Zoo Fieldtrip!!

We had an awesome time at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens yesterday!  Unfortunately our school isn't able to go on field trips during the school day :(, so we decided to have a Saturday field trip and invite all of the parents!  It was more like a "play date" with our classmates!  Here are some pictures of the cool things did:

Zoo Theme

I know I'm a bit past due with my posts so here is the update!!!

This week we have been talking all about the zoo.  This awesome theme will hopefully (if Tropical Chantal cooperates) end with an awesome Saturday field trip to the zoo!  Here are some of the new centers we were introduced to:

This is an awesome-opossum beginning sound memory game I made to complement our zoo theme!  The kiddos loved it!

I found some cute animal erasers from Michael's to go with this number sorting activity!

I used zoo animal beads from Michael's as well to go with this color sorting activity!

These little buddies were hidden all around the classroom with different animals peeking out!  The kids had to go on a letter hunt and use the w.s. to write down the letter that matched the little animals on their paper.   They loved it!!!

Chow for now!  

Be a Champion Teacher

Every child deserves to have a teacher like this.....every child!  Check her out!  I know this is the attitude I a m aspiring to build within my classroom!

Moving Right Along

The second week of summer VPK is almost over and the cuties are starting to gain some academic momentum as they master basic skills and routines!  I must say this week did seem to fly by especially with all the fun we had.  Here are some activity highlights throughout the week:

 Here we are learning the appropriate way to handle our library books!  Nice gentle touches please!

I just introduced this center this week and by-golly, I think they like it!  The objective is to find a particular letter within the poem chart.  They get to use a detective wand (aka: bubble wand) and a magical marker (aka:dry erase marker)!  They did really well working in groups!

This was a pretty challenging center but Alan flocked right on over to it and successfully completed it!  We have a special number word song that we sing every time we learn a new number.  I made sure to tell my students that they didn't have to match the number words if they didn't want to, but Alan was up for the challenge!

We discovered that the big G looks like it's curling up to show us his muscle!  We played I Spy with alphabet letters and some friends had to find the big G (muscles and all :) )!

We have been learning how to be excellent illustrators this week.  One of our lessons was all about how to draw a person.  The first picture is the one I modeled for the class.  We talked about using the appropriate colors for a person (not blue or purple).  We also talked about adding in some details like the sky, grass, trees, sun, etc.

Letters are everywhere and so are words!! Here we are learning how to stretch out sounds to make a word!

Kids Say the Darnest Things

So I just had to start off with this cute dialog that happened between me and a student during our greeting time.  I will just code name this student "social butterfly";)

Social Butterfly:  "Ms. Denise, I want to be just like you!"
Ms. Denise:          "That's nice, would you like to be a teacher?"
Social Butterfly:   "No, I just want everybody to listen to me!"

That was a total LOL moment for me!  Especially since it came from the "social butterfly" of the classroom!

First Week Skills Block

Well, we are almost at the end of the first week of school!! So far it has been fun and very busy.  The school day lasts an entire eight hours with no time for naps, but my cutie-pies are definite troopers!  I am so proud of how they were able to adjust to the rituals and routines within our long day! Here are some of the first week "skill block" activities (notice its all about fine motor skills):

Handwriting practice is a definite must; especially when it comes down to names!  I try to make sure everyone is able to write their own name within the first two weeks of school so I don't have to! ;)

There's something about a dry-erase marker that just makes writing so much fun!

 

Now this activity was so much fun, the kids had a blast!  This was completed whole group for skills block, but it will make an awesome center. 

For this activity we went on an "A" hunt and walked all around the room looking for a "momma A" and a "baby a" while singing this song (to the tune of were going on a bear hunt): 
We're going on an "A" hunt.  (We're going on an "A" hunt.)  We're going to find some letters.  (We're going to find some letters.)  A makes the /a/ sound.  (A makes the /a/ sound.)  Let's look around. (Let's look around.)
This activity really helps with letter identification.  It's much like a "Read the Room"  activity for pre-school.

Our delicious homemade sugar cookies!  The students stamped out the letters of the week.  So cute and tasty!

Let The Summer Begin!

I just finished my first year teaching Kindergarten and instead of taking a lovely summer break, I have decided to dive into summer VPK!  Kinda crazy huh?  Tomorrow will begin the first day of summer VPK and I am so EXCITED!  I can't wait to meet my little ones and get to know all of their cutie-pie personalities!