I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We have a week left before we return to school. When we return, we will have 101 days left in the year. Kindergarten is going to finish very quickly and soon, I will be sending them on their way to first grade - where they will experience bigger and more exciting adventures. By now, your child now has the framework for basic reading and math. We will finish building on those basic skills and challenge each and every child to reach his/her full potential. I would like to remind you (as I have said at orientation), I have very high expectations for all of my students. I know what they are capable of and I am expecting great things. Mrs. Shannon and I are going to continue to challenge your child and I am sure that your child will excel in the upcoming weeks (and even years) with this strong foundation of kindergarten learning.
I would like to remind you that we are in need of some supplies. We sent home a supply list and a reminder. Below are items that we are in need of:
3 (boxes/pouches) of 8- count Crayola twistable crayons.
1 primary writing tablet touch and feel (walmart) AND/OR
1 primary writing tablet stage 3 (walmart)
1 pkg of 2 jumbo sized pencils with or without erasers (w/o perferred)
1 pkg of 2 (or more) expo dry erase markers (thin tip)
Your child will be retested on all pre-primer and primer words upon arrival - Jan 4. Make sure you practice these words! :-)
Thanks,
Mr. Gibbs
Christmas and The Polar Express
Wow! We just completed a very busy week! We have learned so much and had a lot of fun! I was so honored to have so many parents volunteer on Friday. Friday was Christmas morning in our classroom and was really fun for the children. It was so happy to see the smiles on the faces of our great children. I would like to thank everyone for their contribution to our secret Santa exchange - every child was happy and thankful for their gift. Watching these children open these gifts reminded me the joy of being a child.
Our amazing day didn't end there. We have been reading The Polar Express this week and on Friday, we had a large celebration. Kindergarten, along with first and second grade, had a large gathering in the cafeteria. Children got to watch the movie in their PJs in the cafeteria. Children drank hot chocolate and had a lot of sweets to celebrate. The children in my class also carried their special bear that I purchased for each of my special children (this has become my tradition).
I hope you enjoyed the Ziploc I sent home with your child. Inside contains every Christmas activity/craft we completed this month. Included is also two special pictures. Mostly everything is dated. I encourage you to keep this in a special place and share it with your child often. I recently found all of my old crafts from when I was in kindergarten and it was very touching to recall all the great memories. Below are some pictures of some other activities we did this week.
Lane making a "Christmas present" using a rice crispy treat and candy
We attempted to make Applesauce ornaments but they did not turn out so good. It was fun trying.
Mrs. Shannon and I can't thank you enough for the wonderful gifts that were given to us. We truly have the "BEST" parents and we feel so honored to teach your children. There are truly great teachers out there and thanks for seeing that in Mrs. Shannon and myself. We look forward to the next 102 days of school! Have a truly blessed and magical holiday!
Santa came to Samsula!
Santa came for a visit today! We had a blast. We wore our polar express bells.
Santa is Coming!
"There ain't no school on the ground Mr. Gibbs!"
"Oh no, Jeremy. But it sure does feel like it!"
Snow has touched ground in Mr. Gibbs' classroom this week. We have been very busy celebrating the season in fun and exciting ways. We have been doing lots of crafts which are currently on display in our classroom. These crafts will be sent home with your child later next week. Below is a brief recap of our week.
In reading, we learned about the -ap word family. The students in Mr. Gibbs' class was busy building and blending -ap words. We read stories with ap words this week. On Friday, we had a spelling test. Every student got all ten words correct. Some of the words we spelt were: flap, snap, zap, and scrap. Mr. Gibbs is so proud of their success. This has been a great week in reading. Next week, we will be working with the -at word family and move on to the next set of Dolch words.
Tuesday was the 70th day of school! In math, we learned how to write numbers to thirty-five. This presented a problem to many of the children. It is a concept that students are not yet understanding. Please practice number writing with your child nightly. We also continued counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s to 100 using a hundreds chart. We will be learning about even and odd numbers next week. Students will learn about Mrs. Odd and Mr. Even on Monday. This is a great lesson students learn that integrates math, language, and social studies.
In science and social studies, we learned about
different holidays. We learned about Hanukkah. We played Dreidel and made potato pancakes. In the middle of the week was also RJs birthday. So, we had brownies with our potato pancakes.
"Oh no, Jeremy. But it sure does feel like it!"
Snow has touched ground in Mr. Gibbs' classroom this week. We have been very busy celebrating the season in fun and exciting ways. We have been doing lots of crafts which are currently on display in our classroom. These crafts will be sent home with your child later next week. Below is a brief recap of our week.
In reading, we learned about the -ap word family. The students in Mr. Gibbs' class was busy building and blending -ap words. We read stories with ap words this week. On Friday, we had a spelling test. Every student got all ten words correct. Some of the words we spelt were: flap, snap, zap, and scrap. Mr. Gibbs is so proud of their success. This has been a great week in reading. Next week, we will be working with the -at word family and move on to the next set of Dolch words.
