WEEK 6
Time has been flying by and the weeks of Fall have been so enjoyable. This week we had a great time at the Scholastic Book Fair. The magic of reading was seen as the children made their wish lists and were able to shop for new books.
Christopher Columbus was a great explorer that the class learned about. They saw how he traveled by ship to discover the Americas. We compared the difference in travel today to "back in day ". Everyone made and named their own ship. They wrote about the journey they would like to take on their ship. Their destinations were all so amazing to read about.
In Math, the class has been working on recognizing the numbers 1-5 and the names that correspond to them. They have been busy working on ordinal numbers and understanding the placement of items that are in lines. We are working on adding more or taking away to make equal groups. They did a great job on their Chapter Test.
Our book for the week was "Please, Puppy, Please" . The class saw the responsibility involved in having a pet and woking together to take care of it. They practiced identifying rhyming words. Everyone worked on the letters "U" and "V" and using the words "I", "like" and "see" in sentences.
Next week we will be enjoying a visit from the fire department.
WEEK 3
We have completed a terrific third week and first full week of class. The children are doing such a fantastic job and making so many new friends.
In Math, the class finished the first chapter and are ready to take the assessment next week. They have been practicing sorting objects by various criteria.....size, shape, color,etc. They have been doing a great job with their nightly homework and returning it each day.
In Science we collected leaves and did leaf rubbings. This allowed the children to see the different parts of a leaf. They learned about each part and the job it does to keep the leaf alive. To finish they labeled the parts of their leaf rubbings.
We read "Building with Dad" and "Friends at School" from our Journeys reading series. Building with Dad showed how a son went to work with his dad to build his new school. The story showed realistic situations and the children talked about things they like to do with their dad. Everyone worked hard listening for rhyming words in the story. Friends at School showed the activities you get to do with friends and how everyone likes to particpate in different activites. We compared the ideas from the story to things we do in our classroom.
Everyone continued working on recognizing and writing letters up to L and using the word "I" in sentences. The concept of syllables in a word was introduced and the class practiced clapping for the amount of syllables they heard in words.
We read the story "Chicka, Chicka , Boom, Boom" which reinforced the letters in the alphabet. Everyone counted the letter from their name and wrote them under a coconut tree. Our first special for the year was a great success. Mrs. Melchiore did a wonderful job with the class and they loved using their angelic voices in song.
Happy Birthday to Smita and Gianna. It was so much fun celebrating both of you.
WEEK 2
Our second week in Kindergarten went so smoothly and the children have adjusted so well to their new routines. They jumped right back into learning after the long weekend. It is wonderful to see them arrive and be so independent in the mornings. This week was special as we celebrated Mary's birthday and were reminded how caring and loving she was to give birth to Jesus. The class also practiced properly blessing themselves to prepare for prayers during the day.
In Math the class was busy taking their Beginning of Year evaluation and they also started working hard in their Math books. The focus this week was on determining when objects are alike, same and different.
In language arts the class worked on recognizing and writing the letters B,C,D,E, and F. They are working to properly hold and use their pencils while using proper strokes for each letter. We started our first book in the Journeys series and enjoyed reading "What Makes a Family". Everyone had the chance to tell how many people are in their family and we saw that every family is different but special in its own way. We introduced the word "it" and worked on words in the "it " family. (fit, sit, lit etc)
The books we read this week were "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Brown Bear..Brown Bear, Kindergarten Rocks and. The students completed a listening activity with "Brown Bear,Brown Bear" and practiced identifying colors while reinforcing their listening skills.
On Friday we celebrated "Patriots Day". The children talked about the heroes and helpers that serve us everyday. They listed all those that help our community as well as all the people in the United States. They made commemorative ribbons to show their gratitude towards all those that protect us each day.
We had the chance to start working at centers and moving from one activity to another with small groups.
We had another fun birthday this week......Happy Birthday Alex !!
