Holiday Time 2012

Baking, caroling, and projects - oh my! Our last week before break was packed with holiday excitement. Here are some highlights:

The Little Red Hen

During readers' workshop, we read many different versions of "The Little Red Hen" and made text to text connections. We used a simple version of the story to perform a "readers' theater" play for you! Enjoy!

Grinch Day

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch! Although you helped us have a joyful day in kindergarten with Grinch poems, games, songs, stories, stations, and much more!

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Fruit Feast

Fruit Feast

Fruit Feast

Yum, Yum, Yum 

Which fruit is your favorite one?

   

Scarecrow Day

Scarecrow, Scarecrow,
How scary can you be?
You scared the kindergartners,
but you can't scare me!

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GO, Cardinals!

Good Luck, Cardinals....from the Beach Buddies. Click the picture below to hear our cheer.

If I was the President...

Election Day provided great learning opportunities in kindergarten. Not only did we read great president themed books, but also had our own school election and voted in our class for the pet we think the president should have. Dog won over cat and duck! After reading about presidents, we wrote and drew about what we would do if we were the president. I am certain these smart kindergartners will make a difference in the world someday. Enjoy their inspiring ideas!

Imagination Day

Imagination, Imagination
What do you see?
I see smart, creative kids smiling at me!

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Magic Marbles

Have you  heard about our latest science experiment? Last week we put "Magic Marbles" in water to find out what would happen. We made predictions and asked questions before, during, and after the experiment. We are still watching what will happen to the marbles in different settings. Below are some pictures in a "Voice Thread". A "Voice Thread" allows you to easily comment on our experiment. You can comment with written words (typing), voice (microphone or calling in), or video (webcam). It does ask you register when you choose "comment", but it is a quick username/password process.  We will make comments at school this week, but would love to listen/view/read your comments as well....kinders could even make comments at home! Thanks for your help!

Fair Haven Farms 2012

Even though we had a chilly morning, our trip to Fair Haven Farms earlier in October was perfect! The grapes, raspberries, and apples were delicious and the corn maze was a fun challenge. We used all of our 5 senses to discover signs of fall. I just love the video below...lots of smiles! Enjoy!

Our Forever Books

Our Forever books were a big hit at school. We remembered that strong readers read books over and over.  Check out our thinking about our books in the hallway at school...lots of great writing and drawing. Enjoy the slideshow below. Maybe you will find a new book or two YOU want to read!

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Cheers!

A few weeks ago we had our first writing celebration. After every unit of writing, we find a way to share a special "fixed and fancied" story. For our first celebration, we each selected one page from our special stories to share with our class. Then we had a "toast" of juice to celebrate the many pictures, letters, and words we have written already in kindergarten...and to the many more books to be made in the months to come. Cheers!

Rocking in our School Shoes

We love Pete the Cat. Recently we read our second Pete the Cat book, Rocking in my School Shoes. Pete shares all the fun things to do in school with new school shoes. As always, he reminds us that it's ok to make mistakes.

 Click here for songs and downloads about Pete the Cat

Some of our favorite school shoes...

Some of our favorite things to do in our favorite school shoes...

Our Day in Kindergarten

Thank you for the fantastic showing at Explore Kindergarten Night! It was a joy to see the kindergartners confidently showing you our classroom. Below is the slideshow that was playing on the SMARTboard. Enjoy a glimpse into our kindergarten day. 

What a View

When playing outside, we love to watch the building progress of the new school. We can't wait for the new Elementary to open! Monday we had some extra excitement as the workers were placing a pole literally right outside our window. We had an amazingly close view and learned a lot from watching the process. Be sure to ask your kindergartner about our experience and check out the pole next time you drive past our window!

The Seasons of our Apple Tree

Last week we read The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree and learned how apple trees change and grow with the seasons. In small groups, we created an apple tree for each season. With strong cooperation and teamwork, we created detailed trees that are hanging in our classroom. 

Skyping Strong Readers

Thursday was a special day in kindergarten! We were able to have our first Skype session of the year. Gavin's mom read us a story all the way from her school in a different town. It was definitely a highlight of our week! The story Curious Garden helped us understand the importance of hard work, patience, and sharing with others. After our Skype session we realized Gavin's mom is a strong reader since she reads and thinks about books. We made a list of other strong readers we know...many of you made the list! It is obvious you are showing your children the importance of reading. Thank you for that! Let me know if anyone else is interested in Skyping us --we would love it!

First Day of K

A new Kindergarten year is upon us! Welcome class of 2012-2013 Beach Buddies. What a fantastic first week of school for us. As I have shared with many, I believe this is one of the very best first weeks of school I have ever had! Your hard working, independent kindergartners are doing a stand up job getting into the routine of all day Kindergarten. Our first day went so great, we even had a chance to gather these first day pictures...with a bit of help from our special high school helper, Anne. She snapped away during snack time and I came up with this little video to introduce you to our new friends. How many names can your kindergartner remember?

 
First Day of K from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

Summer!

Hard to believe we have been out of school for a week already! Below are some pictures from our last days together. The first picture is from our visit to a first grade classroom. We read a book and compared how our room was the same and different from this first grade one. The other pictures are from our fun game of "Drip, Drip, Splash" (ask you child to teach it to you!) and our ice cream floats on Tuesday afternoon. Happy Summer!