Tuesday was the 70th day of school! In math, we learned how to write numbers to thirty-five. This presented a problem to many of the children. It is a concept that students are not yet understanding. Please practice number writing with your child nightly. We also continued counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s to 100 using a hundreds chart. We will be learning about even and odd numbers next week. Students will learn about Mrs. Odd and Mr. Even on Monday. This is a great lesson students learn that integrates math, language, and social studies.
In science and social studies, we learned about
different holidays. We learned about Hanukkah. We played Dreidel and made potato pancakes. In the middle of the week was also RJs birthday. So, we had brownies with our potato pancakes.
Afternoon workshops were a blast! I am so thankful for all the parents who came throughout the week to help. It really helped a lot. We made a cute Christmas tree craft, a paper Elf, a paper Santa, and a stocking. We had a lot of fun and they turned out very cute. Next week, we will continue our Christmas themed workshops by making a fire place, snow globe, and more....
Important dates:
Dec 11 - Christmas Play at Samsula!
Dec 12 - Samsula Tractor Parade!
Dec 16 - ERD
Dec 17 - Spelling Test and Dolch Word Test
Dec 18 - Polar Express and Christmas Morning
December 18 is the BIG day in our class. Students will be wearing their PJs to school. We will be opening presents and celebrating the season. Santa will even stop by. We are asking you bring your gifts (for the Santa exchange) on Thursday, so that they are already placed under the tree. At 11:45pm we will go to our Polar Express party. We will go have hot chocolate and eat special treats. We are going to have a blast!
Sawayer was our terrific kid this week. We are all so proud of Sawyer.
Below is a slideshow of some of our December family projects - yay to go!
Celebrating the Season!
This week, we will be working with the -ap word family. We will build, blend, and read words that contain the -ap word family. We will learn how to spell the following words: cap, gap, lap, rap, tap, zap, snap, flap, clap, trap. We will read two books this week that contain this word family. Look for the books Hap Can See and I like to Dance coming home this week. Reread them with your child.
We have learned so many words so far in kindergarten and I am so proud of each child. This week, we will learn: new, no, now, on, our We will learn to recognize them on sight and use them correctly in sentences.
In math, we will practice writing the numbers 30-35. We will also learn to count by 2s using a hundreds chart. We will review counting by 10s and 5s using a hundreds chart, as well.
In social studies, we will have a short unit on Hanukkah. We will learn about Hanukkah and will play the Dreidel game. On Wednesday, we will make a Menorah craft. On Thursday, we will make Potato Pancakes. On Friday, we will learn about Kwanzaa.
Our afternoon workshop theme this week is Christmas. We will be making our own stockings and lacing them ourselves. We will also make a Santa and Elf paper craft. Finally, students will also make a fireplace paper craft. These will all be displayed in our classroom.
Remember, Wednesday is an Early Release Day. Saturday is the Samsula tractor parade. Friday, December 18th is Christmas morning in our classroom and we will also have the Polar Express Party.
See you tomorrow,
Mr. Gibbs
We have learned so many words so far in kindergarten and I am so proud of each child. This week, we will learn: new, no, now, on, our We will learn to recognize them on sight and use them correctly in sentences.
In math, we will practice writing the numbers 30-35. We will also learn to count by 2s using a hundreds chart. We will review counting by 10s and 5s using a hundreds chart, as well.
In social studies, we will have a short unit on Hanukkah. We will learn about Hanukkah and will play the Dreidel game. On Wednesday, we will make a Menorah craft. On Thursday, we will make Potato Pancakes. On Friday, we will learn about Kwanzaa.
Our afternoon workshop theme this week is Christmas. We will be making our own stockings and lacing them ourselves. We will also make a Santa and Elf paper craft. Finally, students will also make a fireplace paper craft. These will all be displayed in our classroom.
Remember, Wednesday is an Early Release Day. Saturday is the Samsula tractor parade. Friday, December 18th is Christmas morning in our classroom and we will also have the Polar Express Party.
See you tomorrow,
Mr. Gibbs
Run, Run!
So many things are happening in kindergarten! We just finished another fun week. This week, we shifted our learning from letters to word families. This week, we learned the -an word family. We built and read three and four letter -an words. Yes, your child is reading words that contain digraphs and blends! Children in Mr. Gibbs' class can also read decodable readers that contain these words in addition to our current sight words. Mr. Gibbs and Mrs. Shannon are amazed! "I can't believe my child is reading," one parent informed me this morning. Well, believe it! Today, your child had a spelling test on the an word family. The ten words included basic CVC words, some blends, and even a couple digraphs. Everyone did amazing. Everyone received either a perfect score or a near to perfect score. Way to go busy bees!
In math, we learned how to write numbers to 30. We also learned how to use a hundreds chart to help us count by 1s, 5s, and 10s! We are making great progress but will eventually need to know how to count by 1s, 5s, and 10s without the help of the hundreds chart. This is something you can begin to practice now. Next week, we will be learning how to write numbers to 35. We will also learn how to use a hundreds chart to help us count by 2s. During the next two weeks, we will be learning about the following concepts: ordinal numbers and odd/even numbers.
