Family Learning Activities, 2/25-2/29
- Collect and
bring in books, posters, handouts, etc. that may help us with our Space
inquiry. All items will be returned to you at the end of our inquiry.
- Read a book
about space with someone in your family.
- Write a creative
story about space. (You could be an astronaut and write about what you
see in space. You could imagine that a planet is alive and write about
what it’s like to be a planet.) Share your story with the class.
- Surf the web
with a parent for appropriate “space” websites that we could enjoy as a
class. It might be a resource for information, or it might be games we
could play during Centers.
- Measure and
record items in your house. A unit of measure can be anything you have in
your house – paperclips, pennies, DVD cases.
- In preparation
for our visit to the book fair on Friday, make a wish list of books you’d
like to purchase and bring it in to school.
Posted at 9:50 AM| Permalink
Space Inquiry Share, date changed
Aloha, Families. We need to change the date for our inquiry share to Friday, March 7, at 1:00. You may take your children home with you after the sharing, or you may return for them in autoline or after-school care, as usual. If you are leaving right after the sharing, you will need to leave the turn-around/parking lot by 1:50 p.m. To ensure that everyone is able to leave before the preschool autoline rush, we will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. See you then!Posted at 9:19 AM| Permalink
Family Learning Activities, 2/18-2/22
- Collect and bring in books, posters, handouts, etc. that may help us with our Space inquiry. All items will be returned to you at the end of our inquiry.
- Read a book about space with someone in your family.
- Write a creative story about space. (You could be an astronaut and write about what you see in space. You could imagine that a planet is alive and write about what it’s like to be a planet.) Share your story with the class.
- Surf the web with a parent for appropriate “space” websites that we could enjoy as a class. It might be a resource for information, or it might be games we could play during Centers.
- Gathering some inspiration from our Starlab visit, create your own constellation using any media/materials you wish. It can be one that we’ve seen, or it can be one out of your own imagination. If it is of your own design, be sure to give it a name.
Posted at 9:24 AM| Permalink
Happy Presidents’ Day!
Last week we enjoyed some fun Valentine’s Day activities. First we played Pin-the-Heart (nose) on the dog. Our 5th-grade buddies came to join us and then stayed for a game of HEART Bingo. Later on in the day, we did a little Valentine’s Day math and graphed all the hearts that we used to play Bingo. The students from Japan visited our classroom during these activities and played a game with the kids. They had several colored squares which were disguising different animals. They sang a song about the square and then asked for guesses from the children. They also gave hints to help. It was a lot of fun!
Jump Rope for Heart on Friday was excellent – tiring, but lots of fun! We got to jump in a group with 1/2 multiage, 3/4 multiage, and 5th-grade students (our buddies!). Each group rotated through different stations – short rope, hoops and twisters, jump bands, long ropes, break, and bathroom/water. After every group went through every station, students were invited to perform skills or routines in front of the school. Kudos to our very own GK, KF, and DJ who bravely shared hula hoop and jump rope skills! It’s too bad we didn’t have a video camera!
On Thursday morning, the preschool and Kindergarten classes are going to Kahala Mall to visit our own preschool and Kindergarten art show. The paintings will be displayed at Kahala Mall through the end of this week. Take your family and enjoy the artistic self-portrait creations of our preschool and Kindergarten students. In the afternoon, we will visit the Starlab from Bishop Museum, which will be set up at our gym.
Our SmartBoard is installed! We christened it with a Magic School Bus – A Space Adventure DVD. Teachers will be exploring websites for the SmartBoard to learn how to best utilize this new technology in our classroom. What a fantastic learning tool! It will be a great way to share space websites with the entire class, too. Thank you to the families who sent website links to us!
Our space inquiry unit is coming to an end. We are finding the elusive answers to those last few questions, and we’ve begun to prepare for an inquiry share with parents. Mark Friday, February 29, 1:00 p.m. on your calendars! (Yes, it’s a leap year.)