WEEK 1
Congratulations on a fabulous first week of Kindergarten. The students settled in so well and have been making many new friends. We had fun getting to know one another and learning about all of the summer adventures.
Since God has sent each of the students to us and made them all unique, we discussed how our names are unique to each of us and how God knows and calls us each by name. We reviewed and said a special prayer thanking God for our summer adventures and asking for his guidance in the upcoming year. The students practiced their cutting skills and made their names from the scissor soup(fine motor skill) of construction paper. They went on a letter scavenger hunt to find all of the letters in their names to improve name recognition skills. The class also made an"All About Me" rainbow cloud to share some of their favorite things that describe them. The children are very eager to learn new things so the year ahead will be a beautiful journey of new knowledge.
We learned and practiced the classroom rules each day and have made great progress. The importance of following directions and listening were a main focus for the week. The class took a tour of the building to get more familiar with their surroundings and become comfortable for this new adventure.
They started practicing beginning strokes and holding their pencils properly. The class did a great job with the upper and lower case "Aa". Our new words for the week were "I","at" and "me".
We celebrated our first birthday on Wednesday.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK !! It was fun to sing and enjoy the special treats in honor of Jack.
Our stories this week were "First Day Jitters", "Otter Goes To School" and "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten".
Love was in the air this week at school. The excitement over Valentine's Day was so heartwarming. The class talked about all the ways they can show love for people. They learned about Saint Valentine. They enjoyed a Valentine's celebration on Friday where well wishes and treats were shared. Even though the week was cut a little short by Mother Nature we still had a great time. Everyone put so much time and love into making a special gift for their family.
In Math this week we worked on Identifying numerals up to 20. The class used 1:1 relations of objects for the numbers, practiced reading the written form of the numbers and writing the numbers. They completed the Chapter test and everyone did a great job. the class each received a box of candy hearts on Friday which they used for graphing by color.
Our story for this week was "What is Science". The students learned how there are so many different areas of science. We discussed how we have learned about some areas and that we have more to learn in science this year. Our next topic will be about the moon and its phases.
We finished up our Phonics section and reviewed the last few letter sounds in the alphabet. The students worked in small groups reading the leveled readers. They practiced all of their sight words.
WEEK 20
Winter Wonderland is our theme for this week. It was so beautiful to see all of the snow. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the snow days and made plenty of family memories. Even though we missed Groundhog Day at school the students learned that we are expecting six more weeks of winter for 2021.
Catholic Schools Week is such a special time for everyone at Saint Cornelius. The children enjoyed so many treats this week to celebrate how lucky they are to be receiving a Catholic education with a strong community to guide them. Bingo and popcorn was a big hit, pajama day was enjoyed by everyone, movie day got squeezed in on Friday, and ice cream was probably the biggest highlight. A special thank you to Miss Kohlbrenner for all the work she put into the experiences this week.
February 3rd was the feast of Saint Blaise. The class was visited by Monsignor Diamond and had their throats blessed. We learned about the life of St. Blaise and how he is the patron saint of sore throats. February 5th was the end of our week long celebration and the students attended Mass. They were the most angelic leaders of singing during the mass. Their reverence and behavior was exceptional.
Our Stories for the week were . In both books they learned more about clouds, weather, climates. They tied this into their science lesson. The class learned about 3 different types of clouds. They used cotton balls to represent each type and they looked each day to see what the clouds were like outside.
In Math the class finished up subtracting to 10. They started working ewth numbers above 10. Everyone has been working very hard to increase their abilities in both addition and subtraction.
WEEK 19
Thank you to all of the families for taking time to meet for conferences. The support and time you give for your children is immeasurable. I enjoyed meeting everyone and look forward to all the milestones the class will achieve for the remainder of the year.
WEEK 18
This week was a very important time for our country. The children were able to watch the Inauguration of the 46th President. We saw how the President and Vice-President take a vow to guide our country and do the best they can for all of the people. The class enjoyed hearing parts of the Pledge of Allegiance quoted in the speeches. They discussed and joined in singing the National Anthem. The children reviewed what they had learned when the election took place....term of President, how they get voted in, requirements to be President.
