Kindergarten Chronicles: A Kindergarten Blog...

New Job!

2010-08-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

I am a little sad to report that I have taken a new job in my district for the upcoming school year. I am super excited about the job, but sad because I will no longer be a classroom teacher. While I will work with small groups of kids and model lessons for teachers,I will no longer have a class of my own students. I will continue to post ideas I do with small groups, in model lessons, and that I find from other teachers. If you are following this blog, make sure you are also following my Chalk Talk blog since most of my ideas will be posted there. I am also in the process of creating a web site. I will make a post as soon as it is up and running. Thanks! and I hope you all have a great start to the new school year!!

Chalk Talk

2010-07-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

If you have just found my classroom blog, make sure you take a look at my teacher blog. I have not posted anything to this blog since school let out, but I have been posting teacher ideas all summer to my other blog - Chalk Talk.

Field Day 2010

2010-06-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

the shoe fling

the ball between the knees relay

tug-of-war
The boys kept beating the girls until I stepped in to help. Then the girls beat the boys! Then we played the class and myself against the parents. Emily's sister helped us out too and we WON!! We beat the parents!

the bean bag toss

taking a Popsicle break

jump rope relays

basketball shooting

the egg and spoon relay

End of the Year Slide Show

2010-05-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

A year's worth of learning... only 8 school days left...

A free picture slideshow by Smilebox

The Color Farm

2010-05-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Last week, we learned about farm animals. We read the book The Color Farm by Lois Ehlert. Then we made our own version in the computer lab using the program Pixie.

Career Day

2010-05-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Today was Career Day. A police officer and some of the firemen from Station 7 talked with us about safety.

The Last Class Picture

2010-05-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

The Tiny Seed

2010-05-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

This week, we are learning about plants and growing things. We read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. Then we wrote our own stories about seeds.

Finding Length

2010-05-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

We have been learning about length. We worked in pairs to measure the length of objects around the room. We used links to measure the objects and then we recorded our measurements on paper.

We measured each other using links, inchworms, and people counters. Then we drew pictures of ourselves and recorded the measurements.

Earth Day

2010-05-12T18:34:00.001-07:00

Customize your own digital collage

We played a recycling game. We sang a song as we pretended to recycle items. The bean bags were cans and the hula hoop was the recycling bin.

In honor of Earth Day, some of the first grade teachers set up a school-wide book swap. Students were able to bring in books from home that they had already read and trade them with other students. What a great way to reuse books!

Animal Characteristics

2010-05-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

We have been learning about animals and their characteristics. A blogging friend shared this idea with me, so we tried it out in our classroom.

We watched an interactive power point on animals and their characteristics. We learned about animal body parts and animal coverings. Then we played odd man out. Students took turns looking at 3 animal cards in the pocket chart. Then they chose which animal was not like the others and pulled it out and explained why.

After the game, we chose animals and labeled their body parts. Then we shared them with each other.

Word Wall Tic-Tac-Toe

2010-05-12T18:02:00.001-07:00

This week, we found a new favorite word wall game- word wall tic-tac-toe.

The Chicks Arrive!

2010-05-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night, 4 of our baby chicks hatched. This week, we learned about animal characteristics, animal coverings, and animal needs.

Finding Length

2010-05-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

Learning about Area

2010-05-12T17:20:00.001-07:00

We have been learning about area. We drew rectangles and squares. Then we used color tiles to find the area of our shapes.

We mixed brownies and then poured the batter into a pan. We cooked the brownies and then cut them to find the area of the pan. We figured the area of the pan by the number of brownies in it. The area of our pan was 20 brownies.

Ladybug Beetles

2010-05-12T17:10:00.000-07:00

Our ladybugs came today. We talked about what ladybugs need and how they grow and change. Then we wrote about them in our journal.

Today, we released our ladybugs back into the outdoors. We had lots of fun holding them in our hands and letting them crawl on our arms and legs.

We kept the ladybugs for about two weeks. During that time, we learned about living and non-living, characteristics of ladybugs, and the ladybug lifecycle.

3-Dimensional Solids

2010-05-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

We have been learning about 3-dimensional solids. We did several activities to learn about the attributes of each of the solids and where we can find them in the real world.
We worked in groups to sort pictures of solids in the real world. Then we made a circle map for each solid.

