Authors & Yearbooks!

Today we were very fortunate to have a young author come and share his book with the kindergarten classes. Kyle Harper, a student at Yough Intermediate School recently published his own book.

 

 This creative story really entertained the students and also showed them how they themselves are capable of anything. Kyle attended Mendon elementary only a few year ago! Congratulations Kyle and thank you for showing our little ones how possible it is do accomplish anything!

Also, here are a few pictures of our classroom signing yearbooks. We had a small yearbook signing party and it was the perfect way to get a little extra practice writing our first and last names!

 

Last Name Summer Kites

 

For this weeks art activity we made kites! Since summer is just around the corner this seemed like the perfect idea.

 

First, the students got the base of their kites. Each table was instructed to come up and pick out shapes. They had a challenge to put the shapes together on their kite with at least one side touching. Some of the students chose to make every side touch which was really a tough task. After they had their shapes glued down they trimmed any pieces that were hanging over.

 

Next, the students had to count out the letters in their last name and pick that many bows and circles. They glued the circles on to the bows and printed the letters of their last name on their. Last they put the letters in ordered and taped them to a kite tail (we used string).

 

They turned out very nice. 

Dinosaurs, Cavemen, and Underpants............. Oh My!!!

Dinosaurs Love Underpants

Last week we read a very entertaining story titled "Dinosaurs Love Underpants." The students absolutely loved this story. The book tell us of a very unique and funny theory for why all of the dinosaurs became extinct millions of years ago. 

If you have not read this great story I suggest you pick up a copy for your Dinosaur Unit!

 

After reading the story my Kinders we could not resist making our own Dinos in Underpants!

 

I drew up two different dinos, a T-rex and Triceratops, and let the students choose between the two. I will be uploading the template soon as a freebie! 

After the students decorated their dinos they had the challenge of cutting them out. This helped them practice some fine motor skills. Next, they had four different types of underpants to choose from that I found on the internet and enlarged. I can not begin to tell you how much fun they had decorating and creating these.

The final product was hilarious and we displayed them proudly in the hall!

Last, we talked about the story setting, characters, and conflict and wrote a few simple sentences. My class voted and gave this story 5 starts!!!!

Carnegie Museum of Natural Science

Hello Everyone!

This past Friday the entire Kindergarten in our district had the opportunity to travel into the city and visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural Science. For those of you who are not from Pittsburgh, or have never had the pleasure of visiting this museum, it is filled with many exciting exhibits. Since the Kindergarten has been studying dinosaurs the past couple of weeks they were very excited to explore the many dinosaur areas. 

We started off the day at school by packing our lunches and meeting with our group leader. I was very lucky to have three wonderful chaperones (Thanks Miss D, Mrs. Medzger, and Mr. Gates!!!) and each one had only four students to explore with. 

Next, we headed off to the big city! Once we arrived at the museum we took a quick break for lunch and then we were off to explore wherever we desired.

Some groups chose to study the snake tanks.

 While other kiddos thought looking at the Scorpions and Crawfish were the way to go!

These two girls loved looking at how tall some animals are!

This group took a hands on approach acting out what dinosaur life was like.

My groups favorite part of the museum was the insects. They have an entire wall full of them and one little boy was even able to spot the Goliath Beetle that we had learned about a few weeks prior to our visit.

After the groups had some time to explore, we all met up to do a group tour. The museum offers a nice tour to take the students around and teach them more in depth about the different parts of the museum as well as some of the history behind the specific dinosaurs.

 First, they learned about the different types of plants that lived millions of years ago. 

 

Next, the students took a look at some fossils that resemble our alligators and crocodiles of today. After taking a look at their huge mouths the stidents were challenged to open their mouth just as wide. It gave everyone quite a laugh!

 

Our tour guide Sally taught the kiddos how dinosaur bones sink into the ground and the process of their recovery millions of years later by paleontologists.  She was very impressed when a few of the kiddos already knew the name for paleontologist. That made me one very proud teacher!

Next, we spent the most time in the dinosaur room. We were lucky enough to see many complete dinosaur skeletons. They have quite a few and they are very impressive to see the dinosaurs in their actual size. Although we have talked about the size in class, seeing them in real life really put their size in perspective.

Last, we took a look at the underwater room. Although it was not part of the dinosaur tour, our tour guide said it was her favorite. It was a very cool room with the blue lighting and skeleton hanging over head. This was one of the favorites of many of my students. 

Sadly, it was finally time to head home. Although most of them were not ready to leave they sure did seem tired on the way home!

I love you with a cherry on top!

Mother's Day is just around the corner! Yesterday we worked on two cute crafts to remind our loved ones how much we care. Our first project was to create an ice cream scoop card. I let the middle table up like an ice cream bar.

Our ice cream bar was complete with cones, poems, 7 favors, many adjective toppings to describe our moms, and a cherry on top. I had a few grandmother and unt toppings too!

They walked through the line and built their cones all by themselves!

They turned out super cute.
 

I Love You To Pieces!

Next, we made our mothers puzzles. We started off by taking a picture holding a sign that read "I love you to pieces!" Since we don't have a color printer at school, the kinder klowns colored their pictures in. It gave them quite an artistic look.

Then, we glued them to Manila paper and wrote a message on the back.. This put an even more personal touch on the project and gave the moms two puzzles in one!!!

 

This little artist did a beautiful job with hers.

 Here is an example of what one student created on the back of their puzzle.
 

Last, they cut up their puzzles and practiced putting them together (just in case their moms needed help at home).

 I hope everyone has a lovely Mother's Day weekend. Hopefully the weather will get a little nicer and everyone will be able to get outside and enjoy it. I will be celebrating my sister's baby shower in New Jersey! 

 

 
 
 

Watercolor Flowers

With the bright weather and beautiful flowers springing forth it seems like we are getting outside more and more. The garden has been looking so beautiful it only seemed fitting that we took our first shot at watercolors this year! First the Kinder Klowns learned about some famous watercolor artists and then some basic watercolor techniques. To keep things clean we opted for the watercolor pencils that you add water to after (worked like a charm).

Next we went outside with our art paper, folders, and art supplies and picked a spot to relax in and draw. Each student picked an area they were comfortable in to sit with a view that inspired their artwork. Here are some snap shots of the kiddos hard at work enjoying the air and drawing their pictures. 

We came inside and got straight to work adding the water. At first I was worried the students would get upset as the colors started to run together because some of my kiddos love their work to be perfectly neat. There are a few than remind me of myself because watercolor always scared me because it can be a little unpredictable when you add the water. Luckily I was wrong! They all loved seeing the effect the water had and watching the color spread around!!!

I am still thrilled with how these turned out. They really used their artistic talents and took their time perfecting their work.

We proudly displayed our final products in the hall!

Here is a better look at four of my students' finished products!