Merry and Bright in 2017

Merry Christmas from the Beach Buddies! Thanks to Adam Spark's high school photography students for being our photographers.

Fabulous Fall Fun!

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

Fruit Feast, Fruit Feast
Yum, Yum, Yum
Which Fruit is your Favorite one?

Three Little Pigs - K Style!

We have become experts on The Three Little Pigs! We have analyzed the characters, retold the story, compared different versions, and made our own three pigs stories. Wednesday we used STEM tools to share our thinking about this traditional tale. Hear our ideas in the video below. 

We are Thankful!

We are Thankful! from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

The 50th Day of School

50 days of Learning

50 days of Fun

50 days to work and play

Aren't I the lucky one?

Whoooo is learning about owls?

Whooooo is learning about owls? Books, videos, and magazines helped us learn new facts about owls. Check out our favorite facts in the video below.

Video Nov 09, 1 21 39 PM from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

Imagination Day 2017

The last few days of October were filled with lots of kindergarten fun! We had imagination stations, made pumpkin hats, painted pumpkins, made bridges for our pumpkins, and read many pumpkin and imagination books.

Our Strong Schema

We have been learning about our schema in readers' workshop. Our schema is the information we have stored in our brains. Strong readers activate their schema to understand what they read. Check out our STRONG schema ideas in the video below.

Fair Haven Farms 2017

Fair Haven Farms is the best little kindergarten field trip! We saw many signs of fall, ate some yummy fruit, and picked our own mini pumpkins to take home. Marsha at the farm does a great job of teaching us about their farm and the fruits and vegetables they grow there. Thanks Fair Haven Farms!

Our Signs of Fall

We have been reading and writing about the season of fall! We used the app Drawing Pad to illustrate a one of our favorite signs of fall. Enjoy!

Our Forever Books

Earlier this month we enjoyed checking out each other's Forever Books. We read the books with our book buddies and later did some drawing and writing about what we THINK about when we read these books. We know strong readers THINK while reading.

Our Day in Kindergarten

Take a peek into our kindergarten routine with this video from Explore Kindergarten Night. Ask your kindergartner about his/her favorite part of the day.

Bubbles and Watermelon

Learning about watermelon and bubbles was a perfect way to start kindergarten! Poems, books, songs, shared writing, and outside play helped us explore in a fun, hands-on way.

First Day of K 2017

Nothing beats these first day of school smiles! Check out all our new 2017-2018 Kindergarten Beach Buddies. It's going to be a great year.

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Fun and Fitness 2017

"I think we won everything because we have so much energy!" --- a quote from one of the kindergartners as we walked back to school after Fun and Fitness. I think that might be right! :) We also work hard and have a lot of grit! Their competitive teacher may have done a little motivating as well! What a fun day.

Our Self-Portraits

These self-portraits really show the kindergartners' growth from September to May. We loved examining how our drawing and thinking has changed. We are ready for first grade!

Jungle Drawings

We are fortunate to have an awesome art teacher, Mrs. Pawelski, here at AES. Every time I pick up our class from art they have great things to tell me about their art projects. With the Como Zoo trip on Friday, I thought now would be a perfect time to share our jungle drawings. ** Have you checked out Artsonia.com ? Mrs. Pawelski adds student art and parents can purchase neat products with their child's art on them. We have a popular coffee thermos at our house! A paper about this was sent home from Mrs. Pawelski earlier in the year. Let me or Mrs. Pawelski know if you need more info.

Classroom Connections : Friendships and Engineering

Thanks to our district's Diversity Grant, this spring our class was able to connect with a class at Oak Hill Elementary. We enjoyed getting to know one another using "Google Hangout" (like Skype). We focused on sharing our new ideas about coding and engineering. On Thursday we traveled to Oak Hill to meet our new friends. We enjoyed a day of engineering, coding, and friendship!

Inventions Day 2017

Our annual Beach Buddies Inventions Party did not disappoint! It is such a learning-filled day. I love looking around the room at the little engineers, architects, and problem solvers-- using tons of creativity every step of the way! You will enjoy seeing our creations in the video below.

Pigs, Pigs, Pigs!

We have been fascinated by our learning about pigs! Hear our favorite facts in the video below.

 

Pigs, Pigs, Pigs from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

Big Ideas from Nancy

The past few weeks we have been completing an author's study on the MN author, Nancy Carlson. We love the special characters that Nancy includes in her stories. We got to know them well!

Nancy always seemed to teach us a "big idea" in each of her books. We discovered many "life lessons" that we could walk away with thanks to Nancy. Listen in and you might get some "BIG ideas" too!

Video Apr 06, 2 16 53 PM (1) from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

Aloha!

Aloha from Hawaii! From our plane ride to island hoping stations to hula dancing to a tasty snack....Hawaii Day was a blast!
We can't wait to go back! :)

Leprechaun Traps 2017

We had a "non-traditional" leprechaun visit us in kindergarten. His name was "Cleany". Unlike other leprechauns, he likes things clean. After serious spring cleaning in our classroom, Cleany delivered some yummy snacks and even a special robot mouse that is going to help us with beginning "coding" when we get back from break. It is surprising that Cleany didn't get trapped in any of our amazing leprechaun traps! Check them out below:


Leprechaun Traps 2017 from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

Our Habitat Research

In readers' workshop we have been reading about various habitats and the animals that live there. In small groups, we researched a specific habitat and made a poster together. We added our thinking with words, labels, and sentences. Learn about our habitats in the video below.

Readbox

The past month Ms. Curtis has been helping us write book reviews during Writers' Workshop. We picked a favorite review to record on Seesaw. Then we combined the reviews in the movie below. You can also find our book reviews outside our classroom in an awesome READBOX display....think Redbox....that Ms. Curtis created outside our classroom. We can scan a QR code and hear the review.
Maybe you will find a new book you want to check out! Enjoy!

Book Reviews 2017 from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

Beach Buddy Valentine's Day

Kindergartners LOVE Valentine's Day! Their own mailboxes, treats, lots of cards, and tons of sweet friendships...it makes for a pretty great day in K. Here are some highlights:


valentine's 2017 from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

Windblown

The book Windblown helped us notice how our thinking changes as we read.

We talked about how our schema changes the way we look at ideas in books and in life. The wind blew the book's shapes into many different creations. Here is how we thought the shapes would land.



Windblown from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

100th Day 2017

Blow a whistle.

Give a Cheer.

The 100th Day of School is here
Let's have a party. 

Let's celebrate. 

The 100th Day is really great! 

Click on the link below for our 100th Day Fashion Show!

100th Day 2017

The Little Hummingbird

This week we read the book The Little Hummingbird.

We noticed that our thinking changed and grew as we read about the tiny bird that "did what he could" and made a big difference. Check our big ideas from the book:


The Little Hummingbird from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

It Snowed a Heap....

It snowed a heap, it snowed a heap
It snowed all over the kinders, kinders, kinders,
It snowed all over the kinders!

Check out where we think the snow is falling!

It Snowed a Heap! from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

Snowballs

Lois Elhert's book, Snowballs was a hit in kindergarten! We loved making our own snow creatures like in the book. Thanks for all the "junk" you helped us collect!

Snowballs from Katie Zuehlke on Vimeo.

New Year's Resolutions 2017

Last week we read the story Squirrel's New Year's Resolution.

We worked hard to make our own resolutions for the new year. Enjoy!