Halloween Day in Kindergarten

It was such a great day at school today!  First they watched me carve jack-o-lanterns and they got to help pull out the yuck.  Then we played Halloween sight word Bingo and did a Halloween math paper.  After lunch we went out to the nursing home to trick-or-treat in the community room and show our awesome costumes.  When we returned we had time to watch half of a Halloween Curious George movie.  Then the party began.  It was a great time and the kids were very well behaved!   

Happy Halloween!

I know...the knife was left on the table!  I insisted 
that they not touch it while I went for the camera.

Not everyone was excited about touching 
the gloopy, pumpkin inside!

The kids had a fun time today!

Some of the kids have toothless grins as well.

I saw three princesses on the bus today!

There were smiles all around!

Then they let the kids choose a cookie and 
have a cup of apple juice.  What a treat!

Three Power Rangers were making a Halloween decoration.

They enjoyed playing "Pin the Spider on the Web"!

The twins are racing to see who can blow 
their spider off of the end of the table first!  
The kids loved that game too!

Lunch is always a favorite part of the party!

They loved this guessing game!

Our Nature Trip to Lake Al

On September 29th, we traveled 5 blocks by bus to the local lake for nature talk.  Riding a bus was a first experience for some children who had never ridden a bus before.  

It wasn't very bird-y at the lake that day, but we saw: a large flock of Franklin's Gulls overhead, American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, many Yellow-rumped Warblers, Eurasian Collared-Doves and some European Starlings.  The kids were excited to try out those binoculars! 

We hiked through what the kids call the "spooky forest" and we discussed the leaves changing color and the leaf litter on the ground.  We rolled over a log and I told them how trees and animals decompose into soil.  We looked at the three nest boxes and I explained how past kindergartners built them with a high school class several years ago.  

We investigated a spider web and enjoyed the butterflies.  The kids really liked the turtles and frogs along the edge of the lake.  I asked them if water was blue and most of them thought it was, but I reminded them that water is {mostly} clear.  I told them how it reflects the color of the sky.  They noticed the big cracks in the ground and I encouraged them to figure out how they got there.  When we saw the apples on the tree, we reviewed the life cycle of an apple.  We discussed everything I could think of that was nature-related.  We had a great time and it was very educational!

They started looking for birds right when they 
got off of the bus.

Fifteen young birders with big smiles!

We tried to find birds, but we may have been a bit loud.

After looking under the log, they wanted to show me 
how strong they were!

"Teacher!  Check out the spider web!"

Folks of all ages love to see the Painted Turtles lined 
up on the log at the lake!

The kids loved seeing the frogs!

We checked out the cattails. They remembered my 
lesson about them.

The bridge was a big hit!  I was hoping that the 
binoculars didn't go overboard!

October Art

I took some photos of the kindergartners creating their October art.  Creating the life-sized paper plate skeletons was a favorite and has been for many years.  After this, no cutting project is a problem.  

They enjoyed adding details to it.

I hung some skeletons in the hallway, but we 
wanted some of them in the room.

The white ghosts are actually the kids' footprints. Yes.  
They stepped in white paint and printed it to 
the paper.  Here they are adding a Halloween scene to it.

They turned out pretty cute!

We hope that you're not too scared!

Our Peregrine Falcon - Maggie

A big thank you goes out to my friend, Barb, from Mitchell!  She sponsored a bird for us from the Virginia Wildlife Center and she purchased a book for us too.  The children got to choose from a variety of injured birds to sponsor.  Since they have seemed to love Peregrine Falcons since the day I taught about them, it was an easy choice.  

Maggie is a Peregrine Falcon that was injured as she fledged out of her nest in the city and crashed into a building.  Bystanders found her injured and reported it.  Maggie was taken to the hospital, but she did lose her eye.  She is not able to fend for herself in the wild, so she will remain at the Virginia Wildlife Center and be used as an educational bird.

This was a very good book and the kids thought it 
was really interesting.

They were kind enough to send one Maggie bookmark 
and one informational card for each of my 
kindergarten students.  Above is the front of them.

Here is the back of the bookmark and card.  Be sure 
to check them out online as it is an interesting site with 
many birds and other animals that they use for education.

This is the certificate we received.

New Chrome Books All Around!

I never thought I'd see the day that kindergartners would get brand new computers to use in the classroom!  The new Chrome Books have arrived and you would have thought it was Christmas because the kids were so excited!  The kids did very well getting going on them.  They are only allowed to do educational activities on them.  They mostly will work on their Reading and Math skills.

Fire Safety Month

I had been teaching the students about fire safety 
and then the local fire department came to school to talk 
to the kids about fire safety too and it was 
great review for the kids.  

All of the kids who wanted to try on the fire fighter 
gear had a chance to do that.

They found out that the gear and especially the 
helmet was very heavy.

The highlight was being able to ride in the fire truck!

We all fit in the fire truck.

Our janitor is the one that gave them a ride in the fire truck 
and he gave us a ride to the lake in the bus one day.