Economics Project

Please see the below letter that was sent home in folders this week.

Dear Parents,

Our next social studies unit will set the foundation for helping children learn about making economic decisions.  Students will learn the meaning of producer, consumer, goods and services.  They will have the opportunity to determine what their wants and needs are and will understand the need for money and how people can earn money.  We are going to to turn our classroom into our very own community - Kindertown!  We want to set up a restaurant in our classroom where we are reading menus, ordering food (writing orders), and paying our bills (using money).  When you are out to eat, if you could please pick up a carry out menu for our "restaurant" that would be great!  To further enhance our understanding of consumer/producer and goods/services, we are going to set up a grocery store as well!  We need your help - please send in empty boxes of all different kinds of food items for our grocery store.  We will be writing grocery lists and using money to pay for our groceries.  Please start sending these things to school on January 6th (our first day back from vacation).  We will also have a pet shop, car wash, bakery, nail salon and more in our community!  We would like to have everything up and running by Monday, January 6, 2014.

Thank you so much for all your help and support!

Room 100 Winter Party

This is a gentle reminder that our class will be celebrating our winter party tomorrow, Thursday, December 19. The party will begin at 12:45 PM and conclude at 1:45 PM.

The party will include games, crafts and treats! We hope to see everyone there!

Apple Day!

Last Fresh Fruit Friday we enjoyed red delicious apples! The children were so excited to see the apples cut into slices using an apple cutter! Thank you so much to Stephanie C. for bringing in such a delicious and healthy snack!

If you are interested in participating in our Fresh Fruit Friday program, please visit our blog and use the sign-up link on the left side. Thank you in advance!

Mystery Reader

A big thanks to Greg P. for joining us as our mystery reader last week! The kindergartners loved the book Llama Llama and the Bully Goat! It was the perfect book to discuss kind words and kind actions!

Goldfish, guppies and snails

I am currently looking for a family who would be interested in taking our goldfish, guppies and snails home over the winter vacation. This consists of three small plastic containers with a different species in each one. 

I will supply water dechlorinating drops, food and a turkey baster to suck up waste. The goldfish and guppies need to be fed each day, while the snails will eat the dead plant matter in their aquarium.

If you are interested and willing to care for these tanks over the winter vacation, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can give you further care instructions.

Thank you in advance for everyone's consideration!

Our Busy Week and Specials Schedule

Monday (C) - PE
Tuesday (D) - Media Center and PE
Wednesday (A) -  Art
Thursday (B) - Music
Friday (C) - PE

Please remember to bring library books to school on days we visit the media center and gym shoes on days we have PE.

*This is a gentle reminder that the children should always have a change of shoes as we leave our boots in the hall to dry after recess.

Also...

Wednesday - Field Trip:  Henry and Mudge play (9am-12pm)
Thursday - Winter Class Party (12:45 - 1:45pm) We hope to see you there!
Friday - Pajama Day and Stone Soup*

Pajama Day - Friday, Dec. 20

On this day, the kindergarteners can wear their pajamas to school!  Please remember that they need to wear gyms shoes with their pajamas for safety reasons and for PE.  The children may also bring in a small stuffed toy to have during special reading times during the day.  They will NOT need pillows or blankets.

On this day, we will also be making stone soup.  This is based on the classic story.  After helping to make the soup, will check on it as it cooks all day long before we can finally enjoy it at the end of the day!  Yum!

Field Trip Reminder

This Wednesday, Dec. 18, we will be seeing the play Henry and Mudge at the Millennium Center in Southfield.  The bus will be leaving at 9am and return to school by 12pm.

If you have volunteered as a chaperone, you should have received an email with the address so that you can meet us at the theater.  If you did not receive this email, please let me know. 

Please remember to wear your blue class t-shirt to school on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

Gentle Reminder - School Begins at 10:25am Tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 12

Our Science Kit Arrived!

Last week, our greatly anticipated science kit arrived at our classroom door! Our new science unit, Animals 2X2, is all about comparing and contrasting live animals!

In our kits, we received goldfish, guppies and pond snails.  We were not able to receive live land snails as they are not native to Michigan. We did, however, receive a video and other materials to learn about land snails so we can compare them to the pond snails. Later we will be receiving red worms and earthworms as well as two different kinds of isopods.

