Gingerbread

We've been reading SO many gingerbread books over the past few weeks.  The kids are loving the huge variety of books, adaptations, and different endings.  We were able to compare and contrast the Gingerbread Girl and the Gingerbread Man.  They both have very different endings.

To keep the fun going, we will be baking mini gingerbread cookies in class. I made the dough at home and we'll roll, cut, and bake the cookies in class.

I do a lot of baking at home and this is one of my favorite recipes.  If you'd like the recipe for your own holiday baking, here is the link  http://homeiswheremystorybegins.net/recipe/super-soft-gingerbread-cookie-recipe/

Happy baking!

Yoga for Kids

One thing we really work on, at Cascade View, is Mindfulness.  We are learning how the brain works, gaining insights into our own minds and behaviors, and learning to slow down and be aware of our thoughts and actions.  Doesn't that sound amazing?

We use the Mind Up curriculum to frame this work, but the work goes far beyond the 15 main lessons which are the framework of Mind Up.

One of the things our kindergartners LOVE to do is Yoga.  I love doing yoga too, but I'm not a yoga instructor and I would only be able to lead them in a few quick stretches.  Fortunately, we've discovered Cosmic Kids Yoga!

The yoga instructor takes the current popular stories or themes and turns them into active yoga adventures. She is truly amazing and the adventures really captivate the kids.  The videos can be found on You Tube.  One thing I especially loved about today's adventure was when she said, "See something in your mind before you take action."  This is something we've been working on in class.  We try to focus on this each day.  Even as we are about to line up in the classroom, we ask kids to close their eyes and visualize (they should know this word by now) how they are going to move to the next place.

Being mindful isn't just about a few lessons here and there, we really try to incorporate mindful practices throughout the day.  We'll be sharing more throughout the year on the blog.

Happy yoga-ing! Or should I say, namaste?

Harvest Party

We had such a great time at our harvest party!  We opened up both of the kindergarten classrooms and had many stations set up for kids to choose from.  The kids have gotten used to being able to go back and forth between classroom because they are allowed to do this during Center Time on Fridays.  We love giving them the opportunity to self-select the places they would like to work and also be able to interact with kids from both classes.

Thank you to all of the parents who were able to send supplies or help out during our party!  We really appreciate your support.  At Cascade View, we realize that we are not only in the business of educating children, but we are also charged with the task of making memories!  We weren't able to get pictures of all of the stations, but here are a few.

All of the kids loved the cookie decorating station!  We don't have many food-treats in the classroom, so this was extra special.

We made pumpkin bookmarks with our thumbprints.

Straws are the perfect thing to use for necklaces.  Some students stuck with a pattern, while others simply focused on the small motor task of threading straw pieces onto the yarn.

Beaded bracelets on pipe cleaners have quickly become a favorite fine motor station!

Again, sometimes patterns are used and other times threading beads is the bigger challenge.  Side note... If you work with pipe cleaners at home, nail clippers are perfect for cutting these.

The kids did some sponge painting onto construction paper.  We'll cut these out and they will brighten up the room with their rich fall colors.

Thanks again for helping out!  We had a fantastic day!  I think we all can agree that Halloween should be moved, permanently, to a weekend.  The kids were pretty tired on November 1st, but we were glad they had so much fun on the 31st!  

Happy Harvest!

Fire Safety Month

The firefighters came for a visit today, and what a gift that was to a group of kindergartners!  

They give the kids a tour of the fire truck and show them all of the important tools.

They make sure to show the kids that the firefighters and just regular guys inside of their suits.  They want the kids to know that in an emergency, the firefighters are not someone to be afraid of, even if their suits look scary.

It is always an awesome presentation and we feel so lucky to have the firefighters come every year.  We always learn so much!

Ok, friends, now go change those smoke detector batteries.

Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies in Kindergarten

Our first baking project was completed this week!  The kids make chocolate chip cookies and they tasted AWESOME!  

A few years ago I posted a project on Donors Choose.  Donors Choose is a website dedicated to helping teachers raise funds for classroom projects.  I really wanted to buy a convection oven for projects in the classroom.  I spend a lot of time in the kitchen with my own children and wanted to provide the kindergartners with some of those same experiences.  I had an oven in my former building and loved the curriculum tie-ins that happened in our cooking/baking unit.  Well, I'm happy to say that our cooking cart was funded within a week!  The oven was delivered to our classroom and we've been baking ever since.

