Surprise!

After spending the whole week discussing Fire Safety and Prevention, I had a surprise in store for my sweet Kindergarteners.  I had talked with my friend Joe, who is a firefighter, about coming to the classroom and talking to the children and showing them his uniform and gear so if they were ever in a fire they wouldn't be scared.  Imagine my surprise when he called me Friday morning to tell me he had to work overtime, but that he would be bringing the fire engine that afternoon to see us.  I was so excited I couldn't stand it, but I didn't want to tell the kids because I wanted them to be surprised.  They worked so hard on Friday and we were AHEAD of schedule (which is rare for us on a Friday, especially when we paint.)  When Joe got there, I calmly told them to put down their crayons that we were going on a little trip to somewhere in the school.  As soon as we walked outside I heard all of them ooh and aah "a fire truck!"  They absolutely loved it!  Joe did an awesome job and ended up talking to not only my class, but 4 other classes that joined us as well.  He quizzed them on the things we'd learned and showed them all of the things he wears when he's on a fire call.  Many of my students looked on in admiration.  Kevin said "I wish I could be a fire fighter."  Keeping the secret was well worth their surprise and excitement.  Of course we took lots of pictures...enjoy! :)

Asking Joe lots of questions!

It was very sunny outside - hard to get a good picture of us all! 

My little sweeties in front of the fire truck.

Joe in all his gear.

Getting all dressed up.

Joe quizzing the kids on fire safety.

 Thanks again Joe and whoever else at Greenville Fire & Rescue that made it possible for you to come out and bring the fire truck - my kids absolutely loved it! :) (Go ahead and pencil us in for next year!)

Outside

Yesterday was such a beautiful day!  I am usually busy getting things ready for our lessons later in the day when Mrs. Edwards goes out with the children, so I rarely get to enjoy the outdoors with them.  We didn't have recess yesterday because we had PE, but we finished our writing lesson early, so I took them outside for snack since Mrs. Edwards was out sick.  The weather was wonderful so we stayed out to play for a few minutes.  It is really interesting to see how they interact and enjoy each other when they aren't in such a structured setting.  It's nice to see them be 5 and 6!  Here are a few pictures of my sweeties playing!

Apparently this was the place to be...they were climbing up it. (Kameryn)

Tristan climbing the pole.

Ray'shawn climbing the pole.

I'Dereis and a friend climbing the "rock" wall.

Nick, Meredith and I'Dereis playing on the rock wall. 

Isaac and Emily playing on the rock wall.

Amy and Karma playing in the shade.  They were making something with those wood chips.

Jyrah in action heading down the slide.

He insisted I take his picture :)

Hannah playing on the dinosaur playground.

Emily and a friend on the ladders.

Check out that climbing action!

Tristan climbing the pole again.

Back under the playground to climb.

Eli on the slide.

Katelyn hanging out on the ladders.

A great time had by all.  I'll have to get out there more often!

Emergency!

This week has been all about Fire Safety. We have talked about what causes fires, preventing them, what to do  in case of a fire, and what to do if your clothes catch on fire.  Yesterday we talked about who to call if there is an emergency and I was so pleased all of my sweet students knew to call 911!  I asked them if anyone knew what their address was and all they could tell me was North Carolina, so we have some work to do there.  I found a great website where all the students could practice calling 911. They enjoyed coming up to the SMART Board and dialing.  Hopefully after this week, they will all be more aware of fire prevention.  Here's a few pictures of them dialing 911.

Eli calling 911.

Messiah calling 911.

Meredith calling 911.

Tristan dialing 911.

If you want to practice calling 911 with your child, take a look at that website - they really enjoyed it!

The Birthday Cake

On Friday's we do a theme related English Language Arts activity where the students make a "make-n-take" book and an art activity.  This past Friday we made a book called "The Birthday Cake" by Joy Cowley.  The students used rectangles of construction paper to "illustrate" their book.  They turned out super cute and after we practiced reading them as a class, I let them get with partners on the mats and practice reading them to each other.  They are doing really well with partner reading and seem to enjoy it!  Hopefully you have seen/heard them read the book, because I told them to take it home and read it to someone, a pet, or a stuffed animal.  Reading familiar books helps with fluency!  Here are a few pictures of partner reading!

Eli and friends reading their books.

Meredith and Kameryn reading to each other.

Messiah, Ray'shawn and Kevin reading together.

Messiah and Ray'shawn reading together.

Kameryn, Meredith, and Karma reading together.

They are doing a great job reading!

Shaving Cream Writing

Last week we started practicing the Kindergarten High Frequency words for homework.  Everyday before dismissal, the students played a few games on the SMART Board to practice recognizing and writing them. (a, I, see, & like)  On Thursday during reading groups, I put shaving cream on my reading table and called out words for them to write in the shaving cream using their pointer fingers.  I have found this to be an awesome intervention in the past and a great tactile way for them to practice writing their sight words without feeling like it was "work."  It was a little strange to them at first, but all in all they truly enjoyed it and I don't think my table has ever been so clean!  Here are a few pictures of our fun lesson!

Joshua practicing the word "like."

Isaac got excited about shaving cream and it ended up in his and Emily's hair!

The blue group was excited about writing in shaving cream!

Amy showing Mrs. Edwards she can spell "see."

Isaac giving me a high five for writing the word "a."

Hannah starting to write "like."

Katelyn showing she can write her name correctly!

The green group in action!

Excited about learning!

High five with Kameryn - writing the word "am" from our book that day.

Engaged in learning.

We will revisit this activity soon with our other words!

Apple Tasting

The week of September 19-23, we studied all about apples!  The students had the opportunity to taste red, green, and yellow apples on Thursday.  We completed a class graph after tasting all three types and the most students liked red.  On Friday, we had an apple tasting.  The students tried Applesauce, Apple Jacks, Apple Jelly on a cracker, and Apple Juice.  I was so proud of them for taking a "thank you" bite of each apple food.  Many of them found out they liked apple foods that they thought they wouldn't like.  Here are a few pictures from the tasting.

Yummy Apple Juice!

Ray'shawn finishing up his food and yes/no graph.

Meredith enjoyed a few bites of everything, but didn't care for the applesauce.

They definitely enjoyed this activity!