In Religion we continued to build on Martin Luther Kings views and discussed how God wants everyone to love each other. We were reminded that kindness goes a long way and we should always care for one another like Jesus did for everyone. The class came up with ways that they can show love to others.
In Math we took our test on Addition and everyone did a fantastic job. We moved on to learning how to take away/ subtract. They are practicing many ways to do subtraction.... crossing out, taking away using manipulatives and counting back on their own.
In Phonics this week the class finished the sounds for all the consonants in the alphabet. Our final letters were Qu,V,W and X. They are using their sounding out skills so much during their writing and reading activities and improving steadily each day.
Our Stories for the week were "What would you do with a tail like this?" and "Zebra's World". In our first book we saw how animals use the parts of their body in such different ways. We went through the five senses and were amazed at how some animals hear, see, etc. In "Zebra's World" the class saw how a zebra grows from a baby to one year old. We compared the zebra's milestones to those of a human baby. They also saw how the weather in other climates and continents is different from our area. The class was amazed that every zebra has different stripes and that is how their mom identifies them. We tied this fact into discussing what we have that is unique to each person.
In Science we incorporated our discussion from "A Zebra's World" to learn about fingerprints and how we all have different variations that are not the same. The class saw that we can use fingerprints to identify someone and that even twins can't have the same ones. They learned that the shape of our fingerprints fall into three categories. To see their own fingerprints we did three things. First we put our fingerprints on a plate and like detectives we used cocoa to make them appear. Then everyone used ink and tape to put their fingerprints on paper. They then used magnifying glasses to see the designs and figure out which category they fit into. Our final project was to put a fingerprint on a balloon and see how the lines appear larger when we blew up the balloon. They had a great time seeing which type of fingerprint they had compared to others in the class.
It was a busy and fun week. Next Friday the class has off from school for conferences. Please make sure to double check your time slot on the sign up genius. I will be sending the ZOOM meeting codes on Wednesday for anyone that will not be coming into school.
WEEK 17
The first full week of the New Year flew by so quickly. It was a fun week where we had time to learn about the weather that we experience throughout winter. The class did two science lessons that tied into our reading stories. The hands on fun was both messy and informational for everyone. We finished off the week learning about being kind to everyone and how Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated because of his views on equality for everyone.
In Math we have moved to adding numbers up to 10. The class did a phenomenal job with these skills. They used manipulatives when needed to understand their new addition problems. The class also worked on a higher level addition worksheet that added numbers to 20 and it is amazing how well everyone has been doing.
Our reading stories for the week were "Snow" and "Storm is Coming". The "Snow" book went through things that animals do in the snow and how each animal uses different senses to predict when the snow is going to arrive. The book "Storm is Coming" tells about farm animals that misunderstand what is meant by the word "Storm" and they wait for someone named "Storm" to arrive. The class saw how you can easily mix things up if they are not explained properly.
In Phonics this week we moved forward to work with the letters "R" and "K". this leaves us with only a few more consonants to work with and then move to the vowels. Everyone is using the sounds they know to break down and sound out new words. They are also using these sounds when they write and spell in their sentences.
We continued working on adjectives and focused on words that describe the size and shape of things. The class each chose two objects that they had to first use an adjective with and then use those descriptions to make a full sentence.
Our science experiments this week tied into our reading series. We used shaving cream, water and food coloring to show how rain happens. The class made it rain in a cup :) They also listened to "Mr. Binocs" show on how rain and other forms of precipitation happen. The children made pretend "Snow" that they used to practice molding snow scenes. There were some very creative snowmen. They discussed the parts of a science experiment while doing each project.
In Social Studies we learned about the life and goals of Martin Luther King Jr. The class discussed how unfair it would be if everyone was not treated the same. We thanked God for all his guidance in helping make us kind to everyone, no matter how different / same they are compared to us. The students wrote what they would do to be a good friend to someone.
