Wacky Watermelon Wednesday

Today was "Wacky Watermelon Wednesday" in kindergarten and all lessons centered around a watermelon. We learned about the letter Ww and its sound. We drew what the watermelon looked like on the outside and the inside.  We also did a Ww paper to practice hearing that sound and we colored a watermelon picture too. 

We listened to and then sang rhyming song about watermelon called, “Down by the Bay” by Raffi.

We talked about how watermelons are a fruit that grow on a plant and that they grow from a seed. Then we talked about what a plant needed to grow: sun, soil, air and water.  

Next, we pretended we were artists and painted a picture of the watermelon with our own paint set.  Mine painting is the one on the cover of this booklet.

We also felt the watermelon and held it too. It felt smooth and cool.  It was kind of heavy and we guessed how much it weighed.  Some guesses on its weight were: 1,000,100, 30, 40, 10, and 1 pound, but Mrs. Preheim weighed it and one weighed 14 lbs. while the other weighed 13 lbs.

Later we told Mrs. Preheim an exciting, make-believe story about a watermelon.  We thought it was a really cool story!  She typed it out for this booklet.

Then it was finally time to eat it!  It was yummy and we sure got messy and sticky!  We learned a lot from a watermelon today!  

"It's not heavy, Teacher!"

Everyone showed me how strong they were.

The kids are quiet and content when the can do art work.

ABCya

Letter naming and letter matching are very important skills that the kindergartners must master this year. This website would be very helpful.  Click here:  ABCya - Letter Match

Bud the Tortoise

For "Show and Tell" one of the girls had her mom bring in her pet tortoise named Bud.  They adopted the 30 year old reptile from another family.  It is an interesting looking creature and the kids were fascinated by it.  When one child went to pet it he said in a soothing voice, "Its okay brother.  Its okay."  I thought that was really sweet.

Your First Bird Lesson

Hey everyone!  I need to teach you about birds, so that you can keep up with the kids.  If you both learn them together, there is a greater chance of you both remembering them for years to come.  Studying birds and animals is something that you can do together for a lifetime.

The first bird I'll teach you about is the Chimney Swift.  They are now grouping up into huge flocks and will soon be moving on in there migration to South America.  The Chimney Swifts fly over town all summer long making a chittering sound.  In fact they fly all day and never perch because they can't.  They eat, drink and bathe while flying.  In the evening they settle in a chimney, hollow tree or cave to sleep, hanging vertically with their head up.  They are a small, gray bird with curved wings that resembles a flying cigar, but I tell the kids it looks like a flying hot dog instead.  This birds eats mostly airborne insects, thus helping people by reducing pesky insect populations.

Step outside and watch for them in towns quick before they leave.  On a sad note, Chimney Swift populations are sharply declining due to the disuse of chimneys across the continent.

Yesterday evening 75+ Chimney Swifts were flying over the lake in town.  This morning 20+ Chimney Swifts were flying low over the playground, so we took a moment to watch them zip back and forth over us.  The kids were excited to watch this bird fly. To read more about Chimney Swifts and hear their sound click on this link:  Chimney Swifts on the All About Birds site.

Day 2 of Kindergarten Fun

Since the moment they walked through the door on Wednesday, I've heard, "When can we play with the toys?"  At 2:45 today they finally got to try out the toys and they were so happy!  They will get a half hour of playtime most days.  To us it just seems like play, but in reality the children are learning many social skills:  how to get along, how to share, role-playing, problem-solving, acting {puppets}, building, puzzle building, reading, drawing and writing.  My role is that of referee helping them to learn to solve their own problems.  They got along pretty well today!

This boy celebrated his 6th birthday today!

 

 

 

Our Donor's Choose Project

This summer I created a project to get some materials for my classroom. I have had three donors so far and I have been notified this morning that for a very short time, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match funds donated to my Donor's Choose project.  Click here to view the project titled, "Hands-on Learning for Busy Kindergartners". If you or someone you know would like to donate to our classroom project, the foundation will  provide matching funds. Please spread the word and spread it by using social media as well.  Thank you so much!  (I used the photo of last year's class because I didn't have your permission slips back yet for these kids.)

Learning the Rules

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.

This book has interesting illustrations that 
make the kids laugh.  Poor David has a 
lot to learn about following the rules in school.  
This book helps the kindergartners to 
be more aware of their behavior.

Here is the poster that I drew and they helped me come up with the rules that David needed to remember in school.