November 30- December 4

During the month of December our social studies unit focuses on holidays around the world.  We focus on the common theme of light.  Some of the holidays we discuss are Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and St. Lucia Day.  We will be reading books, singing songs, and creating art activities about traditions.

 I am looking forward to seeing your handprint projects and learning about everybody's family traditions.  If you have a special tradition you would like to teach the class about, please let me know. This week Cecilia's mother will be visiting to teach us about Christmas in Italy.  

At Rowe school we have two kindergarten traditions in December which I love.   One is to build and decorate gingerbread houses.   The other is our performance based on Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby.  Our performance is on December 17 in our classroom.  No costumes are needed.  We will making special headbands at school.   

Can you believe that our gingerbread man, Ginger, ran away?  Mrs. Cote let us know she saw him run out the door with a book of maps.  Sounds like he is planning quite a trip! Rumor has it that he has been spotted in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.  He has plans to travel as far away as Hawaii with stops in Nebraska, North Carolina, Arizona, and Louisiana.  Thank you to everyone who has reached out to friends and family members to help with this activity.  I am excited to see where he travels!

My bookshelf is full of books about gingerbread characters.
Here is a list of books we have read so far:

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.
The Gingerbread Man retold by Jim Aylesworth
The Gingerbread Man  retold by Karen Schmidt
The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray
The Gingerbread Man Goes to School by Joan Holub
The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst

We have been discussing the different characters, settings, endings, and refrains in each of the different versions.

We are in the process of wrapping up our pattern book writing during Writer's Workshop and are publishing books for our classroom library.  On Thursday, students wrote rough drafts of  pattern books.  They made revisions and then handed them in.  I typed each book up and the students will illustrate them.  We will read them to our first grade buddies next week.  After the winter break we will be revisiting personal narratives.

During Reader's Workshop we have been discussing setting.  I have been encouraging students to notice where the stories they are reading are happening.  When you are reading aloud at home you can ask your child about the setting.  Before reading look at the cover and ask them to make a prediction about where the story takes place.  Ask them what clues they see.   During read them check in about the setting.

During math, mathematicians have been learning about teen numbers, ten frames, and different ways to make hexagons.  The also explored calculators.

Mrs. Gross visited on Tuesday to teach us about telling in and telling out.  Telling in is when you are telling to get someone in trouble, while telling out is telling to get somebody out of trouble.  She discussed strategies for working out little problems on their own.

November Update

I cannot believe it is already mid-November!   Time certainly flies.

This month during Reader's Workshop readers are reading pattern books and learning that good readers have super powers. These special powers help readers when they are stuck on a word.  The first super power I introduced is called "owl eyes."  Readers use their owl eyes to look at pictures for clues.  Readers also use "Lips the Fish"  and get their mouth ready to say the first sound.  Next up will be Stretchy Snake.

During Writer's Workshop writers are writing their own pattern books.  Students are beginning to write simple sentences.  We started the unit by writing a class pattern book about the playground. We wrote the book together and the students worked in pairs to illustrate it.  Now they are all working on their own books.  

Mathematicians have continued to work on a variety of skills during math time. Our activities included comparing and describing objects of different lengths, creating an obstacle courses to practice positional words and sequencing numbers.  We also played Spin a Number to practice counting and one to one correspondence.  
The students have been introduced to the correct formation of all the digits 0-9. We will continue to practice as reversals are still common.  

We now have first grade reading buddies.  Students from Mrs. Warren's class come and read with us each Thursday afternoon for about 15-20 minutes.  The students take turns reading to each other in a pair or triad.

No Turkeys Here!

Thank you families for helping us to disguise all our turkeys!  I am confident the farmer will not be able to find them.  If you are at Rowe School be sure to take a walk down the hallway to see all the clever disguises.

Here is a preview.

We Are Bucket Fillers

Here is a short movie we made for Community Meeting.  Enjoy!