Library Visit

Earlier in the month we walked to the public library to learn more about all the great opportunities the library has to offer. Thank you to Carla, the librarian, who shared stories, poems, and jokes with us. We also learned about the summer reading program at the library. Hopefully many of us will join...fun prizes can be earned! We loved checking out the awesome fiction and nonfiction books...I know many of us look forward to visiting the library again soon. Here is a link to the library's programming and hours. Enjoy some pictures of the day too!
http://www.griver.org/locations-and-hours/great-river-regional-library-annandale

Pixie Pictures May 2012

We used the software Pixie to create the slideshow below. We were proud to share it with you at Arts and Academics. Thank you for coming!

Signs of Spring Voice Thread

Last Friday we took our Book Buddies outside for some science work. The 4th graders helped us record signs of spring in our science journals. We also took some pictures. You will find our  favorites in a Voice Thread below. What is a Voice Thread? Click below to play the slides. Then, you will have the opportunity comment on the pictures. With Voice Thread, you can comment by typing, recording your voice, using a webcam to record video, or even calling on the phone. Click on the comment button below the pictures and then chose how you would like to comment.  The kindergartners could comment at home as well! Comments will be on the side of the pictures once you choose "save".  We look forward to seeing/hearing your comments as we view our Voice Thread on the SMARTboard. Thanks for helping us learn about this special form of communication.

Your Three Words Examples

As explained in the note sent home, we are working on our "Your Three Words" videos. Below is a link to a "Your Three Words" video on youtube that has some nice examples. You can also Google "Your Three Words Good Morning America" and find tons of videos. Remember to send your "three words" and any props by Thursday. Thanks for your help!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecRkSSNpSKc

Inventions Party 2012

I have to admit, I do like our classroom neat and organized, but this MESSY day is truly one of my favorites in kindergarten. Our Inventions Party helped us "go green" while creating awesome inventions. You should have seen our table full of "junk". Thank you for donating. :) We literally had 6 items left at the end of the day. I am certain you are making use of those special creations in your home right now. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do!

Writing Museum

What a happy sight--our classroom full to the rim with teachers, parents, peers, staff members, siblings, administrators....all sitting shoulder to shoulder with kindergartners, celebrating writing and reading. Our writing museum was a huge success. The visitors made each kindergartner feel special as their "how to" stories were shared. Thanks for showing these young learners the importance of literacy at all stages of life. 

Friday Fun!

Friday turned out to be an impromptu extra fun day in kindergarten! We enjoyed some bunny and carrot stations and even had a surprise visit from a mystery guest....he left white fur all over our room, hid our bunny bags, and left us some treats! We discovered a "rappin' bunny" online and had a few dance parties on the carpet. Thanks to Sam and his mom, we ended our day with refreshing popsicles outside for snack. Here are some pics and videos from the day.

Family Reading Nights

It is always a joy to watch families celebrate reading together during our Family Reading Nights. Here are a few pics from those special nights. Thanks for making the evenings a priority for your family. 

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Skype...

Technology at its best....today we had the opportunity Skype with our friend Owen while he was on a vacation to Florida. What a treat! It was definitely the high of our day in kindergarten. Owen and his family were nice enough to have a great collection of "ocean artifacts" prepared to help us learn some new facts and ask great questions.We loved it! We miss you, O...see you soon!

Hawaii Day

Aloha from Hawaii! Before the weather turned steamy in MN, we enjoyed the tropical beaches of Hawaii. The kinders looked fantastic in their beachy gear. We enjoyed  Hawaiian stations, dancing, poems, snacking, books, songs, and more! Hopefully you received your special post card in the mail!

If I was the President. . .

A few weeks ago, Miss Knuston helped us learn new facts about Presidents. We loved watching the YouTube video below and then shared our own ideas of what we would do if we were the President. 

Miss Knutson

We have been very fortunate to have Miss Knuston share her talents with us for the past 8 weeks. While our snowday was her official last day, she did come back Thursday to say goodbye. We made her a special book and shared with her some goodies we collected. She had some surprises for us as well, including this fun video with pictures of our "I Love to Read" dress up week. We wish Miss Knuston the best of luck and know she will touch many more lives in the years to come.

Artsonia

Thanks to Mrs. Pawelski, we now have artwork housed on the website www.artsonia.com. It is a great site that lets you see your child's artwork and even purchase personalized products with the images your child created. Once on the site, search Bendix and then choose Kindergarten. Below is a slide show I made with the dinosaur drawings on the site.

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Valentine's Day 2012

Valentine's Day in kindergarten always ranks as one of the favorite days of the year. Something about those special boxes filled with cards and treats--they LOVE it. A big thank you to Miss Knutson for snapping photos and putting together this great Valentine's Day slideshow.

Scrapbooking and Volleyball

Two more experts have graced us with their talents! On Valentine's Day, Jacob's mom, Sue, and a friend came to share their expertise on scrapbooking.  After hearing how they became experts, we gave scrapbooking a try ourselves.  You may have noticed the great Valentine's Day cards that came home thanks to Sue! 

On Wednesday, Izzie's mom, Sue, came to share her expertise on Volleyball. She showed us how to improve our skills and invited us to try some moves. Thanks, Sue!