We learned about matter this week in science. We learned about paper, cloth, metal, wood, clay, and water. We also learned how each of these can be changed. We did some hands-on learning this week to experiment. We folded paper to make Christmas links, we observed water turn into gas, and we made pinch pots. Children are doing very well and most children understand the concept of solid, liquid, gas.
These were made on Thursday. We began with a ball of clay and created a pot. This is one way that clay can be changed.
Did I mention that our classroom is now decorated for Christmas? Our classroom has a Christmas tree and several decorations around the room all created by the children. Our tree is special because each child placed (or will place) a special ornament on our tree. Children took home the name of their secret Santa today. This is the person they will be buying for. When items are wrapped or bagged, we ask that you write the name to whom it is for. Please DO NOT write your name. Instead, write "Santa." When the gifted is wrapped, you may come place it under the Christmas tree. If you have trouble thinking of ideas of gifts - ask Mrs. Shannon or Mr. Gibbs. Polar Express party will be December 18th after lunch. Children may wear their PJs this day. Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd will attend the gathering.
We will be doing Christmas crafts during afternoon workshops the next two weeks. Thanks to those who signed up to volunteer. Also, thanks to those who have donated items to our classroom - your help is appreciated!
We read The Gingerbread Man this week! Mr. Gibbs read it daily and children learned how to retell a story in sequence this week. Children should be able to retell the story to you, as well. We did some fun crafts during afternoon workshops this week. Our crafts helped us with fine motor skills. We laced and decorated gingerbread men and also made houses for our gingerbread men. These will be sent home next week. Today, we went on a hunt to find the Gingerbread Man. It was cold outside which was great for the season. It was rainy but we didn't let that stop us!
We ate our Gingerbread and also wished Trevor Riley a Happy Birthday! Trevor turned 6 yesterady and is having his offical party on Sunday. Everyone is welcome to attend - invitations were sent home during the week.
Shelby was our terrific kid this week. She has done an outstanding job this week and we are all very proud of her. Also, our class was amazing in music during the month of November. Our class won the Outstanding Class award for Music! I am so proud of them. Below is a picture of them with our small trophy. The trophy will be in our classroom for the whole month, until another class is chosen. Way to go Busy Bees!
On Sunday, I will update the blog with events, activities, and other information for the upcoming week. Remember, the NSB Christmas parade is Saturday!
In math, we learned how to write numbers to 30. We also learned how to use a hundreds chart to help us count by 1s, 5s, and 10s! We are making great progress but will eventually need to know how to count by 1s, 5s, and 10s without the help of the hundreds chart. This is something you can begin to practice now. Next week, we will be learning how to write numbers to 35. We will also learn how to use a hundreds chart to help us count by 2s. During the next two weeks, we will be learning about the following concepts: ordinal numbers and odd/even numbers.
We learned about matter this week in science. We learned about paper, cloth, metal, wood, clay, and water. We also learned how each of these can be changed. We did some hands-on learning this week to experiment. We folded paper to make Christmas links, we observed water turn into gas, and we made pinch pots. Children are doing very well and most children understand the concept of solid, liquid, gas. These were made on Thursday. We began with a ball of clay and created a pot. This is one way that clay can be changed.
Did I mention that our classroom is now decorated for Christmas? Our classroom has a Christmas tree and several decorations around the room all created by the children. Our tree is special because each child placed (or will place) a special ornament on our tree. Children took home the name of their secret Santa today. This is the person they will be buying for. When items are wrapped or bagged, we ask that you write the name to whom it is for. Please DO NOT write your name. Instead, write "Santa." When the gifted is wrapped, you may come place it under the Christmas tree. If you have trouble thinking of ideas of gifts - ask Mrs. Shannon or Mr. Gibbs. Polar Express party will be December 18th after lunch. Children may wear their PJs this day. Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd will attend the gathering.We will be doing Christmas crafts during afternoon workshops the next two weeks. Thanks to those who signed up to volunteer. Also, thanks to those who have donated items to our classroom - your help is appreciated!
We read The Gingerbread Man this week! Mr. Gibbs read it daily and children learned how to retell a story in sequence this week. Children should be able to retell the story to you, as well. We did some fun crafts during afternoon workshops this week. Our crafts helped us with fine motor skills. We laced and decorated gingerbread men and also made houses for our gingerbread men. These will be sent home next week. Today, we went on a hunt to find the Gingerbread Man. It was cold outside which was great for the season. It was rainy but we didn't let that stop us!
We ate our Gingerbread and also wished Trevor Riley a Happy Birthday! Trevor turned 6 yesterady and is having his offical party on Sunday. Everyone is welcome to attend - invitations were sent home during the week.
Shelby was our terrific kid this week. She has done an outstanding job this week and we are all very proud of her. Also, our class was amazing in music during the month of November. Our class won the Outstanding Class award for Music! I am so proud of them. Below is a picture of them with our small trophy. The trophy will be in our classroom for the whole month, until another class is chosen. Way to go Busy Bees!
On Sunday, I will update the blog with events, activities, and other information for the upcoming week. Remember, the NSB Christmas parade is Saturday!