We are also so blessed to have Music, Spanish, Library and Gym class each week. The students has been working hard in all of those classes too.
Enjoy the holiday on Monday !!
Week 16
Happy New Year and welcome back to everyone as we start 2021. We hope that you had a relaxing break and look forward to learning so many new things for the remainder of the school year. It was so nice to have all of the children back at school and to hear of the fun they had over the break.
The feast of the Epiphany was celebrated on Wednesday(January 6). We focused on how special it was when the wisemen arrived to see Baby Jesus for the first time. The class discussed the journey they had to take and how they had to go through so much before arriving to give their gifts to Jesus. We compared how things would be different now compared to then. The children then wrote what gift they would bring to Jesus if they were one of the wisemen. Their ideas were just adorable. They also made their own crowns so they could be like the wisemen.
In Math we continued working on breaking apart numbers up to 10. The class was able to do simple addition and subtraction problems by using these skills. They used manipulatives to visually see things being divided and put back together.
Our first book for the week was "Jump into January". The book talked about all of the months of the year and how we move into each one and see so many different things. They practiced saying the months and knowing the before and after for each one when asked randomly. The next book was "Every Season". which tied back into the months of the year. We enjoyed seeing what happens during each season and how we see all the same changes where we live. We talked about how some areas do not experience weather changes for each season.
In Phonics we moved to the letter "P". The students worked on finding words that begin with the P sound. They are doing a great job with their beginner readers and sight words.
To ring in the New Year everyone did a picture search that reinforced their adding, tally mark and attention to detail skills. The students worked to find nine different objects. Once they found them all they graphed how many of each object was on the paper.
We read the "Biggest Snowball Ever" throughout the week.
WEEK 15
Merry Christmas to everyone. This past week was cut short due to Mother Nature giving us all a beautiful snowfall.
The class practiced hard for their concert and did a fabulous job. Thank you to Mrs. Melchiore for sharing her talent and teaching all of the beautiful songs. Thank you to Miss K for filming, editing and sending out the performance for all families to enjoy. We hope you enjoyed the show.
Even though we had a short week the students still worked hard and finished up their language arts unit and test. They are steadily improving with their sight words and writing sentences with their new words. Our book this week was David's Drawings.... so our class made a drawing just like the class in the book. Each student added a part to the picture. It was great to see how wonderful the picture turned out with everyone working together.
In Math we began working with Breaking apart numbers. They worked with numbers 2,3,4 and 5 to begin this section and will continue up to 10 after the break. The students also completed their Unit Test for Math and everyone did a fantastic job.
Our Christmas celebration was a lot of fun and the class enjoyed playing all of the games and enjoying their snacks at the party. It was fun to finish off the day with some hot chocolate.
We can't thank everyone enough for their generosity with the beautiful Christmas presents. We hope that you enjoy lots of family time over the break and that the miracle of Christmas is seen through the eyes of your children.
Happy Birthday to Jack Bodnar and thank you for sharing such great treats with the class.
WEEK 15
It is hard to believe that Christmas is approaching so quickly. The class is anxiously counting down the days until Jesus' Birthday. We added to our advent wreath this week with another purple candle. Our letters to Santa have safely been sent on their way. Since Santa has so many elves we decided to see what elf name each student would have if they lived at the North Pole. They made a fun elf to go along with their new name.
In Math we continued working with words that describe location and position of objects. The students identified objects in our classroom by their location to other objects. Everyone did a great job and we were able to take the Chapter 8 test.
The students made a book similar to "Move" from last week. Each person chose an animal and gave two descriptive characteristics for their animal. We will be sending home a copy of our new version for the book. Our book "What Do Wheels Do All Day" showed all the different types of objects that have wheels. The focus on things with wheels that we use for transportation was discussed and we listed ways we use wheels in our everyday world. The book " Good Morning Digger" showed how buildings are made. The story was realistic but the characters were fictional.