We experimented with 3-dimensional solids to see which ones rolled, which ones slid, and which ones did both.

We read the book Jack the Builder by Stuart J. Murphy. Then we worked in groups to make rockets out of 3-dimensional solids. When we finished we counted the number of each solid that we used.

Quack! Quack! Quack!

2010-04-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

Our ducks hatched today! It was so exciting. We were able to use an ELMO and a projector and show the duck hatching on the wall so everyone could see. The second duck hatched shortly afterward. It took all day for the third duck to hatch, but now we have 3 healthy ducks in our pod. We are still waiting for our chicks to hatch. They have about 2 weeks left in the incubator.

Slideshow design created with Smilebox

This Week!

2010-04-16T20:35:00.001-07:00

We had lots going on this week. We continued our unit on Texas- we read lots of good books and did lots of fun things with them. We worked on telling time and subtraction. We also measured play-doh snakes with links and made comparisons. We got a new incubator this week. We added chicken eggs to it on Wednesday. We hope we will be able to hatch chicks this time. We ate chili on Monday and had a hot dog lunch on Friday. Our pride rally performance went great! Everyone did a super job!

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Symmetry

2010-04-11T03:53:00.001-07:00

As part of our study on fractions, we learned about symmetry.

Zoo Field Trip 2010

2010-04-07T15:25:00.001-07:00

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A Hunting We Will Go!

2010-04-02T06:02:00.001-07:00

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Life Cycle Patterns

2010-04-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

This week, we talked about patterns. We looked at patterns in animal life cycles.

We used Pixie to create pictures for the life cycle of the chicken and the frog. We put the pictures in a flow map to show the way the animals grow and change.

We read the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar and made butterfly life cycles on paper plates.

The Wind Blew

2010-04-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

This week, we talked about spring. We learned about what types of clothing you wear in spring, what kinds of activities people do in spring, and what the weather is like in the spring. We learned that spring can bring very windy weather. We made a circle map to show all that we learned about spring.

This week, we read the book The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins. It is a great book for making predictions. Afterwards, the students brainstormed other things that the wind could blow.

Making Words

2010-04-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

This week, we used our bodies to make words. We reviewed words from the at, an, ap, and am families. We started working with words from the ed and et families.

The Week of March 21st

2010-03-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy learning about animals and getting ready for open house. There have been lots of great things going on in our room. The most exciting news is that we are trying to hatch baby chicks.

Another free picture slideshow by Smilebox

Open House Slide Show

2010-03-21T08:18:00.001-07:00

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The Qu Wedding

2010-03-12T18:49:00.001-08:00

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Quack, Daisy Quack!

2010-03-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

We read the book Quack, Daisy Quack! then we responded to the story by writing about what happened in it or telling about our favorite part.

Our "Qu" Class Quilt

2010-03-12T18:23:00.001-08:00

We brainstormed a list of words that have the letters "qu" in them and then we made a class quilt.

Eating Fractions

2010-03-12T18:11:00.001-08:00

We read the book Eating Fractions and then we used sliced cheese to learn about half and whole. We made our own class book Eating Fractions.

A Day at the Zoo

2010-03-12T17:56:00.000-08:00

We read the book Zoo by Gail Gibbons then we made a tree map to show the people, places, and things (nouns) we would find at the zoo.

Quick as a Cricket

2010-03-12T17:42:00.001-08:00

We read the book Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood and then we made our own version of the book.

Each student made the self portrait page at the end.

Here is another version of a class book I have made.

A teammate used this activity with the book.

The Cat in the Hat

2010-03-08T04:12:00.001-08:00

We made paper Cat in the Hat hats.

We thought of what we would do if the cat came to our house.

Map Skills

2010-03-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

We have been working on map skills. We watched a Discovery Streaming video on maps and drew a map of our classroom. For homework, we drew maps of our bedrooms. We worked together to make a floor map of our school. We learned about how to make a map, what maps are for, and about map symbols. We also made cookie maps- the green is the land, the blue is the water, and the small candies are the buildings.

We used our new screen and projector to watch a Discovery Streaming video about maps and models.