The family project was due today, but we will still accept them on Monday. They are very creative! On Monday, we will make a digital story using our projects. Make sure you send one in with your child. I love seeing how creative you and your child can be! Great job!
The Week Ahead
I hope you had a very thankful Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoyed the times you spent with your child; however, I am sure you are all ready to send them back! There is exactly three weeks before the Christmas/Winter break and we have a lot of cover. In this post, I will review everything that we will be doing in the month of December.
Tomorrow, there will be a lot of information sent home with your child. Although a lot is completed work and crafts, there are also three letters mixed in. These three letters are very important. One of which discusses our Kindergarten Gift Exchange. Another encourages your child to bring in a Christmas Ornament for our tree. The third is a list of items we will need to create our Christmas related crafts, projects, and activities.
Tomorrow, your students will experience a slight shift in instruction. Before, the focus has been on letters and sounds. Now, the focus will be more on building, blending, and spelling basic (and more complicated) words. Each week, we will be working with a new word family. Your child will learn to build, blend, and spell words within that family. Students will have a spelling test every Friday. Your child is expected to understand the spelling pattern, not memorize how to spell a word. You child will have basic words (hat, cat, mat) and will also have more complicated words (flat, etc...) We will have direct instruction every day, there is no excuse for students not to understand these by Friday. We will be working with the -an family this week.
We will continue our sight words this week. Students will be introduced to the "Sight Word King," this week. I will be wearing a lab coat during sight word instruction that has every word we have learned so far. At the end of the week, we will add the words to the coat. This will be fun and something students have to look forward to. This week, we will have 6 words because students are already familiar with like and he. The words this week are: good, have, he, into, like, must.
We will be learning about sequencing in a story this week as we read The Gingerbread Man. We will learn about events in order as they happen. Students will have to retell the story to either Mr. Gibbs or Mrs. Shannon on Friday. This is a formal assessment to see if students understand how to properly retell a story. Afternoon workshops will all be related to this story and on Friday, we will go on a hunt to find the Gingerbread Man! This will begin our holiday season.
Writing is also becoming more intense. I expect students to be able to write three sentences correctly. Students need to be using capital letters and periods. Students should also be able to write three sentences to a related topic having a beginning, middle, and end. We are becoming great writers and the more you practice at home - the better!
We will begin Number Patterns in math this week. We will be working with counting orally to 100 by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s using a hundreds chart this month. We will also explore odd and even numbers. We will learning how to write numbers to 40. Before break, students will have a short test on all the math concepts learned and writing numbers to 40.
In science, we will begin exploring matter tomorrow. We will learn about ways we can change paper. We will be making Christmas paper chains learning about ways we can change paper (bending). This week, we will also explore: wood/metal, water, and solid/liquid/gas. Students will have a formal assessment on these concepts on Friday. The remainder two weeks will be all holiday related as we explore different holidays around the globe.
The first trimester report cards will be going home on Wednesday. We are already two weeks into the new trimester. If you have any comments or concerns or would like to schedule a conference, please let me know. Also, I will send home a small informal progress report before break so that you are aware of concepts and skills that need to be practiced over the holiday. Remember, the December Family Project is due this week and we will be making another digital story. We are 21st century learners and we love it!
Remember to read and practice!
Mr. Gibbs and Mrs. Shannon
Tomorrow, there will be a lot of information sent home with your child. Although a lot is completed work and crafts, there are also three letters mixed in. These three letters are very important. One of which discusses our Kindergarten Gift Exchange. Another encourages your child to bring in a Christmas Ornament for our tree. The third is a list of items we will need to create our Christmas related crafts, projects, and activities.
Tomorrow, your students will experience a slight shift in instruction. Before, the focus has been on letters and sounds. Now, the focus will be more on building, blending, and spelling basic (and more complicated) words. Each week, we will be working with a new word family. Your child will learn to build, blend, and spell words within that family. Students will have a spelling test every Friday. Your child is expected to understand the spelling pattern, not memorize how to spell a word. You child will have basic words (hat, cat, mat) and will also have more complicated words (flat, etc...) We will have direct instruction every day, there is no excuse for students not to understand these by Friday. We will be working with the -an family this week.
We will continue our sight words this week. Students will be introduced to the "Sight Word King," this week. I will be wearing a lab coat during sight word instruction that has every word we have learned so far. At the end of the week, we will add the words to the coat. This will be fun and something students have to look forward to. This week, we will have 6 words because students are already familiar with like and he. The words this week are: good, have, he, into, like, must.
We will be learning about sequencing in a story this week as we read The Gingerbread Man. We will learn about events in order as they happen. Students will have to retell the story to either Mr. Gibbs or Mrs. Shannon on Friday. This is a formal assessment to see if students understand how to properly retell a story. Afternoon workshops will all be related to this story and on Friday, we will go on a hunt to find the Gingerbread Man! This will begin our holiday season.
Writing is also becoming more intense. I expect students to be able to write three sentences correctly. Students need to be using capital letters and periods. Students should also be able to write three sentences to a related topic having a beginning, middle, and end. We are becoming great writers and the more you practice at home - the better!
