Mr. Kindergarten

Friday, January 27, 2012

2012-01-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

In today's Friday folder you will find a Dragon's Tale announcing a new school wide program which I believe will prove to be a great value to our school.

The new program is called Toolbox. I know many educators who use this program and speak very highly of it. I actually know two of the educators (James Greenwald and Mike Mc Bride) who offer their testimonials on the video you can see here:

Our staff will receive training in using Toolbox in February. I am looking forward to it.

More later.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

2012-01-27T13:19:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone who went to school can remember days when a substitute teacher took over for the regular teacher.

Some subs kept the classroom humming along quite normally. The strict subs brightened and tightened the rules acceptable behavior. These subs kept the room quiet and made the classroom wall clock slow to almost a stop. "Will this day ever end?" I can remember wondering.

Who can forget the subs who never quite grasped the arcane arts of classroom control? Clueless subs made for long days, too, but at least there was entertainment as objects crashed to the floor or sailed overhead.

When either Mrs. Everson or I am not on duty we can expect more anxious energy to flow through the room and ruffle the kindergarten.

The first half of the day we had the very capable help of Ms. G who has been subbing here at Dunham of late. But when she had to go off on another assignment halfway through the morning, I knew I'd have to step it up a notch. We did have a few moments, but thankfully, Ian's dad Pat Higgins stayed the morning and helped me keep us more or less on track.

Tomorrow Mrs. Everson and the regular program returns.

We did manage to get through a drawing lesson featuring the Cat in the Hat. Some good drawings were made and are now on display in the front of the room.

We also enjoyed some activities from the Drama Enrichment program. In the photo below Aidan is the castle gate, Kade and MacKenzie are the casstle towers, and inside the castle are two fair maidens awaiting rescue. (I think I got that right.)

Dominic brought a book to share about reptiles that by happy coincidence featured the Cat in the Hat as narrator. So we read it with pleasure. He brought today's snack featuring homemade fruit bars and organic applesauce.

We got to ride bikes at the end of the day.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

2012-01-25T16:26:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Mrs. Everson will be away to a training and we'll have partial coverage for her in the morning. In lieu of centers we will have an art project that the whole class will participate together in. If you are a regular parent volunteer on Thursday, you are invited (but not strictly needed) to stay through the regular center time. Centers will resume as usual on Friday.

Here, in eight photos, is a quick look into the classroom today. We began the day simply enough with 1" wooden cubes. I encouraged students to see how many they could stack up. No one did better than the Balzarini kids, Dominic and his big sister Maddie who got a stack as tall as my pointer is long.

Bianca was happy with her effort while Caleb made a more staircase with his cubes.

And you can see Kayla K and Raegan got some pretty high towers. It helps if no one accidentally bumps your table....

Vanessa and Anthony over at table seven go some good things going....

Today was our Fifth Grade Buddy day. In the reading room we had a quiet group working on reading and puzzles.

The Rodriguez brothers made a tall tower.

At story Diana produced a book about Cows that use a typewriter. I have one in my room so we had a look at an forty-plus year old typewriter.... the one I took to college with me. My parents told me it would be the only typewriter I'd ever need in my whole life.....

They were right, of course. Back in 1969 as far as I know, no one had yet imagined personal computers or word processors..... and I grew up in Silicone Valley where they would be invented in the years ahead.

The homework sent home today does not need to be turned in until a week from tomorrow.

Be well.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

2012-01-24T13:28:00.000-08:00

One big difference between my younger self as a teacher and the teacher I am today is in my view of repeating activities. When I began teaching more than 30 years ago I had the wrong idea that doing an activity more than once was a waste of time. I worried, too, that the students would find it boring.

How wrong I was! Now I understand that repeating activities is often not just valuable, but often essential to learning. Going back over a lesson or an activity can help it settle down and solidify in the mind of the learner. It's not boring the second or third time because the second time through you're a different person as a learner than you were the first time: you bring a memory of having "been there before."

So, now, with enthusiasm born from experience, I embrace lessons done before.

This morning we went back to the lesson on patterning with craft sticks. The kids knew just what to do and took off. They even got creative and made their own patterns. I particularly like Stasia's use of the square figure in her pattern.

We began a new round of centers this morning. Because we were so short of volunteers, we nixed the literacy center I had planned for me to do so that I could teach a math center using balance scales. Boy, I had fun! We used the balance scales and wrote records of our findings. Below is a photo of the third recording sheets we completed.

Caleb came to school with a story book to share, one called Super Friends Big Heroes. Books like these help keep me more up to speed on today's popular stories. Asking the class, I found that most of the kids could guess the end coming before it did.

Ms. Campbell taught PE today. The clouds were just about to clear out as we finished our PE time.

Lining up is an important part of kindergarten, one a few of us are still working on. (One child is out of frame here.)

In the library we've come to that part of the year when students can choose books for the classroom box of books. The students were very excited to have their choices included. They more than filled the box up.

Mrs. Everson noted that at recess the kindergartners were particularly responsible about lining up, so we got ten minutes time to play on the bars before going home today.

All is well. Enjoy the sun, and

Be well.

Monday, January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

My best days as a teacher, the ones that I feel happiest as I drive home from work are those days when students make the most important milestone in kindergarten, at least with regard to learning to read. That's the day your child takes the mic and shows the class they know the King's Cards well enough to say them all in a minute and a quarter.

There is now a King's Card by her name....

When your child can do this, it means that he or she is well on the way to becoming a competent beginning reader.

Today Kayla Sue made my day. She made the day for everyone else in the whole class, too, because I tend to tack on about 10 more minutes to bike time at the end of the day. Even better, her mom was there to see her do it. We all cheered, "Hip-hip-Hooray!"

Kayla Sue moments after naming each sound

Also, as you know, in January we are emphasizing the quality of persistence in students. Because it takes real persistence to master the Soundabet, Kayla Sue will be entered into the drawing for the Kindergarten Persistence Award that will be handed out two weeks from today at the Dunham School Assembly on February 6. There are 9 kindergartners who have qualified to enter the drawing to date: Bella, Caleb, Emily, Ian, Kade, Kayla Sue, Nathan, Tanner, and Vanessa.

The weather was good enough to cooperate with our wishes to ride bikes toward the end of the day. Our recent rains have filled the creek with a nice rivulet of muddy water. Before recess this morning we visited the creek to listen to its music.

Cale brought snack and a nice storybook by Caroline Castle about a polar bear called Big Fuzzy. We talked about whether the story could be true or not.

Our math lesson this morning had children make patterns made by laying craft sticks on the floor. In this photo you can see an AB pattern and an AAB pattern right next to it. This is a good activity to do at home. Try some different patterns like AABB and so on. One objective of a lesson like this is to help children see that patterns can be found in color, shape, and even in just the way you sticks down on the ground.

Be well!

Friday, January 20, 2012

2012-01-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

Early today we played a game of "Number Squeeze" where I pick a number between 1 and 100 and ask students guess what it is. With each guess, I give them information as to whether their guess was too high or too low.

Clearly it had been too long since we last played the game.

Students guessed more than once numbers less than the lower limit or more than the upper limit. Many guesses were adjacent to the limit rather than halfway between the limits. A skillful guesser will guess in the middle of the known limits because that strategy will produce quicker results.

Number Squeeze will have to go on the agenda again....

Later in the day we played "What's My Rule," a game I introduced to the class earlier this week. This time rather than using color or shape as the significant attribute I chose something new. It took quite a while for most of the class to figure out what my sorting criteria was. Have used color and shape previously, most students reverted to looking for color or shape to see which was currently the basis of my sorting rule. But they could see that all the colors and all the shapes were on both sides. A moment of collective confusion, "How can that be?" The moment of confusion was soon followed by insight.

Every color and every shape appeared on both sides. To see the new rule, they had to let go of looking for colors and shapes. Here is a picture of the final sort. Can your child tell you what the sorting rule was? (It is easy once you see it.)

Ah, the first really rainy day all year, at least as far as I can remember. As I unlocked the kindergarten door this morning the students came into the classroom and proceeded to roar around the room as if running off a strong triple espresso. It helped to move our classroom band right to the front of the day and let them bang out a simple rhythm and sing a few familiar songs including Jingle Bells.

With some well-timed dances mixed into a schedule that included recess indoors, we made it through the day fine. But truth be told, the fresh air and sunshine does wonders for them and for me. I'm glad the rain is here and want more of it. I'm ready with a truck load full of rainy day activities. So let's cross our fingers that the rains keep coming.

Here's what the class looked like when I returned during morning recess.

Busy, active, and interactive play

It's all good.

Be well.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

2012-01-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

Ahh, thankfully we're getting near to the end of the DIBELS reading assessments. It takes me almost 20 minutes per student to administer these assessments, so it always feels like kind of a push to get them all done. They are intended to help me figure out who needs more instruction, and, in a way they do, but mostly they simply confirm what I already knew or at least strongly suspected in the first place about who's getting it and who's not. But they must be done....

I just finished planning the next round of centers and I'm looking forward to them. This period of time between the winter holiday and spring break is a fun time to teach because the kindergartners make so much progress in these months.

Mrs. Everson took the day off to help chaperone a field trip to Safari West. Kelly Simonis, the substitute teacher who filled in for me during conferences in November, capably filled in for Mrs. Everson.

Oranges can make you smile.

It was Bella's day to bring snack and a story. She brought The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter and the students seemed to enjoy that classic and enduring story.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

2012-01-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

Today we played our first game of "What's My Rule?" an activity that gives students experience with thinking about sets. We use "Attribute Blocks" for this game. Attribute Blocks have four qualities: color, shape, size, and thickness. Using these qualities we can sort them. Most of the "What's My Rule?" activities require students to figure out the sorting rule someone else used to sort the blocks.

In this photograph you see how the game ended this morning. A child sorted the blocks so that the blocks following the rule were moved to the white paper and the ones that did not were moved to the black surface. Can your child tell you what the rule for inclusion was?

(Answer at bottom of post)

Later in the day, Emily showed how well she did the Soundabet, with microphone in hand.

Clutching her prize

Emily's name on the wall is now decorated with a King's Card.

Emily's in the club

Yeah, Emily!

We celebrated Emily's success with about 25 minutes of indoor play after lunch. She's now in the running for this month's Persistence award.

Dominic concentrated on the wooden cubes. Working intently for most of the period, he surrounded a whole table with them.

Focus and concentrate

[Answer: The rule is: squares and circles are selected to go on white.]

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

2012-01-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

Gee, I almost titled this one "Monday" but of course it's really Tuesday today.

