Fun In France

 
 
Last Friday was an incredibly fun day of learning about our country of study, France. Lee Hall remains decorated as a replica of this beautiful country. We began the day with an opening ceremony which featured a performance by the Columbia Marionette Theater. The marionette puppets told the French tale of  Rumpelstiltskin. The kindergarteners were treated to several foods that are traditionally served in France. We participated in a variety of projects throughout the day such as making chef hats, constructing stain glass windows of Notre Dame and playing the popular French game of lawn bowling.  The finale of the day was given by Mr. Mancke. He exhibited the science of hot air balloons often used in France.

What a treat! It was a great day, and we thank Mrs. Sarah Meacham, Mrs. Katie Eaddy, and the terrific volunteers for making this special learning experience possible.

 

 

Sight Word Study February 24- March 2

about, number, other, time, word

 

 

Marvelous Math

Be sure to ask your kindergartener how much the penny, nickel, dime and quarter are worth. Practice counting nickels by 5's and dimes by 10's to make a dollar! Below you will find the Dollar Poem that we are currently practicing. See if your child can recite all of the coin poems that we have studied.

 

 

Dollar Poem

Chorus:

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters

 

My sweetie knows a song.

It's really kind of funny.

It's all about coins-

And learning about money.

 

Repeat Chorus:

 

Now a penny means 1. (Point 1)

And a nickel means 5. (Flash 5)

Dimes are worth 10. (Show 10)

And quarters 25. (Flash hands to show 25)

 

Repeat Chorus

 

Five pennies in a nickel,

Two nickels in a dime,

Five nickels in a quarter,

You'll know it every time.

 

Repeat Chorus

 

Put them all together.

Loosen up your collar.

Four quarters makes a dollar.

Now let me hear your holler!

 

Welcome Back!

We hope that everyone had a fun, relaxing Winter Break. We have enjoyed listening to the many adventures your kindergarteners experienced with their families. We all had a wonderful time celebrating Valentine's Day last week. A great big thank you for all of the delicious treats!

Focus On France

This week, we are excited about exploring our country of study, France. The Lower School is being transformed into this beautiful country. Our Country Day of Study will be celebrated this Friday, February 20th. The kiva will be busy helping with this day.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT EACH STUDENT NEEDS TO BRING A COMPLETE LUNCH FROM HOME WITH NO HEATUPS.

Thanks for your help with this!

Word Study February 17-23

We will review all sight words studied so far. Kindergarteners are getting really good at reading the words off of the blue and purple cards. Now that they can recall these words, we encourage you to practice reading them on different types of media (i.e. magazines, newspapers) and in different fonts. We also suggest reinforcement in writing them in complete sentences. Complete sentence writing can be a challenge so start with simple sentences then add detail and describing words.

Sensational Science

As we wrapped up our study of the polar regions, each of the kindergarten classes participated in a "blubber" experiment. We felt ice cold water with our human hands ---BRRRR...
Then we wore a glove of blubber to note the difference in the way our hand felt in the same frigid water. Ask your child what they discovered.

Valentine's Day!

Celebrate!

We will enjoy celebrating Valentine's Day tomorrow, Wednesday February 11th.
 Please send your child's valentine cards to school tomorrow morning.

We hope that you enjoy the Winter Break with your family, and we will look forward to seeing you back at school on Tuesday, February 17th!

February Fun!

 February Is Here!

Yesterday, the ground hog predicted six more weeks of winter! Kindergarteners are excited and hopeful some winter precipitation will make it to Columbia, SC. The children enjoyed learning all about the non-fiction facts about the hibernating groundhog and the fiction stories that have been created around Groundhog's Day.

 In Writer's Workshop we are using our gained knowledge of the animals that live in the polar regions to create non-fiction books. This is always a favorite genre!

 Valentine's Day!

We will celebrate Valentine's Day next Wednesday, February 11th.
 In preparing for this special occasion, you will find enclosed in this week's Tuesday envelope a list of the children in your child's class. This will help your child in addressing valentine cards to his/her classmates. To avoid hurt feelings, we ask that you limit valentine cards to your child's homeroom class only. All kindergarteners are expected to sign their own name and write their classmate's name on each valentine card. Please be aware that this project can be a challenge for five and six year olds. You may find that it works well to start several days ahead and doo a few each day rather than tackle it all in one sitting. 
 Please send in completed Valentines next Wednesday, February 11th.
Have fun helping your child get ready for this exciting day!

 

Sight Word Study February 3-11

him, how, make, many, more, were

Marvelous Math

Kindergarteners are learning about equal parts and parts of a whole. This means having the same portion, piece, or segment of a whole.
 

You can help reinforce this skill at home when slicing an apple into equal portions, or serving pizza for dinner. Let your kindergartener help to make equal parts. It is always fun to eat and learn.

Me And My World

Which Pole Has Which Animal?

The kindergarten classes now have a better understanding of where we are on the map in relation to our favorite polar animal friends. Through a variety of cross-curricula activities we have located the North Pole and the South Pole on the globe as well as learned which polar animals live at each of these locations. Be sure to ask your kindergartener who lives where? Below you will find a link to one of our favorite songs used during our investigating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF01mBSB8rY

 

Sight Word Study - January 27- February 3

your, so, all, if, or, her

Marvelous Math --- The Quarter Is Here!

Now that Quarter Wars have begun in the Lower School to raise money for Hammond's Stop Hunger Now! packaging event, kindergarteners are so thrilled to learn all about the quarter. Since we have studied the penny, nickel, and dime, we are encouraging our  students to earn quarters at home by lending a helping hand around the house so that they can donate to their grade level collection of Quarter Wars, but more importantly, purchase meals for hungry people all over the world. This is an excellent service project for the students, making connections between the classroom and the outside world.

Below you will find the Quarter poem.
See if your child can recite this
and the other coin poems previously learned.

Quarter Poem

 

Quarter, quarter

Big and bold.

You're worth twenty-five

I am told.

 

More January Fun!

Where Is The Snow?

Kindergarteners are becoming terrific meteorologists as we check out the weather and watch the temperature drop, sometimes below freezing! We continue to hope for snow......maybe it will happen before January is over?? Keep thinking those snow filled thoughts!

Sight Word Study January 20-26

has, will, some, but, not, out

Please continue to practice reading and writing both the blue and purple set of sight words in sentences and stories. The kindergarteners are doing a great job of filling their alphabet word wall.

Exploration of the Earth's Poles

Kindergarteners have investigated and discovered where the Earth's poles are located. In addition, they are learning all about which animals make their homes at which pole.

Be sure to ask your kindergartener where the penguins live. We will dive deeper with these fascinating birds and study the different species and how they are alike and different.

Brrr!!! It's Cold Outside!

All Snowflakes Are Different Just Like You and Me!

Kindergarteners have enjoyed the cold weather we've had. Each day we have learned more and more on exactly how a snowflake is uniquely made and how to assemble a snowman. We  continue to cross our fingers and wish for real snow right here in Columbia! Below you can see just how prepared we are! 

What does a snowman do at night?

Creating snowflakes using pattern blocks. Math fun!

Oh no! My snowman is melting!

Unique snowflakes!

South Carolina Is Our State

In Social Studies we have expanded our view to our great state, South Carolina. We have enjoyed learning that our capital is our city, Columbia, along with some state symbols and how to make our state flag.

The Kindergarten State Flag

Sight Word Study January 13-20

Purple set-
an, by, had, into, no, up

Science News

We are looking forward to learning about the polar regions of our world. We will explore the variety of animals indigenous to both the northern and southern polar regions.

If you ever see a polar bear and a penguin together......

It's a fantasy!!