We will begin Number Patterns in math this week. We will be working with counting orally to 100 by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s using a hundreds chart this month. We will also explore odd and even numbers. We will learning how to write numbers to 40. Before break, students will have a short test on all the math concepts learned and writing numbers to 40.
In science, we will begin exploring matter tomorrow. We will learn about ways we can change paper. We will be making Christmas paper chains learning about ways we can change paper (bending). This week, we will also explore: wood/metal, water, and solid/liquid/gas. Students will have a formal assessment on these concepts on Friday. The remainder two weeks will be all holiday related as we explore different holidays around the globe.
The first trimester report cards will be going home on Wednesday. We are already two weeks into the new trimester. If you have any comments or concerns or would like to schedule a conference, please let me know. Also, I will send home a small informal progress report before break so that you are aware of concepts and skills that need to be practiced over the holiday. Remember, the December Family Project is due this week and we will be making another digital story. We are 21st century learners and we love it!
Remember to read and practice!
Mr. Gibbs and Mrs. Shannon
Kindergarten Harvest Feast
I am so thankful for the wonderful group of children I have! I am reminded daily of the reason why I went into teaching. School should be something children enjoy and I have tired to create an enviornment that is kid friendly - and I think I have done a good job at that! Today was Thanksgiving in our class and we began by making a booklet about what we are thankful for. We learned the true meaning of Thanksgiving and today, we shared with each other reasons we are thankful. We sat around in a circle and shared with each other. This was a very fun time for students to express their feelings. Take some time to view the reasons why our class is thankful. Although I am into technology, I have not yet mastered the art of rotating videos.
The Great Turkey Race
Today, we read The Great Turkey Race! We made inferences about the events in the story as we read. We also discussed what it meant to be the "thanksgiving turkey!" The students agreed that it wouldn't be good to be the "thanksgiving turkey. Therefore, the best way is the escape! Today, we held turkey races in our class to escape the farmers. We had a lot of fun and had a competition (much like the NFL - football). We had two divisions and they had their own playoffs. In the end, it came down to Olivia and Jack! Olivia won the competition and was the classroom winner. Olivia successfully ran her way out of becoming the "thanksgiving turkey!"The Great Turkey Race 2009
Olivia vs. Jack
Below is a short animoto from today.... We had a lot of fun!
This was also a science lesson about attraction. We used paperclips and magnets to help move the turkeys from one end to the other! It was loads of fun!
Stone Soup and Tom the Turkey!
We had a very productive week. Each and every child has been working so hard to master important skills. We have also had some fun along the way. This week, we finished learning our letters of the alphabet. We also celebrated the 60th day of school. We ended the week by making our very own stone soup. In the middle of our week, we celebrated Mrs. Shannon's birthday. We had a great week and we hope you enjoy reading this update!
This was our last week of learning our letters. Children are expected to know all letters and sounds of the alphabet. This week, we learned Jj, Yy, and Zz. We make our own Yo-Yo's to help us remember the sound of Yy. Children were very creative with their designs. This has helped many children remember the sound of Yy.
In the middle of our week was Mrs. Shannon's birthday. Mrs. Shannon kept it as a secret; therefore, when we found out we celebrated! There is no celebration like a Gibbs celebration! We made cards for Mrs. Shannon and celebrated with cookies and juice. Mrs. Shannon also had to wear a special birthday hat for the remainder of that day! Happy Birthday Mrs. Shannon!
On November 19th our familes came to our cafeteria and had a special meal. We had a great time and wore special turkey hats (I have a hat template for everything - literally!) We also celebrated the 60th day of school. Mr. Gibbs dressed up as "Zero the Hero." We are beginning to concept the power of zero. We also completed 60 minutes of math this day. We had a great time relating the 60th day of school to the season of fall. We made special turkeys and learned an easy way to count by 10's.
Lane and Mrs. Shannon working very hard!
We also made turkey hats and wore them to lunch!
We read Stone Soup this week. We made various crafts throughout the week all relating to Thanksgiving. Stone Soup is a classic tale about making soup by starting with a stone. We made stone soup on Friday. We also tried (most of us) it. Most of the class enjoyed it, few didn't like it, and some didn't even try it. All in all, it was fun!
Did you enjoy the family homework assignment? From the looks of it, I think everyone had a great time creating their turkey. Mrs. Shannon and I were so proud and amazed at how creative your family got. They were so good, we made a digital story using our "Turkey Toms." The students worked very hard on it! It is around 7 minutes but it is amazing. Be sure to watch as our children are becoming 21st century literacy learners! The digital story is located at the end of this blog.
RJ was our terrific kid this week. "RJ truly is a terrific kid this week," Mrs. Shannon said when ending the day. RJ has done an OUTSTANDING job this week. He has really improved since the beginning of the year in his academics and behavior. RJ has offically came out of his shell and is beginning to blossom. We are so proud to have a great student representing our class this week. Great job RJ!
Our afternoon workshop theme this week was Thanksgiving. We made several crafts which students will take home next week. Do you still have the bee magnet from orientation? If so, these crafts would be great to display using your bee magnet!
