Thanksgiving part 2...very late!

Our Thanksgiving parent gift

Turkey tree map

Turkey writing - just turn your head to check it out.

A few things we did during November.

Cranberry investigation sheet

 

I created this with a little help from google (for the pics of cranberries and waves) and from DJ Inkers.  Click here to download.  :)

Thanksgiving part 1 - Pilgrims and Cranberries

 We started our Thanksgiving unit last week and here are a few highlights.  Above our the pilgrims we created after reading about the first Thanksgiving.  We compared life then to life now and talked about what chores the children did then and now. 

I purchased Deanna's Thanksgiving unit from TPT and incorporated the chores page.  Her unit it totally cute.  My students really enjoyed her story. 

We also did something different this year with cranberries!!!!
The kids just loved it.  We first looked at one and wrote some adjectives. 

 Then we did a little investigation to see if they floated or sank.  We even got to practice wet harvesting our cranberries.  They got a kick out of this.  (no pic - sorry)

 

Then we made cranberry sauce!

 We made the cranberry sauce, then tasted it, tasted jellied cranberry sauce (from a can), and dried cranberries.  We then decided which was our favorite.  Next year I think I am going to bring in some cranberry juice as well.

Our on going science experiment is to see which seed sprouts first - pumpkin seeds or corn.  (This was also in Deanna's unit)  So far nothing yet - but it's fun to see them check it every day.

PUMPKINS

Our pumpkin.  I had 3 donated to our class.  We carved one, added stickers to this one, and the other we counted the seeds and measure how many cubes tall it was.

These are our pumpkins.  They were on a vine protected by a scarecrow, but I forgot to take a picture.  It was too cute...next year I guess.  I had the kiddos paint a pumpkin with orange paint.  Then we added glitter and let it dry.  We then added a stem and leaf and put them on the vine.  They turned out super cute.

This is our pumpkin tree map that we filled out together.

We used the tree map to write about pumpkins.  They did a great job.
Click HERE to get your own pumpkin writing page.

I saw this on another blog, Welcome to Room 36, but Jessica did it with apples.  I changed it to pumpkins and we measured our selves and compared our results.

I also saw this brace map too and decided to try it with my kinders.  We did it step by step together and they turned out super!

Living and nonliving

We included a living and nonliving unit this year about bears.  We talked about real bears and teddy bears.  We even ended the week bringing in bears and reading in our caves. (under our tables).

Sorting our bears.

Comparing bears and teddy bears

I saw this on Mrs. Lee's blog and thought hey - why not label the bears parts.  Then I had the kids do it in their science notebook.

Shapes!!!

Here are some things we did with shapes.  We did this earlier in the year, but I finally got around to posting.

Pumpkin post coming soon...

Ok, I promise to have a new post soon.  I have been so caught up in school and planning a birthday party that I just haven't had time to blog.  I have tons of pics and things to share.

Keep checking back...I promise to post soon. :)

Apples, apples, apples...oh my!

Our applesauce

Apple prints

Apple 4 square

recording sheet for our applesauce

We did so much more, but I forgot to take pictures.  More coming soon. :)

Class Books

Here are some of our class books that we have made.  I try to make enough each year for all the students to have one at the end of the year to take home.  They really enjoy reading them and it makes for a great memory of their kindergarten year.

This is our family book:

 This one we made after reading  Miss Bindergarten gets Ready for Kindergarten.

 

BLOTTER BUGS

Boy, have I been busy.  I have hardly found time to post about all the fun things that we have done so far.  Between school and raising an almost 11 month old...there is no free time.  Anyway, here is something I did manage to get a pic of.  Our fabulous blotter bugs.  The project took the whole week, but it turned out cute and the kiddos learned how to make orange, green, and purple.

 

If you like the recording sheet, click here.

Please keep Texas in your thoughts and prayers...

Many wildfires have been raging through Texas.  One was even about a mile away from my house.  Please pray for families that have lost everything, for the fire fighters trying to contain these fires, and for everyone else these fires are affecting. 

This is the view from my backyard.  I believe this to be the fire in Bastrop, TX

Click here to help those in need.  Many in Bastrop have lost everything.  25,000 acres have been burned and 500 homes destroyed. 

Dear God,
Please send rain soon.
Sincerely,
Texas

Colors continued...

So, our big color project is unfinished because my kiddos got sooooo excited about Pete the Cat.  I think we may have read it everyday last week.   We read the story, talked about colors, mixed colors, made Pete, talked about our favorite color, and found and made rainbows.