Our first exploration was in learning all about our new goldfish! Last week we learned about the different parts of the goldfish including their tail, fins, both on top of and below their bodies, their eyes, mouth, gills and scales! We learned that a goldfish's tail helps to move it forward, while it's fins also help them to move and steer them through the water. We also learned that goldfish do not have eyelids, so they are not able to close their eyes. The children found their gills and scales the most interesting part. They discovered that fish use their gills to help them breathe underwater and their scales to protect their bodies. We spent lots of time watching the goldfish open and close their gills and see their scales shimmer under lights!

After learning about all the parts of a goldfish, we learned how to take care of fish. This included learning how to clean the tank using a turkey baster to suck up waste, adding clean water that has been sitting out to ensure no chlorine is left and making sure it is room temperature. We also learned that goldfish eat food off the bottom of their aquarium rather than the top. The goldfish also prefer to swim near the bottom of their tank as well. We read the book A Fish Out of Water when we learned that goldfish only need a little bit of food each day.

Next, we observed different behaviors of fish. We did this by adding different things into their aquarium to see how they would react. First we poured water into one side of the tank to see if they would swim towards the splashing or away from it. We discovered that they swam away. We then added some live plants to see if they would swim through them or not. They decided to swim under them. 

Finally, we added a tunnel to see if they would swim through it. We were so excited to see that after the fish felt safe and comfortable with this new item in their environment, they happily swam through the tunnel both ways and some even chose to hide in it!

Tomorrow, we will begin learning about guppies and comparing them to what we already know about goldfish. Stay tuned for our next science recap!

Mystery Readers

Over the last few weeks, we have had some wonderful parents come in to join us as mystery readers!

Many thanks to Jennifer S. for reading such a silly book about a mole rat in search of his clothes! The children loved it and talked about it the next day!

Also, thank you so much to Len G. The children really liked hearing about Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.  They loved how she was able to turn into a furnace at the end of the book. One little friend asked me afterwards if she was a transformer!

Play Field Trip Reminder

This is a gentle reminder that we will be going to see the play Henry and Mudge at the Millennium Center next week on Wednesday, December 18.  Our chaperones will be Jennifer S., Stephanie C.and Maureen S.  I still have an opening for one more chaperone.  If you are interested, please let me know. 

 Please make every effort to arrive at school on time as we will be leaving on the bus at 9:00am.  The bus will return to school at 12:00pm.

We will be wearing our blue class t-shirts to the field trip.  Thank you in advance!

Husky Packs

This Friday, our school will be getting together for our first Husky Packs meeting of the year!  Husky Packs are cross-grade level groups that meet several times each year to work together on community and character education building activities.  The groups are together with the same teacher from kindergarten through 5th grade.  As 5th graders graduate and move into middle school, new kindergarteners take their place in the group the following year!

Each of the children will be assigned to a Husky Pack this week.  On Fri8day, there will meet with their packs.  Please have your kindergartener wear their blue class t-shirt to school on Friday, Dec. 13, as there will be a yearbook photographer present at the meetings.

If you have any questions, please let me know.  Go Huskies!

Becoming scientists

Before beginning our new science unit on living things, we did a science experiment to get us back into our scientific thinking mode!

The kindergartners were given a pile of tools including a clear jar filled with water, a magnet, string, a pair of scissors, tape, a pencil and a paperclip. The paperclip was placed at the bottom of the jar of water. They were then asked how they could remove the paperclip without spilling the water are getting their hands wet.

After we tested several of the students hypotheses including using both the pencil and the scissors to retrieve the paperclip (both proved to be too short without getting our fingers wet!), we finally were able to create a fishing pole by combining the different materials into one!

Here we are testing our final hypothesis and "fishing" for our paperclip!

Pear Day!

Although I was not able to get pictures, last Fresh Fruit Friday our class enjoyed delicious pears brought in by Sonja W.  These were a HUGE hit!  Thank you so much for bringing these in for a special treat!

If you are interested in participating in our Fresh Fruit Friday program, please visit our blog and select the link on the left side to sign up.  Thank you in advance!