Next week is going to be a very fun week. We will be in school for only two days. Students will make costumes on Monday and will have a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Tuesday. The meal will be very similar to that of the first fall harvest. Our celebration will begin at 11:00AM. I am asking for volunteers to come to the classroom as early as 10:45AM. We will need help setting up. Please bring your items either in the morning or to the feast (if you are able to attend). We will not have Dolch words or homework this week because it is only a two day week. However, please use this time to have a great holiday. Also, use this time to review ALL Dolch words. Many are forgetting the previous word list....
"Turkey Tom"
Mr. Gibbs - Kindergarten
November 2009
This was our last week of learning our letters. Children are expected to know all letters and sounds of the alphabet. This week, we learned Jj, Yy, and Zz. We make our own Yo-Yo's to help us remember the sound of Yy. Children were very creative with their designs. This has helped many children remember the sound of Yy.
In the middle of our week was Mrs. Shannon's birthday. Mrs. Shannon kept it as a secret; therefore, when we found out we celebrated! There is no celebration like a Gibbs celebration! We made cards for Mrs. Shannon and celebrated with cookies and juice. Mrs. Shannon also had to wear a special birthday hat for the remainder of that day! Happy Birthday Mrs. Shannon!
On November 19th our familes came to our cafeteria and had a special meal. We had a great time and wore special turkey hats (I have a hat template for everything - literally!) We also celebrated the 60th day of school. Mr. Gibbs dressed up as "Zero the Hero." We are beginning to concept the power of zero. We also completed 60 minutes of math this day. We had a great time relating the 60th day of school to the season of fall. We made special turkeys and learned an easy way to count by 10's.
Lane and Mrs. Shannon working very hard!
We also made turkey hats and wore them to lunch! 
We read Stone Soup this week. We made various crafts throughout the week all relating to Thanksgiving. Stone Soup is a classic tale about making soup by starting with a stone. We made stone soup on Friday. We also tried (most of us) it. Most of the class enjoyed it, few didn't like it, and some didn't even try it. All in all, it was fun!
Did you enjoy the family homework assignment? From the looks of it, I think everyone had a great time creating their turkey. Mrs. Shannon and I were so proud and amazed at how creative your family got. They were so good, we made a digital story using our "Turkey Toms." The students worked very hard on it! It is around 7 minutes but it is amazing. Be sure to watch as our children are becoming 21st century literacy learners! The digital story is located at the end of this blog. 
RJ was our terrific kid this week. "RJ truly is a terrific kid this week," Mrs. Shannon said when ending the day. RJ has done an OUTSTANDING job this week. He has really improved since the beginning of the year in his academics and behavior. RJ has offically came out of his shell and is beginning to blossom. We are so proud to have a great student representing our class this week. Great job RJ!Our afternoon workshop theme this week was Thanksgiving. We made several crafts which students will take home next week. Do you still have the bee magnet from orientation? If so, these crafts would be great to display using your bee magnet!
Next week is going to be a very fun week. We will be in school for only two days. Students will make costumes on Monday and will have a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Tuesday. The meal will be very similar to that of the first fall harvest. Our celebration will begin at 11:00AM. I am asking for volunteers to come to the classroom as early as 10:45AM. We will need help setting up. Please bring your items either in the morning or to the feast (if you are able to attend). We will not have Dolch words or homework this week because it is only a two day week. However, please use this time to have a great holiday. Also, use this time to review ALL Dolch words. Many are forgetting the previous word list....
"Turkey Tom"
Mr. Gibbs - Kindergarten
November 2009
Hunting for Turkey Tom from Johanna Riddle on Vimeo.
Mr. Gibbs is in a Video Game
Mr. Gibbs and Ms. Vola from Samsula Academy created a video game at EPCOT using IBM Technology! Watch as Mr. Gibbs runs, jumps, and does a silly victory dance! Go here to play!
Happy Friday!
Happy Friday! Today is November 13, 2009! We had another wacky, fun, and interactive learning day in Mr. Gibbs' class. There is never a dull moment. We had a very fast week. Veteran's Day was on Wednesday and our first field trip was on Thursday. This week was filled with adventure as we finished our unit on Gibbstown. We have have finished our unit exploring our neighborhood. Children should be able to explain to you the things you may find in a neighborhood: people, buildings, community helpers, houses, and signs. This week, we learned about traffic signs and the purpose for having them. We made a stop sign, traffic light, and a crosswalk. Children had a chance to even practice properly crossing the road using a crosswalk (in the classroom). We have finished Gibbstown but will use it as a reference later in the year - when we discuss map skills. 
We learned the sounds of Jj and Vv this week. Next week, we will finish our letter sounds. We will be working with three letter sounds next week. Please review Qq, Yy, and Zz. We will learn these three next week. We also countined our primer list of Dolch words. Every student knew the five words this week: be, black, brown, but, came. Next week, we will continue with the next five - the list will be sent home on Monday. In addition to the primer words, please review with, where, what, and this with your child. These are additional words your child should know (we have been working with this set for three weeks).
