Building Blocks with Jacob

Jacob was my teacher helper today. Each of the girls had blocks on their desk. Jacob would show them a letter that could actually be made with rectangle blocks, and the girls would "build" their letter. After that, Jacob pointed to blend flashcards on the chalkboard, and the girls picked 2 blocks when they said the correct blend. They had fun building with their blocks at their desks!

Grim's Greenhouse

Today we went on a field trip to Grim's Greenhouse. There was definitely that crisp feeling in the air so it was the perfect day for this autumn adventure!

Here are the activities we got to do on this fun, fall field trip...

* We went on a hayride (minus the hay...it was more of a tractor/wagon ride! :-)).
* We walked around apple trees and learned about them.
* We saw ducks, chickens, turkeys, and goats.
* We picked our own pumpkin and apple.
* We enjoyed apple cider slushies.
* We played in corn.
* We played on hay bales.
* We went through a straw maze.
* We played in a HUGE sandbox.
* We went down a fun slide.

My girls and I waiting for our apple cider slushies.

The apple cider slushies were so yummy!

Sleeping on the bus = Successful field trip!

{Click here to see more pictures of our fun day!}

Kindergarten Class Pictures

Thanks to Elizabeth Roy Photography, we have some really cute class pictures this year!

Their unique expressions crack me up!

Love this one!!

Pizza Party!

Well, today I turned....older. In celebration, my girls and I had a pizza party. They have been excited about this day for quite some time! I could never tell if they were excited about my birthday, or just the fact that they would get to eat pizza. Either way, they definitely enjoyed themselves. :-) After this picture was taken, juice boxes, princess gummies, and goldfish were added to the mix.

My "Alumni" Teacher Helpers - Part 3

My most recent "alumni" Kindergarten students were my teacher helpers these past 2 weeks. They are now in 3rd grade, but Kindergarten days are still pretty fresh in their minds (and mine!).

Juliana hid chicks around the room that had certain letters on them. She would show one of the girls a letter flashcard, and they had to search around the room trying to find the chick which had the matching letter. Once all the chicks were found, the girls returned them to their mother hen, who was waiting quite anxiously on the chalkboard. :-) (That poor hen had quite the brood!!)

Leah did play dough letters with the girls. The girls LOVE working with play dough, so they definitely enjoyed forming their letters!

 

Grace did "salt writing" with the girls. She was a natural at this "teacher helper" stuff! I just let her do her thing. :-) She found different ways to do flashcards with the girls and made sure everyone had equal time writing their letters in the salt. Hmmmmm...I think I may see Kindergarten teacher in her future. :D

*Sigh* It feels like only yesterday that these girls were in my class...

Human Letters!

 

So could you tell which letters they were? :-)

Fire Safety Day

 

Today was pretty special! We got to meet some firemen, and see them get all dressed up in their fire gear. We learned about fire safety, and explored the big firetruck. However, the part the girls were most excited about was..... 

MEETING SMOKEY BEAR!!

Group Hug!!!!

 {Poor Smokey}

 As always, I took a lot of pictures, so if you want to see more pictures
CLICK HERE!

Letter Tumble with Anna

Anna was my teacher helper today. She played "Letter Tumble!" with the girls. 

She would toss the letters in the air...

The girls would "tumble" about trying to find the letters on the floor...

And then Anna helped them find where they belonged on the 4 alphabet cards on the table. (Two of the cards were the lowercase alphabet, and two cards were the uppercase alphabet)

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall...

During Phonics class today, we took a quick trip to the bathroom where there is a large mirror on the wall. The girls watched their mouths make the sounds of the letters we have learned. They figured out which letter sounds are "closed" and "open". Our mouths move in many different ways for different letter sounds! 

Our Vowel Song

 

Early Morning Smiles

 

My "Alumni" Teacher Helpers - Part 2

This week Abbi and Stephen were my teacher helpers. Hard to believe that my 2nd year students are now in 5th grade!

On Monday, Abbi did the letter review with the girls. When the girls shouted out the letter, they got to write it on the white board. The slide is always an incentive, so eventually that was entered into the rotation as well. It was special for Sarah to have Abbi down there because Abbi is her big sister!  

Today Stephen did the flashcard review with the girls. The desks were moved to the sides of the classroom, and the girls lined up down the middle. When it was their turn, they would shout out the correct letter, try to throw 3 balls in the other container, and then write the letter on the board.

How many different ways can you do a letter/number review? Stay tuned to find out! Having teacher helpers this year is great because it keeps my teacher brain thinking and "forces" me to find new ways to do letter/number review!

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Oh yes...just had to go back in time for a moment...