WEEK 13
Welcome back to everyone after our extended Thanksgiving break. It was great to see all of the children and are thankful for everyone's good health. We hope that the students enjoyed their time with family. We are definitely thankful for all the time we spend learning together. It is time to shift gears to Christmas and prepare for the arrival of Jesus' Birthday.
Advent began this past Sunday so the class discussed what advent is and how we take this time to pray to God and thank him for the Hope, Love, Joy and Peace that he gives us. The children made advent wreaths and will add a candle each Monday during Advent. The students worked very hard writing their letters to Santa and we will address and mail them to the North Pole next week. "Chippy" the elf arrived safely from Santa's workshop and has been watching over the class each day.
In Math this week we finished working with two and three dimensional shapes and took our Chapter Test. Everyone did great remembering the information after the break. We also started working on identifying locations of items by using description words like above, below, inside, outside, etc.
"We are God's Unique Creation" tells us that God made each person in his likeness but with individual traits. We discussed how everyone should be loved the same no matter what. The class then made snowflakes since no two snowflakes are the same just like God's children are all unique. They also made their own style snowmen by using various shapes to tie in with what we learned from our book "Shapes" from last week.
In art we practiced "W"eaving and following the pattern to make a colorful creation.
Our story this week was "Move". This story showed how animals can move in different ways to change their location. The book was realistic to how we see animals move in our world.
In Phonics we reviewed the letters m,c,w and prepared for the Chapter assessment. The class is learning so many new sounds and are working hard to find them at the beginning and ending of words. We did our daily review of sights words and practiced reading sentences using those words.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to so many of our friends. While on break Anaya, Ayan, Noah and Jack E. enjoyed their special day and on Friday J.R. enjoyed celebrating his birthday. Thank you to all of the parents for the treat bags. The children love to share their birthdays with friends.
WEEK 12
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and we are reminded daily how many things God gave to us. The class reviewed all of the special gifts and how we should spread kindness to others as Jesus did for us. They came up with ways they can help at home and in the neighborhood.
In Math we continued our work with three dimensional objects and practicing the names for each object. Everyone practiced identifying and comparing two and three dimensional objects. We searched throughout the room for objects in each category. To finish up the class made their own three dimensional objects using toothpicks, pretzel sticks and marshmallows.
Our story this week was "Mouse Shapes". The students saw how mice worked together to solve a problem with a cat. They used shapes to make characters that would scare the cat away.
In Phonics we worked with the sound of letters ,and W. The class will practice their "W"eaving skills next week like our ancestors did when they settled in America. We continue to work on our sight words daily and reading aloud to the class from the leveled readers. It is amazing how well they are doing with public speaking!
WEEK 11
"A true hero is not measured by the size of his strength but by the strength of his heart"...... we are privilaged to honor all of our veterans this week. The class learned about the 6 parts to the Armed Forces and what each division does to help secure the safety of all Americans. We talked about all of the veterans they know and said a special prayer of thanks to them.
In Phonics we worked on the sounds of letters
The class wrote a final copy of their turkey paragraph and made a turkey to go along with the story.
In Math we have started learning about three dimensional objects. The class was introduced to cones, cubes, spheres, rectangular prisms and cylinders, They practiced finding the objects in the room. We also talked about the difference they had from two dimensional objects.
The book this week was "Amelia's Show and Tell Fiesta" The story showed how people from different backgrounds can interpret things differently. Amelia did not understand what sho-and-tell was but in the end the class was very excited to see her special outfit. Everyone had fun bringing in their own secret show-and-tell on Friday. They did a great job giving clues to their classmates.
WEEK 10
We have completed another wonderful week and can't believe how fast the past ten weeks have gone. This was a special week where the class experienced learning about the US government and how our country chooses government officials. The children discussed how we have two main parties in our system, how long a term for a President is and how we vote. The children then did their own election for the President and tallied up the votes.