Thursday was fun! We went on our first field trip to see Slim Goodbody. His presentation of Bodyology really helped students understand how to take better care of their body. It also taught them healthy habits and the function of the brain, lungs, and stomach. The students song along with Slim Goodbody on Thursday because they were previously introduced to the songs in Mr. Gibbs' class. On Friday, children continued to sing the songs and were able to tell about healthy habits and how to properly digest food. The field trip was a success! Trevor Riley volunteered to do a small flip on stage. He gave it a wonderful try. Mr. Gibbs also got up there and did a small flip all for the kids! Afterwards, we went to the park for lunch and a nature walk - it was fantastic! Kindergarten had an amazing time!
Zane was our terrific kid this week. Zane thought the field trip was fun and is ready for the next big adventure.
Reminder, popcorn is on Friday and Wednesday is an ERD!
Current Wish List
-Items for Thanksgiving feast
-10 large brown paper bags
We learned the sounds of Jj and Vv this week. Next week, we will finish our letter sounds. We will be working with three letter sounds next week. Please review Qq, Yy, and Zz. We will learn these three next week. We also countined our primer list of Dolch words. Every student knew the five words this week: be, black, brown, but, came. Next week, we will continue with the next five - the list will be sent home on Monday. In addition to the primer words, please review with, where, what, and this with your child. These are additional words your child should know (we have been working with this set for three weeks).
Thursday was fun! We went on our first field trip to see Slim Goodbody. His presentation of Bodyology really helped students understand how to take better care of their body. It also taught them healthy habits and the function of the brain, lungs, and stomach. The students song along with Slim Goodbody on Thursday because they were previously introduced to the songs in Mr. Gibbs' class. On Friday, children continued to sing the songs and were able to tell about healthy habits and how to properly digest food. The field trip was a success! Trevor Riley volunteered to do a small flip on stage. He gave it a wonderful try. Mr. Gibbs also got up there and did a small flip all for the kids! Afterwards, we went to the park for lunch and a nature walk - it was fantastic! Kindergarten had an amazing time!
Zane was our terrific kid this week. Zane thought the field trip was fun and is ready for the next big adventure.
Reminder, popcorn is on Friday and Wednesday is an ERD!
Current Wish List
-Items for Thanksgiving feast
-10 large brown paper bags
Let's Celebrate!
Let us celebrate the fifth day of school. Let us celebrate the amazing writers that we are. Let us celebrate making two class books in a week. Let us celebrate mastering all 46 word wall words! There is much worth celebrating - celebrate today!
We just finished another week in kindergarten. The weeks seem to be flying by. The children in Mr. Gibbs' class are unstoppable! As promised, I will continue to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of every learner. Once your child reaches a level of mastery, I will raise the bar even higher. Mr. Gibbs is constantly raising the bar and is so proud of everyone in his class. It is hard to believe that kindergarten orientation was nearly four months ago! It feels like yesterday I was meeting all of my new parents and welcoming into the classroom hive!
We had a great week and completed several activities that will prepare us for our upcoming field trip. We also read and extended a book read in class. On Wednesday, we celebrated the 50th day of school by making a special snack and writing another class book. We ended our day on Friday. We had a special ice pop party because our class received 2nd place in the box top contest! We also began our primer words and learned two new letters.
As stated, Wednesday was the fifth day of school. As we are learning to count to 50, Mr. Gibbs thought he would use this time to celebrate. There is always a reason to celebrate - so today, we did! Each child brought in a special snack item composed of fifty. We counted each and mixed them together to create a special trail mix. This was very fun for the students and they especially enjoyed the large cheese balls (Trevor M. brought those in). "Mr. Gibbs your tongue is blue!" No wonder they like them, they make your tongue turn blue. We also made a class book discussing the first fifty days of kindergarten. There is a video at the end of this post of "50 Days of Kindergarten," by Mr. G's class. As always, we celebrate by making hats, glasses, and necklaces. We wore them around school today to show our pride. We are happy to have been in kindergarten for 50 days! 
This is a picture of our updated word wall. As you can see, it has two colors. The words in yellow are our pre-primer words. The new orange cards are our primer words. Your child can now recognize fourty-six words. Wow! This is a big accomplishment. We will continue to work with five new words a week (in alphabetical order) from the primer list. Remember to practice these words at home. These are the most common words in books that children will encounter in the early grades. As a former first grade teacher, I think that learning these words is critical! Students had a chance to practice with one another today using flash cards before they were tested. Children are learning how to solve their own problems and work very well with one another. Watch as they learn and grow!
I think I am just as excited as they kids about our first kindergarten field trip! We are going to see Slim Goodbody's presentation of "Bodyology!" I remember watching him as a child and even remember doing "Deskercise" in elementary school. Slim Goodbody is best known for his wacky and silly outfit. This week, we created a craft that looks very similar the the shirt he wears. We also worked with our fine motor skills and laced it. Finally, we made and created a brain hat! Aren't these shirts just adorable? We are learning the insides of our bodies as we prepare for next Thursday's field trip.