Week of October 26

Reading with Second Grade Buddies

As you know there was no power at Rowe School on Thursday.  The students did a great job on our adventure to Yarmouth Elementary School.  After our community meeting in the YES gym, we visited Mrs. Tate's second grade classroom.   Mrs. Tate did a read aloud.  Then kindergarteners and second graders paired up and read books together.  We also played a game called "Just Like Me." 


This week was our final week of Looking Closely.  One of our final activities was to cut open a pumpkin and draw and write about what we saw.  We also made replicas using string as the pulp and real pumpkin seeds.   We will be starting pattern books soon.

Solving Number Stories 

We did a variety of activities during math this week.  Students learned about number stories and strategies to solve them.  They sorted pattern blocks and created a graph to record how many of each block.  We practiced counting by tens.  We played a game called Roll and Record to practice counting and number writing and to explore probability.

We also did pumpkin math.  After cutting open the pumpkins we estimated how many seeds there were.  The children worked together to make groups of tens.  Once we sorted we were able to count by tens to find out how many there were.  There were 403 seeds!

During Reader's Workshop we continued to practice one to one correspondence while reading.  We learned a new sight word, and.   We also discussed characters.

A Pumpkin Art Project

Wolfe Neck Farm

Week of October 12-October 16

The children came back from their long weekend well rested and ready to learn.



We kicked off our new writing unit, Looking Closely. This unit has the children observing, labeling, and listing like scientists.  On Wednesday we went for a nature walk and 
found a variety of items to write about.  We have also been observing our plants and drawing them in our science journals.  On Friday, we found Twistables in the mystery bag. These will be a special writing tool for this unit.  

During Reader's Workshop readers learned different ways to read with partners. Partnerships practiced echo reading, choral reading, and taking turns. We also read rhyming books and sang rhyming songs. On Monday we will make rhyming monsters.  

Students have learned three sight words, the, see, and can.  


Mathematicians developed their understanding of addition and subtraction by solving pocket problems.  They also practiced sorting and classifying objects in different ways.  On Friday we went for a shape walk through the school and found lots of circles and triangles throughout the building.  Shapes are EVERYWHERE!  

This week we began work stations. Throughout the week there are four stations which students work at in pairs or small groups. At the beginning of the year the stations include play areas. This helps me to introduce the students to the concept of stations and to new materials in the classroom. Students also learn a lot through play. As the year progresses the stations will become more academic but still lots of fun.  The number will also increase to eight stations and students will complete two a day.  (We usually complete work stations four days a week.) 

Week of October 5-9

Week of September 28

 

  We officially started handwriting this week. Students learned how to form capital E's and F's.  The students practiced on chalkboards using a process called wet, dry, try. Then they each received their very own handwriting workbooks!

During math time we explored a variety of shapes and brainstormed ways to describe them.  Students were introduced to repeating patterns and growing patterns.  They had a chance to use manipulatives to build their own and then describe them to a partner.  We played two math games using dot cards. One was called Dot Card Match Up.  The other was Dot Card Top-It.

 During Writer's Workshop the children continued writing true stories about themselves.   Writers practiced adding labels to their stories and writing stories across pages.  Each Friday is Fancy Friday. Writer's have the chance to fancy up their stories by adding color.

Did you know we started our job chart ?  Each Monday students are assigned a job for the week. Jobs include line leader, supply helper, calendar helper, attendance and lunch count, messenger, light switcher, number of the day helper, and lunch basket carrier.  Asking your child about their job for the week is always a good way to start a conversation about their day.

I arrived at music class a little early on Monday and was able to hear the students practicing rhythms with instruments.  They were playing along to "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed."

To end the week, we combined math and art to make symmetrical butterflies.  The students made two.  One to bring home and one to hang in the hallway.

Highlights From the Week of September 21-25

There was lots of great learning this week!

Monday was a day of firsts!  We had our first community meeting and our first guidance class.
Each month everybody at Rowe School comes together for whole school assembly. Two or three teachers plan and run the community meeting with their classes.  The exciting news is we will be planning October's community meeting with Mrs. Melevsky's class.

