Wacky Watermelon Wednesday

Here's they are!

Today was Wacky Watermelon Wednesday and most of our lessons were geared around a watermelon.  Thank you to Andrew and his family who kindly donated a watermelon for our lesson today!  

During the day I discussed how a watermelon is a plant that grows from a seed and that the watermelon was a flower at one time.  I taught the kindergartners that plants are living things that have needs and that bees also help plants by spreading pollen.

The young students were artists as they painted a picture of it for the cover of their booklet.  They drew what the watermelon looked like on the inside and outside.  I had them do a couple of worksheets about the sound of Ww and how to write it.  We sang a rhyming song about watermelons called "Down by the Bay".

We felt the watermelon, held it, estimated its weight and weighed it.   Together we made up a story about a Willie Watermelon and his his day at the beach.  We made a booklet for you to see.

At the end of the day, we went outside to the picnic table and ate watermelon on this hot day in August.  It was a fun day and they learned a lot from a watermelon.

That's one heavy watermelon, but she can handle it!

Andrew put a funny face on the watermelon 
before he brought it to school!

When you are a big 6-year old you can do this!

The artist are at work painting what they think 
this watermelon looks like.

More artists hard at work.

Three tables of students working hard.

Here's what they've been waiting for all day!

Thankfully we have a picnic table to use outdoors.

The covers for the booklets look great!

Learning School Rules

The kids like to see what trouble David gets into.

We review these rules each morning.

This crazy-looking character is from a book titled, David Goes to School.  I  made a chart to help young students remember what rules David had trouble with.  Getting the rules established early helps classroom behavior for the school year.  It takes some practice however.

The First Day of School

Here is the big class of 2015!

Here they are being a little bit crazy!

 Today was the first day of kindergarten!  We had a great time getting to know each other.  We only had school for half a day today.  That way we could get our supplies put away, talk about the rules and what is expected of them and settle in for the school year.  I wrote up our activities in a little booklet with Franklin the turtle on the cover.  Here is a sample of what was inside.

This morning a child was picked to be the “star”.  The “star” helped the teacher and was the leader.  We are going to take turns being the star of the day!

We learned what day it was and we showed it on the calendar.  We also learned the “Days of the Week” song and we discussed the weather and said the “Pledge of Allegiance”.  Then a funny little raccoon puppet named Rascal came out to meet us.  We really laughed at him!

We also talked about the school rules.  We learned that we need rules, so that everyone will get along and so things will go smoothly.  If we follow the rules, we can learn as much as possible while we are here in school.

During our first Reading lesson we listened to a big book called, Mary Wore Her Red Dress and sang the song.  We talked about the letter Mm, colors and the color words.  After that we had a little snack.

Next, we talked about the recess rules and then we had recess with the 1^st – 4^th graders for 15 minutes.

When we came in from recess, the teacher said that she would love to have a class picture of us on our first day of school. 

Mrs. Preheim read us a story about a turtle named Franklin on his first day of kindergarten.  I colored a picture of him on the front of this booklet for you to see.

Then we cut out a big, red paper apple and drew a face on it.  The teacher said that she liked our apples so much that she would like to hang them on our classroom wall. 

Before we went home, the teacher showed us our mailboxes where we would get our papers before we go home each day.

As you can see we were very busy this morning and we learned a few things too.  It was already time to go home!

Mrs. Preheim told us that we will be coming to school nearly every day now and that it will be a lot of fun!   Then she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”  

Here they are coloring the cover of the booklet.

They showed me how they could cut and glue by making 
these cute apples.

Already a taker for the "Bird Center"!

Here is the fun snack that I came up with!

Preparing for School to Resume

Today is August 6th and I have spent much of my day preparing for kindergarten to resume. I have been working at school many days now since mid-July.  I've been cleaning out my desk and my closet.  Organizing and sorting through piles of materials that had accumulated through the previous year.  I've sharpened many pencils, put up new bulletin boards and hung up posters and learning materials.  Now I will do my lesson plans remembering that incoming kindergartners have a very short attention span and are still in "play" mode when school begins.  I will have to have many shorter activities and fillers ready to go.  The first two weeks of school is a huge adjustment for these little ones.

While I'm at work I wonder how my new class will be.  Will they get along?  Will they enjoy learning?  What are their interests?  I also think about last year's students and how I haven't seen many of them all summer.  I really miss them.  It is difficult when we have bonded together everyday for 9 months and then just like that I don't see them for a few months.  It will be great to see them too!

My sister-in-law called and told me about her grandson, Jack.  He will also be starting kindergarten in a Nebraska school.  He is so excited for school to begin, but he is also concerned about some things and he worries a bit about school starting.  He and his dad have been praying for his new teacher all summer!  That just warmed my heart when I heard that.  It made me realize what an important role I have in each child's life.  I will do my best to be the kindest, most patient and most dedicated teacher that I can be.  I am ready to meet my new students and have another wonderful school year!