Just one thing to report to you today: Emily's mom, Michelle, took down the old curtain shown in Friday's post and returned at kindergarten pick up with a new curtain to install. It's very nice.

The new improved curtain looks like this.

The backside has a crayon motif.

Detail of the inside design

Thank you, Michelle, for sharing with kindergarten your sewing abilities!

Friday, January 13, 2012

2012-01-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

First thing this morning was to use the Cusinaire Rods. In the past, we've made ABC patterns like the ones you see here.

One member of the class took one look at the Cuisenaire Rods and, remembering the difficulty he had making ABC patterns when we last used these rods, told me emphatically, "I don't know how to do those patterns!"

I had less of an agenda this morning. I wanted to simply trust the children and just see what might happen. I told him, "It's OK. You can make whatever you like." Once he settled down and got his hands going, he made a tiling pattern so original and wonderful, I wanted to share it here:

His neighbor made this:

Don't you love the green hair?

And, as before, we've seen Cuisenaire Rods be used to construct letters and put to use to write.

To construct a name this long would take persistence (our January character trait):

So much more happened today. Bella made it into the King's Soundabet Club. Whenever that happens, I get happy and we celebrate as a class. I'm hoping that we'll see another surge of kids who show the persistence to learn the whole Soundabet.

Persistence is what it takes to master the Soundabet.

Persistence makes it possible to succeed in so many areas of life. It's worth developing, starting even in kindergarten, starting especially with mastering the Soundabet because knowing the sounds that letters stand for will help so much with reading and writing.

We sang birthday songs to Stasia who turns six tomorrow. She's going to celebrate her birthday by camping along the coast with her family. Fun! Ian brought cookies to class to share with his classmates at snack. He turns six on Sunday. We'll sing for him on Tuesday when we return after the long weekend.

A Request

Is there anyone out there who is handy with a sewing machine? About ten years ago a mom made me the curtain on the window.

It's served long and well, but the poor thing is looking a bit faded and frayed these days. It's even developed a tear along the hemline.

So if you have the skills to replace it, talk to me. I'd be happy to reimburse the costs of materials and to leave the design and choice of fabric to you.

Thank you!

Finally, I hope you enjoy the long weekend that's just about to start. The kids in class easily guessed what I've got to in mind to do right after school today. I'll bet you can, too.

Be well.

More about Cuisenaire Rods—
http://www.etacuisenaire.com/

Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012 — Birthday Party Invitations

2012-01-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

In view of the many birthday celebrations that are coming up soon, and in lieu of the usual daily news updates, please read the following reminder. A very similar message will also be sent to you on paper in tomorrow's Friday folder.

BIRTHDAY PARTY INVITATIONS & Hurt Feelings

Dear Parents,

Birthdays can be happy occasions that create lasting happy memories. And yet birthday parties can inadvertently hurt feelings too—through exclusion.

In these difficult economic times it is not always possible to invite everyone. Your child may want to have an expensive party. Or there may be a classmate your child would simply prefer not to invite. These are just two of several sensible reasons you may decide not to include every kindergartner. But if you decide to leave even one child off the list, your decision could result in hurt feelings.

To minimize hurt feelings I offer some guidelines and ask that you observe them, joining me in my effort to promote happiness.

If possible, please invite everyone in kindergarten to your party. This may mean planning an inexpensive party at a public park.
If you cannot accommodate all students, include all the boys or all the girls.

In either of these cases above, it is okay to distribute invitations through the classroom. Please give your invitations to me or Mrs. Everson rather than putting them in the cubbies yourselves.

If your invitations do not include everyone, then please:

Distribute invitations outside of kindergarten—phone, email, or mail them instead—and
Tell your child not to mention the party at school even to the party’s host. Not a word before, not a word after.
If your child receives an invitation to a party that you believe does not include all kindergartners, likewise tell your child not to mention the party at school. Not a word before, not a word after.

Today I talked with the class about these guidelines. Everyone seemed to understand them, but a one-on-one discussion with a parent would really help drive these points home.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Mr. Gurney

The Value of Teachers

2012-01-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a column that appears in today's New York Times about the value of teachers.

It's well worth reading. Please click on the link below:

THE VALUE OF TEACHERS

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

2012-01-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

Everyone was here today. I like it when no one is missing. Feels better.

Tonight's homework is to look for the moon on the way to school. If you're driving in from Rohnert Park, it ought to be visible in the western sky, quite bright and prominent. We will sing the next verse of the song about the moon that we are learning this week.

We launched centers. I'm busy getting updated information about each child's progress towards early reading to help me decide who will receive extra instruction in the next couple of months. Other centers are exploring other things including activities that will eventually lead to their making God's Eye weavings. Here Jessica shows me the work she did.

Teri's group with the floor puzzles managed to complete three of them in less than 30 minutes, quite a feat. They posed for a picture next to their completed puzzles: Phoenix, Raegan, Kayla K., and Drew. Good work, all.

Today was our second TRIBES day and everything seemed to go smoothly. The students made hand-made Valentine's Day cards that will be sent overseas to servicemen and women in time for the big day. They were also sent home with a note describing "Operation Shoebox" which is meant to supply them with little essentials that are so easy to come by here at home.

Please remember, tomorrow is Hat Day. Send your child to school in a hat.

See you all tomorrow.

Be well.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

2012-01-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

Another fine day in kindergarten.

We will start a new round of centers tomorrow morning. I will be giving a benchmark reading assessment to each child as a way of monitoring their progress in this vital area. The results of this will guide me in deciding which students will benefit from the next session of KIDS club.

Today between centers we had the chance to allow a little time for "self-initiated learning activities" which we called "choice time" in the past, but which our grandparents knew as "play" time. This room was filled with the happy, buzzing energy of more than two dozen youngsters fully engaged in their work. I took a couple of photos in the building area:

The kids all know that I am pleased when they show responsibility.

When it was time to clean up, everyone willingly pitched in and worked together to put everything away neatly and without delay. I don't think I have ever seen such a responsible group.

Here is how the students in the quiet room put away the dolls and blankets:

Raegan and Kayla K. led the crew in here.

Today was P.E. day and most of the class practiced the catching and striking skills that are fundamental to volleyball. Mrs. Campbell asked me to remind everyone that every Tuesday and Friday we have P.E. and to send your child to school wearing playground shoes.

If she feels that the footwear (boots, sandals) might lead to a fall or injury she won't allow your child to participate. These boot wearers did not get to play volleyball but instead walked the track.

Monday, January 9, 2012

2012-01-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

The first day of 2012 went off beautifully. Everyone seemed relaxed, well rested, and ready for school.

We began the day with an assembly to mark the first Monday of the month.

Assembly in the morning

Students were awarded certificates for kindness. Because kindness of one of the three core values in this classroom, I felt as if this award could be given to any of the twenty eight members of the class. It was not at all easy to decide on just one person to be given the award for kindness. After much discussion and thought it was decided that the winner in kindergarten would be Jessica Martinez.

Without drawing much attention to herself or to her acts of kindness, Jessica time and again has been there to offer friendship to a classmate, to lend a helping hand to her classmates or her teachers. She makes it easy for others to learn because she does what is expected of her and she follows classroom norms and procedures.

Jessica, the kind one

We finished the round of centers this morning begun before the winter break. Tomorrow will be a day off centers, then, Wednesday we will begin a new suite of activities.

Nathan's mom, April Rodriquez was in charge of the sidewalk chalk center today and the kids in her center were treated to some fancy writing of their names. Really artful work. She took a picture and emailed it to me. Have a look:

Click to embiggen

Our math lesson this morning introduced the concept of subtraction. Here we call it "take away" because that phrase describes subtraction in a way that makes it easy for a five year old to understand. We worked several problems on our fingers and got introduced to writing subtraction problems on paper. Some students can read these number sentences. Ask your child to read one to you.

Number sentences, and more tomorrow

Rocco brought a book from home called Five Minute Tales for Four Year Olds. I read aloud what he said was his favorite story, the story in the first chapter of this book. It concerned a dinosaur who loses his job as an ice cream salesperson only to find a worse job as a display dinosaur in a museum. The story ends happily when he is allowed to work as a play structure for neighborhood kids to climb on when they play in the local park.

Rocco's brother's book

Some late morning photos taken as we rode bikes:

MacKenzie wore a rabbit helmet

Jake proudly rides a new bike

With a real hand brake. (There is no coaster brake.)

Two reminders for your calendar:

Wednesday is Tribes. Dismissal will be at 1:30

Thursday is a spirit day: Hats.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

2011-12-21T15:23:00.000-08:00

We needed to read Olivia's book to catch up from yesterday. She brought a book that she got at the Book Fair called Funny Farm.

Then we danced her dance since we didn't get to it yesterday.

At centers she assembled quite a structure out of the crystal climbers....

After lunch the students discovered an older version of the Soundabet. They took quite an interest in comparing and contrasting the two versions.

There are some differences. I photographed the old one using a large format so it is possible to click on it to see it up close.

How many differences can your child find between the current version and this older one?

Click to embiggen

Tomorrow we will go caroling around the school. Centers will not happen, as we will see Santa in that time slot.

I hope many of you are able to come at 11:00 to see the party.

No homework tonight!

Be well.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

2011-12-20T14:02:00.000-08:00

Today we marked the 80th day of school. We talked a lot about that number's name: EIGHT-TY. Many of the students now understand that the "TY" at the end of "eighty" stands for "TEN." Eighty is simply a quick way to say "eight tens." The numeral has a zero on it to show that there are exactly eight tens and no "ones" to go with them. "80" shows that.

We did a math game called "Roll and Record with 2 dice" for the math lesson today. At this point only a few students can mentally combine the numbers shown on two dice. Most kindergartners right now count the dots on one dice and continue counting spots on the second dice to get a total.

Caleb was one of the few who were able to mentally combine the dots on two dice, one showing five dots and another showing six dots and tell the class that there were eleven dots between them. He also predicted the outcome of the game we were playing, though that was mostly lucky guess. It is true that the sums in the middle of the range can be made more different ways, and that increases the likelihood of that winning. Here is Caleb after the math activity. He guessed that "6" would win and it did.

In my book making center Rocco worked so hard. I could not always see his face under his dad's company hat, but I could feel his concentration.

Just so cute, I had to share a photo:

Way to go, Rocco!

Monday, December 19, 2011, take two

2011-12-19T15:28:00.000-08:00

The warm, sunny afternoons make it seem like it's still a long time until Christmas. But, gee, it's less than a week away. I cannot remember school being in session this far into December—it sure helps that the weather feels so Octobery.

