The class has been organizing a class play on our Solor System. They are dressing up as planets, and other space objects. They have organized this pretty much on their own for Theme.  We are going to have our first performance, complete with sound effects Friday afternoon. Please ask your student how and what they did to help with the play. You can ask them what they learned about space, and liked the best about this unit.

Kindergarten is having the museum come to us to deliver a presentation on space and the moon, on Tuesday the 27th in the morning.

We are making a Native American village in our classroom. The Friends have made teepees, rivers, mountains, canoes and have made vests for themselves. We are enjoying ourselves while we learn about life during these times.

Orders go out today, please think about Holiday gifts! Books make great gifts for all ages, and our order will be here before the Holidays.  Thanks!! 

Last week the students created a Native American Picture Dictionary of the animals of the Eastern Woodlands. The Friends learned that the Native Americans did not have a written language with letters like ours. They used symbols written on rocks, on hides, or in caves. The symbols for animals often resembled the outline of the animal or a special identitying attribute.

This week we'll read, "Arrow to the Sun" an adaptation of a Pueblo Indian tale. The boy has to prove his bravery by passing four tests. The Friends will draw something they are afraid of in their own Kiva, and share with the class their Kivas and let us know if they have overcome their fear.

When you're in the building, please check out our bulletin board with their "Color Poems".  They turned out great!!

Last week we learned about planets and objects in space. We also made a small book on our sun. They learned the sun is a star and the improtance of it's energy.  This week we will make another small book on the stars. We will not go into the different constellations, but will discuss how stars together in the sky can look like pictures. We'll learn more about planets and some characteristics, and start discussing our moon.

A huge thank you to everyone for making our Halloween party the best over, especially to our homeroom mom Pam Davis for organizing everything. There was a lot to do and the Friends loved it! Games, crafts, stories, dancing, food.., how did you get it all in!!  Kindergarten Rules!!!!!!!!!!

Some of the activities and concepts we are working on in the classroom are Number Stories, and Estimation. In telling number stories, students are beginning to learn strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems and are becoming acquainted with the appropriate symbolic language. Last week in class the students came up with their own number story about addition. They drew the picture, wrote a sentence or two about it, and wrote the equation.

To enhance our estimation skills we have Estimation Station in our classroom. It is a jar filled with something for the day. The Friends have to estimate how many are in the jar. They are in charge of this activity that we do everyday. Someone counts the items, and sees who won. They love estimating to see how close they come to winning. They begin to distinguish between a wild guess and an educated guess. The more opportunities children have to estimate, the more accurate they become. This helps them in math in that, it is good to b ...

We will begin a new science unit on Space. I know many of the Friends will enjoy this, because they are already into space, and all the fun stuff that goes along with it. Our first concept will be that Earth is part of a solar system in the Milky Way galaxy. We will discuss objects in space, and use vocabulary words like: comet, moon, star, asteroids, planets, and the Milky Way Galaxy.

This week we will begin a new unit on Native Americans. This is a balanced curriculum including math, science, art, and social studies. This will be a cooperative learning unit that the students really enjoy.  At it's core are three high-quality picture books, Arrow to the Sun, Rainbow Crow, and The Legend of the Bluebonnet. Some of the activities will include poems, writing a skin story from a picture dictionary, weaving, creating puppets, making a Venn diagram, and graphing. I will be sharing some of my Native American pottery, and invite anyone who would like to share artifacts or stories to do the same.