Merry Christmas!

Christmas break is here!  We have had a great week.  The past few days we have spent some time traveling around the world to see how other countries celebrate Christmas.  The kids are bringing home a scrapbook today with info we learned about Mexico, Australia, and Sweden.

Enjoy this picture journey of other items from our week!

Our visit from Santa!  Each of us got a new book to read!

Playing "Melting Snowman" during our Christmas Party.  When the music stopped, the kids had to melt as quick as they could!

Making our Rudolph craft using our hands. 

Listening to a story.

Enjoying a sweet treat.  The kids decorated a sugar cone with green icing, then added M&M's as decoration to their tree.

The stockings were hung on the mantle with care.....  The kids made these back at the beginning of December.  It was a lot of fun when the realized they were being filled each day this week.  We had several guesses as to what could be inside:  candy, coal, and even new underwear!  They were pretty excited to find out today that it was candy!

Enjoy these 2 weeks off.  I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  See you in 2014!!

Another Week Closer...

It's hard to believe we are one week away from Christmas break!  First semester has really flown!  Here are some items to remember for next week:

Good Cheer Baskets:  We are still collecting items to donate through all of next week.  If you have any cans or dry goods you would like to donate to needy families, just send those in with your child any day next week.

Christmas Party:  Our Christmas party is Thursday, December 19th from 1-2 pm.  It is not too late to volunteer to come help us out.  If you are able, please let me know so we can plan for the number of helpers.

Polar Express Day:  This is one of my favorite days in Kindergarten.  All next week we will be doing activities to correspond with The Polar Express.  Friday will be our "Polar Express Day" and we will have a special surprise.  More information will come home on Monday.

Specials Change:  On Friday, December 20th, all the specials classes will be going to the gym for a fun activity.  PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD WEAR TENNIS SHOES ON FRIDAY.  When we come back on Monday, January 6th, the schedule will be as follows:

Echidnas:  Art

Emus:  Music

Kangaroos:  Library

Koalas:  PE

Christmas Break:  Our break officially starts at the end of the day on Friday, December 20th.  School will resume on Monday, January 6th.

Pictures:  I have attached a few pictures of the kids playing a memory game during one of our Super Kids lessons this week.  They had to take turns and find the matching Capital and Lowercase letter.  They will be able to play this game at home next week once we finish our unit on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Whew!

What a crazy way to end the week!  Today flew by!  However, we were able to accomplish just about everything!  A few things to note:

Mexico:  We finished our trip to Mexico today.  I brought back some cookies with me from my trip, so the kids were able to taste those.  Some liked them more than others, but I was proud of all of them for at least trying the cookies!

Superkids:  We met a new Superkid today, Frits!  Frits loves to fish!  This next unit we will be working on the letter /f/ sound, our handwriting for this letter, as well as really starting to read whole sentences.  The kids are doing such a great job blending words.  Keep working on it at home.

Canned Food Drive:  Next week Creekside will be starting a canned food drive.  All the donated items will be donated to a food pantry for needy families during the Holidays.  If you are able to donate items, please send them in with your child to add to our class basket.

My family and I are heading to Missouri today to see my sister's college Christmas Program.  Fingers crossed the roads aren't terrible!  Enjoy your weekend!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Welcome back from what was hopefully a wonderful Thanksgiving break!  It is hard to believe that it is December already and we are just 3 weeks from Christmas break!  Over the weekend I was able to go and cut down my very first Christmas tree!  It has been a lot of fun getting my house decorated for the holidays!  I love this time of year!

We have been getting ready for the holidays here in the classroom as well!  I love Christmas lights and the ambiance of a room lit by hundreds of lights, so I have decked out our classroom!  The kids were so excited to see all the lights, and our classroom tree as well!  I had to laugh when they seemed shocked that my tree is decorated with penguin ornaments.... duh!  What else would I use?!

We have also started a countdown to help us know how much longer we must wait for Santa to visit us!  Hanging in the hallway, each child has a picture of Santa, except one thing is missing... his beard!  Each day, the kids get to add one cotton ball to help fill in Santa's beard.  When all the circles are filled in, Santa will be coming that night!  They love getting to watch the beard fill in!

I have updated our blog pages for our December Classroom Calendar.  Be sure to check it out so you know what will be taking place this month.  Also, there is no Snack Calendar for December.  We have plenty of snacks right now, and I think we should be able to make it to January before we need to replenish.  Look for another calendar to come home at the beginning of the year.