Approximately every two weeks Mrs. Gross comes to our classroom to teach a guidance lesson.  This week she taught the students about what her role as a guidance counselor is.  She also introduced us to her friend Dakota, who often visits with her to teach her lessons.

On Tuesday we were surprised to find caterpillars in our classroom!  We were scientists and observed what we saw.  Then we recorded our observations in our new science journals.  We made new recordings on Thursday when we noticed the caterpillars were getting bigger and there was more thread in the container.

During Reader's Workshop we had a chance to test out different reading spots and chose a daily spot for read to self.  Some kids prefer sitting in chairs while others prefer sitting or laying on the carpet. Readers practiced reading pictures and retelling familiar stories.   Readers also practiced reading with a partner.  We came up with four expectations: sit shoulder to shoulder, book between both readers, use quiet voices, eyes on the book.

During Writer's Workshop writers learned to keep working.  Our motto is "When we are done, we have just begun."   When a writer finishes a piece of writing they can either add more to the picture, more to the words, or start a new story.   Writers also received their very own writing folder to organize their work.  Stories they are still working on go in the side with the green dot while finished stories go on the side with the red dot.

During math time we did a variety of activities.  We created a birthday graph, played a new counting game called Zap, practiced showing numbers in a variety of ways, and learned about a new tool called a five frame.  We also continued to establish our daily math routines which include calendar, number of the day, and weather.

Showing 5 with Pattern Blocks

Showing 5 with Linking Cubes

Showing 5 with Dominoes

Showing 5 with Fingers

Showing 5 with Fingers

Exploring 5 Frames 

Our greeting this week was "Who Took the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?"  On Friday afternoon we created cookies to use as illustrations for a class book. Yum!  

First Two Weeks of School

Kindergarten - Day 4

Our kindergarten days have been busy getting to know each other and establishing routines.  

Here are some highlights

We......
drew self portraits and wrote our names for a class book
made a name chart and shared what we noticed about it
learned the names of the different pieces we use to make capital letters; little line, big line, little curve, big curve
read Going on a Bear Hunt  and then sang a bear hunt song
read I Like Myself and shared something that makes us special
decorated people to look like ourselves and hung them in the hallway
met Mrs. VanAlstine, our school librarian 
had our first music class with Mrs. Townsend
went to our first art class and met Mrs. Landry
named our class the "Shining Shooting Stars"
independently hung up backpacks, put yellow take home folders into the yellow basket, and signed up for lunch
had free share
learned the "Pop Up Song"
practiced using glue sticks and scissors
played on the playground
explored pattern blocks
learned about our calendar and number of the day routines 


The children helped me create our classroom rules.  This is what they came up with.
1. Keep the classroom neat. 
2.  Be kind to our friends and our things.
3. Stay safe.
4.  Use quiet voice inside.  


It has been a great start to the year!  I am super excited.  

First Day of School

Today was a GREAT first day of school!

We .....

learned how to unpack our backpacks and put our lunch boxes above our cubbies

shared about our favorite colors and how we got to school

read Froggy Goes to School  and If You Take a Mouse to School

started learning each others' names

found crayons in our mystery bag

drew self-portraits

played outside

went to P.E. 

had two snack times

ate lunch in the cafeteria

explored math materials

learned how to pack up our back packs

sang the "Pop Up" song 

made new friends

had fun! 

Welcome to Kindergarten

Welcome to Kindergarten!  I am happy you have found my blog.  This is where I will post classroom updates as well photos throughout the year. 

A welcome letter will be arriving soon with lots of important information.  Feel free to email me with any questions. 

I hope you have been enjoying summer.  I have been having lots of adventures with my family in Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts.

I am looking forward to meeting you soon.

Best,
Lorissa Lemay 

Important Dates

September 3:  Rowe School student and parent “Orientation Day” (8:30am-9:30am)

September 8/9:  Kindergarten Welcome Days (be sure to schedule your appointment)

September 10:  First full day of Kindergarten

September 17:  Rowe School Open House (7:00pm)