Winter Clothes for Recess

Please remember to send your child to school in warm clothes as we are still going out to recess twice each day.  When there is snow outside, our school rule is that the children must wear:

-boots
-snow pants
-winter coats
-gloves
-winter hats

If the kindergartners do not wear boots and snow pants, they must stay on the sidewalk next to playground where the snow has been plowed.  I do have extra hats and gloves in case a friend forgets theirs, but I do not have extra coats, boots or snow pants.

December Mittens

December Pride Posts are up on our door.  As the is month is shorter due to the winter break, the mitten will not be up as long as the other posts.  If you would like your child's mitten included, please return the completed mitten as soon as possible.

Late Start - Thursday, Dec 12

This Thursday, December 12 is a LATE START DAY.  School will begin at 10:25am and dismiss at the usual 3:50pm time.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

December Pride Posts

If you have not yet returned your child's December Pride Post, please place the completed mitten in your child's blue folder.  If you need an additional mitten, please let me know.

Specials Schedule for the Week of 12/9 - 12/13

Monday (B) - Music
Tuesday (C) - PE
Wednesday (D) - PE and Media Center
Thursday (A) - Art
Friday (B) - Music

Please remember to bring gym shoes on days we have PE and return library books on days we visit the media center.  Thank you in advance.

Friendship Feast

The day before our school went on Thanksgiving break, all three kindergarten classes celebrated our annual Friendship Feast! During the feast the kindergarteners were able to sit with their friends not only from our class but from the other classes, and enjoy a huge Thanksgiving meal! This included turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing and corn!

Before eating, the kindergartners did some exercises that they learned in PE with Mr. Price so that they could help burn off the calories they were about to eat!

The meals were eaten on their very own placemats that they designed and decorated in our class.

In addition to the meal, the kindergartners also celebrated their friendships by singing Thanksgiving-themed songs that they had learned in music class.  Unfortunately, the video I took does not seem to be working with our blog.  

After eating, all three classes were able to listen to Mrs. Stayer reading the story Bear Says Thanks. 

We finished off our day by holding a grade level writing celebration! All of the kindergarteners were mixed up and they were able to share examples of their writing to each other in small groups. They were all so excited to show their friends what they have been working on in writers workshop!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from everyone in Room 100!

Room 100 Had a Farm...

E I E I O!

We had such a wonderful time at Bower's Farm this week!  Even though it was cold (really cold!), we were able to learn about what farmers and their animals do!

Here we are on our tractor ride.  While enjoying our ride, the farmers explained the difference between push and pull.  We learned that when we were going up the hills, the tractor was pulling the cart, and when we went down the hills, the cart was pushing the tractor.  Along the way, we were able to see sheep and horses enjoying a chilly morning snack of grass and hay!

We even stopped at the pumpkin patch to collect pumpkins with the farmers!  The pumpkins we picked were then dropped off at the pie stand to be sold for pumpkin pies!

Inside one of the barns, Farmer Julie taught us about stacking hay using a criss cross pattern to make the stack as sturdy as possible.  She even let us try to carry one of the hay bails.  It took all the kindergartens working together to lift it!  While inside, we also learned about the hay elevator that moves hay high up the stacks and that farm cats work to get rid of mice.  We even saw a peahen!

Here we are learning how to brush the ponies and horses.  While some of us were brave enough to pet Patches, others felt more comfortable learning with their eyes and ears.

When we entered the chicken coop, we learned that different kinds of chickens lay different colored eggs!  We saw white, blue, pink, yellow and green eggs!  The children loved seeing Tom the Turkey the best!  We had already learned about a turkey's waddle and snood, and we really got to see them up close with Tom!  Farmer Julie even made us laugh by making Tom burp!

We even fed Happy the pig some fresh eggs - shell and all!

Finally, we learned about mammals such as Latte the goat!  We learned that animals that are mammals produce milk for their babies.  We also learned that a female goat's udder is filled with milk and you can get it out by squeezing the "milk getter outers!"  Each kindergartener was given a chance to milk Latte if they wanted.

Even though it was so cold, we had a great time at the farm!  Thank you to all of our chaperones for joining us!