I spent a fallish Saturday paddling on Tomales Bay in weather that seemed as if it were a week before Halloween. I guess the winter solstice isn't until Thursday, so this IS still fall as reckoned by the solar calendar.

Mercifully (for me) Sunday morning in Sebastopol was appropriately gloomy and foggy, so we got our Christmas tree from a local farmer and trimmed it and decorated the house. Our house is ready for the big day.

Enuf of that! School news.

We started the day with linking cubes, a math manipulative. We saw math-like patterns. By now almost everyone has grasped the AB pattern and can show their mastery. Here's a black white pattern that Bianca made.

We see also some artistic and imaginative uses of these cubes. Stasia made a pony and I made a rider for it.

We got a visit from a dog who works (in the dog's mind, he plays) in law enforcement this morning. He was a friendly, intelligent dog. (Sorry, no names here to keep anonymity of our visitor.)

In centers among many other things, we are making books composed of holiday words written on card stock roughly the size of business cards. Phoenix and Raegan did some really good work this morning.

At story time we were able to finish the book that Madison shared last Friday, Bear Stays Up.

Nathan brought a book he got at the book fair called City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems. It was a very enjoyable book to read. Great illustrations, touching message. I loved it. Children's books are so good nowadays.

We were able to ride bikes today! Yeah! The weather was perfect for it. It may be the last kindergarten bike day of 2011. I'm glad the kindergarten was able to get through the snacktime clean-up period without getting too noisy.

Be well.

Friday, December 16, 2011

2011-12-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

I am grateful that so many fathers volunteer in kindergarten. It's good for the students, both boys and girls to have the opportunity to get to know men within their kindergarten classroom. Thanks to all the fathers and grandfathers who donate time to our cause here.

Caleb's and Tyler's dads were on hand today

In math we explored large geometrical shapes: triangles, squares, rectangles, hexagons, rhombuses, and even a trapezoid. We made these shapes with a length of blue rope and even with our bodies:

A triangle of boys

At the end of the day we got to spend a few minutes outside in the glorious winter sunshine. We finished the day with a quick read of a favorite new book, the one I mentioned yesterday.

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes

The moral of this story (a moral which I think is lost on most kindergartners, but a good one for us grown ups to keep in mind) is this:

No matter what you step in,

Keep walking along

And sing your song....

because it's all good.

With that, I wish you a wonderful weekend. My plan is to take my kayak out on Tomales Bay, north towards the mouth of it, with my paddling buds.

Be well.

And remember, it's all good.

Pajama Day

2011-12-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

It was pajama day today.

Dana Davis gave us our second lesson in drama today. Students learned to use their bodies and faces to communicate a variety of emotions.

Dana teaching drama today.

Students were encouraged to bring stuffed animals to story time. We read Kayla K's The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and a story called Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin about a cool cat with shoes. The book was a gift from Ms. Kelly Bengs from Training Wheels preschool.

Thanks, Kelly!!

Stuffed animals at story time

Stuffed animals can be good listeners

Be well.

Pajama Day Tomorrow

2011-12-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

Remember: tomorrow is Pajama Day. It's okay to bring along a stuffed animal small enough to fit in your child's cubby. Shoes should be appropriate for the playground, so for the feet it's a regular day.

After centers we had time to get to know our fifth grade buddies. Half of them stayed behind with us to enjoy some kindergarten time:

Homework tonight is two pages in all:

It's nice to see some sunshine this afternoon after the cold morning fog. I'm going to go out and enjoy a walk in the sun before it goes down.

Be well.

Monday and Tuesday, December 12 & 13, 2011

2011-12-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

We started off the week with an exploration of Zoobs, and interesting building pieces that were inspired by biological creatures. We saw:

linear linkages

interlocking squares,

free-form free-standing structures towers that had a Dr. Seussian quality, and

more complex three-dimensional constructions:

Stasia made this one for Dominic.

Tuesday

We began the day writing on slates words like:

P.E.
F.B.I.
Army
Navy
Dinosaur (we spelled in "dinosor" for the purposes of this informal lesson)
Heart

We visited the book fair today. It's in the library. See below for more information on it.

Kade brought a book to share, The Little Snowflake. It's about a snowflake that wanted to be part of a snowman. The snowflake wound up being a sparkle in the snowman's eye.

In P.E. today, Mrs. Campbell had the kindergarten practice their skipping skills with the assistance of personal coaches from first grade. It was a very successful lesson.

Most kinders can skip.

We had a few minutes at the end of PE to enjoy the lovely winter sunshine outdoors on the "big playground."

A couple of reminders:

Pickup tomorrow is at 1:30. This would be a good time to visit the Scholastic Book Fair in the library. It will be open for business then. If you cannot visit it in person, you can order books online and benefit Dunham by ordering through this link:

http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/publish/dunham

Thursday is pajama day. Students can bring a small stuffed animal along on this day. Bring shoes good for playground use. It's still a bike day!

That's all for now.

Be well.

Friday, December 9, 2011

2011-12-09T13:44:00.001-08:00

Just two weeks of school left before winter break. Boy, does time fly.

We started off the day making snowman holiday ornaments for the tree in the community room. Room mom Alicia Petersen organized this activity and they came out great. They're the first out on the tree. Thank you, Alicia!

Holiday spirit!

Tanner's got a nice seasonal smile.

My center group continues to sing and play the ukulele. We're a small group of roving musicians spreading some winter cheer around the school each morning. So fun, and such a great way to introduce the fun of making homemade music, the very best sort of music in my estimation.

It was Jake's day today and he brought a book about Corduroy the bear inspired by the book by Don Freeman. I read the original book a little while back. In this one, Corduroy wishes for the happiness of others and finds a greater happiness for himself, a good story with a good message.

Wishing happiness for others...

Jake brought apples and cheese goldfish crackers for snack. See?

Jake's snack—yum!

Next week is the Scholastic Book Fair held in the library after school. It is a good place to buy some holiday books and to support your local PTO at the same time. Proceeds from this book sale will benefit the educational program at Dunham.

The truck delivered the books this morning.

I hope you enjoy the weekend. Maybe some rain Sunday. If so, I hope that you will enjoy the comforts of home, hearth, and family.

Be well.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

2011-12-08T15:17:00.001-08:00

Today we enjoyed the first day of our trimester of Thursday drama lessons. Dana Davis, our drama teacher just finished the production of a musical based loosely on The Jungle Book that was performed last Friday evening. Dana is a talented instructor. Our introductory lesson gave the kindergartners a taste of how much fun drama can be.

Here's a snapshot taken during the first lesson this morning as the students pretended to be animals walking around the room.

Tyler achieved a milestone today—riding on two wheels. He required all of about 10 seconds of instruction to get to the point he could ride, stop, and start riding all by himself.

Congratulations, Tyler!

Be well, everyone.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

2011-12-07T15:18:00.001-08:00

Our first day of Tribes went very well. All the kindergartners made it over to their Tribe and back. The idea of tribes is to increase the number of people here who know—and are looking out for—the kindergarten class.

Each kindergarten student now has about one staff member and about 10 older children who are connected through their Tribe and will help keep them safe, happy, and kind at school. As the years go by your child will stay in the same Tribe and eventually become an older student helping to care for the kindergartners of the future.

Soon after they arrived these three girls asked me to take their picture.

Quite a structure built out of the cardboard bricks.

Kayla K was in a center where she was asked to make a pattern with the shells. We see many linear patterns like AB patterns as well as the occasional ABC pattern. We were impressed by this radial sunshine like pattern that Kayla made.

Ian brought a book about friendship, Little Bear's Special Friend. It tells the story of a friendship that develops between a bear and a snowman that must end with the spring. It teaches that friendships can be interrupted by circumstances even though we may wish we could keep our friends forever.

Ian also brought a snack that proved VERY popular with the class. Those precooked lightly salted soybeans in pods [brand name Okami's Organic Edamame] are really popular. Kids ate them right up.

In the store, they look like this:

On the plate, they look like this. I had to take the picture quickly. This guy lost his nose, eyebrows and smile right away.

Get outside, and be well.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011--Tribes Tomorrow

2011-12-06T15:50:00.001-08:00

Today's schedule

Emily brought snack and a book today. The class enjoyed Pete's a Pizza and the apples and graham crackers she shared.

Tomorrow is Ian's day to share.

We started off the day using the rods to make A-B-C patterns using three colors of blocks. Here are several examples of student work.

After several minutes of pattern making I turned them loose. Jackson made this long-legged human figure.

Anthony made this face.

He seems to be a good listener

Tomorrow is Wednesday. Please remember to order a lunch or send one along with your child.

The kindergartners will go to their TRIBES groups in the afternoon. We talked about the purpose of the TRIBES program—to enrich the connections among students across grades.

Each tribe consists of an adult leader and about a dozen students made up of representatives from all grades kindergarten through sixth.

Please remind your child of who their adult leader will be. Here is the list below showing the adult leaders.

Aidan—Mrs. Burger
Anthony—Mrs. Schmidt
Bella—Ms. Fisher
Bianca—Mrs. Everson
Cale—Mrs. Lehmann
Caleb—Mrs. Amador
Diana—Mrs. Lehmann
Dominic—Mrs. Wilde
Drew—Mr. Gurney
Dylan—Mr. Gurney
Emily—Mr. Hanson
Ian—Mr. Hanson
Jackson—Mrs. Schmidt
Jake—Mrs. Campbell
Jessica—Mrs. Schmidt
Kade—Mrs. Carter
Kayla Sue—Mrs. Buckner
Kayla K.—Mrs. Burger
MacKenzie—Mr. Hanson
Nathan—Mr. Hanson
Olivia—Ms. Fisher
Phoenix—Mr. Schaible
Raegan—Mr. Gurney
Rocco—Mrs. Amador
Stasia—Mrs. Schmidt
Tanner—Mrs. Everson
Tyler—Mr. Hanson
Vanessa—Mrs. Wilde

Finally, unlike other Wednesdays, you cannot pick up your kinder student a tad early to avoid traffic. On this one, you have to use the parking lot. Expect a traffic jam. Pick up is at 1:30 from the kindergarten room.

Thanks

Be well.

Back to Daily Blogs

2011-12-05T16:03:00.001-08:00

The recent gaps in posts to this blog have been due mainly to waiting until the permissions form were returned.

I now have all but five of them back. Please send in yours if you have not already done so. [Still missing forms for kids with these initials: S.C., O.H., J.B., C.D., K.H.]

Today Tanner showed he knows the whole Soundabet and went home with his deck of Queen's cards.

His name has the King Card on display by it now.

I am very pleased that so many students have already reached this milestone and that so many others are so very close. Kudos to all of you who are practicing it every day.

Jewelry in Kindergarten

Mrs. Everson and I have noticed an increase in jewelry worn to kindergarten. I cannot see any really good reasons for young children to wear jewelry to school. I can see several reasons NOT to bring it to school.

Jewelry can:

distract students from their lessons;
cause envious feelings among those who do not have it;
egg on classmates to do the same, maybe even more and better;
increase costs to families who might have other priorities for money;
cause sad feelings when it is lost, damaged, or broken.

Too many minutes of recess has been wasted looking for a lost earring in the wood chips instead of getting active exercise on the bars.

Please keep jewelry at home.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

2011-11-30T16:00:00.001-08:00

Our first "full day" went very well. Reports from the lunch time supervisors were all positive. The longer schedule meant that we had time to actually play for a bit, something we haven't found time for in quite a while now. There was some great sharing and cooperation, and the clean up got done lickety split.

I sent home a note with permissions for the blog. Please read and return. It goes into effect starting tomorrow, December 1. Thanks.

Here, in the meantime, is a peek at the activities so far this week.

Monday morning began with some open-ended exploration of the math rods. I saw a variety of work.

Names

Structures

A rocket ship

A-B patterns

Faces—reminds me of an old Apple Macintosh icon

Walls

Soundabet mastery....

Ian did it today.

Our longer schedule permitted time to get out the building blocks, playdough, etc. Here are a few things that were built with the wooden blocks.

November's weather record. Lots of sun in California!

Tomorrow will be our first time with fifth grade buddies. I think it will be fun. It usually brings out the best in both the fifth graders and the kindergartners.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

2011-11-29T15:14:00.001-08:00

News Item of Note:

(a note similar to this was sent home with your child today)

Wednesday Dismissal Times

Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, November 30, the kindergarten schedule on Wednesdays only will be extended through lunch to dismissal at 1:15. Remember to order a lunch by phone from the school or pack a lunch for your child to enjoy. The procedure at lunch will be very similar to what they did on the Walk-a-Thon day.

Our 1:15 dismissal—15 minutes before the other grades—is intended to increase safety while also relieving parking lot congestion. If you have students to pick up in grades 1 through 6, you may come a little bit later and pick up your other children at their usual 1:30 dismissal time.

Please share this information with all people (relatives, family friends, etc.) who might pick up your child at dismissal on Wednesdays. Thank you.

SAFETY FIRST!

All kindergartners not in daycare must be picked up here from inside the kindergarten classroom. Come early, park your car, and get your child from inside the room. Remember to hold hands in the parking lot.

Friday, November 18, 2011

2011-11-18T15:06:00.001-08:00

It looks like we'll get some wetter and cooler weather for a while. It's been a wonderful run of clear and warm fall weather this year. This new weather makes me think of the holidays and indoor pleasures of hearth and family.

We're starting to work on writing and reading skills. In my reading center we're making little books of words. This week it'll be color words. Here's table 1 working on their books.

A closer view of the writing. Pretty good and will get better.

Anthony's day to bring snack—a healthy snack based on fruits and vegetables at that.
Carrots, pineapple, grapes, and crackers. Here's what one plate looked like as we tucked up to the table.

Conferences will occur next week. I'll be waaay too tired at the end of these long conference days to put up a blog post, not to mention I won't be in the classroom on Monday.

Look for the next post after November 28.

Until then, be well.

Have a good Thanksgiving holiday.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

2011-11-17T15:21:00.001-08:00

Our new shirt supplier gave us free shirts. Everyone in kindergarten should have taken home a green shirt today. Here's a class portrait in our new shirts:

Later on in the morning we put a little more practice in on the "Train Game." More than half of the kindergartners have got the idea of the game now, but more practice is still needed. They'll get more practice in centers this week.

Aidan brought a book about a dragon.

In KIDS club we worked on color sight words and handwriting. Tyler wrote these words today.

It was a good thing that we took time out to ride bikes this morning to celebrate Vanessa and Caleb's accomplishments with regard to the Soundabet. Had we not done so, we would not have gotten any bike riding time in today. That's because our last lesson of the day, a handwriting lesson, took seemingly forever. I had hoped to spend about 5 minutes on what I thought would be a simple lesson.

Wrong!

After 25 minutes we were 1/8 of the way through the exercise. Hopefully tomorrow's exercise will go more according to expectation.

Be well. Stay dry!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

2011-11-16T13:10:00.001-08:00

Let's see if I can squeeze in a post here before the faculty meeting....

Today two kindergartners arrived at a very important milestone on the road to reading—demonstrating that they know all the Soundabet in uppercase. Like Nathan, they are now ready to move on to the lowercase Soundabet.

Congratulations to Caleb and Vanessa!! You're on your way!

And he wasn't even nervous about doing it in front of the class.

King's Card by his name

King's Card by her name

Vanessa with the Queens Cards to practice at home.

We introduced a new game that will be one of the math centers in the next round of centers called "The Train Game."

I think we need one more time with this game before we really get it....

Off to a staff meeting this afternoon.

Get outside if you can. It's sweet out there.

Be well.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

2011-11-15T15:01:00.001-08:00

Here's a quick look inside kindergarten today:

In math we made a graph to show which color was chosen the most as "favorite" color.

Blue won, with pink a strong second. I'll bet you can guess whether I've got more boys or girls in kindergarten.

Dominic knows everyone's names.

Tyler's snack was delicious. Those carrots were home grown—sweet and crunchy. The pumpkin muffins are out of this world.

We visited the library and heard a story about a dog who was Always in Trouble.

Olivia knows all the names, too!

Have an outdoor afternoon.

Be well.

Monday, November 14, 2011

2011-11-14T17:33:00.001-08:00

What a great day!Some days are more full of happiness than others. Today was one of those days.

We began the day simply enough—sorting math blocks by color and seeing which color had the most blocks at each table.

I showed some of the tables how a ruler can be used to quickly find out how many blocks were in a stack. (These blocks are actually rods with square cross sections exactly 1 centimeter wide and thick so using a centimeter ruler works great for quick counting.)

We will use these rods more later on in the year on Monday mornings.

We found the missing piece for the fire engine floor puzzle. Tanner, Caleb, and Nathan put it together.

Nathan became the first member of the class to be able to name all the Soundabet cards within 75 seconds. To honor this educational milestone, he gets a deck of Queen's cards so that he can repeat the feat in lowercase letters. He gets a King's card up by his name on the wall, and, to sweeten the deal, we got extra bike time today. Any and all kids who join Nathan in the King's club will receive similar treatment.

Tanner brought a happy snack of string cheese, little tomatoes, and round crackers.

He also brought a seasonal book to share with the class.

Here we are enjoying the late morning sunshine outdoors and happy.

The morning ended with Ian getting all the names of all his classmates. This heart is up by his name to commemorate this milestone.

Later on in the afternoon I was pleased—very pleased—to find out that Vanessa has learned almost every Soundabet. She's going to be joining Nathan in the King's club before long.

Yeah everyone.

Be well.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

2011-11-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

Rocco's day today. We repeated the math lesson we did the other day with a similar result. It was interesting to watch the majority of the students root for "SAME" at the beginning of the activity—I think because they wanted SAME to even the score from last time. But as "DIFFERENT" began to pull ahead the kids rooting for SAME began to switch their allegiance to DIFFERENT. By the end of the activity, SAME had few if any students rooting for it.

Here is the final tally:

Rocco brought a book, The Little Farm written by Lois Lenski and first published in 1942. It is near and dear to my heart because I remember it being read to me.

As I read it aloud this morning to the kindergarten, I noted that many of the students were surprised to learn that milk comes from cows, that the chicken meat and the eggs come from actual birds, and that bacon comes from fat pig bellies. When I first came to Dunham the local district kids knew more about farms and farming that I did—they grew up in farms; I grew up in suburbs.

Times have changed....

It was a beautiful day. Our PE teacher is at another school on second and fourth Wednesdays—and that means the playground is empty at bike time. We took advantage of this opportunity and got out on bikes. Seize the day!

Here's an after-the-fact photo:

Don't worry about getting the homework in this week. It can come in early next week.

Tomorrow is the Walk-a-Thon. At the risk of repeating myself too many times, here:

Please note that our usual schedule will change to accomodate the PTO's Walk-a-Thon on Thursday, November 10.

On Thursday—tomorrow—kindergarten students will stay through lunch. Dismissal will be at 2:30. Please provide your child with a lunch. You can order one of the school lunches or you can send one along to school with your child that morning.

This event will pre-empt KIDS club.

Here, from Room Mother, Alicia Petersen:

"The PTO is putting on the annual Walk-a-Thon. This is one of Dunham's biggest fundraisers of the year. The Walk-a-Thon will take place on Thursday, November 10, 2011 from 1 - 2:30. The kids will start getting ready at 12:45 and start walking at 1:20 or so, and they will walk for an hour."

Have a look at the almost-full moon tonight it'll be up—low in the eastern sky by about 5:00 tonight. If all goes according to plan, I'll be viewing this same moon from my kayak this evening.

Be well.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

2011-11-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

Missing Bianca and Cale today!

Today was Raegan's day. She shared a book about raisins. It seemed like a lot of the students did not know where raisins come from, and were surprised to learn that they're just sun-dried grapes. It's the sort of fact that we adults learned so long ago that it might not occur to us that a child might not know. The end of the book included some simple recipes using grapes as an ingredient, like the well-loved "Ants-on-a-Log" and trail mix.

The class really seemed to enjoy Raegan's book.

I'm making my way through the first trimester assessments. I'm right at that point where I've begun the task, worked hard, and mostly aware of how many more there are to go. It would feel daunting, but then I've been up the mountain enough times to know I will get it all done by conference time.

With apologies for repeating myself please excuse another reminder about Thursday:

Please note that our usual schedule will change to accomodate the PTO's Walk-a-Thon on Thursday, November 10.

On Thursday kindergarten students will stay through lunch and the afternoon. Dismissal will be at 2:30. Please provide your child with a lunch. You can order one of the school lunches or you can send one along to school with your child that morning.

This event will pre-empt KIDS club.

Here, from Room Mother, Alicia Petersen:

Monday, November 7, 2011

2011-11-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

We started off the week with an assembly, as it is the first Monday of the month.

Caleb Petersen

Awards were given for exemplifying RESPECT, the value and character trait of October. The award went to Caleb Petersen who shows respect for the adults at Dunham as well as for his classmates. In the first 52 days of school Caleb has consistently shown respect for not only the people here—he also shows respect for our procedures and norms. He does everything expected of him and more.

November's values are HONESTY AND INTEGRITY. We started talking about those values in class today. Honesty must be coupled with kindness to be of benefit in our school community, so we'll be talking about telling the truth, but adding the filter of kindness so that the truth doesn't hurt.

Our math lesson involved a little work in probability theory, done at the kindergarten level.

Take three ice cream sticks and color one side red.

Color the reverse side green.

Now, drop all three on the floor and pay attention to how they land:

Are they all red or all green? Then say they came up the SAME

If the sticks come up mixed green and red, say they came up DIFFERENT.

Do this again and again. What do you think? Will they come up half the time SAME and half the time DIFFERENT?

We repeated this procedure 29 times and came up with a result which I'll show at the end of the post.

in other news.....

NEW CENTERS

We started a new set of centers today. Thanks to the parent volunteers who stayed later than usual due to the Monday assembly. In my center I'm giving assessments that you'll hear about at the parent conferences later this month.

We managed to get out for bicycle time, shortened to a quarter hour, but enough to pick up trash around the playground.

There was enough time for Raegan to practice her new two-wheeling skills.

Yeah, Raegan!!

And so, loyal readers,

we tallied our 29 tosses of the red/green sticks and this is the result:

Try this at home and see if you get similar results...

Till tomorrow,

Be well.

Friday, November 4, 2011

2011-11-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

Please note that our usual schedule will be different on Thursday, November 10, to accommodate the PTO's Walk-a-Thon.

On Thursday please provide your child a lunch. You can order one of the school lunches or you can send one along to school with your child that morning.

Here, from Room Mother, Alicia Petersen:

"The PTO is putting on the annual Walk-a-Thon. This is one of Dunham's biggest fundraisers of the year. The Walk-a-Thon will take place on Thursday, November 10, 2011 from 1 - 2:30. The kids will start getting ready at 12:45 and start walking at 1:20 or so, and they will walk for an hour."

Now, the news:

We worked on the surfboards that will help to decorate our Walk-a-Thon next Thursday. My handprint was the final ones to be added to the board. Mrs. Everson and I are the crabs at the bottom of the underwater scene. Floating above us like etherial spirits are the jellyfish that were made with the kindergartner's handprints.

Olivia and Bianca help to press my palm down.

Because we finished a group of centers yesterday and will begin a new set Monday, we were between centers today. Our need to work on this surfboard project provided us with the perfect opportunity do a bit of "choice" time for the kids who were not putting handprints on the deck. Choice time has been in scare supply lately, so it felt good to get some in.

Well done! I like it when my house is picked up like this.

Girls like to build with blocks as well.

In math we worked on our estimation skills. Our guesses today were much better than earlier in the year. Between Caleb and Raegan you can see the eggs in the clear plastic container. There were 25 shaker eggs in there. The two closest guesses were Caleb's guess of 30 and Raegan's guess of 21. Olivia did the counting.

Nathan brought a book Mister Rover takes Over. The kids liked it.

Olivia continued the "dog" theme with this story about the pig, Olivia and her favorite toy.

Get well, MacKenzie! We missed you.

Be well, and enjoy the weekend.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

2011-11-03T16:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos taken today.

First of all, we sent (and wrote down) some "Get Well" wishes to the students not here today....

We sounded out words in the pocket chart at the top end of the day.

Can your child read these words?

It helps to sing the sounds all in one note.

Here's a "first grade" word to try.

Most of the students know that when there is an "e" at the end of a word it will make the vowel ahead of it say its name.

That's happening in this word too. And the "s" is saying the /z/ sound.

Here's another "first grade" word.

If these words proved hard, this image should make things easier.

Kayla Sue's bike. Yes, we got out on our bikes today. Yeah!!

You could tell by the litter we picked up off the playground that Halloween was not too long ago.

Tomorrow morning we will decorate the surfboard we are making for the Walk-a-Thon.

Another good day at school.

Be well.

November 1 and 2

2011-11-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

Really busy these days. Meetings.

Here's a quick post to update you on kindergarten doings.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Tuesday's lesson on ER, IR, UR spellings or that sound

"ROOSTER" has both the initial R and the ending ER

Maintaining the pocket chart. Kids do this without my asking.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

We used 2 dice for "Roll and Read" this morning.

The Kookaburra song seems to have dropped out of the preschool songbook. It used to be almost universal. I can guess why....

In math we talked about rulers and how they're used to measure a unit we call "a foot." Rulers are too long to match a five year old foot, as you can see here.

These rulers are longer than this shoe.

The rulers are about the same length as this shoe....

Our mat proved to be 14 rulers (feet) long

and about eight rulers wide.

Jokes and Riddles

Most five year old children can begin to see the humor in jokes using language. Telling jokes is a good way to amp up verbal intelligence.

We made up some jokes today.

Here they are.

See if your child can tell you the answers.

Or better yet, ask them if they can give you a riddle about November.

(I'll leave it to readers to post the answers in the comments section.)

What is the opposite of November?

Why is C afraid of B?

Why is D afraid of C?

Hopefully it won't start raining until after lunch tomorrow because it is bike day.

Be well.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day it was today!

I had a great weekend too. Yesterday I went paddling—

Me in the Estero Americano, near Valley Ford

Halloween in kindergarten was fun. We had a craft project in the centers time slot with many of the regular parent volunteers sticking around to assist. Here are some of the resulting Halloween decorations:

Jack O'Lanterns

Ghosts

Bats

Kayla brought snack today–cheese puffs formed into balls that easily rolled out of hands and on to the floor. Without my asking Kayla K. got out the dustpan and brush to clean up the floor, even though she did not drop the cheese puff. This sort of initiative and responsibility makes me very happy.

Bella likewise showed initiative

As did Vanessa

So we got out for some bike time, green shirts to the front.

Halloween party with parents to help

Holiday coloring

Cookie decorating

Finding goody bags in the cubbies

Ready for the parade #1

Ready for the parade #2

Ready for the parade #3

Ready for the parade #4

The Sheriff showed up to lead the parade

We walked in sweet autumnal sun.

Okay, I gave the kids a bit of a talking-to about listening and being safe out there tonight. Safe-happy-kind. Good ideas to have at hand on Halloween night.

Be safe, be well.

Thursday and Friday

2011-10-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of those "lulu" days—a cavalcade of catastrophe—or so it seemed to me by the end of the day. In the larger scheme of things, it was really no big deal, but I was glad when the school day was over and I got to go home and go to the doctor to get my flu shot.

Some days are like that, even in kindergarten.

Today was much better. It was "Red Ribbon Week's" last day, a day to wear red. It happens I wear red every Friday anyway in honor of my Georgia Bulldog son in graduate school there, so it was no prob to put on a red shirt. The majority of the kinders wore a red shirt too. I especially like Kayla K.'s shirt which features Rule #2:

I snapped a picture of Jessica's happy snack yesterday, too:

Pretzels can put a smile on your plate.

In math I'm exploring how many objects can go into an estimation jar before students actually start to estimate.

100% of the students correctly "estimated" the number of pumpkins in this jar:

All kinders correctly "estimated" the number of shaker eggs in this jar:

0% correctly estimated the number of clothespins in the jar below. I got only a few guesses near the actual number.

The correct answer is twenty eight.

I found that five year olds start to break down at 5 objects in the jar. I remember reading that preliterate human cultures don't have numbers that go much past 10. These people don't apply numbers for quantities more than ten. Instead they use descriptions such as "lots of" or "many."

In other news....

The first grade visited during our snack to recite a Halloween poem for us. We were an attentive audience:

After snack, while the KP crew was restoring order to the table area:

Others were intently studying hidden images in one of the books from the library:

While still others were studying the Soundabet Cards that Archy has mastered so far.

Raegan showed that she knows everyone's names.

She adds her heart to the wall of fame.

Mastering the Soundabet will be a major focus on between now and the holidays. Once all 41 sounds are mastered, students can start to read and write with much greater ease, confidence, and satisfaction.

I hope you have a good weekend. For me, I'm planning to enjoy a daylong ukulele retreat with my ukulele club on Saturday and then a fantastic paddle on Sunday with my kayak club.

Be well.

Wear Red Friday

2011-10-27T21:03:00.001-07:00

Thursday's message is short:

Wear Red Friday.

Be well!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

2011-10-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

We got the day underway with another round of "Roll and Read." There were nine cards in the pocket chart when we began

And soon it looked like this.

We sang the song "Muffin Man" to open the day. We substituted other food words for the word "muffin" in the song. If the new food word had two syllables we would say "Yes, we know the ____ man." If more or less than two syllables, we sang, "We don't know the _____ man."

The kids in my center were introduced to the ukulele today and played two songs for their classmates.

They were good.

Two kinders joined the growing group of children who know everyone's name. Phoenix and Vanessa, way to go!

Things got too busy at recess for me to prepare the homework in time to put in the cubbies, so the homework page will go home tomorrow. It's 2•8 "Coin Detective in the HomeLinks books.

Be well.

Monday and Tuesday

2011-10-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Note to parents, please read through to the end for three announcements.

I've been really busy these past two days. We started up KIDS club Monday and are settling into the new routines and schedules with some predictable bathrooming accidents arising from the longer day. All in a day's work.

I forgot to dig my camera out of my kayaking gear Monday morning and showed up to work without a camera. It did have this cool photo I got of a Bald Eagle on Lake Hennessey in Napa County on Saturday, though. See?

Luckily, Pat Higgins had his camera and was there to get a photo of Ian riding on two wheels for the first time. As he says, Mrs. Everson has the magic touch with teaching kids to ride on two wheels. She has taught more children to ride on two wheels than I can keep track of.

Here, courtesy of Ian's dad:

Yesterday was also the occasion for Bella, Caleb, and Drew to show us all that they know everyone's names. Today Stasia added herself into the elite crew of eight.

And now there's a long list of classmates who want to be in the know. Gaining this knowledge is as contagious as the giggles. I am pleased.

Today we started out a new set of centers. My center is Ukulele 101. My first table group played wonderfully. We'll be ready to do a concert for parents in a month or so. Here's a peek into the practice room:

They're good!

We also did one of the games in centers as a whole group. It's a game called "Roll and Record" from the math program.

