Christmas

     Shhh....Have you heard, we're on a top secret mission to save Christmas?  The students in our class are very excited about our secret mission delivered by our very own elf, Jingle.  Last Monday, we came into class and found a mysterious envelope labeled "Top Secret" on our board.  Upon opening the envelope, we learned that Santa had spilled hot chocolate on his laptop ruining ALL of his files.  He needed some hard working students to help him recreate his files while keeping his secret.  If others found out that his files were ruined they would be worried!  We have spent the last two weeks, traveling around the world learning about Christmas traditions in other countries.  Santa has to be sure he understands each country's traditions before visiting...he would be embarressed to leave shoes unfilled (instead of stockings) or hide a pickle in a tree where children do not understand the pickle tradition!  The students cannot wait each afternoon as we board our "plane" (Google Earth) and zoom over each country to investigate landmarks such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We also read a daily letter left by our elf and view a flipchart that provides more information about our country.  After researching our country, the students complete a fact sheet that includes three facts and illustrations specific to that day's country and have their passports stamped. 
     We have also been asked to complete an assignment for Mrs. Claus.  Our elf, Jingle reported to to Mrs. Claus that our gingerbread cookies smelled better than hers while cooking.  He thought Santa would like to try them...but Mrs. Claus needs our recipe.  She sent our class an email and asked if we would write the recipe for her, that would also let her see how our writing skills have improved over the year.  Each student has written a "How to Make Gingerbread Men" cookbook providing step by step directions for Mrs. Claus.  They have been very excited to share their recipes with her!  The details and writing in their books have been amazing! 
     The students have really enjoyed their research and writing activities during this unit.  They have felt that their work was important and have been eager to complete each assignment.  They cannot wait to "send off" their completed work to the North Pole at the end of the week.  They may or may not have shared their excitement with you at home because part of the excitement was that it was a "top secret mission" from Santa.  In case they have not shared, I wanted you to be aware of how hard they have been working over the last two weeks!  We are very proud of their hard work!          

Clemson Carolina Challenge

Clemson won our Clemson Carolina Challenge; we were able to raise a lot of money to go towards our Relay for Life team.  Thank you all for your support!  Our class was in the lead for kindergarten until the last couple of days.  We were not able to catch back up with Ms. Garner's class in the final count, but we tried hard throughout the challenge.  At the final count, either Dr. Patterson (Clemson)  or Mrs. Skinner (Carolina) had promised to kiss a pig.  We raised enough money that Mrs. Ford decided to get in on the fun and kiss the pig too!  Here are Mrs. Skinner and Mrs. Ford in the moment the students had been waiting to see.

Red Ribbon Week

We were visited by Boiling Springs High School students on Friday.  They taught us why it is important to be drug free.  Thanks for taking the time to visit our class!

Future Careers

We dressed for our future careers last week for Red Ribbon Week.  We had a policeman, superhero, and scuba diver in our class.  Thanks for participating in our dress up days during the week.

Fun Run!

We made it...35 laps!  What a great opportunity to raise money for our school while teaching healthy habits.  Don't forget to turn in your money pledged for the Fun Run.

We had a great time at Cooley's.  We went for a hayride, picked pumpkins, fed the cows, caught a pig, went through the corn maze, and played on the swings.

Fun Run

Remember to log onto funrun.com to enter pledges for our Boosterthon fundraiser.  We have had tons of fun learning about friendship during our Camp High Five meetings.  We are so excited about next week's FunRun.  Don't forget to return your permission slips before next Wednesday.  We will all need to wear our camp t-shirts on the big day!  We're looking forward to an exciting event as we raise money for our school by running laps with the Boosterthon team.  We can earn individual and class prizes based on our pledges!

Super-hero Walk to School Day

We had so much fun during our Super-hero walk to school week.  We dressed like a different super-hero everyday.  On Wednesday we dressed like our favorite super-hero and walked around the school.  Dr. Patterson and Mrs. Skinner surprised us when they dressed as super-heroes that rode to school on their bikes!  We also were visited by the Boiling Springs cheerleaders and bulldog and Wofford cheerleaders and the terrier.  We ended our day with a pep rally and teacher game show.   What an exciting day!

                             

Fire department visit

     We enjoyed our visit from the Boiling Springs Fire Department on October 1, 2013.  Thank you firefighters for sharing fire safety facts with us.  The firemen reminded us that we need to have working smoke detectors in our home.  We also need to change the batteries in those detectors when we change our clocks.   If anyone does not have smoke detectors in their home, they will be glad to provide one for your family.

     They also gave us homework! They wanted us to check our smoke detectors, practice fire drills at home (just like at school), and establish a family meeting place.  It was exciting to see the fire truck up close.  Students also got a chance to see a fireman in uniform and meet the fire department mascot.  At the end of the day students were excited to get their very own firefighter hat.  Boys and girls, remember to do your fire safety homework the fire fighters assigned us!

 

Caterpillar

Danikah was very excited when she found a caterpillar on the playground.  We had just learned about the differences between living and non-living things.  We researched it and found out that it will turn into a dagger moth very soon.