We learned what models were and then we all went and found models in our classroom.

Bartholomew and the Oobleck

2010-03-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

We read Bartholomew and the Oobleck and then we made our own oobleck and compared the two.

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

2010-03-03T16:10:00.001-08:00

We wore hats in honor of Dr. Seuss' book The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

We looked for naming words (nouns) while we read. We made a tree map to show some of the nouns we found in the book.

Green Eggs and Ham

2010-03-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

We all dressed in green in honor of Dr. Seuss and his book Green Eggs and Ham.

We read Green Eggs and Ham and then we made green eggs and ham! Do you like them with a fox? Would you like them in a box? We like green eggs and ham!

We made a circle map to show things that are the color green.

Wacky Wednesday

2010-03-03T15:49:00.000-08:00

Wacky Wednesday is a book by Theo. LeSeig (aka Dr. Seuss) with pictures by George Booth. The concept of the book is that a boy wakes up and realizes that his whole town has gone "wacky". Birds are chasing cats, shoes show up everywhere but on people's feet, and misspellings abound. Each picture has an increasing number of wacky things, beginning with one shoe on the wall, and ending with twenty wacky things.

On Wednesday, everybody in kindergarten got wacky, including the Mrs. Wood, Mrs. Fowler, Miss Patsel, Mrs. Larremore!

Go Away Big Green Monster

2010-02-26T07:19:00.001-08:00

We read the book Go Away Big Green Monster and made a monster glyph.

The color of the monster = favorite color
The number of hairs = how old you are
The color of your ears
Blue = you do not like scary movies
Green = you do like scary movies
The color of your mouth
red = you like Go Away Big Green Monster the best
pink = you like There is a Nightmare in My Closet the best

m & m Math

2010-02-26T06:53:00.001-08:00

We estimated how many m & m's we could grab in a handful. Then we grabbed a handful and counted how many we really had.

We made and labeled m & m patterns.

This week, we learned about fair shares and fractions. We learned that to make a fair share, everyone has to have the same amount. We made fair shares with our m & m's.

We read The M & M Counting Book and made our own book of 100 m & m's. We made sets of 10 and added 10 sets of 10 together to make 100 m & m's.

Storyteller: Toni Simmons

2010-02-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

This week, we had a special treat. Storyteller, Toni Simmons, visited us for a time of traditional oral storytelling. She used rhythms, songs, and audience participation, to pull us into her stories and to take us to different places around the world.

You can learn more about Toni Simmons and purchase her products at Toni Simmons.

Making Muffins

2010-02-26T06:26:00.000-08:00

This week we celebrated the letter M. In honor of letter M, we read If You Give a Moose a Muffin and we made muffins. We learned about cumulative stories. We talked with partners about the events in the story and how they built on one another. Then we charted what we talked about. Finally, we made muffins and ate them! Yum, Yum!!

Cleaning Pennies Experiment

2010-02-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

Go to VoiceThread and view a voice recording and slide show of our cleaning pennies experiment. Go to VoiceThread.

A Kiss and a Hug on This Day of Love

2010-02-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

Because of the snow last week and a snow day from school, we celebrated Valentine's this week.

President's Day

2010-02-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

This week, we celebrated the presidents. We learned about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We made a circle map showing what we learned about presidents.

We read the book Abe Lincoln's Hat and then we thought of things we would keep in our hat if we had a hat like Abe Lincoln.

Circles and Squares Everywhere!

2010-02-18T19:27:00.000-08:00

Thinking Process: Defining in Context

The Circle Map is used to brainstorm ideas and show what you already know about a topic by using context information. This can be words, numbers, pictures, symbols, etc. to represent the object, person, or ideas you are trying to understand or define.

Written in the inner circle is some "thing" you are trying to define. It is represented by a word or symbol. In the outer circle, information is written or drawn that puts the "thing" in context. The square around the circles is called the frame of reference. This is where "how you know what you know" is added.

we made circle maps showing what we learned about the attributes of shapes

we wrote about the attributes of shapes

Thinking Process: Seeing Analogies

The Bridge Map is used to identify similarities between relationships (seeing analogies). Students use a relating factor which is a similar phrase which fits both sides of the analogy. Frequently, analogies are included in standardized tests. Teachers who use the Bridge Map as a thinking skill don't have to teach it as a test skill. Bridge Maps are frequently used to see word relationships - as in synonyms and antonyms, but it can also be used in math.

we made bridge maps to show the relationship between basic shapes and where they are found in the world around us

Probability and Pennies

2010-02-18T19:23:00.000-08:00

We used cups and pennies to shake and spill 10 times and see how many times our pennies landed on heads and how many times our pennies landed on tails.

