Welcome to Kindergarten!!! Our first two days of school were a busy and exciting time. Children were very eager to start right in with kindergarten activities. Starting the first day, we followed all the items on our schedule. This was done to help children know what to expect on a daily basis. While some activities, like Writer’s Workshop, may only last 15 minutes at this point in the school year, the students are becoming excited about writing stories on a daily basis. For the first several weeks of school, we are focusing a lot on classroom routine. We refer to our posted classroom schedule often so that the children are aware what comes next.

This week, we made our classroom rules. The students brainstormed rules that they believed were important for our classroom. We read the book David Goes to School by David Shannon. This book highlights the school experience of a little boy who has trouble following the rules. This book started a great classroom discussion about what we need to write as classroom rules. After much brainstorming, we created 5 rules. Our rules are posted in the classroom. Please take the time to have your child show you the rules during drop off or pick up time.

Along with routines and rules, the children have been excited to begin our first thematic unit: Frogs and Toads!!! We began this unit by reading some fiction and nonfiction picture books, then making a KWL chart with the children. This chart stands for Know, Wonder, and Learn. The children were able to say what they know about frogs and toads, and what they are curious about. The children came up with some great questions, such as “How long is a frog’s tongue?” We also sequenced the frog’s life cycle together. The students worked together to put the stages of a frog’s life in order. The children learned that frogs start off as eggs and grow into tadpoles. Tadpoles then develop legs until finally they become adult frogs. Next week we should be receiving our shipment of bullfrog tadpoles to care for in the classroom. We will do observational drawings to document changes and growth. To extend on this unit, we will be taking our first field trip to the Great Lakes Science Center downtown. We ask for parent volunteer drivers to ensure that all of our students can go to the trip. Parent volunteer drivers will need to submit copies of their license and insurance to Andrea prior to the trip. The trip is scheduled for Friday, September 14 in the morning.

We are looking forward to our first full week of kindergarten next week!!!