Community Helpers

     We have had a great time learning about our community helpers in class over the last couple of weeks.  We had several community helpers visit our kindergarten classes at OES.  The students eagerly asked many great questions about their jobs.  What an opportunity for real-life learning!  We would like to say a very special thank you to all of our wonderful visitors!
     We had an extra special visitor on Read Like a Pirate Day.  My mom came in to read to us dressed in her postal uniform.  (It always shocks students that teachers have parents and that we don't live at school)!  She taught us about the post office and how our mail delivery system operates.  She gave us an opportunity to write a letter home, prepare the envelope, and mail it straight into her mailbag.  Some students were so eager to get their mail that they were hesitant to let her take it with her.  We assured them that the post office would get it to their house and "yes, they know where you live."  I hope they all enjoyed receiving their mail.  It was great to see them writing for a real world learning experience.  My mom enjoyed spending time with them as well.  I'm sure the classroom was quite a change of pace from the post office!
     We have been writing about which community helper they think is most important and why they made their selections.  Today, we recorded a public service announcement about their chosen community helper.  They were excited to get to share what they had learned.  I am looking forward to our next unit of study on the fall season.

     Thank you all for coming out to our 100 Book Challenge Orientation and Open House tonight.  It is great to be able to spend time with our students and their families outside of regular school hours.  It gives us a chance to get to know our families better and answer any questions or address any concerns that you may have.  It also provides an opportunity for you to come in and tour our classroom and explore your child's work.  If you were able to come tonight, you were given a chance to see how busy your child has been in class these past few days.  If you were unable to join us but are curious about what we did tonight, we shared class reading reflection journals, writing journals, poetry journals, and "All About Me" posters created by the students.  We also viewed a slideshow that gave you a sneak peek inside our classroom. We will be glad to share these with you during conferences in October if you missed them tonight but would like a chance to see them.
     We have been working hard to build a classroom community where everyone feels welcome, loved, accepted, and successful for the past few weeks.  After the long weekend, we returned to school this morning to a review of class rules and expectations.  We had fun and acted silly as we explored just what our rules meant and the purpose behind them.  Who knew a chance to break the rules could be so much fun or cause such laughter?  We will continue this lesson over the next few days as we explore what it means to be a peace maker, not a rule breaker.  Students love to read the books about David, a child that always seems to find trouble and break the rules whether he's at school or at home.  We will return to the books about David as we continue our discussion about following the rules and why that is important.  It was nice to begin this morning with a fresh start for everyone, reviewing the rules and then practicing them throughout the day.  Everyone felt successful because they were able to show off just how much they had learned over the past two weeks.
     We are beginning to settle in and be in "school mode."  Leaving summer behind and starting back to school is a big transition for most students, especially those who have never been to school or daycare before.  In a student's eyes, the days are long, the work is demanding, and there are so many things to remember...and all they really want to know right that minute is "when can we eat" and "is it time to go out yet?"  Before we know it these days will be behind us and the students will be old-pros!  It always amazes me just how fast the year passes and just how much the students grow and gain independence.  We will continue working to build a sense of community and foster independence throughout the year.  
     In addition to learning about how to be a successful student, we will also be learning about families and how they fit into the local community over the next few weeks.  If you would like to know more about what we're doing in class, you can view our lesson plans by clicking on the lesson plans link on our TeacherWeb page.  We encourage you to check out books on the topics we are learning about in class to extend the learning opportunities for your child.    This week would be a great time to explore books on families, numbers, and the alphabet.  Your local librarian can help you find books that are a great fit for your child based on what we are learning in class.  Remember to make connections to your own life by asking questions such as, "what does this remind you of and how is this family like/different from our family?"  Thanks for all you do to make your child's year a success!

We had a great first day!  With such a great start, I am eager to see what awaits our class in the year ahead!  All of our students seemed excited to be in school and eager to learn today.  We were busy until the very end of the day!  Students were disappointed that the rain kept us from recess; they eagerly pointed out every break in the rain in hopes that we could run out for a quick break.  The playground was too wet for that...but maybe tomorrow will be better.  So just how did we spend our first day of kindergarten?  We read several back to school books, introduced our poetry journals, drew a self portrait, toured the computer lab, and learned about school rules and procedures.  The class really enjoyed singing and dancing to silly songs to help get our wiggles out.  We also shared a special drink called Jitter Juice to help get rid of the first day of school jitters.  I think that drink really works!  The whole class was jitter-free after the first few minutes of our day.  That was a first, usually someone is unsure about starting school, but not this year!  Looking ahead at tomorrow, students are sure to love the stories we have planned.  The various versions of Pete the Cat are always class favorites.  I cannot wait to share the story with students for the first time!  If you are unfamiliar with these fun stories, check it out at the library or watch as the author reads it aloud on YouTube.  Your children will love having a chance to read these stories with you at home!

Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to kindergarten!  We are so excited about sharing our classroom with you this year!  We have many fun learning activities planned for the year ahead!  We look forward to watching you grow in our "kinder-garden."  We can't wait to meet you on Wednesday!  Get ready, as we "Saddle Up for Success!"  Mrs. Watson & Mrs. Ward

Hi!  Welcome to our class blog.  We will be posting updates to keep you informed of what we are doing in class.