The Tooth of the Matter

2010-02-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

This is the way we brush our teeth! This week, hygienists from a local dentist office came to visit to talk with us about good dental health. We learned how to brush our teeth, how often to brush and floss, and good foods to eat to keep our teeth healthy..

Singing the Word Wall

2010-02-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

Music and learning! I use Heidisongs Sing and Spell CD's to help teach word wall words. The kids love to get in a circle and hold up their word when we get to their song.

Snowy Day

2010-02-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

What a day! It actually snowed all day here in Texas!! It was so exciting!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

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What is a Shadow?

2010-02-07T04:12:00.001-08:00

This week, we celebrated Groundhog's Day and we learned what makes a shadow. On Monday, we predicted whether or not we thought the groundhog would see his shadow. Then on Tuesday, we watched the news to see what happened. We also checked in with our Project Groundhog friends in Florida, West Virginia, Kentucky, New Foundland, and Canada to see what the weather was like for them. We read a book about shadows and went outside to find some shadows of our own. We took turns tracing each others shadow. We began our first week of data collecting for Project Groundhog and we sent information about our community to all of our Project Groundhog friends.

Patterns and Characteristics of Objects

2010-02-05T17:48:00.001-08:00

This week, we learned about the characteristics of objects. We looked at fruit and discussed the different characteristics of each kind of fruit. Then we made predictions about what the fruits looked like on the inside. We cut the fruits open and then we ate all of the fruit up! We used this discussion later in the week when we talked about different kinds of animals and their characteristics.

"Pop" into the Library

2010-02-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

In honor of the 100th day, our librarian had students "pop" into the library to check out a new book and to eat some popcorn. The first 100 students that went to the library for open check out got a small prize and a ticket for a drawing. What a great idea! Our students had tons of fun with it!

the 100th day of school

2010-02-03T15:46:00.001-08:00

Today marked the 100th day of school. We had lots of fun 100 activities going on today and all throughout the week. We made 100 snowflakes, flying ladybugs with 100 spots, a pizza with 100 toppings, 100 day snack mix, we counted 100 lizards, and we drew what we thought we would look like if we were 100 years old. More pictures of our week's activities to come...

We bought shirts from Really Good Stuff that said "our students are 100 days smarter."

We built something using 100 objects.

We thought of things we wanted 100 of.

We read The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza and made a pizza with 100 toppings and 100 pieces of cheese.

We made a chain with 100 links. We had 10 links of 10 different colors.

We made 100th day snack mix with 10 chocolate chips, 10 fruit loops, 10 marshmallows, 10 M & M's, 10 cheerios, 10 gummi bears, 10 animal crackers, 10 pieces of popcorn, 10 Goldfish crackers, and 10 pretzels.

We made ladybugs with 100 spots.

We made 10 sets of 10 objects using Pixie in the computer lab.

We made 100 snowflakes.

We made a caterpillar that was 100 circles long and that ate 100 foods.

We painted 10 sets of 10 dots to make our 100th day crowns.

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Clifford Day

2010-01-29T17:26:00.000-08:00

This week, we learned about pets and their needs. To end our pet study, we had a Clifford Day. We all wore red in honor of Clifford.

We read Clifford's Family and made a venn diagram to compare who has brothers, who has sisters, and who has both. Then we shared stories about our brothers and sisters.

We read Clifford's First Day of School and brainstormed things Clifford would like if he went to school.

We all thought Clifford would make a good pet because he could do things for us, help us, keep us company, and protect us if we got into trouble.