We built on our Five Senses story from last week and learned what Braille is and how sign language works. The students then made their names in Braille and put the sign language letters for their name above their written names. It was so nice to see them practicing the letters in sign language and working hard to make the braille dots correctly. You could see their excitement in learning a new form of communication.
In Math we reviewed identification of shapes and then continued to making patterns with two dimensional shapes. They used manipulative and the students themselves to show patterns in front of the room. Finding the pattern rule was our biggest task but everyone improved so much throughout each lesson.
We read the book "Mice Speak, We Speak" where we saw how every animal communicates differently. We thanked God for our ability to speak. We continue to build on our sight words and practice finding them in our leveled readers. The class started writing their first story by brainstorming and filling in a word web. Then they used the ideas to form a paragraph about a turkey. We also read the story "Listen,Listen".
WEEK 9
What an exciting week we had in Kindergarten. Even though we did not get a chance to have our Halloween Parade with all of the families, the class still enjoyed their own indoor parade. The celebration took place in the cafeteria where they were able to show off their costumes to the other classes and sing together. We also had fun trick or treating throughout the building. The class continued celebrating with a party and games during the afternoon. Thank you to everyone that sent in treats. The children were so excited and grateful for the surprises.
In Math this week we worked on Tally marks and making charts to see how many were in a group. They also practiced putting items in order up to a tenth position. To review, the class did a Halloween Tally sheet Everyone also took their Cumulative Test and did a fabulous job with all of the work from Chapters 1-4.
Our books for the week were "My Five Senses" and "Little Red Hen". "Little Red Hen" showed the students that you should always help people rather than just sit back and expect to just get the reward at the end. In My senses everyone discussed the five senses and what we use each one for on a daily basis. The class learned that not everyone has full use of their senses but that they may have items that aide them. We will be working on using Braille and sign language for their names next week.
In Phonics we continued practicing the beginning sounds with a focus on letters T, B and H this week. Everyone thought of words that start with each sound and listed them on the board We made skeleton letter people out of bones to practice recognizing each letter of the alphabet. It was also time to learn what a verb is and to find them in sentences that we made. We read short paragraphs and pointed out the verb in each sentence. They focused on what action was taking place in each time.
We continued discussing Fire Safety and practiced what we should do if there was ever a fire in our home. Hopefully everyone came home and made sure they chose a meeting spot with their own families. Sparky the dog gave lots of useful information about fire safety and prevention as well as directives to always "Get Out", "Have two ways out", "choose a meeting spot", etc.
WEEK 8
October is just flying by so quickly. It is so hard believe we have completed our eighth week in school. The class is steadily improving and learning so many new things.
In Religion the class continued to thank Gad for all the wonderful gifts he gave us. We reviewed that God gave us animals and that we need to care for them like Saint Francis did. Everyone discussed what things you can do to take care of a pet. We continues practicing the "Hail Mary".
In Math we are working with number 6 - 10. The students practiced writing each number correctly, identifying its written name and practicing 1:1 relationships for objects and numbers.
The class had a scavenger hunt to find ingredients to make their own pizza's. They found sauce with matching upper and lowercase letters, located "10" pieces of cheese to incorporate their math and then put toppings on the pizza by finding six items that started with their letter sound. We now have a display for the Saint Cornelius Pizza Shop. The class read "the Handiest Things " book and discussed how even though we can use our hands there is often another device that can be used to help in place of our hands.
In Phonics we focused on the sound for letters and practiced finding words for the beginning sounds The class then came up with their own word that used the beginning sound for each letter. Everyone is steadily improving with beginning sound recognition.
The class practiced a fire drill this week and did a great job moving quickly to the exit and straight to the designated meeting spot.
Happy Birthday to Gianna and a special thank you for the great masks .
WEEK 7
Fall is moving so quickly and we have enjoyed the nice crisp weather that it brings along. The class had a fun filled week with so many special activities. They started the week by decorating their fall pumpkins. We are so grateful to the McCusker family for supplying the pumpkins and for Miss K organizing the event. Later in the week we were lucky to have a virtual presentation on Energy that was sponsored by PECO. I am sure the students went home with so much information on how we can save energy in our homes. To finish off the week everyone enjoyed a fall dress down day where they all had great outfits to celebrate the season.
