Hi JK parents! 

We had a wonderful week learning about farm life and animals.  We simulated milking a cow (and think we were all squirted in the eye at least once!) and watched a video of children who live on a farm and milk cows everyday.  The class was amazed at how much effort it required to produce a small bowl of milk.  We also played a harvest-time counting math game, painted self portraits, decorated farm scenes, practiced our handwriting and reading in our small groups, and played rhyming games where the children were all identifying how the words had like endings but different beginnings.  I love the words they create when rhyming! 

They are amazing singers and dancers, and have already learned a new song about October and picking “fat pumpkins”.   Our class is becoming more cohesive and making great strides to complete filling our frog jar.  I see a pajama party on the horizon!  

Happy last week of September as we finish out the month and move into fall.  This past week we discovered the wonderful world of Johnny Appleseed (aka John Chapman) as we watched a short movie about his life of spreading appleseeds as well as kindness.  Our favorite line this week was "Let's do it the Johnny Appleseed way!"  We taste tested red, yellow and green apples and made cinnamon sweet applesauce, taking great care to add lots of love as we measured and mashed.  The taste testing results are hung in our room, but surprisingly the yellow and red were a tie.  I loved the descriptive words used to describe the apples:  Sticky, sweet, "all the words in the world", crunchy, "tastes like a pear", juicy, smooth, sour, bitter, yummy, "tastes like an apple".  We also used our imaginations and closed our eyes as we listened to the story about the "little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside".  They were excited and surprised to see the star in the middle of the apple if you slice it horizontally across the middle.

The sensory table was full of measuring cups and spoons and oatmeal and cinnamon sticks and used their fine motor skills with tongs to move ingredients and red, green and yellow "apples" to mini cupcake compartments.  They also made predictions and tested those at our sink and float science center.  How does a huge apple float and a tiny paperclip sink?  Things that make a JKer scream with laughter!

The children are enjoying singing our Autumn song, as we simulate raking leaves "with a smile" and then jumping into our giant heap.  The frog jar is approaching 3/4 of the way full, so look for details about our pajama/popcorn party in the near future.  We are studying farm animals this week so please feel free to talk about anything farm related at home as we prepare to milk a cow (not a real one) in the classroom.  I am impressed with their knowledge and vocabularies as we continue in our reading groups and use our magical fingers to follow along in our book series.  

We just had 2 children bring show and tell this past week, so will get a reminder out earlier as we prepare for it this Friday.  Have a wonderful week!

Happy last week of September as we finish out the month and move into fall.  This past week we discovered the wonderful world of Johnny Appleseed (aka John Chapman) as we watched a short movie about his life of spreading appleseeds as well as kindness.  Our favorite line this week was "Let's do it the Johnny Appleseed way!"  We taste tested red, yellow and green apples and made cinnamon sweet applesauce, taking great care to add lots of love as we measured and mashed.  The taste testing results are hung in our room, but surprisingly the yellow and red were a tie.  I loved the descriptive words used to describe the apples:  Sticky, sweet, "all the words in the world", crunchy, "tastes like a pear", juicy, smooth, sour, bitter, yummy, "tastes like an apple".  We also used our imaginations and closed our eyes as we listened to the story about the "little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside".  They were excited and surprised to see the star in the middle of the apple if you slice it horizontally across the middle.

The sensory table was full of measuring cups and spoons and oatmeal and cinnamon sticks and used their fine motor skills with tongs to move ingredients and red, green and yellow "apples" to mini cupcake compartments.  They also made predictions and tested those at our sink and float science center.  How does a huge apple float and a tiny paperclip sink?  Things that make a JKer scream with laughter!

The children are enjoying singing our Autumn song, as we simulate raking leaves "with a smile" and then jumping into our giant heap.  The frog jar is approaching 3/4 of the way full, so look for details about our pajama/popcorn party in the near future.  We are studying farm animals this week so please feel free to talk about anything farm related at home as we prepare to milk a cow (not a real one) in the classroom.  I am impressed with their knowledge and vocabularies as we continue in our reading groups and use our magical fingers to follow along in our book series.  

We just had 2 children bring show and tell this past week, so will get a reminder out earlier as we prepare for it this Friday.  Have a wonderful week!

Hi Parents of this fabulous JK class!

Week three has shown us many talents and favorites of our friends, as we presented our “All About Me” posters in class, giving the students another opportunity to practice their public speaking and lead the class questions about their posters. We have been reading about all sorts of different occupations and books about being unique as well as about our bodies.  We graphed our eye color and used non-standard units of measure to determine the length of our written names. 

The students worked together to sort and wash animals at the sensory table and made tissue paper replications of our version of Elmer the Elephant.  Elmer demonstrated to the students the amazing effects one elephant could have by being his colorful self and not trying to be like every other.  We also read about Pete the Cat and designed our own school shoes.  The message of taking things in stride was introduced, as was individuality.