If you have any recyclable items we can use in our art center, please send them with your child. Items need to be stored on a shelf in our classroom, so please, no bulky items. Suggested items include paper towel/toilet paper rolls, styrofoam pieces, and fabric/wallpaper squares. Thank you!
Everyone looks forward to the Guest Reader on Friday afternoons. If you are interested in coming into the classroom to read to the children, please contact Sabrina Ako.
Parent volunteers are such a help and blessing to us, especially when projects arise. If you are able to volunteer your time (no skill or experience needed, training provided), please contact Sabrina Ako.
The new set of Family Learning Activities has also been posted. Some items have been removed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go back to them and complete the activity. Remember, these activities are optional; please enjoy them as your family’s schedule and available time will allow.
This is the second week of our Students-of-the-Week bulletin board! This week’s students are EC and IC. After hearing the students share, it’s fun to see what we have in common with them. Often it’s a common sport or hobby (e.g., soccer, beading), but sometimes it’s a personality trait (e.g., funny). SC is the next student to be showcased; please bring in things you would like to share about yourself. Everything needs to be able to hang on a bulletin board. Parent volunteers or teachers will assemble the board this Wednesday.
The following dates show when the new bulletin boards will be assembled for display. The initials of the Students-of-the-Week are listed after each date.
2/20 – SC (Items may be brought in from 2/13)
2/27 – JD, KF (Items may be brought in from 2/20)
3/12 – AG, ZH (Items may be brought in from 3/5)
4/9 – BH, DJ (Items may be brought in from 4/2)
4/16 – RJ, GK (Items may be brought in from 4/9)
4/23 – JM, TS (Items may be brought in from 4/16)
4/30 – LY, WC (Items may be brought in from 4/23)
Posted at 9:19 AM| Permalink
Family Learning Activities, 2/11-2/15
- Collect and
bring in books, posters, handouts, etc. that may help us with our Space
inquiry. All items will be returned to you at the end of our inquiry.
- Read a book
about space with someone in your family.
- Write a creative
story about space. (You could be an astronaut and write about what you
see in space. You could imagine that a planet is alive and write about
what it’s like to be a planet.) Share your story with the class.
- Surf the web
with a parent for appropriate “space” websites that we could enjoy as a
class. It might be a resource for information, or it might be games we
could play during Centers.
- Read a
Valentine’s Day book with someone in your family.
- For Valentine’s
Day, create or sign your name to cards for your Room 6 friends. Be sure to
personalize each card with each friend’s name.
- Create a
February family art project to display in the classroom all month. The
theme can be a special day or holiday in February (e.g., Valentine’s Day,
Presidents’ Day, someone’s birthday).
- Find as many
different words as you can in the words “Happy Valentine's Day.” Write them on the
sheet of paper in your folder.
- Practice your
jump rope skills for Jump Rope for Heart on Friday.
Posted at 9:46 AM| Permalink
It’s a busy week!
Today we went to Manoa Senior Care with our 5th-grade buddies. Last week we made Valentine’s Day cards together, and we
gave them to our Senior buddies. They enjoyed the cards and our company. We
hope that we will be able to visit them again soon.
We also went to UH to hear Dr. Petersen speak about space.
Since we’ve been answering some of our initial inquiry questions, we
brainstormed two new questions to ask Dr. Petersen. It was fun walking to UH!
Thank God for the sunny, yet cool, weather! Dr. Petersen showed us a video of
the Mars Rover landing, and he answered some of our questions.
On Thursday, students from a community college in Japan will
be visiting the preschool and Kindergarten classrooms. They are interested in
learning more about early childhood education. We are excited to have them
visit and see what our Kindergarten classes are like! Besides our regular
morning meeting, math, and inquiry, we will be doing a couple of fun
Valentine’s Day activities, but shhh! Don’t tell the kids!
On Friday, we will participate in Jump Rope for Heart.
