folktale The Little Red Hen.  The first version, titled The Little Red Hen was a more traditional version of the story.  The second version was titled The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza).  

   

While we read each story, the students took some time to discuss their thinking.  They  have such great ideas to share!

   

On the story maps you will see below, I did the writing but the kids came up with the responses.  I think we did a pretty good job, considering this was our first attempt.  We will definitely do more in the next few days and weeks.

Rainy Days and Indoor Recess

April showers,

Bring

May flowers!

At least that is how the saying goes.  However, it would appear that we are in for a long haul of indoor recess.  Usually when we have indoor recess, we get to play in the gym.  But this week, the staging is all set up for the First Grade Music Program on Thursday so there is not as much room to run around.  So, being the Super Flex bunch that we are, we tried something new for indoor recess.  We played games!

Each table had a game or two that the kids could play.  We had Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Connect Four, Jenga, Cootie, Hungry, Hungry Hippo, Crocodile Dentist, just to name a few.  It was something different for the kids but they were so flexible and did a great job!