Each student spent time in their writing group, practicing reading from left to right with their magic finger, underlining each word as they took turns “reading” the A and B books in our series.  They were all excited to “read” to their classmates, and will continue to practice reciting and following along word for word until the memorization of the text is replaced by actual reading.  Whether that happens this school year or not, they are all building the proper foundation.    

Our handwriting continues to improve each day, as their tiny muscle control increases as well as their knowledge and use of the lower case letter formation.  Please click on this most excellent article, which offers information and suggestions about building those muscles to develop better fine motor skills/handwriting.

Why Handwriting is a Struggle for Today’s Children:

http://yourot.com/parenting-club/2016/8/12/why-handwriting-is-a-struggle-for-todays-children

We will be finishing our “All About Me” theme and moving into Apples, Johnny Appleseed, and autumn.  This is one of my favorite times of the year, as the summer begins to fade and the thoughts of fires in the fireplace, football, leaves falling and pumpkin patches emerge.  

Mrs. Massey

Hi JK parents!  

We hopped through week two with great success, as we introduced a math center and counted candles and cupcakes and discussed the properties of more and less and practiced our numbers along with our negotiating skills.  We continued our introduction to school as well as introduced our "All About Me" theme, with books like Sam's Science "I know We Fight Germs" by Kate Rowan, It's My Turn by David Bedford and Elaine Field, Ms. Nelson is Missing, Skippy Jon Jones and Class Action.  

We welcomed Isra's mom to class to talk to the children about a special festival their family celebrates.  They were interested to learn about the traditions and were able to see Isra's beautiful dress and hear about the holiday and the many ways it is celebrated across the world.  Mason and Fiorella turned five this week!  Show and tell was a success as well and I was impressed with the comfort level of the students who shared their toys with the class and answered questions with ease.  It's the beginning of their public speaking abilities and truly builds their confidence each time they control the content and delivery of their words for an audience.  We were very busy!  Thank you all for visiting and please continue to contact me with sharing you would like to do with the class.  

I spent time with each student practicing hand writing using "Handwriting Without Tears", and began assessing the students with Judy Wahl, our Gifted Coordinator.  We painted and decorated our "Just Like Me" people as we discussed the many ways we are different and how important it is to celebrate the special qualities that make us unique.  We will begin presenting our "All About Me" posters this week, as students learn more about each other and are able to find commonalities and interests to link each other together in more meaningful ways.  Our rainbows have grown and become more colorful as students found many ways to show kindness and exhibit their empathy and compassion toward their classmates throughout the day.  

Reminder:  Picture day is Tuesday, September 13.  The younger classes are typically called first so will do our best to keep them looking photo ready until then!  I will continue to add photos so stay tuned as I juggle photos with everything else surrounding our school day!  If you don't see your child they might have just been moving too quickly for me to catch before the next activity.  

JK-First Week of School!

Wow, what an amazing first week of JK! We have been passing our class mascot, the frog, around our circle at morning meeting to share things with our classmates. This helps us with a great visual of whose turn it is to share and how long until it is our turn. We have been reading many books this week about going back to school to talk about all of the exciting and sometimes confusing feelings about starting school with new friends and feeling comfortable in a new environment. The kids' imaginations at free play and center time has had me laughing out loud every day. My favorite was "I have to go now, my cab's here!"...while carrying a train and a stuffed Cat in the Hat!

We have been reading other stories to introduce our "All About Me" theme. I will be sending home a poster sheet with instructions on completing an "All About Me Poster" they will share with the class. They will be learning more about each "Star of the Week's" favorite things, places, family, games, activities etc. This is an amazing time for friendships to grow as the children find similarities in each other and begin relating on other levels.

The children have learned our weather song and snack time thankful poem. Some were not excited about yogurt and said they were thankful for ice cream after school! Most also said they are thankful for Mommy and Daddy, or "Ma Ma", or cousins, or dinosaurs, or their teachers. They have done so well with their classroom jobs and circle time activities and games. It turns out "The Hokey Pokey" really is what it's all about! JKers love music and movement, so we are actively singing, dancing and making music around the room each day.

The class is working together as a community to earn frogs to fill our frog jar, which will earn a pajama/popcorn party and movie day! As individual students are observed showing helpful and kind behavior, they are also “building their rainbows” and will soon be able to choose a prize from the treasure chest for excelling as classroom solid citizens! Positive reinforcement encourages positive behavior and cohesiveness within our classroom family. They are all excited and working very hard to exhibit the qualities of a leader and friend.

I will have the daily schedule finalized by next week. I am still tweaking it now to adjust to the class and all of their needs. We have already moved snack time up because everyone was getting so hungry early.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions and I will do the same- as I get to know more about each child and cultivate the foundation for a love of school and learning.  I will also be adding photos of our activities to this site, so stay tuned.

I am so lucky and feel I have the best job in the world every single day I am with your children!

Mrs. Massey