Both of our full day kindergarten classes made chocolate chips cookies this week.  We tasted (in small quantities) the different types of sugar.  We smelled the vanilla.  We measured, mixed, scooped, and baked.  There were some new vocabulary words introduced and we read books about cooking.  We even dove into real cookbooks and looked for different text features.  At the end of the day, kids wrote how-to's telling how we made the cookies.  WOW!  That's a lot of work for a 5 or 6 year old!

Here's the recipe, if you want to try making these with your kids at home.

1 Cup Crisco shortening (original, not butter flavor)

3/4 Cup brown sugar

3/4 Cup white sugar

Mix until soft and fluffy.

Add:

2 Eggs

1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix just until blended.

Dry ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix it up and add a package of chocolate chips.

Bake for 10 minutes (or less) on 350 degrees. My home oven is a standard oven, not convection, and this is what I do.

True confession time:  I make these at least once a week at my house.  (I can't believe I just admitted that!)

Happy baking!

We Need Pressed Leaves

Fall is in full swing and the leaves are showing off a bit.  I really love the beautiful leaves... but who doesn't?  Driving through the mountains this weekend reminded me that it's time to start leaf collecting.   We use leaves in the classroom for math, art, science, and literacy connections.  When I ask kids to bring leaves to the classroom, they are usually GREAT collectors, but the only way we can use these leaves for our projects is when they are pressed.  Pressing leaves is very simple and doesn't take up a lot of space. (Flower petals work well too, if you happen to be the owner of a flower shop or have flowers in your yard.)

I usually start with a couple of paper towels on the table, and then I set a few leaves on top.

Next, you set a paper towel on top of the leaves and another layer of leaves is set on top of that towel.

I keep layering as many paper towels and leaves as I can, and then put a big stack of books on top.  They need to sit like this for several days so they become dry and flat. Once they are pressed and dry, I store them in an OPEN container or ziploc bag.  There will still be a tiny bit of moisture in the leaves, so you don't want to close them up and grow mold.  That's a science experiment I'd rather not do right now.  

I would love it if each child could collect and press 50 leaves.  We are looking for a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors!  Thanks for your help!

Busy Kindergartners

We have been so busy in kindergarten over the past 3 weeks.  We have spent a lot of time building, creating, exploring, learning rules, and learning how to take care of materials in our classroom.

The kids have been so creative and we are really learning what it means to be a member of a community.

Sometimes we need to work together to create things we couldn't have done alone.

We've been working on getting our hand muscles ready to work.

Droppers are awesome to use as little pinchers.

We practiced cutting skills and just cut as much paper as we could.

We used tweezers to pick up toys from the sensory bins.

We used our lacing cards to practice fine motor skills.

Clay is my favorite tool for building muscles in our hands. It's much harder to work with than playdough and gives your hands a real workout!

We've been practicing writing our letters and numbers too!

As I said, we've been busy in kindergarten.  The activities of the day move quickly and we are learning SO much every day!

Happy learning!

Peanut

I'd like to introduce you to Peanut!  She is our classroom turtle.  She's a 30 year old box turtle and she came to school for the first time today.

The first day that peanut joined us, we spent some time touching her and feeling her shell.  After that, we washed our hands very well and agreed to let Peanut have her space and just look without touching.

The kids love to sit by Peanut and watch her move around.  She's much more active than I expected a turtle to be.

Her favorite spot is her water basin.  She loves to sit in the water and watch the kids or dunk her head under water for a little bath.

I was surprised to find out that a big Rubbermaid container was the ideal habitat for Box Turtles.  We have some coconut shavings at the bottom, a basin for water, and different lights to keep her warm.

This is only my second school year with Peanut and I'm learning that she is very picky.  She doesn't like vegetables, but love bananas.  She likes crunchy bugs, like rolly polly bugs and meal worms.  She'll eat garden worms only when they look really yummy.

We love having Peanut in the classroom and look forward to continuing our inquiry of turtles and their needs!

Happy learning! 

Getting to Know Materials

The beginning of kindergarten is such a magical time!  The kids are diving in and really getting to know their way around the classroom.  They are always so excited and curious to find out what they can explore.  At the beginning of the year, we are careful to add new activities slowly.  

Play time (also called Centers) is a great time to build cooperation skills, but we also encourage the story-telling aspect.

Playdough is great for building the important muscles in our fingers and is a staple in the kindergarten classroom!

We love art!  We've just started introducing  new types of paint.  Ask your child if they remember The Dot.  It was a book we read this week and we'll be painting lots of dots soon!

The kids LOVE building with Polydrons.  We have these in many classrooms and kids have opportunities to build 3D shapes.