"Donut" Forget to Read Party

2010-01-29T17:13:00.001-08:00

Over Christmas break, our school took part in a reading challenge called "Donut Forget to Read." Students who read over the break and filled out their reading log got to go to a donut party in the library with Mrs. Tricoli.

students go to eat donuts in the library

Mrs. Tricoli read the book Arnie the Doughnut by Lauri Keller.

students made their own Arnie the doughnut

Taking Care of Pets

2010-01-27T03:56:00.000-08:00

This week, we are learning about pets, their needs, and how to take care of them. Mrs. Wood, one of our kindergarten teachers, brought her pet bearded dragon to school. She taught us how to set up his habitat and how to take care of him.

Jelly Bean Math

2010-01-27T03:52:00.000-08:00

This week, we are celebrating the letter "J". We read books about jellybeans and did some jellybean sorting and graphing.

A Tribute to Mo Willems and I was There!

2010-01-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

What a way to end an author study on Mo Willems... by meeting him! This weekend, the Angelika Dallas hosted a 22 year retrospective movie of Mo's film work and some shorts of some of his children's books. Afterwards, he was on hand to answer questions and to autograph books. I can't wait to go back to school on Monday and share my new autographed copies of Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, and Mo's new pop-up frog book with the class. I have a few pictures to share too! On Friday, we wrote a class letter to Mo Willems. Maybe we will hear back from him!

Project Groundhog 2010

2010-01-24T05:21:00.000-08:00

Project Groundhog 2010 is underway!

Project Groundhog was designed to help children find out if the groundhog as a weather hog is a myth or truth. For the six weeks following Groundhog Day, February 2nd, classes record the daily temperature and sky conditions where they live. The information collected is shared weekly with the participating schools via email and the Project Groundhog website. If school is closed for weather you record that too.... and some schools get to see lots of SNOW DAYS!!!

Throughout the six week project, we get to know other classes around the world. We learn about their community and their school. We send them valentine messages, we compare weather conditions all over the world, and we learn about their class happenings through email projects and blogs.

You can check out the project site at http://www.cdli.ca/Groundhog/NewGhog/index.php.

Our first line of business will be to select a name for our class groundhog.

Mrs. Larremore's Class Finds a Hot Dog!

2010-01-22T19:27:00.001-08:00

For the last couple of weeks, we have been celebrating the author, Mo Willems. We have read lots of his books, learned about his life, and used his writing to make us better writers. To end our study, we had a hot dog party in honor of the book "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog."

We brainstormed things the pigeon would want on his hot dog.

we made portraits of the pigeon

Winter Math

2010-01-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

We read the book "Missing Mittens" and made construction paper mittens to practice skip counting and odd and even numbers.

hot chocolate math- we used playing cards as number generators and made addition equations using marshmallows

We worked on sequencing and using words that show order.

Writing to Inform

2010-01-22T19:18:00.001-08:00

This six weeks, we will be learning to write to inform. This week, during our study of animals in winter, we learned about penguins. Then we wrote at least two sentences stating factual information we learned about penguins.

Animals in Winter

2010-01-22T19:13:00.001-08:00

This week, we learned about animals in winter. We learned how some animals hibernate, some migrate, and some adapt. We pretended to be bears and hibernate for the winter. We stored up food for winter, looked for a good place to sleep through the winter, hibernated, and then woke up and went in search of food to fill back up on.

Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.

2010-01-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

Last week, we learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his work in the civil rights movement. We read lots of books to learn about his life and we took a virtual tour of the house where he grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. We learned a new song called "Sing a Song About Martin" and we wrote a class poem about what peace means to us. We used the book "The Crayon Box That Talked" to learn that we are like a box of crayons- we are all different, but when put together we can do great things!

Mo Willems: Author Study

2010-01-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

The students are enjoying learning about the author, Mo Willems. They love reading the Pigeon books. They brainstormed what would happen if they let the pigeon drive the bus. They are also learning to use speech bubbles in their writing. Next week, we plan to write a letter to Mo Willems, do some more writing with the pigeon books, and have a hot dog party.

Marker Board Races

2010-01-15T19:27:00.001-08:00

This week, we played marker board races to practice writing our word wall words.

Measuring Up!

2010-01-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

This week, we added new measurement activities to our math center. Students compare various objects to see which ones are lighter, which ones are heavier, and which ones equal each other.