In Math we continued our work on numbers 0 -5 and the ordinal numbers for each one. Our pumpkin puzzles were fun to make and put together to reinforce 0- 5 order. They completed their Chapter 3 test and moved right along to start working with number 6 - 10.
We will continue practicing how to identify the word for each number from 0 - 10.
We read the book "Everybody Works" and identified the various jobs people do. The class chose jobs that they would like to do when they get older. We also read "Pizza at Sally's" which showed a job people do and what you need to run a pizza shop. It was fun to see how Sally gathered the ingredients she needed for the pizza.
Our love of God's land led us to our science planting project. The students decorated and then planted grass seeds to give back and help to keep God's land fresh and new. We discussed what is needed for the grass to grow once it was planted. We also learned so much about energy and ways we can use and save energy to help our community.
Everyone is working hard to make all of their letters properly with a focus this week on letters C, E and F. They are taking their time and using proper formation for each letter.
Identifying nouns for people, places and things was a focus this week in our Journey's series. Everyone did a great job giving examples of nouns for each category. We continued working with the end of the alphabet letters so we can now identify and write all 26.
We are looking forward to our Halloween parade and are busy practicing our songs to entertain everyone. We hope everyone will be able to attend.
Happy Birthday wishes to Lucas and thank you for the special treat you shared with the class. And a special thanks to everyone for all of the warm birthday wishes you sent to me this past week.
WEEK 6
Saint Francis Pray for Us......We remember and pray to Saint Francis as we recognize his feast day October 4. The class learned who he was and why we celebrate him. We focused on his love for animals. "God Gave us Land" was our Religion theme for the week. We learned about Saint Rose of Lima and her love for gardening.
To integrate Social Studies we talked about the different types of land on Earth. The class listed landforms they knew. We discussed how different types of land varied by location and the weather in an area.
The reading books for the week were "I Have a Pet" and "Please, Puppy, Please". Both books involved realistic situations that we can encounter with animals. The class saw and talked about how much work it is to take care of puppies. In the book "I Have a Pet" we enjoyed reading about animals that were in a pet show. The class then made their own "pets" and wrote a description as if they were also in the pet show. We are looking forward to see if any of their pets get awards at our Pet Show. The creativity in each animal was amazing to see.
Everyone practiced writing letter O, A and D for Handwritng and worked hard practicing beginning sounds. We worked on changing the beginning and ending letters of words to understand how one sound can make a difference in words. In our Journeys book we practiced the sound of and writing of letters Q,R and S. We reinforced rhyming by playing a "find your rhyming friend" game.
In Math we continue to work on 0-5 and making sure the understanding of fewer and more can be seen in the numbers. The class also practiced how to make groups even by adding to or taking away from one group.
Miss K started working with our small groups this week and they each had so much fun visiting her room to do extra work. We can't thank Miss K enough for this special time. We were also lucky to have beautiful weather this week so we held class outside on Wednesday for a fun change.
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WEEK 5
Welcome to "OCTOBER" -- The children rang in the new month with a beautiful tribute to our guardian angels at First Friday Mass. The Kindergarten class were great role models to the younger children. They were respectful and reverent for their first mass of the year. The "Kindergarten" choir led everyone so well and were joined by the rest of the class with angelic voices too. Mrs. Melchiore spent soo many hours to make this such a special tribute. We can't thank her enough for her dedication.
"God. gave us Water" was our theme in Religion. We discussed and charted all of the forms of water that we are blessed with everyday. God always makes sure that we have all we need to survive so everyone should take care of all his gifts. On Friday we learned about guardian angels. The children took turns listing what a guardian angel does for us. Then we read and made a book about our angels. The children reinforced their cutting and coloring skills as well as practicing ordering numbers to put the pages in the correct numerical order. The class took home a special guardian angel prayer of thanks.
