Routines and Structure in B-3

Hello Families,
     We have had 22 days of Kindergarten and we continue to develop our routines and structure in our classroom to help guide our learning time in B-3.  Routines like, how to transition from one place in our school to another, how to organize our Choice Time items, how and where to store our Math Tools, practicing our classroom agreements and developing work time habits, all contribute to our overall positive structure for school.  If your child has mentioned GoNoodle, it is a fun and active part of our day that we use to take movement breaks and learn mindfulness techniques.  You can access it online and check it out home, too. 
     We have an Early Release Day this week.  Students are dismissed at 12:45 and busses run regular routes at the end of the day.  Mary Johnson Afterschool Program DOES NOT run on Early Release days, so please send in a note to let me know what your child will do after school instead.
     Now for some pictures from last week's learning:  letters a and c practice, apple taste test, combinations that make 5, being inquirers with a sink or float apple activity, and more! 

  

 

 

 

 

A Sunny Week.....

Hello Families,
     What a great week of sunny weather we had!  In Kindergarten, the students were practicing the letters m and n, releasing the last of our butterflies, investigating the pattern on the calendar, estimating how many cubes we collected in Number Corner, meeting Big Buddies for the first time and working to demonstrate the Learner Profile traits of "caring" and "risk taker".  We made another class book using our new sight word: is.  The Mystery Bag went home today for the first time with a Kindergartner.  It is a way to share something special from home in a guessing game format that the children love.  Look for the Mystery Bag to be coming to your house in the next couple weeks. 
     A reminder to send a water bottle to school with your child to use throughout the day and enjoy some photos from the week. 

The Learner Profile traits

Partners work to describe each other's shoes to the class

Tricia visited from the Ilsley Library, read a story and made boats with the kids.

Building numbers on the 5 frame

Playing Name Soup

More Name Soup!

Building puzzles together

Friday morning greeting:  Hello, Hello, Hello

Building a sentence to make a class book page

Our new class book will be B-3 Is Here!

Using our manipulatives to create tops

New T-Shirts!

Hello Families,
     Friday was an exciting day as the Kindergartners received their brand new Mary Hogan Hawks t-shirts from MESA, our school parent group.  Thanks MESA!  The whole school is invited to wear their Mary Hogan shirts to All School Assemblies and our first one is on Monday.  So the shirts are at school and we will change into them for the assembly and then wear them home.  You will get a reminder when the next assembly is so your child can wear their Mary Hogan shirt for each assembly.  If you are on Instagram, you can follow Mary Hogan School and see a picture of us gathered for our assembly practice in the gym and a picture of us receiving our shirts. 
     As we dive into our first IB unit of inquiry, How We Organize Ourselves, our focus has been on our classroom agreements and the Mary Hogan school wide agreements and how these agreements help us all learn and be a community.  The Learner Profile is posted in our classroom and this week we talked about what it means to be "principled".  After we played a group game in the classroom, we discussed how well it worked because everyone was being principled.  You may have noticed the Learner Profile on the wall at Open House, but if you missed it, I will send a photo to you soon.
    Picture Day is Thursday the 19th and Tricia from the Ilsley Library will be visiting our classroom on Monday.  Our first visit with our Big Buddies, a 6th grade class, will be this Friday.  Big Buddy time is always a favorite with the Kindergartners and it is a great way to build our school community connections.  Enjoy some photos from last week!

  
Practicing names in shaving cream (makes the room smell lovely!) and partner letter work at the Independent Station

  
Exploring ways to make shapes with our bodies and with manipulatives

  
Playing a shape game at Math Workplace time and more letter practice!  I sent home a note about letter formation and the writing grid we use in Kindergarten to practice letters with the Sky Line, the Plane Line, the Grass Line and the Worm Line.  Those can be used for practice at home so you will know the language we use in school to learn the correct formation for the letters. 

The 2019/2020 Kindergarten Year is Here!

Hello Families, 
     I wanted to share some photos from our Team B-3 learning as the year has begun for us.  We are practicing routines, learning about each other and figuring out what will make our classroom feel like an organized and caring space.  First, I wanted to let you know that the students are encouraged to bring water bottles to school.  We try to have regular water breaks after recess and PE.  Also, as the weather starts to get a bit more like Fall, please make sure your Kindergartner has an extra sweatshirt or layer in the backpack.  The students have met many staff that work at Mary Hogan to contribute to their learning environment....Ms. S and Ms. Claire in the Art room, Mrs. Palmer in the gym, Mr. Lester and Mrs. D for Guidance, Mrs. Lee is our Social/Emotional Leader, Mrs. Kravitz is our Principal, Ms. Julie and Ms. Liz in the library.  They are meeting new people everyday who are all here to support the Kindergartners here at Mary Hogan!  This blog is a great way to communicate with your student about school.  Look at the pictures together and ask your child to tell you about school.  Have Fun!