Fairy Tale Dress-Up Day

2010-01-15T19:15:00.000-08:00

We had a class of fairy tale characters- a wolf, a bear, a mouse, a troll, Peter Pan, and lots of princesses.

We had "High Tea Time" with flavored tea and cookies. Yum!

The kindergarten teachers dressed as Goldilocks, the grandmother from Little Red Riding Hood, one of the three little pigs, and Little Red Riding Hood.

The 3 Little Pigs

2010-01-11T16:38:00.001-08:00

We are learning about words that tell the order in which events happen. We read Alaska's Three Pigs. Then we made a flow map showing the sequence of events in the story.

Today, we read several versions of The Three Little Pigs. Afterward we acted out the story.

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3 billy goats gruff

2010-01-07T17:55:00.001-08:00

This week, we have been reading fairy tales and learning about the story elements in fairy tales. On Thursday, we read The Three Billy Goats Gruff and then acted out the story.

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snowflake story time

2010-01-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

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New Year's

2010-01-07T17:13:00.001-08:00

We made snowmen glyphs. Each piece of our snowman represents something about us. The color of our hat tells if we are a girl or a boy. The color of the strip on our hat tells how old we are. The color of the scarf tells whether we have ever seen snow. We have hearts or snowflakes on our hats to tell whether we like mittens of gloves the best and the dots on our scarf tell if we have brothers and/or sisters.

We learned about new year's customs and traditions. We made a circle map to show what we learned. We made our own resolutions for the new year.

We subtracted using black eyed peas. We rolled a die to see how many black eyed peas we would eat.

Shaving Cream Words

2009-12-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

Before the party, we cleaned all of the glue off our tables so we could eat off of them and we practiced writing and spelling our word wall words.

Polar Express Week

2009-12-21T06:11:00.000-08:00

This week we had a Polar Express Day. We wore our pajamas to school and Mrs. Oliver read The Polar Express to us in the library. In our classroom, we made a train with our chairs and watched the story of The Polar Express narrated by Lou Diamond Phillips on Storybookonline sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild.Then we drank chocolate milk with whipped cream and sprinkles and ate cookies. Afterward, we brainstormed a list of things the Polar Express train could have seen on the way to the North Pole. Then we made construction paper trains, painted them with white snow, and glued the words to our sentences on in the order.

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We had a class picture taken and Mrs. Yancey made trains for all of us to take home.

We read the New York version of the gingerbread man and made a gingerbread man glyph.
The gingerbread man glyph key:
The buttons = how old you are
The white rick rack = you are a girl
The green rick rack = you are a boy
Red stripes = you like to eat gingerbread cookies
Yellow stripes = you do not like to eat gingerbread cookies
The color of the buttons = your favorite color

We read the book The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett. Then we focused on the story elements of problem and solution. We worked together, at our tables, to make large reindeer.

Calendar Skills

2009-12-11T18:45:00.001-08:00

We work on learning to solve story problems during calendar time. We focus on strategies such as acting out, drawing a picture, and looking for a pattern.

We have a clip collection that goes with the number of days in the month. We use our clip collection to work on place value and skip counting.

This month, we added a thermometer to our calendar. Now we keep track of the temperature each day. We compare the temperature to the one from the day before. We also compare the temperature outside to the temperature inside. We discuss how the temperature changes with the season.

Each month, we make a different pattern on our calendar. This month, we are making a positional pattern- right side up and upside down.

We learn about odd and even numbers. Each day we add one cube for the day in the month. We add a blue cube one day then an orange cube the next. We also add them in pairs. We learn that numbers that end in "0", "2", "4", "6", and "8" are even numbers and we learn that when a cube does not have a partner, it is an odd number.

We keep track of the date with money. We add a penny for each day of the month. We trade pennies for nickels, dimes, and quarters. We learn what presidents are on which coins and how much each coin is worth. We sing lots of money songs to help us learn about money.

We sing yesterday, today, and tomorrow songs. Keep with with the days of the week, and record the weather. We look for weather patterns each month that relate to the season.

We learn how to make tally marks. We use "tall soldiers" and "lazy soldiers." We learn that when the date ends in a "0" or "5", we make lazy soldiers and we learn that after every 4 tall soldiers, we need a lazy soldier. After 10 tally marks, we make a gate (draw a circle) to help us see "10." We, also, learn to write the short date so that we will be able to do this in our writing journals.

