Planetarium field trip

This week we went on our first class field trip, to the planetarium! The kids were almost as excited to ride a school bus together as to see the planetarium presentation. I loved seeing what they wrote and drew afterwards about their experience. Here are a few samples:

Writing and fine motor practice

One goal of the kindergarten year is to improve and practice fine motor skills, which help students in tasks like writing, drawing and building with small objects. I try to find creative and fun ways to do this in class. Below we used paint and cotton swabs to make dot-to-dot pictures for the winter, which was a lot of fun. We also learned to play the game Pictionary with partners as part of our morning meeting - an easy game you can play at home too!

We also started a new writing unit, in which we'll learn how to write lists, cards, letters and pattern stories. Below are some pictures of the lists we made this week. I love seeing what the kids come up with!

"Candy"

"My Birthday Wish List"

"My Friends in Kindergarten"

"Reasons I Love My Mom"

"Pokemon"

First week back

We had a great first week back from winter break! We wrapped up a few projects that were leftover from before, and celebrated the New Year by making some fireworks. We also welcomed a new student to our class, read a series of folk tales about Anansi the spider, and walked with our Forest Friday buddies to a nearby park. Below are some pictures. Welcome back!

Making family trees

Painting New Years fireworks

Forest Friday walk

Sharing what we did at the park with our buddies

"I played on the swings." - Rosalina
"I dug a pile of rock." - Cooper
"I pushed the merry go round." - Elie
"I rode the merry go round." - Levi
"Taryn and me raced each other." - Curie
"I played on the bike." - Alpha
"I played brownies with Maraskya." - Elena
"I played Star Wars." - Colton
"I was racing on a car." - Malcolm
"I played rocket blastoff." - Tyrus
"I played space adventure with Ty." - Emmett