Hoppin' Into Junior Kindergarten!

Hi JK Parents and Friends! 

We are sooo happy to be back at school!  The children were all chatting like long lost friends Monday morning and were sooo excited to be together again.  

Literacy/Math/Science

We had Student Readers this week and it was fabulous to see the children read to the class!  They were amazing, turning the books to show the pictures and reading with emotion!  

We are learning about growing things this week.  We are talking about the life cycle of plants and how to care for them.  We read Tops and Bottoms (and many other stories-non fiction and fiction) and talked about the different parts of vegetables and fruits that we eat.  We used our plastic fruits and vegetables and demonstrated where food grows, either below or above the ground.  They took turns placing different vegetables in categories of either a flower or leaf/above ground, or a tuber/root/bulb/below ground, along with learning about different fruits that grow on a tree, bush or vine.  They colored, cut and pasted vegetables under either top or bottom headings.  

We had snack outside beautiful, sunny Tuesday, and planted beans and grass in containers.  We will water and watch them grow each day and journal our observations.  

We are studying the parts of the plant and are making Life Cycle books as a part of our study.  We colored and cut pictures of plants to label all of the parts.  We will be documenting our plant growth as a part of our study.  

The letter Tt was our letter of the week and the children had fun hunting for words that begin or end with Tt.  

We practiced writing our names and numbers, using our sign in books and white boards.  Their handwriting has improved incredibly this year, and it's exciting to see!  

Social Emotional

Dr. Glader brought her friend, Charlie, into JK to meet everyone.  He's a great dog to talk to when you are feeling sad or angry, as well as happy and excited!  

We love playing Art Studio, a game where three artists draw a picture I describe, and then the buyer purchases the one they like most.  It's all anonymous as the artists are chosen when the buyer is out of sight.  They LOVE it and it's so fun to see their pride when their painting is chosen.  It's beneficial in many ways, as they are all crossing the midline as they draw on the vertical board!  They practice listening skills as they interpret my description to create their pictures.  

Have a lovely week!

Ms. Massey