We keep track of the number of days we have been in school. Each day, we add one straw to our straw collection. This helps us to work on place value. We, also, add a number card to our 100 pocket chart. Each day we look for patterns when we add the next number. We count to 100 with Dr. Jean's Zero the Hero Number Stomp. We, also, count by 2's, 5's, and 10' using Dr. Jean's Macarena Math song.

We are learning to estimate. I use 2 jars to teach students to estimate. One has a set amount of cubes in it. Right now, we are working with the number 10. Then each day, I fill the other jar with a different number of cubes. Students estimate how many cubes they think are in the jar. We talk about why some guesses are good guesses and why some guesses are not.

We, also, use calendar time for Zoophonics and singing our word wall songs. Heidi Butkus has several great sight word Cd's. Her Sing & Spell Cds can be found at http://www.heidisongs.net/.

Blue Day

2009-12-11T18:42:00.000-08:00

On Friday, we had "Blue Day" in honor of the letter "B". We brainstormed things that can be blue. We cut apart sentences and put them in order. Then we highlighted word wall words. We read the book Blueberries For Sal and made combinations of 15 using blueberries.

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Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!

2009-12-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

This week, we had teddy bear day. We sorted our bears by color, made class books about our bears, and measured how tall our bears were with cubes. We also read lots of bear stories. We read Little Bear's Trousers, discussed the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and made bears and trousers out of scrapbook paper.

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Real Object Graphs

2009-12-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

This week, we made graphs using real objects. We talked about how we can collect data using real objects as well as collect data and record it on paper.

We chewed bubble gum and blew bubbles. Then we made a graph to find out how many kids could blow a bubble.

We made a graph to show which Mr. Putter and Tabby story was our favorite. Most kids chose Mr. Putter and Tabby Take the Train, but Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears, and Mr. Putter and Tabby Walk the Dog were close favorites too.

We graphed who brought their favorite book to school on Monday.

We linked arms in our graph to learn one to one and to learn how to figure how many more.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Everywhere

2009-12-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

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Christmas Around the World

2009-12-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

We began our study of Christmas celebrations around the world this week. We learned about Christmas celebrations in Mexico, Africa, and Germany. We, also, used holiday cookies for counting and adding.

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Story Time with Ms. Tricoli

2009-12-11T17:04:00.000-08:00

For story time this week, Ms. Tricoli read the book Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry. They created a bubble map of other words that mean "big," looked at problem and solution, and sequenced the animals in the story.

Making Positional Patterns

2009-12-11T16:58:00.001-08:00

We are learning to make positional patterns. This week, we went to the computer lab and used Pixie to rotate and flip pictures in order to make positional patterns. After we created our patterns, we labeled them.

Science Fair Winners

2009-12-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

At this week's pride rally, the winners of the Moseley science fair were announced. Julia won first place in kindergarten for her popcorn science fair project and Ameer won second place for his seed sprouting experiment.

Socks and Shades

2009-12-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

In honor of the letter "S", we wore silly socks and shades. We read the book, A Pair of Socks, by Stuart J. Murphy. Then we made patterns on paper socks and sorted them to create a sock sort class book.

Too Many Tamales

2009-12-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

This week, we started our study of Christmas celebrations around the world. One of the countries we learned about was Mexico. We read The Legend of the Poinsettia and learned about Las Posadas. We made paper poinsettias to help us remember what we learned. We also read the book Too Many Tamales and ate homemade tamales made by Natalie's grandmother. After eating tamales, we made a real-object graph to show who liked the tamales and who did not. Most of us loved the tamales and wished we could have eaten more!

Silly Socks and Shades

2009-12-07T20:13:00.001-08:00

This week, in honor of the letter "S", we wore silly socks and shades. We created patterns on paper socks, sorted socks, and made a sock class book.

Silly Mrs. Larremore's Class

2009-12-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

This week, we learned about action words (verbs). We acted out words to help us remember the difference between words that name things and words that show action. We read the book Silly Sally and made a tree map to show the naming words (nouns)and action words (verbs) we found in the story. Then we used alliteration by thinking of adjectives that describe us that start with the same letter as our first name. We made the class book "Silly Mrs.Larremore's Class."