Here is our "Blotter Bugs" project.  It is not finished yet.  We still need to add legs and googly eyes to our bugs.  Students mixed the primary colors to make green, purple, and orange.

On Friday, we talked all about rainbows.  We even had a rainbow snack.  We were so busy I didn't snap as many pictures as I wanted to.

Here is our color splash experiment.  We poured milk in a pie plate, added drops of food coloring, then drops of dish washing soap.  The colors moved right before our eyes.   We recorded our information on our data sheet and added it to our science notebook. 

More ideas and pics coming soon!

COLORS!

We are working on colors this week.  Today was primary color day!  I made play dough last night and today we got to mix it to see what happens.  Last year, I had them make a rainbow out of their play dough and we put it on a paper plate... it turned out super cute.  This year I just let them explore it.  I didn't take a pic though, wish I did. :(

I just found a post on Chalk Talk about science notebooks (journals) and it links to a totally fun mini lesson on mixing colors.  I am thinking about trying it tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Ladybug drops of glue and cutting practice

At the beginning of the year, we like to start off with lessons on how to conserve glue and how to use scissors safely and correctly.  Mostly because we get a lot of friends that have never used these things before, but it also serves as a good review and good fine motor practice for other friends in class.

Ladybug drops of glue:

 The  ladybugs are made with red paint and the drops are made with clear glue mixed with black paint.  It's another fun way to practice making little dots of glue.  The "Little Dot of Glue" song is also glued on the page to help them remember a little dot holds a lot.

Cutting Practice:

For this project I drew 3 different lines on a sheet of construction paper.  One was straight, the other curvy, and the last zig zag.  They had to cut on the lines and then glue them on a another paper.  We talked about how to hold scissors and that they were kind of like a car and the line was the road.  We said that we need to go slow so that we could cut nicely just like a car needs to go slow on the road to stay in their lines (lanes).

The day is almost here...

I can't believe the first day of school is only a few days away.  We had Meet the Teacher last Thursday and I got to meet my new group of kiddos.  They are super sweet.  The few days before I had been feeling a little "off".  Well, after Meet the Teacher I went home to discover that I had a fever.  YIKES!!  I crawled into bed and slept until Friday morning.  I woke up and felt so much better --fever gone!  I think all the work and craziness of the week finally caught up with me and my body was saying that I need some rest. 

Here are some more pics of my classroom.

Notice that number 10 is missing?  It fell behind my white board.  :(

To avoid big glue messes...

Why not practice making little drops of glue.  After all, a little dot of glue holds a lot.

At the beginning of the year we teach the kiddos a song and show them how to conserve glue by just making little dots.  I just redid the glue practice sheet.  Click on the picture to get yours.  Each child practices placing one little dot on each circle they see.  It is good fine motor practice as well.

 

 Once they learn the song, don't be surprised if when you are working on another gluing activity someone will start it and they will all sing along.  Click on the pic for the song.

 

A little dot of glue holds a lot!!

We also have another activity called ladybug drops of glue.  More on that one later when we get the kids.  They don't start till next week.  I was just redoing some first week activities.

**OH - Just found these TOP SECRET GLUING TECHNIQUES ON TPT!!!  IT'S FREE!!!!

 

Click here

 

Frog classrooom theme

The past few years I have had a frog themed classroom.  It seems as though each year I accumulate more and more treasures.  I just love it!

Here are some of my treasures that I use in my reading center. 

This is last years picture...somehow the one I took this year has been deleted.  The chair on the right is an unfinished chair from Joanne Fabrics.  The one on the left I found at a dollar store.  (Not sure which one- maybe Dollar Tree) My talented sister painted the one on the right.  I probably could have done it, but I don't have the time or the energy and it might not have turned out as cute as it did.  Right now the chair is in my daughter's play room.  (I take it home during the summer so that it doesn't get scratched or nicked during moving and cleaning time.)  She's almost 10 months old and she loves to sit in it and then get out again.  I may have to get her one now...how am I going to sneak it back to school?

K Crew BUZZ Book on SALE - TODAY ONLY!

I ventured into blog land to discover something fabulous!

The K Crew is having a sale!  

One thing I love doing is a morning message, K Crew does the Buzz Book, which is pretty much the same thing with a little spin.  WELL, they are having a Friday sale and the E Book is selling for $5.  Yep, $5!  It regularly sells for $50!  Can you believe this deal.  I just snatched mine.  Pick yours up here: