When Kindergarten is learning all about spring animals and oviparous animals, we spend a lot of time getting our hands messy and getting to experience the strength, fragility, and even the gooeyness of eggs! 
    Over the week, we read about different types of oviparous animals, wrote about which one we would like for a pet, and even hatched our own eggs (with different plastic animals inside) The squeals of excitement and anticipation as the eggs were "hatching" were such a joy to see. The joy of learning is ever present in this group of Kinders! 
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To celebrate just how easy short vowels are for us now, we decided to spend an afternoon fixing some CVC words! Before we could operate, we grabbed our doctor coats, our patient's files and our tweezers! From there, we worked our hardest to make sure that our patients were carefully fixed and taken care of. We double checked our work and made sure that each patient's "surgery" went well!

At the end of our time in the Kindergarten Hospital, I had more than one Kinder ask "When do we get to do this again??" We had such a blast with our Vowel Surgery and it really showed just how far we have come!!

In the first few weeks of January, the Kindergartners have been busy learning all about Arctic animals and the chilly season of winter! We sang poems, learned several fun facts, read several books, and even made a few crafts celebrating these animals and the weather. 

   One thing that we learned was that Arctic animals like polar bears and walruses have blubber that helps keep them warm. We compared it to us wearing a giant snowsuit! In order to test this fact, we decided to do a little science experiment! We used our very own "blubber gloves" and put it to test! 
 
 On a chilly Friday afternoon, our room was filled with even more giggles, squeals, and amazement than we usually have! It turns out that blubber really does help us stay warmer!
After staying nice and warm with our "blubber gloves", we decided to embrace the winter weather and also get a little chilly. We decided to borrow Ms. Maupin's art room one afternoon and make our very own "snow!" It was a little bit messy but we discovered that we could make our very own snow indoors!

​The first thing is our books!

Over the course of the year, we will be adding additional things into our book bags, but this is what we are starting with! There are also "witch's fingers" to help with tracking and next week there will be some small "stretchy snakes" added to the book bags to help with stretching out words. In about a month, students will be able to start bringing home another "just right" book to read in addition to their guided reading book. We are first practicing taking care of this one and will go from there! Thank you so much for also making sure that you Kinder brings their book bag back to school! I've been so impressed that everyone is remembering them! I hope that you are enjoying the book bags as much as the Kinders!

I cannot believe that it is 2016 and we have already had 4 months of school! With all the things that we have had going on in Kindergarten this year, I thought that it would be best to celebrate some of the things that we have discovered this year. I give you...the top 7 things that we have learned this year in Kindergarten! 

1. We discovered that not only can we write our letters and small words...we are also real authors! We are spending our time in Writer's Workshop writing sentences, stories, letters, notes, and even instructions. It is our time to be creative, inventive, and practice everything that we have learned! We even get to share our work with our class!

2. We have learned just how special and fantastic our 8th grade buddies are! They help us in Mass, read with us, wrap presents with us, and we even get to do a science experiment with them every now and then!

3. We learned that sometimes things get a bit messy in Kindergarten...especially when you're doing science experiments! Whether we're making hypotheses about pumpkins or exploding apples, sometimes things get a bit messy.

4. We've discovered that math is done with more than just a pencil and paper. Sometimes we learn the best when we are using marshmallows, pattern blocks, and even our friends!

5. We have learned that being a bucket filler can help our bucket get full! Being kind, helping each other, and following directions is so much easier when our buckets are full! Once they are full, when can spread our joy and excitement all over NDA!

6. We love books! We have learned SO much about words, letters, and books. We are quickly becoming readers and are so proud of ourselves!

7. And lastly...we've learned just how special we all are! We have found out that sometimes it helps to have a friend there to help you. Our class is full of eager, excited learners who are always ready to discover something new.

2016 is off to such a wonderful start! We are learning about our new book bags, remembering our school routine, and reading real books now! ​

 We have had such a busy first month in Kindergarten!
​    We have mastered several new letters, sight words, and the routine of our day! We have had the chance to make water fireworks, "explode" apples, and build a pathway avoid different obstacles. 
   We have discovered that we are not just Kindergartners. We are authors, readers, illustrators, mathematicians, engineers, and scientists. 

Here is a glimpse at our first weeks in Kindergarten! We have learned so much and there is so much more to come!
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Hello New Kindergarten Families!!
 Welcome to our Kindergarten website, which will soon be full of smiling faces, groups pictures, updates on our school day, and a few stories. 
   Throughout the school year, please feel free to contact me. You can e-mail me at hkeenan AT nda-mn.org or you can always schedule a meeting before or after school. We have had such a spectacular first week of school and I am looking forward to watching this group of Kinders blossom as the year progresses!