Our 2013 Kindergarten Year Has Begun!!

We did it!!  We made it through the first day of Kindergarten.  :)  Yeah!    We got to sing, dance, learn and play, and I think everyone had a wonderful day.   Thank you for trusting me with your little ones.  Like I said in the poem today, I will love them like I do my own!  I am soooooo looking forward to the year and can't wait to see how these kiddos grow.

Burping in the Classroom.....What?

Last week we read those fun There Was an Old Lady books.  We were working on compare and contrast.  They blew me out of the water.  They were coming up with so many things, that they told me I didn't have enough lines for them on our diagram.  "Don't worry Mrs. Rucker, we can just smoosh the words in there!"

After all the "work" was finished, it was time for the fun!!  In the There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell book, she didn't die at the end......she burped and built a sandcastle!  Oh yes, here it comes.....we burped!

I sent them all back to their desks to draw their sandcastles.  Then we came back to the squares and burped.  Yeah!!

Oh........so much fun!

Senator Jerry Moran

Look who came and visited our classroom today.......

Senator Jerry Moran.

How exciting!!  Don't worry, we were on our best behavior! :o)

Super Glad to Be Back

This has been a great week back, and the weather outside has made playing outside so much more fun.  It has still been a little chilly during the morning recess, so please remember to send a coat with your child - for a little bit long! :)

We picked up right where we left off with adding and our long vowel review.  I don't think the kids missed a beat!

In science we have been finishing up our How Things Move unit.  Totally Fun!!! Plus, since the weather decided to play nice this week, we got to go outside and have some fun.  Yeah!!  Check back next week for some great pictures and updates.

Meet Abraham Lincoln

Last week, during our very short week, we learned about our presidents.  We talked about who they are, what they do, and where they live.  The kids were very excited when we talked about the White House because they knew I was there in November.  :o)  We had time to study two of America's great presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

We all became Abraham Lincoln after we read about his cool hat and the important notes he kept inside it.

The Importance of an Illustrator

Most kids love being able to color a picture and illustrate their sentences, but this week we talked about how important that actually is.  An illustrator has a big job!!!  They must understand what the author wants the readers to see.

We talked about several examples.   If the story has the little girl wearing a pink dress, the illustrator can not say, "Nope, I like red."  ......   and color the dress red.  If the author has the boys in the story playing football, the illustrator can not say, "Nope, I like basketball better."  .....  and color them playing basketball.  Otherwise, he might loose his job.  "You mean like get fired Mrs. Rucker?"  Yep!  The author gets to tell the story, and the illustrator makes it visually come alive. 

One of the activities we do to practice this is play our "Be an Illustrator" game.  I have the kids put up their desk dividers (so they can't see each others papers), and then I tell them to put on their Illustrator hats.   They must listen to the sentence and illustrate what they hear.  When everyone is finished coloring, we show our pictures.  They love to see if their picture looks like the others at their table.  The sentence I used in these pictures was, "The fat yellow cat sat on a blue mat." :)

Happy Birthday Celebration

Happy Birthday Elissa!

Kansas Day

Today was Kansas Day!  :o)   We have been learning about our Kansas flag, our state name, our capital, and our state bird, reptile, amphibian, insect, tree, flower, and mammal.

Ask the kids to tell you about how we remember the name of our capital, Topeka.  "And.......the Indian said, 'My toe-peek-a outa my shoe!'"  

We have also learned many other interesting facts about Kansas.  Today we decorated the Principal's office with the "unofficial" Kansas bird - the Jayhawk.  For you K-State fans (like our principal), I did explain to the kids that it was an "unofficial Kansas symbol."  The term "jayhawk" was first used before the Civil War.

I do have his daughter in my class, so we thought it would be a funny joke to play on her daddy.  With the help from the office staff, the whole wall ended up being decorated!  

Happy Birthday Kansas!!

100th Day Fun

Tuesday was our 100th Day of School!  Yeah!  :o)  The kids were so excited, and I had lots of exciting things planned for us.

We started off the morning in math with a fun little roll to 100 activity.   The kids loved getting out our new foam dice.

Later in the day we worked on our 100th Day of School posters.  By counting and gathering objects in groups of 10, we made our way up to 100.  We used yarn, noodles, buttons, stamps, stickers, finger prints, our name, numbers 1-10, smiles, and my favorite 5 hugs and 5 kisses (XOs)!  I went around and gave them all 5 hugs and 5 kisses.  They loved it.

The day ended with my favorite activity.  Sorting and graphing 100 M&Ms.  Yummy!

Be the Word and a Birthday Celebration

Welcome Back to School!!  

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break.  I know I sure did, but I missed my classroom kiddos! :0)  Also, thank you very much for the wonderful Christmas presents, and I am sorry I missed our last day together.

This week we learned a new sound "or."  Orty Orsen is sore when she orders four pairs of shorts and the store sends her forty!  So to practice our new words, I let the kids "be the word!"  They just love this.  

We also had a birthday celebration today.  Happy Birthday Megan!  We even had purple cookies.  Yummy!