Our SmartBoard is almost completely installed! We will be
exploring websites for the SmartBoard to learn how to best utilize this new
technology in our classroom. What a fantastic learning tool! It will be a great
way to share space websites with the entire class, too.
Last week we began a new math unit on measuring. You
received a letter explaining the kinds of activities we will be doing as we
learn about measurement. This week we will measure our classmates’ shoes using
craft sticks and cubes, and we will compare shoe lengths. We will also measure
different things in the classroom.
Last week Monday, we celebrated RJ’s birthday with two
birthday books and malasadas. Aloha is . . ., by Tammy Paikai, and Going
to the Zoo in Hawaii, by Mora Ebie, have been added to our classroom
library. Thank you so much to RJ and his family!
On Thursday of last week, we got to see a lion dance! We
were so excited to give our red envelopes to the hungry lions. We were
impressed with each lion’s color (two yellow, one white) and beautiful
decorations. Earlier in the week, we made predictions about how many people are
in a lion (2, 4, 6, 10) and what kind of instruments we would hear (drums,
cymbals, tuba, bells, gong, tambourine). We found out that two people were in
each lion, and we heard drums, cymbals, and a gong.
Thank you to Maria C. for coming in to share about Chinese
New Year! We learned that fresh flowers symbolize a fresh start, tangerines are
for good luck, and gau symbolizes becoming better and bigger. We heard a story
about the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Each child received a red envelope
and dumplings and milk candy for a snack. Everyone also made his/her own paper
bag dragon puppet! It was a fun afternoon!
Congratulations to the Flores family! Welcome to baby B!
Check out the Kindergarten gallery for more photos!
If you have any recyclable items we can use in our art
center, please send them with your child. Items need to be stored on a shelf in
our classroom, so please, no bulky items. Suggested items include paper
towel/toilet paper rolls, styrofoam pieces, and fabric/wallpaper squares. Thank
you!
Everyone
looks forward to the Guest Reader on
Friday afternoons. If you are interested in coming into the classroom to read
to the children, please contact Sabrina Ako.
Parent
volunteers are such a help and blessing
to us, especially when projects arise. If you are able to volunteer your time
(no skill or experience needed, training provided), please contact Sabrina Ako.
The
new set of Family Learning Activities
has also been posted. Some items have been removed, but that doesn’t mean you
can’t go back to them and complete the activity. Remember, these activities are
optional; please enjoy them as your family’s schedule and available time will
allow.
We
have started our Students-of-the-Week
bulletin boards! This week’s students are GA and RB. Please bring in things you
would like to share about yourself. Everything needs to be able to hang on a
bulletin board. Parent volunteers or teachers will help you assemble the board
this Wednesday. Either on Thursday or Friday, you will have a chance to share
about yourself.
The
following dates show when the new bulletin boards will be assembled for
display. The initials of the Students-of-the-Week are listed after each date.
2/13
– EC, IC (Items may be brought in from 2/6)
2/20
– SC (Items may be brought in from 2/13)
2/27
– JD, KF (Items may be brought in from 2/20)
3/12
– AG, ZH (Items may be brought in from 3/5)
4/9
– BH, DJ (Items may be brought in from 4/2)
4/16
– RJ, GK (Items may be brought in from 4/9)
4/23
– JM, TS (Items may be brought in from 4/16)
Posted at 9:45 AM| Permalink
Family Learning Activities, 2/4-2/8
- Collect and bring in books, posters, handouts, etc. that can help us with our Solar System inquiry. All items will be returned to you at the end of our inquiry.
- Read a book about the solar system with someone in your family.
- Write a creative story about the solar system. (You could be an astronaut and write about what you see in space. You could imagine that a planet is alive and write about what it’s like to be a planet.) Share your story with the class.
- Surf the web with a parent for appropriate “space” websites that we could enjoy as a class. It might be a resource for information, or it might be games we could play during Centers.
- Practice writing your first and last name plus ten other words of your choice. Bring in your list to post next to the Word Wall.