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Writer's Workshop

2009-12-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

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A Study of Wants and Needs

2009-12-06T12:10:00.000-08:00

This week, we learned about the needs and wants of animals. We read books about pets and animals. We watched a video on the needs of of all kinds of animals. We learned that animals need food, water, shelter, clean air, and sunshine. We also learned that animals that eat meat need sharp teeth. We have needs similar to those of animals. We ended the week by making a tree map to show we had learned the difference between the needs and wants of our pets.

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Composing and Decomposing Numbers

2009-12-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

This week, we worked on composing and decomposing numbers. We spilled beans and talked about more and less, parts and whole, and number combinations. We made towers of 10 cubes. Then we broke them and looked for patterns, added cubes back to make 10 again, and recorded the data from our combinations. Throughout the week, we used lots of "number talk" to understand what we were doing. We asked and answered important questions like:

How many of your counters are red?
Do you have the same number of white counters as your neighbor?
How many counters do you have all together?
How are your recordings different from your neighbor?
Which tower has the least amount of cubes? which has the most?
How many more cubes do you need to add to the tower with the fewest cubes in order to make 10 again?
How did you find your answer?
To make 10 again, did you add cubes or take them away?
How many parts do you have?
What do we call the tower of 10 when it is all together?

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Going Bananas Over PTA

2009-11-21T07:38:00.001-08:00

Our class won the PTA membership drive for the entire school. We had the highest percentage of parents join for our class. Ms. Tricoli dressed as a banana and served us banana splits in honor of our winning.

Our class won, thanks to Ameer's family who had 4 family members join PTA. Thanks Ameer!!

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

2009-11-21T07:27:00.000-08:00

For a Thanksgiving class project, we disguised Tom the turkey so that he would not be eaten for Thanksgiving. The following are the disguises that these students and their parents came up with. See if you can find Tom the turkey!

Michael disguised Tom the turkey as Santa Claus. He even made snow and a Christmas tree to go with it.

Toddrick dressed-up Tom the turkey as Santa with a cotton ball beard.

Alyssa disguised Tom the turkey as a ballerina.

Brianna dressed-up Tom the turkey as a cheerleader.

Julia disguised Tom the turkey as Santa with snowflakes for the feathers.

Gavin camouflaged Tom the turkey as a soldier.

Natalie disguised Tom the turkey as an angel.

Pattern Blocks and Atrribute Blocks, Oh My!

2009-11-21T07:15:00.001-08:00

Attribute blocks are math manipulatives that have four different features:

* shape
* color
* size
* thickness

The four shapes are circles, hexagons, squares, and triangles. The three colors are red, blue, and yellow. The two sizes are big and small. The two thicknesses are thick and thin. Attribute blocks are a good introduction to logical thinking for young learners.

Pattern blocks come in 6 colors and shapes - yellow hexagons, green triangles, blue diamond shaped rhombus, red trapezoids, orange squares and a smaller beige rhombus.

Using pattern blocks when teaching math not only develops math vocabulary but also helps children understand many other math concepts such as symmetry, order, counting, number operations, data collection, and estimation.

life with a roly-poly

2009-11-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

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a kinder GARDEN of science

2009-11-21T06:51:00.001-08:00

In our classroom, we love science experiments and discussions. Lately, we have sprouted seeds in baggies with paper towels, grown mold on potatoes, and learned about rainbows. Now we are trying to sprout seeds in soil. We have also observed isopods and learned about their characteristics and their needs.

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A Feast of Plenty

2009-11-21T06:06:00.000-08:00

This week, we tasted a different Thanksgiving food everyday. We ate popcorn, beef jerky, cranberries (Craisins), pumpkin pie, and sweet potatoes. On Friday, we made a graph to find out what was everyone's favorite Thanksgiving food. We found out that most of the kids in our class liked pumpkin pie the best. Cranberries (Craisins) and beef jerky came in second place. While everyone liked popcorn and sweet potatoes covered with marshmallows, they were not their favorites.

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2009-11-21T05:43:00.001-08:00

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