Three Announcements:

One:
We're going to squeeze in a little bicycle time tomorrow, Wednesday. We don't often get to ride on Wednesdays, but we will tomorrow. When the rains start up in earnest we'll be glad to have ridden when the opportunities presented themselves.

Two:
Room parent Alicia Petersen sent out information about Halloween. Please read it. To reiterate a four of the points:

We'll have a classroom party starting at 11:00.
There is an optional parade after lunch. If you wish, you may bring your child back to take part in the parade, but be sure to be here by 1:00 when the parade begins. I'll be here from about 12:30 to help with costumes etc. for kids who are in daycare.
Do not send your child to school in costumes. Costumes go on starting at 12:30.
Halloween cancels KIDS club.

Three:
The PTO is putting on a Walk-a-Thon on Thursday, November 10. This event, like Halloween, preempts KIDS club. All kindergarten students are invited to participate. The kindergarten will dismiss at 2:30 that day so we can help raise funds for the school.

Friday, October 21, 2011

2011-10-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

It was Emily's day. We enjoyed another wonderful day here in kindergarten.

Emily brought a read-aloud story to share with her class, Jessie Bear, What Will You Wear?

It is beautifully illustrated and the text of the story rhymes and has a rhythm that just makes you want to sing the words out loud. So that's what I did. A lovely tale.

Today's Person of the Day

She also brought a healthy and delicious snack. She brought raw veggies: cauliflower, carrots and celery which proved quite popular with the class. Most of the kids ate some and came back for more. She also brought sandwiches. Several of the kinders expressed some doubt about eating a sandwich made with almond butter and jelly, mostly, I guess, because they never tried almond butter before today. Apparently they liked how almond butter sandwiches tasted; the sandwiches disappeared quite quickly.

Some of the music we heard today came from this North American flute which they had not seen before.

The PE teacher told me that she thought this was the best kindergarten class she's ever seen—quite a compliment, as she's seen quite a few, like me.

At the end of the day today Rocco took a microphone around the rug. He got them all! Yeah Rocco! He joins Nathan, Kade, and Tanner as one of the select few. What I admire about Rocco is that he gave himself another go at this after falling a bit short on his first attempt. Success is partly a matter of getting back up on your feet each time you stumble. Kindergarten is a good place to put that life lesson to work for you.

The opportunity to be the first girl to achieve this milestone awaits the willing and those daring to go for it! Caleb is on deck for Monday and Phoenix is in the dugout for Tuesday.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

2011-10-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

Dylan's day, but he was sick, so I decided to assign to Kade the privileges connected with person-of-the-day since yesterday he had achieved, as Nathan did before him, the important milestone of learning everyone's name.

Today that honor went to Tanner. Tanner got a round of applause from us all at the end of the day when he took the mic around the mat and named everyone present. For that he gets a heart with his name....

There's a happy kid!

To display proudly high on the wall.

A distinction only 3 can claim

I know Rocco and Phoenix are close. How about the girls? C'mon, girls, someone show you can do it too! You can use this link to see the post where everyone is pictured with a name to go with it:

Click this link to practice: NAMES

MATH LESSON

The math lesson today involved using an Estimation Jar and guessing the number of objects inside it. I used the jar holding clothespins with the students names on them. There are 28 kids in the class, so, as you might guess, there are 28 clothespins in the jar.

Here is my record of one of the groups guesses about the number of clothespins. Kade's guess of 31 was the closest to 28 of all the guesses in kindergarten which ran from 9 to 5,800.

Count the clothespins.

While one group was in doing math with me, the other group went out into the Dunham School garden to paint some pictures.

Despite the gray overcast skies, we got out on the playground about bikes. It was, after all, a green shirted bike day and 11 kinders showed up in green shirts.

It was another fine day at school.

KIDS CLUB

Some of you got notices about participating in KIDS club. The program starts on Monday, October 24. If you have questions, I invite you to call so we can arrange to meet for a quick parent conference about it.

Be well.

October 19, 2011

2011-10-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Today was Drew's day. He brought one of my favorite children's books of all time, Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. I saved it to read at the end of the day after music with Andrew.

Here is Drew with his book:

Our day began with some Rolling and Reading, an original game invented right here.

We reviewed yesterday's message, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" noting that the first two words not only rhyme, but also look almost the same, too. The last four letters of each word match up letter for letter.

Today's message had far fewer letters in it. But I had accidentally (on purpose) scrambled the letters so it took some trial and error to figure out what the message was. This scrambling helps children understand that the order letters appear in words matters a lot. Unless this is pointed out, they might assume order isn't important. Remember, in a child's world order does not always matter. A "Happy Meal" of a burger, fries, and drink is a "Happy Meal" regardless of what course is consumed first. (I'll not discuss here how misleading that name, "Happy Meal" is for "food" that is so unhealthy in so many ways.)

Back to the morning chart, it looked like this when all the cards were turned over:

OOSH LFY?

We quickly figured out that OOSH must be SHOO and not long after that LFY became FLY and we were singing the song. I wonder, how does a morning star feel?

Several students have been working on learning the names of all their classmates. Rocco is very close; he has just a few left to learn. Caleb, his mom tells me—he was absent today—has got them memorized.

Kade knows everyone's names for sure. He showed the class that it is possible to do it. Here he is with the microphone in hand finishing up his tour de force.

For this achievement he gets a heart to show that he cares enough about everyone in class to know their names.

That heart goes on display in the room for all to see.

And the whole class gets to enjoy some free time to celebrate Kade's accomplishment.

Way to go, Kade. I am proud of you.

Tomorrow is bike day. Wear a green shirt if you've got one.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

2011-10-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Dominic's day today. We looked at different ways 9 can be written. Can you think of any others? Sure you can: think about how 9 might appear on a pair of dice. How many ways can 9 show up on a pair of dice?

On three dice?

Four dice?

Some different 9's.

My first grade teacher told me that the numeral nine reminded her of a balloon on a stick. (In the picture above, the balloon has a firetruck on it.) For some reason, that stuck with me, and I've been passing that idea along for some years now.

Here a group of students get the teens in order.

Diana and her Dora book.

Nate knows everyone's name. Only Nate.

To practice saying everyone's name, visit the post at this link:

The whole class is pictured here: First Day Faces.

C'mon, you guys. We can do this.

See you tomorrow.

Be well.

Job Creator

2011-10-17T20:41:00.001-07:00

I saw this one on the Internet. Thanks, Debra, for posting it!

Monday, October 17, 2011

2011-10-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

We began by making "trains" of linking cubes 15 cubes long. Although everyone can count to 15, I would say more than half of the columns made today needed some quality control to get to exactly 15. Here are 24 results. The ones on the left added pattern to the "trains."

My guys wanted you to see the results of their work in making the "AY" book. So, here you go.

The puzzle crew got to work on a floor puzzle. Here are most of the puzzle workers posing with the finished project.

So, if you read the question, "Why is 6 afraid of 7?" I think your child can tell you an answer. It's a riddle.

Vanessa got up on two wheels today. Mrs. Everson has the magic touch.

Lotsa green shirts today, and, boy the weather was just perfect for riding bikes this morning.

Another great day in kindergarten!

Some Years Ago.... Chris Sparrow was here

2011-10-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

Some years ago a remarkable kindergartner came through here, a boy who had plenty of pluck and gumption. He's one of those kids you never forget, and he's nice enough to tell me that I was one of his favorite teachers.

Chris happens to live in Sebastopol, not far from me, and we've kept in touch over the years as we see each other around town.

Chris Sparrow has been profiled in the Press Democrat before when he was at Analy High School. Today he is the subject of Bob Padecky's column. If you have a few moments, I encourage you to click over and read about a young man who embodies the kind of courage and determination we all wish to see in the coming generation.

To read the column about Chris go HERE.

A Happy Birthday

2011-10-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Imagine spending your birthday with 28 five year-old friends who really like celebrating birthdays. It's good. Two students rode on two wheels for the first time, and boy that feels good to me, almost like a present.

Add to that celebration folks who may be a bit older than five, but work alongside you with children. Carry with you a memory of spending the night before paddling with your wife and friends on Tomales Bay to see the October moon rise over calm waters.

Life is good!

Last night's full moon paddle

The older I get, the more I like flowers....

We got started with some reading magic.

We turned over one card at a time and discovered the message.

Aidan rode on two wheels today!

So did MacKenzie Mrs. Everson has the touch!

Phoenix can make it across all 17 rungs.

My math lesson today came out of my imagination, not the math textbook. I wanted to see if I'm older than a bunch of kids put together.

First, I made a linking cube train to show my own age. Since I'm sixty, I made six columns of 10 cubes.

60 cubes, one for each birthday

I put them together into one long train.

all in one row

I had a group of kids choose a favorite color and put together a model of their age. Most were five. We then linked all 11 of their cubes together, end to end.

My age is more than the combined ages of 11 kinders.

I'm older than all these guys put together.

After math, we got down to celebrating. A lot of people brought in good things to eat.

Party time!

Bianca and her book

Participation in "Green Shirt" day is rising.

The green shirt crew—15 of us

Cards and gifts galore

Everyone, thank you for a fun and memorable birthday.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

2011-10-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

The chart below shows the plan for the day as it looked this morning before I opened the door. There are at least two mistakes in it. Can your child read this list of activities and tell you two of the things shown on the chart that we did not do today? [Answer at end of post.]

The opening lesson this morning was "Reading Magic" in the pocket chart. Singing the sounds of these words in one note really helps the students blend the sounds into words. Each word on the chart suggested a song for us to sing together.

Tonight's homework is "I Spy with Geometry" on page 9 in the Home Links book. We played this game in class today. Also, go outside at about 7:00 PM this evening and look in the eastern sky for the full moon. Fog permitting, I'll be looking at the same moon from my canoe this evening as it rises over Tomales Bay. A full moon paddle. What better way to spend the final day of your fifth decade?

Tomorrow is my birthday. I have a special math project we'll do tomorrow.

We're going to have a morning off centers and catch up with our rained-out bike day. If you're one of our regular Thursday volunteers, well, you've got the day off. Or, bring along your adult bike and join me for a few laps around the playground. It's fun.

[Answer to the question about what we did not do: We did not have PE or Library today. We also did not read Bianca's story today as planned. It will have to wait until tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

2011-10-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have had our eyes on those snappy Mini Cooper S editions. A joy to drive and not bad on gas.

I finally decided to spring for one.

I got it yesterday, blue, with a Union Jack painted on the roof.

Half a can of shaving cream can make for some good practice in writing numbers:

Set up is easy.

Prepare the writing surface.

And work on those numbers.