- Practice different ways of counting to 100 - by 2, 4 (YIKES!), 5, 10, 25.
- For Valentine’s Day, create or sign your name to cards for your Room 6 friends. Be sure to personalize each card with each friend’s name.
- Create a Valentine’s Day art project to display in the classroom.
Posted at 10:15 AM| Permalink
Mahalo!
Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend our Open House last week Monday. It was wonderful meeting you all again and sharing with you a little bit of the math and writing we do in Kindergarten. If you have questions or would like to share something about your child with the teachers, please feel free to email, call, or stop by at any time.
Thank you to all the parents who helped out with our 100th Day celebration – JM’s mom, RB’s mom, GK’s dad and grandma, ZH’s mom, JD’s mom, IC’s dad, RJ’s mom, SC’s parents, and AG’s mom.
Everyone had a great time, despite the rainy and windy
weather! The next day, the children shared about their favorite 100 Day
activity. Tasty Tidbits was a favorite, but everyone said that they enjoyed all
the activities. We also enjoyed sharing the 100 day projects that were brought
in – 100 beads glued into 100!, a picture made with 100 butterfly and ladybug
stickers, a solar system decorated with 100 stars, a pillow with “love” sewed
with 100 stitches, and a picture made with 100 hearts (stickers and drawings).
We continue to read about space and write and draw facts we
learn. Last week we did a mid-point check to see what everyone has been
learning. We also checked to see if all of our inquiry questions are being
answered. About half the class has found the answers to their questions, so we
still have more research to do. Hopefully our Smartboard will be up and running
soon so we’ll be able to search the web together. We will be taking a field
trip to UH next Monday, 2/11. Dr. Petersen, a professor of astronomy, will
speak to us about the solar system. Hopefully he will be able to answer more of
our questions.
We’re finishing up our unit on patterns by practicing
breaking up patterns that a partner creates. The part of a pattern that repeats
is called the unit (or car, as we talk about pattern trains). We will begin measurement with the next unit.
This is the last week we will be having rest time. While we
are having rest time this week, it will be shortened to incorporate more
learning time.
If you have any recyclable items we can use in our art
center, please send them with your child. Items need to be stored on a shelf in
our classroom, so please, no bulky items. Suggested items include paper
towel/toilet paper rolls, styrofoam pieces, and fabric/wallpaper squares. Thank
you!
Everyone
looks forward to the Guest Reader on
Friday afternoons. If you are interested in coming into the classroom to read
to the children, please contact Sabrina Ako.
Parent
volunteers are such a help and blessing
to us, especially when projects arise. If you are able to volunteer your time
(no skill or experience needed, training provided), please contact Sabrina Ako.
The
new set of Family Learning Activities
has also been posted. Some items have been removed, but that doesn’t mean you
can’t go back to them and complete the activity. Remember, these activities are
optional; please enjoy them, as your family’s schedule and available time will
allow.
We have
started our Students-of-the-Week
bulletin boards! This week’s students are GA and RB. Please bring in things you
would like to share about yourself. Everything needs to be able to hang on a
bulletin board. Parent volunteers or teachers will help you assemble the board
this Wednesday. Either on Thursday or Friday, you will have a chance to share
about yourself.
The
following dates show when the new bulletin boards will be assembled for
display. The initials of the Students-of-the-Week are listed after each date.
2/6
– GA, RB (Items may be brought in from 1/30)
2/13
– EC, IC (Items may be brought in from 2/6)
2/20
– SC (Items may be brought in from 2/13)
2/27
– JD, KF (Items may be brought in from 2/20)
3/12
– AG, ZH (Items may be brought in from 3/5)
4/9
– BH, DJ (Items may be brought in from 4/2)
4/16
– RJ, GK (Items may be brought in from 4/9)
4/23
– JM, TS (Items may be brought in from 4/16)
4/30
– LY, WC (Items may be brought in from 4/23)
Posted at 10:14 AM| Permalink