Our Reading books this week were "Friends at School" and "How Do Dinosaurs Go to School". Both books related similar classrooms to ours and reminded everyone the importance of making friends and how you should act in School. As a class we chose one thing from each book that the class did that we do not. Then we celebrated on Friday by doing the exciting differences. The class enjoyed :MOO - shakes and had show and tell for their special treat to end the week.
In Math we worked on our map skills and practiced using a map to get to certain locations. They reviewed Chapter 2 to reinforce recognizing number 0 - 5 and did a great job on the Chapter test. We were able to move right along to work on counting 1:1 for objects up to 5 and telling "how many".
The children are steadily moving along with rhyming and getting better every day. We worked on identifying beginning and ending sounds in Phonics. And practiced identifying and writing letters "O and "P". The introduction to "nouns" was part of our Journeys series and we practiced finding nouns in pictures and also in sentences. Everyone did a fantastic job giving suggestions. We are always reinforcing our sight word and worked on using :like" in sentences.
Social Studies involved looking at the globe and discussing the relationship in size between water and land on earth. We learned how much of the earth is covered by water. They completed a worksheet to see the water vs land ratio and to again thank God for his special gift. Reinforcing our mapping skills also tied in Social Studies to Math.
Everyone has been working hard in Spanish with colors and shapes and doing special projects in Library.
A very "Happy Birthday" to Emery. Thank you for a fun celebration and special take home treat for everyone.
WEEK 4
Welcome to Fall!! It is hard to believe we have already been in school for a month. The children have already grown so much with their new friendships and all of their academic knowledge.
"God gave us Light" was our theme in Religion and the class learned how much God loved us and gave us light in our everyday activities and also gave us the ability to spread the light of Jesus to others in our kind deeds. Everyone made a light bulb(cutting, fine motor skills) and listed a way they spread the light of Jesus to family and friends. We listed light that was given by God(Sun,Moon, etc) and light that was "man - made" because God gave us the ability to invent things.
In Math this week we worked on learning numbers 0 -5 and recognizing the written form of each number. The class practiced making groups of items to relate to each number. They are improving each day with proper handwriting.
The second story for our Journeys series was
WEEK 3
We celebrated the special feast day of Saint Cornelius. The class discussed how our school was named after such a special saint. We learned fun facts like that Saint Cornelius was from Rome, he was the pope for two years, he is the patron saint of people with hearing loss and his special day is September 16th. We looked on the globe to see how far away Rome was and that it was in the country of Italy. They saw that Italy was shaped like a boot.
The children did a great job paying attention and following along with the questions.
The children continue to amaze us everyday with their love of learning. The class worked with letters A, B and C to practice the sounds made by each letter and discuss things they know that start with those letters and sounds. They are working hard on identifying beginning sounds in words.
We started our first Science lesson this week. To begin we learned what a scientist does and the steps they take to complete an experiment. The class conducted their own experiment to see if they could make "Scratch and Sniff " paint.
We incorporated our Science lesson into our Art project by using the new paint along with regular paint to make self portraits.
Once again we were able to celebrate a special birthday ... Happy Birthday to Gianna Hill.
In Math we reviewed counting to 20 and worked on 1:1 relationship. To integrate the lessons we used our names to chart "How Many". The children had to know how many letters were in their own name to add to the chart, They practiced working with a ten frame.
The class chose either policemen, firemen or soldiers and wrote them a letter of thanks .
We worked on the sound that "T" makes and everyone gave a word for our list that starts with "T". T Journal entries have begun so there should be some great stories by the end of the year.
In Social Studies we read the "Pledge of Allegiance" book and talked about what each line of the pledge meant. We looked at the flag and learned why there were 50 stars and 13 stripes on the flag. The class looked at a map of the United States and we started to list the states they know. We will continue to add to the list as the year progresses.
The books we read "Everyone Matters" and "A New Bear at School".