Four comes in two styles: goalpost style and sailboat style.

By the time we finished cleaning up, the table tops were as clean as you could ever want them to be. Our class has really learned to take responsibility and shown initiative in maintaining a clean and orderly classroom environment. They take pleasure in the work because it's not pretend work; it's real work. Here, Bella and Anthony take care of the last of the table cleaning tasks.

Mrs. Everson sent me this photo of Vanessa and Diana because it was their first time on the swings all by themselves. Another milestone.

We will start new table groups tomorrow.

Here's a preview:

Here's a note that should have gotten in your hands. (Just in case it didn't.)

Be well. See you tomorrow.

A Rainy Monday

2011-10-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Please note:

If your child needs a hot lunch please call the office before 9:00.

Our lunch order each day is called in at 9:00. If you're later than that, your child may not get a lunch that day.

Now, the news:

I had some fun on Sunday, paddling Drakes Estero near Point Reyes.

This morning's rain the arrived a little ahead of schedule...

Despite eleven of us in green shirts, no bike riding today.

For his sharing Anthony brought a good book called "No David."

Recess time was conducted indoors this morning.

New blocks

Anthony's happy snack

The dwarf house

Animals outside

Sayin' Please and Thank You

2011-10-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

Several of you have asked me to post the new song I made up last week. Here is a little video of it made last Thursday when Hudson and his mom came for a visit. Hey, let me know if you cannot view it; I'm having trouble knowing if I was successful turning off the privacy button on it.

Thanks!

Friday, October 7, 2011

2011-10-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

Just a short post this afternoon, enough to spark a conversation with your kindergartner about the today's goings-on. However, do check back on the weekend to see and listen to the new kindergarten song I made up this week. I'll post it here this weekend.

Today's schedule looked like this. We heard a story about the letter Ww for web.

The day began by reading the two words on the pocket chart here, "frog" and "boat" and singing songs related to those words.

Another very nice day in kindergarten.

Have a good weekend. Be well.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

2011-10-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

A former kindergartner, Hudson, came by to see his old teacher and his friends. Hudson's family moved to Hawaii last year before Christmas. They are vacationing in California, visiting friends from the time they lived here.

Hudson played ukulele for us.

Hudson

It was raining in the garden this morning and too wet to spend time in the garden, so the garden teacher showed the class and excellent movie about pumpkins.

Cale's mom stayed to help with snack

Vanessa's book, the Gingerbread Man

Barring rain, green shirts mean it's bike day.

Bars, too

Family Science Night is Tonight

2011-10-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

First the news....

Science Night

Hey folks, remember that tonight from 6:30 to 8:00 is Science Night at Dunham. It is called Family Science Night because the emphasis is on families being together to do science activities here at school.

We will open the Community Room and the classrooms of both grades 3 and 4 for you to explore. The playground and all other rooms will be closed. Many teachers and Mr. Schaible will be here. I'll be in front welcoming you to the evening of investigation.

...and now, back to our regular update.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Here's what we did today. Some of the kindergartners can read many of the words on this chart.

It was Tyler's day. His mom brought in three loaves of the world's most delicious pumpkin bread, moist and oh, so tasty. It vanished amazingly quickly. It's that good.

Tyler brought in an animal legend from Peru, The Fox in the Moon. The final pages showed what people from other cultures see on the moon's surface. We see a Man's face. Peruvians see a fox, etc.

At recess, Mrs. Everson snapped a few photos of the kindergartners playing on the bars. Here they are. Remember, it was sunny this morning.

Homework for tonight is not due until after your next grocery trip. Please don't make a special trip to the market just to do this assignment.

I hope to see many of you tonight at the Family Science Night at Dunham.

Be well.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

2011-10-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Please read all the way to the end. There are three parent messages for you to read at the end.

It was Tanner's day. He brought a Clifford book and a Clifford stuffed animal.

The snack he brought included organic grapes and a big box of Cheez-It crackers. Cheez it is one of those words that kids who know the Soundabet and who can blend the sounds have no trouble reading since they know the sounds of "CH" and "EE" and "Z"—all they have to do is say those sounds all scrunched together without stopping. As we get farther along in the Soundabet please take the opportunity to ask your child to read everyday things like EXIT signs and STOP signs, "FORD" etc. They will start having success as beginning readers.

Students at my center will be making short books featuring one sound from the Soundabet. This time around we're looking at words that have the "OO" sound in them. If your child has not already come home with one of these little books, you can have a preview here. Be sure to read the final page with instructions to you, the parents. It is important to follow these guidelines to prevent discouragement and trouble down the road. In the long run, it's usually better to offer more help than needed than less. If your child has to tell you, "Let me do it myself," from time to time then you're on the right track.

Now, three messages:

Message One:
Regarding Snack Calendar:
The October snack calendar did not go out with last Friday's folders as I had planned. We put a copy in your child's cubby today. Another copy will go home with this Friday's folder.

Snack duty this week is as follows:

Wednesday: Tyler

Thursday: Vanessa

Friday: Aidan

My apologies for confusing you.

Message Two:
Regarding Homework:
Homework is one page per week on Wednesdays from the Math Home Links book. Keep that Home Links book at home. Tomorrow's assignment will be Home Link 1•11 Sorting Groceries.

Some of you have gone way ahead. That's okay, but.... homework is connected to experiences here in class. It would be better to slow down and wait for the assignment to come. If you wish to do more homework, go through the little booklet I gave you earlier this year at Back to School Night.

Message Three:
Regarding illnesses:
Please recall that we ask you to send only healthy children to school. Recently we have had a lot of stomach flu going around the class. We had to send home two vomiting students just today. It's not fun for the sick student, it ain't no fun for us who have to clean it up, and it exposes everyone to germs— potentially spreading disease to others.

I know how hard it can be to miss work, etc. when your kid is sick. I know. I did it for my kids when they were little, and I hate not coming to work.

But in the end, if everyone does their share and keeps sick kids at home where they are more comfortable and can get well, less disease will pass from kid to kid at school and we'll all be better off.

Please, please, please: if you're child vomits, has diarrhea, or has a fever keep him or her out of school for at least 24 hours after the last of the symptoms have disappeared.

Thank you.

Monday, October 3, 2011

2011-10-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

We started off the day by performing some songs and dances for all the other students at Dunham at our monthly assembly. Our performance earned some hearty applause from the audience. (Sorry, no pictures—I was conducting the performance.

The whole crew was here today, all 30 of us if you count Mrs. Everson and me. It was good to have Diana and Cale back after a long time away.

In anticipation of a bike day, a number of students showed up in green shirts and many others with shirts that have some green in them. Here we are, seventeen in green:

More than half the class!

As we went out for recess, we hoped for good weather—at least not rainy weather. It is bike day, you know. Sadly, rain fell soon after we went outside at early recess. It kept raining all through the morning. It was okay; we got to play indoors.

Ian's dad, Patrick, stayed to help with one of the centers, a paper airplane center. He made some fantastic planes. He had a good time and promised to come again.

Ian's dad, Patrick's, group

Our clean up routines have really kicked in. Not much for me to do, other than admire the work they're doing as they wash the dishes, spray and wipe the tables, pick up litter the floor. Here's today's clean up crew doing their work so well:

I hope you're had a good weekend. Looks like we're in for a spell of rainy weather. I went paddling yesterday on the Petaluma river with some paddling buds. We had lunch at Dempsey's after. Fun!

Friday, Sept. 30. 2011

2011-09-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

The final day of the month we had some catching up to do, especially in the "story time" department. MacKenzie, Phoenix, and Raegan all had brought books on their sharing days for me to read that I had only time to read part way. Rocco also brought a book for me to read to the class today being his day.
So we finished all but Phoenix's book which is a longer one.

We got through all 5 chapters of MacKenzie's book.

We're working our way through this one.

We finished this one that Raegan brought.

And Rocco's book we finished.

And there was still time to play.

We didn't have PE today or there would have been no way to find time to play. It's all good.

Monday Morning, October 3, 2011

There will be a whole school assembly from 8:00 to 8:15. The kindergarten will perform briefly at our assembly. I hope many of you can stay for our first performance in front of a large audience.

Have a great weekend.

Be well.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

2011-09-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Scenes from Kindergarten

I pulled out the camera a couple of times today to catch the students in action. Have a look.

From the Farmer in the Dell: The cheese stands alone

Nathan's the first to learn everyone's name.

Plyaing Duck-Duck-Goose

Bike day in splendid autumn weather

Rocco's dad bought him some new wheels for the kindergarten year. Got a good Jamis Laser from a local bike shop. Nice machine, proud rider.

Here are some words your child might be able to read to you. Provide help sounding them out as needed.

It was another fine day in kindergarten. The students are really moving along well—it's fun to teach them!

Tomorrow we'll have a day off centers for an art project for a PTO fundraiser. It's also PE day so please send your child to school in sturdy, stable play shoes. It's also wear red day (for me) so if you want to send your child to school in the Dunham school color RED, she or he can have his picture taken with me. (I forgot to do that today.) I'll be wearing my Georgia Bulldog polo shirt with a "G" emblem sewn on it.

See you tomorrow.

Be well.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

2011-09-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Before getting to the news of the day, here are three things worth noting:

1. As I did last week, I forgot to put the homework notes in the cubbies by pick up time. The usual day for homework is Wednesday. So here's a photo of the slip of paper that is now in your child's cubby. It's not due till Friday anyway.

2. Please be aware that we have two maladies making its way through the classroom: (a) Pink Eye, and (b) Hand and Foot and Mouth Disease. Believe me, we've seen both of these before and we'll see them again. I want you to know this because knowing might help you figure out what's going on if your child seems off. Here's a little more information about the latter disease from the web:

What is hand-foot-and-mouth disease?

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a common childhood illness. It causes sores in the mouth and on the hands, feet, and sometimes the buttocks and legs. Mouth sores can be painful and may make it hard for your child to eat. The disease is not serious, and it usually goes away in a week or so.

It can occur at any time of year, but hand-foot-and-mouth disease is most common in the summer and fall.

There is link for more information about hand and foot and mouth disease at the end of this post.

3. Thank you to Alicia Petersen for volunteering to serve as room parent this year as well as lending a hand on Tuesday mornings. Support from parents make it possible for us to do what we do around here.

Now, then, on to

News from Kindergarten.

Your children continue to delight me with little touches of care for their world.

Today Bianca showed me how—all on her own—she decided to neaten up the plastic container of eraser-towels for the chalkboard slates.

