More about Robins...

Today we returned from "Spring Break". It was so good to see everyone and know that we missed one another. We began making a book about BIRDS. Can you guess which bird we put first in our books? Yes, the robin! Many of us have spotted them all over the neighborhood. We visited a web site by a lady named Julie Corsi. It's called The Robin's Nest. Ms. Corsi had the exciting honor of having a pair of robins build their nest right below her bedroom window. She could watch each day as the robins built their nest. Even more exciting was the fact that she was able to watch, day-by-day, the growth and development of baby robins, from egg to wings! Take a few minutes to enjoy all the photos and details she provides at "The Robin's Nest". Cornell Lab of Orinthology has a recording of the "song of the robin". It's pretty cool!

For our book we used images of robins to help us get the colors and backgrounds just "right". We followed a step-by-step method for drawing. Look for our images to appear here later in the week. In the meantime, you can learn to draw a robin (or similar birds) by following the directions in the video. You can choose to draw your bird on the computer using a program like Paint, or grab a paper and markers. Either way give it a go and have fun:

Young Artists...

We continue learning to work with the Paint program. We are learning to control the mouse to create more detailed drawings and works of art. We welcome any contributions to showcase in our "Art Gallery". Feel free to use whatever drawing program you have availble to create your works of art. Save your work as a "JPG" file and send it to us. If you don't have access to a computer or prefer to draw with markers on paper, you can take a digital photo of your work and send it. We already have a contribution from Issac of Oregon. Thanks!

Music Makers: Tappin' Tunes with Tubes...

Last week in Music Class, Miss Ellis gave us plastic tubes to tap out rhythms. She had us follow her movements to familiar tunes. Take a peek at what fun we had:

Writing in Kindergarten...

We are becoming such good writers. We are learning to use what we know about letters and sounds to help us write. At this point, our goal is not to spell every, single, word correctly. It is to get our ideas down on paper. To some, our writing may be hard to read. When you read our writing you may find it helpful to think of "Vanity Plates" on cars. Not every letter is included, but you can begin to make out the words. We also know our pictures need to match our words. We are also learning that good writers add details to their work. Writing is fun! Take a look at some writers from our P.M. Class:

Spring is Here at Last....

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring! We couldn't be more ready for it too! This has been a long, cold, ...very cold, Winter. In our area of Illinois, one of the first signs of Spring is the return of the robins. They have been away all Winter long and are coming back to build nests and start new families. We are all on the lookout for robins and other signs that Spring is here at last! If you haven't seen a robin in a while, here's a quick reminder of how they look. Their eggs are a beautiful shade of blue. The male robins have the beautiful orange chest, the females are more dull in color. What are some of the "Signs of Spring" where you live?

Counting 10 to 20...

We have been working on counting; not just saying the numbers in order, but also understanding and representing them. Some numbers are easier than others to read, count and understand. Just like some parents with teenagers, for some of us, the "teens" are a challenge. The numbers don't really seem to make sense. For instance, if we see the number 34, we can easily read it as thirty-four. Numbers like 17 or 13 are not as easy to read, count and remember.
We worked with partners to choose a "teen" number to count out. We included 10, 11, 12, and 20 because they help show the pattern for counting the teens. We gathered things from our room to show the numbers we picked. We grouped our things by tens and ones to help see the place value of the numbers. Maybe this video will help if you too find the "teens" a bit challenging. ;-)

Counting Books...

We are learning to count in different languages, but this is a fun book on how to count in English. Read and enjoy:
(note: for a larger version of the book, click on the eyeballs)

Here's a book on counting backwards:

You can visit the LookyBook web site for more fun books to read online or purchase. What's your favorite counting book?

Learning to Count in Polish...

We have such wonderful diversity in our Kindergarten class. After seeing projects created at "Voices of the World" and at "Brain Waves we were inspired to create! There are several children who are Bi-lingual. We love to learn new things and to learn from each other. Our friends who speak Polish have helped put together a video to teach us how to count from 1 to 10 in Polish. Alexandra did a fantastic job of saying each word, first in English then in Polish. Adrian and Kamil helped gather the pictures we needed. Together we created this teaching video. Watch it and learn along with us:

Please check back soon for more Bi-Lingual lessons!

More Fun with Symmetry...

We watched a video from United Streaming about "Line Symmetry". The man in the video showed us how we can use our hands to make symmetrical designs. We thought it would be fun to give it a try. Cristina, Sunny, David and Giuliana, went around the class and took pictures of kids making designs with their hands. Some of us are pretty good at it, some of us still need a little practice. ;-) See what you can do with your hands. Maybe someone can take a picture and you can send it to us. We would love to add it to our show. Or maybe you can find other ways to show us what you know about symmetry.

We're Back..at the Mac....

We had a great turn out for the McDonald's No-Cook Night. It was nice to see so many Spring Trail families come out to support our school. Despite the cold weather, the Shamrock shakes seemed to be a BIG hit!

Symmetrical Artwork...

We continue to learn about line symmetry. We drew pictures with black marker pens. Mrs. Blakely took our drawing and used the copy machine to make the reverse image. We used colored pencils to color both pages so they would be symmetrical. Don't our pictures look nice?

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