Kindergarten/5th Grade Buddies

The kindergarten has some very special friends on campus-- the 5th graders!  The first time we met, some of us were a little nervous because they looked so big.  But during journal time later, many were writing "I love (buddy's name)!"  We absolutely adore having a big buddy, and give them warm hugs whenever we see them around campus.  

Posted at 12:29 PM| Permalink

Week of October 15-19

From Mrs. Brooks: Thank you families for your thoughtful letters and pictures!  My husband and I were very touched by your support and well-wishes. Mr. Brooks visited the classroom today and brought a rose to thank all of the students for their kindness.

The beginning of this week was a whirlwind of preparation for the Inquiry Share on Wednesday.  Students reflected on all of their work learning about the human body these past two months.  We wrote and drew about what we had learned, talked about our favorite parts of the body, and spent time organizing and decorating the classroom. On Wednesday morning, the Kindergartners were thrilled to begin their human body museum with the song, "Mi Cuerpo" ("My Body" in Spanish).  Their favorite part was showing their grown-ups around the classroom and visiting the different body centers (especially the Respiratory System-- those balloons were a big hit!). Thank you families for taking time out of your busy day to visit our classroom. Your children did such a wonderful job as "docents" in our Human Body Museum!


Now that we have finished our inquiry unit on the human body, we will spend the next two weeks getting ready for Halloween!  We are looking forward to all the fun literacy and math activities that present themselves-- from acting out Halloween stories, to writing and drawing about costumes, to counting pumpkin seeds.  A note went home from the Ohana about Spooktivity on Wednesday, October 31, from 12:30-2:00. Please keep in mind the following guidelines:
No scary masks
No weapons
Your child should wear their MPI uniform to school and bring their costume to change into after lunch.  We will need some help dressing students, so please look for a volunteer request soon. All parents are welcome to join us for the costume parade starting at 12:30 (don't forget your camera!).

Posted at 8:45 AM| Permalink

Week of October 9-12

Both Kindergarten classes enjoyed the field trip to Aloun Farms on Wednesday.  Our visit included an educational talk about the farm (did you know pumpkin pie is made from the smaller pumpkins?), a hayride, and pumpkin picking!  We loved being able to pick our own pumpkins. 


One of the writing activities we did this week was drawing a picture for each letter of the alphabet.  There were 26 sheets of paper, each with a letter.  We randomly chose a sheet and drew a corresponding illustration.  For example, we drew "Hh for hammock" and "Oo for ox."  Then we gathered on the rug and put them in alphabetical order, like putting together a 19' long puzzle.  Later, we were excited to see that the teachers had hung them up on the wall.  We love to see our work decorating the classroom.

One activity that we did in math was to first get sixteen unifix cubes out of a big pile and put them on our counting mat.  Then we looked at different people's counting mats and recognized several ways of displaying sixteen.  For example, several students stacked all their unifix cubes like a stick.  RB lay all the unifix cubes out one by one on her mat in a row.  KF made four groups of four.  Other students had them grouped in two's.  Another had two sticks of eight unifix cubes each.  At first we weren't sure that all these ways equaled sixteen.  After we counted each student's cubes, however, we realized that there were many ways of showing sixteen!


On Friday, October 12, we had the privilege of attending a koto and shakuhachi concert at the University of Hawaii's East West Center.  The people who played were master musicians from Japan.  We were intrigued by the shakuhachi, a flute made of bamboo.  Its music made us feel like meditating.  The koto, a thirteen-stringed instrument, could make many different kinds of sounds, depending how the musician played it.  A lively song about a train made us want to dance in our seats.  Some of the adults knew the words to a traditional favorite, "Sakura."   We enjoyed walking to UH with our 5th grade buddies, who took good care of us.

Posted at 1:35 PM| Permalink

Field Trip Reminder

Both Kindergarten classes will be going to Aloun Farms on Wednesday, October 10.  Please make sure that your child wears long pants and sneakers so that his/her legs and feet are protected while walking through the fields.  The bus will be leaving at 8:00, so please make sure that your child is at school on time.  We will be back at school in time for lunch.  We are looking forward to a hayride and pumpkin picking!

Posted at 8:57 AM| Permalink

Inquiry Experts

In the last two weeks, our class has enjoyed presentations from a doctor and a dentist.  Last week, JM's dad (who is a gastroenterologist) and mom came and talked to us about the digestive system.  JM's dad brought a special scope that he uses to look down a patient's esophagus, and JM's mother made miniature digestive systems for us to  play with.  We saw real pictures of the esophagus, stomach, small intestines, and large intestines, and then we mashed up crackers, water, and oatmeal to push through the miniature digestive systems (balloons, baggies, and stockings!)  We learned how food travels through the esophagus, stomach, and intestines.  Thank you to JM's family for a great presentation!  On Wednesday, BH's mom (who is a dentist) visited our class to talk to us about teeth.  She brought dental health worksheets and goody bags for all the students, and shared x-rays and models of teeth with us.  We watched a video about cavities, and got to see how dentists use a special light to make tooth fillings hard.  We learned that teeth are not made out of bone and that bacteria eats the sugar that junk food leaves on our teeth.  Thank you to BH's mom for teaching us how to take care of our teeth!

Posted at 1:21 PM| Permalink