Rocco remembered yesterday's review of the shapes we've discussed—triangles, squares, rectangles—and assembled those shapes into a drawing of a house similar to the one we did yesterday.

It was Phoenix's day today. His picture of Michael Jackson adorns the wall near the front of the classroom. There's power in that stance. He looks like he could Moonwalk right off the page.

Stasia's abstract concentric painting on the other side of the room is just striking.

We did a little reading magic by blending these sounds into words. I wonder if your child is able to read the words to you. (Provide help as needed.)

We earned a few minutes for play time indoors for the first time in quite a while. Students enjoyed using the newly available linked roadway.

Dominic was fascinated with the process of making balls from playdough. He made quite a few.

Be well.

Link to more information: Web MD

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

2011-09-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Volunteers on Tuesday?

I'm hopeful that we can find someone willing to help us out on Tuesday mornings. We were two tables short today, so we had to delete some of the center activities in favor of activities the students can do independently.

Room Parents

The PTO would like me to identify two people to be room parents for the kindergarten this year. With help from other volunteers, room parents organize and lead four 45 minute classroom celebrations each year: Halloween, Winter Holidays, Valentine's Day, and Spring Break. Typically these celebrations include some sort of decoration of the room, a craft activity, a game activity and a snack connected to the season. I help with a story and some singing. It's fun, and a nice way to support the classroom if weekly volunteering is more than you can manage.

Today in Kindergarten

One of our activities was related to geometry: putting shapes into a container and seeing if the students could identify the shapes by touch alone.

You might be surprised to learn that about half the time a child selected the wrong one. It takes practice to learn how to identify shapes by touch alone.

Life continues to be very good in kindergarten.

Be well.

Monday, September 26, 2011

2011-09-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

Another great day in kindergarten. We opened with a little bit of pattern making with linking cubes. Almost everyone's got the ability to make the good old AB pattern in colors, so we moved on to AAB patterns which proved to be an appropriate challenge. Many kindergartners stumbled in making AAB patterns with colors, but most can produce the AAB pattern with body movements (slap knees, slap knees, clap). We will work more with AAB as time goes on.

White, white, blue

Nathan brought snack today—goldfish crackers, organic apples, and something new—sugar snap peas. Almost everyone tried them, and many children discovered that they like this new food.

Good going, Nathan! It is fun and educational to try a new food.

Today was Monday, bike day. Six boys decided to wear green shirts as I do. Here they are:

Drew, Aidan, Tanner, Nathan, Jake, Rocco & yours truly

Life is good in kindergarten!

Tomorrow is PE with Mrs. Campbell. Be sure to wear sturdy, stable shoes. We will also visit the library with Ms. Burger.

Be well.

Ed Emberley

2011-09-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Ed Emberley who has written a number of books about how to draw. Each year I use his books and ideas for teaching drawing and use them in my kindergarten.

I was pleased to run across this video of Ed talking about his work. If you don't already know about Ed Emberley books, do yourself a favor and find out about him.

Here's a little video to introduce you to him.

Friday, September 23, 2011

2011-09-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

The week zipped by, and already it's Friday.

We talked about getting more skillful in saying goodbye to parent volunteers.

Our discussion focused on thinking about how family members feel when the goodbye is tearful versus when it's smiling. We discussed how family helpers volunteer in kindergarten because they care about and love the kindergartner.

Then I asked them to imagine how a mom would feel if a departure looks like this:

It wasn't hard for the class to understand that the mom would feel embarrassed and disappointed to endure this sort of goodbye. [Bella in the photo here isn't really sad. She's only pretending for the camera. She's a good actress, I think, and we chose her because her mom was handy and willing to pose for the camera as well.]

Once the student has come to understand that the family volunteer came into class because they love their child, the student will be motivated to learn how to say a more skillful goodbye.

Here's Bella smiling and waving goodbye in a way that would make any mom proud and happy to have come in.

All went well in school today—another in a string of good days.

*************

For your calendar:
Please plan to stay until about 8:15 on Monday morning, October 3.

The kindergarten class will perform a few songs and a dance for the Dunham School Assembly. We have been rehearsing for this event, and I think you will enjoy our very brief performance.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

2011-09-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

We started off the day stacking 1-inch wooden cubes to build desktop towers. Some kindergartners were able to stack towers higher than they can count; others can count higher than they can stack. Here are some pictures of the opening activity.

MacKenzie's tower

Tanner has a careful hand.

Jessica made a double tower.

The highest towers would fall, like Anthony's did.

Stasia made an ABC pattern with natural objects in the math center this morning. Like Phoenix did yesterday, she made a pattern using her own imagination. Way to go Stasia!

In the science center where students are studying fish, Jackson drew this remarkable picture of a fish. Notice the scales and the eye. The details he caught in his drawing of the fins and the tail are quite remarkable. If you really want to develop your ability to see, practice drawing.

It was Thursday, and of course Thursdays are bike days and on bike days I wear a green shirt. Drew has this all figured out and he knew what color shirt he wanted to wear today. That's the spirit, Drew. I thought I'd feature a picture of all the kindergartners wearing green shirts on Mondays and Thursdays to build up a little school spirit for the classmates who like that sort of thing.

One of the centers we're doing this time around is to fly paper cup parachutes. Here's one in flight. This is the sort of project that would've made kindergarten more exciting for me when I was five years old.

After lunch I worked in first grade as they engaged in self-chosen activities. A group of boys got to building a tall tower. Pretty neat, huh?

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

2011-09-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Two days until Fall begins. Fall is my favorite season in California. The weather along the coast is at its very best and the work here in kindergarten feels so important. We finish the process of getting the class together and moving in the direction of learning... and then the progress towards literacy and numeracy begins to accelerate. It's especially satisfying to watch "the lights go on" as kids get how reading works.

We began new centers this today. The math center has an activity about making patterns from natural found objects. Here are two done this morning. Olivia did two ABAB patterns: the top one, leaf, eucalyptus button, leaf, eucalyptus button. the bottom pattern goes: eucalyptus button, juniper, eucalyptus button, juniper, eucalyptus button, juniper. Good job Olivia.

Phoenix made a pattern I don't expect to see as I haven't shown it to the class as of yet. It's an ABCD pattern: juniper, eucalyptus button, pebble, stick pattern repeated twice. Cracking good job, Phoenix.

Yesterday we used tangrams (a special set of 7 geometric puzzle pieces developed as far as I know in China) to make designs and shapes. Some of them are shown below.

A rabbit

A face

A redwood tree

Jackson's penguin

The class found out that Archy can dance and that he loves to dance. He can dance with enough enthusiasm to make it appear that his arms work.

More tomorrow about the days activities.

Be well.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

2011-09-20T16:39:00.001-07:00

Due to a late-running Site Council meeting today and the need to prepare for new centers tomorrow, I don't have time to update the blog today.

Please stop by tomorrow.

Monday, September 19

2011-09-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Fall favors our part of the world with some of the best weather all year. Cool, fog-free mornings and golden afternoon sunshine. I hope you enjoyed this pleasant weather we had over the weekend. I was fortunate to enjoy a day on Tomales Bay with my paddling club.

Lunch stop on Marshall Beach

It was pleasant today here at Dunham both indoors and out. We completed all our lessons with enough time to spare to get out the blocks, puzzles, Legos, dwarf house, toy cars, etc.

Puzzles develop spatial intelligence.

Block play promotes social skills like collaboration and sharing.

A parking garage

Clean up after these sessions is going really really well, as it is for snack. As I promised last Friday, we got a full 30 minutes on the bikes today (up from our usual amount) as the natural consequence of doing so well in PE that Mrs. Campbell called the kindergarten class, every one of them, "Awesome."

Jessica rides our trike-bike.

Add Nathan to our list of wheelmen.

Tomorrow morning we'll have art instead of individual centers. If you're one of our regular Tuesday volunteers, please stay to help run a table through the art lesson.

The next round of centers will begin on Wednesday morning.

Be well!

Friday, September 16, 2011

2011-09-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

We are just 17 days into the school year and the class is already well settled into kindergarten class procedures and routines. It is a real pleasure to come to work: your children are a credit to you and to their preschool teachers.

Jake was the person of the day today. His mom sent carrot sticks and some delicious homemade zucchini bread that was very popular with the kindergartners.

Jake brought a read aloud story to school about a world populated with letters called "alphabet rescue."

Today we had PE. When I asked Mrs. Campbell how the kids were for her, she said, "Everybody was AWESOME!!" which was exactly what I was hoping she would say (because they are awesome).

I am teaching our students to cooperate and be polite and respectful and to notice that it is rewarding in itself: it just feels good. Showing respect and being cooperative help the people around you to feel happier. When you're surrounded by happy people, you're more likely to be happy yourself. It's a positive feedback loop—a good thing to feel and experience.

I know that these ideas are getting across because I am seeing more and more pro-social behavior in the class.

We'll celebrate their awesomeness with more time for bikes Monday.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be well.

Hot Lunches, Cool Riders

2011-09-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Call Lunch Orders In 795-5050

If you want to order your child a hot lunch, the best thing to do is to telephone your lunch order into the office in the morning. Five year old children can forget to order their lunch and they also have been known to order lunches they don't need. And, in all fairness, I think sometimes their sixty year old teacher is the reason for goofed up orders. So, now you know the best way to get the orders right. You can call before school and leave a message.

We started the garden program today. Our garden volunteer, Sheila, took half the class at a time to go over the garden rules and tour the kindergartners through the school garden. Here's Sheila standing in the Dunham garden this morning.

Sheila, garden teacher

The other half of the class was with me filling out another chart for our math program. This chart has the children clap their classmates names to discover how many "claps" (syllables, actually) that they have in their names and to compare the number of names that have one, two, three, and four or more syllables in them. If you show your child the photo below can he or she recall which number of syllables had the most names in its column?

How many names are on this chart?

Cool Riders
At the end of the day we went out for bikes. We always leave the playground much cleaner than we find it. Dominic was the most enthusiastic litter gitter in the group today. Here he is bringing in two handfuls of trash.

Way to go, Dominic!

He put the trash in the bucket I carry in the basket on my bike for just this purpose.

Bucketful of clean playground

I made an effort to take a photo of all my two wheeler friends. Did I leave anyone out? If so, please tell me in the comments.

Olivia rides with ease.

Emily's grandpa rides a Harley.

Cale on the two wheeler "trike."

Look! Anthony had his training wheels taken off on Monday.

Kade

Drew and Rocco on identical bikes

Tanner on two wheels

Lots of good sharing and taking turns is happening in kindergarten now. It's a joy to be in kindergarten.