With Christmas being just around the corner, we have 2 very special events planned for Kindergarten.  The first is our Christmas Party.  It will be on Thursday, December 19 from 1-2 pm.  If you are willing and able to come in and help with the party, please let me know!  

The other event is our Polar Express Day which will be on Friday, December 20th.  More information about this day will be coming home shortly.

Thank you all for allowing me to teach your child.  I am really enjoying this group of kids and I'm blessed to have such a special group to spend my days with!  Have a great afternoon!

Gobble, Gobble

We made it through our Thanksgiving Mini-Feast!  Thanks to all the parents who donated items, helped with prep work today, and just came to hang out!  We had a great time!  Check out the fun:

All of Kindergarten enjoying the feast!

Ben, Ethan, Keylee, Caleb

Titus, Skyler, Annie, Makinzi, Aubrey H.

Aubrey S, Crystal, Madison, Taylor

Logan, Fletcher, Cooper, Delilah

John, Cash, Zeek, Zach

Grant, Austin, Lane, Jason

Pilgrims

Indians

Miss Records' crazies!

I hope everyone has a wonderful break and a joyous Thanksgiving with loved ones.  This will be quite the weekend for me as well as Saturday will be a special birthday... the big 3-0!  Wow!  Have a wonderful break and enjoy these 2 funnies!

Saludos desde Mexico

Hello from Mexico!

On Friday we traveled back to North America to the country of Mexico!  We took a look at the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum and Chichen Itza.  We also saw some Voladores who perform a breathtaking ritual representing earth, wind, fire, water, and the sun.  We saw a traditional May Pole dance, and finished by talking about cenotes (underground pools of freshwater).  Check out these sites!

The Voladores as they hang upside down, spinning to the ground.

One of the many buildings that make up the ruins of Tulum along the Yucatan coast. 

Underground cenotes.  Over 1,000 of these freshwater pits dot the Yucatan peninsula.

Mexican May Pole Dance.

Chichen Itza.

Reminders:

Tomorrow is our Mini-Feast.  Parents are welcome to meet us in the cafeteria at 1:30 for the celebration.  If your child has not brought in their piece of fruit for our "Friendship Fruit Salad," please do so in the morning. 

Also, don't forget that book orders for Christmas are due tomorrow as well.  You can either order online or send in the order form and money with your child in the morning.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

It's Been Too Long!

It has been quite a while since I have sent out some info, so I'm apologizing now for all that this post will entail!  We have just been so busy lately that I have a lot to share!  So... here we go:

Super Kids
We have met not 1, but 3 new friends this week!  Tic, Tac, and Toc are 3 good friends who get themselves into "triple trouble!"  They love playing games and sports, as well as listening to and making music.  As we work through this unit, we will be working on letter formation for the letter Tt, as well as the sound /t/.  Continue working with your child on working out sounds in words to hear each part.




The Parent Portal has also been updated.  There are 2 new books to read, as well as a new game to play!


Math
We have been really busy in math lately, learning lots of new games.  Last week we learned a game called "Train Games."  The kids rolled a die and got to build a train using that number of cubes.  The first one to create a train of 10 cubes was the winner.  Check out these pictures.

The other day we played a game using a Teen's Frame.  This board has 20 squares on it.  The kids worked with a partner to spin a number and then show it on their board using the correct number of counters.  Here are a few pics from that game.

Crystal and Annie working hard to create their number.

Skyler and Fletcher working away.

The last math game we have learned is called "Top It."  It is a lot like the card game "War."  You will have the chance to play this game for tonight's math homework.  Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Ben, Titus, and Cash

Crystal and Annie

Caleb and Cooper

On Monday I will be sending home information about how you can access our Online portion of our Everyday Math series and play some of these games at home!

A Bit of Fun!

We also got to celebrate earning our 20 perfect days of attendance this week.  We had a popsicle party to celebrate our accomplishments.  We only need 16 more perfect days to earn another party!

Zeek, Titus, Annie, and Cash enjoy their popsicles!

Thanksgiving Fun

We took some time to make a craft for Thanksgiving.  The kids each made their own turkey, and then wrote 4 things they are thankful for.  These are on display in the hallway.

Our Kindergarten Mini-Feast is on Tuesday, November 26.  More information about this will be coming home on Friday!  Be on the look out for these details!

I have one final picture to leave you with....  I couldn't pass up sharing the view from my beach chair last week.  Aaaahhhhh...... Mexico!