Summer Reading...I'm Linking

Join The Party!

I don't live to read, I read to live.  Seriously.
My alarm clock is set (during the school year)
to a time that gives me a half hour for reading.
During summer break, I will average a book every 2-3 days.  
The librarians at my local branch know me by name!
They also know what topics my kindergartners are studying,
by the stack of themed books which wait for me
on the checkout shelf.
Thank God for the library!
On my list this summer:

Buy it here.
See details regarding the book study at Mrs. Wills Kindergarten!

Buy it here.
She makes me laugh out loud!
I've met her and she is totally, authentically Jen.
UPDATE 7/5: Hurray, Jen, you have done it again!
I completely enjoyed this book--and you wrote about Rick Springfield, what more can a girl ask for?!

Buy it here.
This has been on my wish list for two summers.

Buy it here.
She is one of my favorite authors!

Friends

Friends uplift the soul

Sharing wisdom, laughter, smiles

Five computers, too.

(I have always liked Haiku!)

Smile

I am going to miss my bright, happy classroom!

The Dr. Seuss quote is one of my all-time favorites.  

That frame rests on my mantel, 

reminding me to remain in the moment 

and not mourn the days that have passed. 

(There is a mommy post, and another mommy post, 

in the last sentence!)

While navigating the crazy demands of the last few school days, 

I didn't think I'd cry in the final moments of kindergarten. 

But I did.

I read "Wave".  

In the final illustration, the little girl waves goodbye to the ocean.      

     I closed the book and calmly stated, 

"And now it is time for us to say goodbye."

Then I burst into tears. 

Quickly, I gathered the children into a circle 

for a final prayer and the friendship hand squeeze. 

The tears flowed again with 

"Dear God, thank you for my kindergartners!".

I knew I had prayed the bare minimum when my lil guy said,

"Wow.  That was short." 

My funny, chatty, dramatic, loving class of 2012 

will always have a place in my heart.

This group will be hard to top!  :-)

Summer....here I come!

May Days

Our last 17 days of school were jam-packed!

Mother's Day Gifts
(template for Tea Pot can be found HERE)

I wrote this poem for the children to copy.
Tea is quiet.
Tea is calm.
Tea says,
"I love you, mom!".

Self Portraits~Kindergarten Art

Write-The-Room
"treasure"/"pirate"
(Pirate's Gold! Literacy Stations by Lynda Morgart)

"Hungry Shark!" Poem Building
(OceanAnimals Math & Literacy Fun by Deanna Jump)

We built silly sentences!
(Thank you, Deedee!  Silly Sentences: A Sentence Building Activity by Deedee Wills)

Each week, the listening center held a new book for us to enjoy!

How many words can you find in
submarine?

This jar was filled with clean water.
To demonstrate the ravages of pollution on the environment, particularly rivers and ponds, 
we added bits of our trash
(and a few coffee grounds).
Can you see the plastic frog at the bottom of the jar?
Yuck!

Pete The Cat, one of our favorite book characters,
shared his new book with us.
He thinks subtraction is groovy!
Click the link to find products starring Pete.

Kindergarten Book Writing Pics-Set 1

Thanks to Deedee, Katie, and Meredith, I introduced book writing into my schedule.  This component has helped my students to see the standards of writing (the editing process was insightful for using capital letters and punctuation), the connections between text and illustrations, and the sequence of a story.  

The results have been delightful!

In their own words...(with my comments)

Book 1

Once upon a time there was a fairy came and a fairy castle and fairy princess came and a matser came in and say stop!
(Is that a fly, a fairy?  What are the green wavy lines?)

and then the matser said I love fairys
But now I Don't Love fairys!

then the master grow biger the fairys will be mine
(Is the building on fire?!)

then the fairy that was cool meat a boy
(I like the sunglasses and magic wand!)

Book 2

Once upon a time there comes a princess this master was not happy
(uh oh)

then the Princess came to a caste
(She is a singing princess--see the music notes?!)

Book 3

O No Sumtuin wit ron (something went wrong) a cat
saw lik (sounds like) a dog and a dog saws lik a cat

so a siuntist will fid it owt
(So a scientist will find it out)
(We've been learning the words with "ow".)

The siuntst fawd it out
(The scientist found it out)
(This was written by my lone boy....he is very logical!)

Book 4

Title Page:  the Dog
(During conferencing, we discussed adding her name to this page. )

the Dogs are happy at him
(Wouldn't you love having friends who cheered you one?!)

the pupuy was lust He loved His friends
(The puppy was lost.  He loved his friends.)
(This page prompted me to add a review of short vowel sounds to last week's lesson plans!)

the door was open
(cliffhanger ending)

If you stuck it out to the end, THANKS
for reading about my writers!

Frogs & Ice Cream

They go together, right?!  Well, maybe not in the real world, but we can make anything sympatico in kindergarten!

How cute are they?!
The inspiration came from Doodlebugs Teaching!

The girls added hair and adornments to their frogs.
You know, that's what they do.

Happiness!
Comprehension!

The creator wanted me to know that her frog is vomiting.
This is why the flies aren't neat little dots.

~Art Project~
Torn Paper Ice Cream Cones
Inspired by Artastic!

This project was a success for everyone.
It is now one of my favorites.

One more pic....
We made ladybugs during Insect Week.
We fed them our favorite foods!

Supermoon

Can we blame the fidgetiness, forgetfulness, weepiness, clumsiness, silliness, and general lack of focus on THIS?

I'm penciling this onto my weekend list of must-sees!

Plant A Seed