We are learning to build and play with our math manipulatives.  Soon we will be using these for lots of math stations.

Our home center is one of the favorites.  Kids play house, coffee shop, and restaurant.  They make up their stories as they go along.

We are getting to know our materials in the classroom and we're showing that we know how to be respectful!

Happy learning!

These are some quotes that were gathered during our family connection meetings.  We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed hearing them and meeting the wonderful people who said them!

I'm very interested in the moon, but I'm not going to outer space.

I like Nutella, tuna, and South Lake Pizza.

I'm...sassy.

Two fives are 10. Two threes are 6. Two tens are 20.

I have two dogs, Luna and Cinnamon.

I love dogs because I love to pick them up.

I can count to 10 in Spanish.

Look at my pattern!

Also, I like to play with my big set houses.

She lives in Minnesota.  There's tons of houses there.

We play I de-clare-war, and Slapjack.

Flag of America!

I really know how to do stuff.

Also, we have Full House.

10...11...12...Hey look I found a shark!

Be a worker.

What will help you when you feel frustrated? - Dancing

Welcome!

Welcome to kindergarten!  We are so glad you're here! 

This is the place where we share things that are happening in our kindergarten classrooms.  We want parents to feel connected to Cascade View Elementary and we know that you can't be with us all the time.  We love taking pictures and this is a great place for us to share them.  We ask that you check the blog about once a week to see if we've added any new posts.  If there is something we are dying for you to see, we'll make sure to send the link in an email.  There is always excitement in kindergarten and we can't wait to get started!

Happy New School Year!

Sad News

It was a sad day in kindergarten today.

Steve the stick bug has died.

To most people, Steve is just a bug.  To a group of five-year-olds, he is the best stick bug a kid could ever have!  There were tears today... lots and lots of tears.  I really didn't expect it to be such an emotional time for the kids, because he's just a bug.  When I realized that it was a really big deal to the kids, we made time to write about it and draw some pictures about Steve.

We took Steve out to the courtyard gardens and I told the kids I'd say something nice about Steve before we buried him.  A couple of kids asked if we could all say something, so I told the kids they could share if they wanted.  After we shared our feelings about Steve, we buried him and put a few flowers by him.  It was a very emotional time for the kids.  When we came back inside, we had a group hug and then moved on to some fun activities.

Today was a day full of emotional learning for our kids, but it was also a time to see our recent learning in real life.  We have been talking a lot about the life cycle because of our baby chicks and also because of our most recent addition (ask your kids about our new insects).  When one of our boys was crying about Steve, another student explained that it's all part of the life cycle.  Steve has laid eggs in the dirt and, with any luck, we will have more stick bugs.  We look forward to meeting Steve Jr.

Rest in peace, Steve.

You were the best stick bug this class has ever had.

Chicks

I have to say, I think hatching chicks has been the highlight of my teaching career.  It has been the most amazing experience!  

When I came in on Sunday evening, I brought my entire family to check on the chicks.  It was Mother's Day, so I was hosting a celebration and the whole family wanted to come.  We noticed a few of the eggs had pips.  Pips are the first holes the chicks make in the eggs.

If you sit really still and the room is quiet, you can year peeps coming from the eggs.

By Monday morning, the chicks were really working hard!  One of the cracks had gotten much bigger.

Just as the kids were entering the room, on Monday morning, the first chick hatched!  The kids squealed, but then hushed to a whisper to watch the excitement.  The chick was wet and could barely stand.  

It took several hours for our first chick to dry off and fluff up.  We named her Primrose and she quickly became the most favorite class pet in the history of class pets!

The next day, we were in for another surprise!  Poppy arrived about 5 minutes before the end of the school day.

She was SO tired.  It's a lot of work hatching out of an egg!

She wasn't quite fluffy enough to come out of the incubator, so she had to stay in there over night.  Since we had one in our brooding box and one in the incubator, I went to Bridges Pets and bought a 3 day old Buff Orpington to snuggle with Primrose.  I took Primrose and Petunia (the two yellow chicks) home and they snuggled all night!

When we came in on Wednesday morning... surprise!

There were TWO chicks in the incubator!  Pansy was all fluffy and dry, so she must have hatched on Tuesday night.  Oh, my... four sweet, fluffy chicks!  Petunia (the one we bought) quickly showed them the ropes.  She would take a drink and then the other chicks would take a drink.  

On Thursday, the chicks went to their new home.  The kids were very sad to see the chicks go, but they have a wonderful chicken coop waiting for them!

What an amazing experience!