Gibbstown is currently in it's final stages! We learned more about vehicles and transportation this week. We learned different methods of travel. Students should be able to tell you different methods of transportation on land, in air, and in water. Today, we made our vehicles and placed them in Gibbstown. We have bikes, motorcycles, vans, and cars. We even have some trucks. This is coming along nicely. Next week, we will learn about signs and symbols. Next week, we will add special road signs to our town. Finally, we will learn about map skills and conclude our unit on neighborhoods.
Jack was named our terrific kid this week. Jack has been doing a fantastic job with following the classroom rules. Jack is doing his personal best and has shown great improvement in his academics. I am very happy for Jack. Jack enjoyed celebrating the 50th day of school. Jack also learned that he is a great writer because he uses the word wall and his sounds. Jack (as well as most others) is writing three sentences! Way to go Jack! Jack enjoyed helping create pages for our two class books, "Duck on a Tractor," and "50 Days of Kindergarten." Please stop by and read our books - each student wrote a page and illustrated it. I am so proud of them all! 
Our class received an ice pop party today. Your class won second place in the box top contest! Our class did a great job at turning in our box tops to help raise money for our school. When our name was announced on the intercom, every child was happy. Remember there is currently a thanksgiving contest at Samsula - let's help our community and donate today!
Finally, next week will be a fun week. Remember there is no school on Wednesday and Thursday is our field trip (more information will come home next week). We will have homework next week and will continue with our next set of primer words. We will be working with Vv and Jj (can you believe we only have two letters and sounds left?) The words are: be, black, brown, but, and came. Students will have a writing numerals test this week. Students should be able to write numbers to 20 and identify them accordingly. Friday is not a popcorn day (every other Friday). As always, volunteers are appreciated. If you can't volunteer in class, please let me know and I will send something home with your child. Your child should be writing at least one complete sentence using a capital letter and period; however, most children are writing much more. Please write with your child nightly (even if it is a simple prompt: What I liked most about today was...). Writing is something we do daily and it is something the children enjoy. Remember to write using proper procedures: top(line), mid(line), base(line). Student's should be familiar with the procedures. I want to again thank you for sharing your amazing child with me! We are doing great things in kindergarten - and with that being said, HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!
We just finished another week in kindergarten. The weeks seem to be flying by. The children in Mr. Gibbs' class are unstoppable! As promised, I will continue to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of every learner. Once your child reaches a level of mastery, I will raise the bar even higher. Mr. Gibbs is constantly raising the bar and is so proud of everyone in his class. It is hard to believe that kindergarten orientation was nearly four months ago! It feels like yesterday I was meeting all of my new parents and welcoming into the classroom hive!We had a great week and completed several activities that will prepare us for our upcoming field trip. We also read and extended a book read in class. On Wednesday, we celebrated the 50th day of school by making a special snack and writing another class book. We ended our day on Friday. We had a special ice pop party because our class received 2nd place in the box top contest! We also began our primer words and learned two new letters.
As stated, Wednesday was the fifth day of school. As we are learning to count to 50, Mr. Gibbs thought he would use this time to celebrate. There is always a reason to celebrate - so today, we did! Each child brought in a special snack item composed of fifty. We counted each and mixed them together to create a special trail mix. This was very fun for the students and they especially enjoyed the large cheese balls (Trevor M. brought those in). "Mr. Gibbs your tongue is blue!" No wonder they like them, they make your tongue turn blue. We also made a class book discussing the first fifty days of kindergarten. There is a video at the end of this post of "50 Days of Kindergarten," by Mr. G's class. As always, we celebrate by making hats, glasses, and necklaces. We wore them around school today to show our pride. We are happy to have been in kindergarten for 50 days! 
This is a picture of our updated word wall. As you can see, it has two colors. The words in yellow are our pre-primer words. The new orange cards are our primer words. Your child can now recognize fourty-six words. Wow! This is a big accomplishment. We will continue to work with five new words a week (in alphabetical order) from the primer list. Remember to practice these words at home. These are the most common words in books that children will encounter in the early grades. As a former first grade teacher, I think that learning these words is critical! Students had a chance to practice with one another today using flash cards before they were tested. Children are learning how to solve their own problems and work very well with one another. Watch as they learn and grow!
I think I am just as excited as they kids about our first kindergarten field trip! We are going to see Slim Goodbody's presentation of "Bodyology!" I remember watching him as a child and even remember doing "Deskercise" in elementary school. Slim Goodbody is best known for his wacky and silly outfit. This week, we created a craft that looks very similar the the shirt he wears. We also worked with our fine motor skills and laced it. Finally, we made and created a brain hat! Aren't these shirts just adorable? We are learning the insides of our bodies as we prepare for next Thursday's field trip. 
Gibbstown is currently in it's final stages! We learned more about vehicles and transportation this week. We learned different methods of travel. Students should be able to tell you different methods of transportation on land, in air, and in water. Today, we made our vehicles and placed them in Gibbstown. We have bikes, motorcycles, vans, and cars. We even have some trucks. This is coming along nicely. Next week, we will learn about signs and symbols. Next week, we will add special road signs to our town. Finally, we will learn about map skills and conclude our unit on neighborhoods. 
Jack was named our terrific kid this week. Jack has been doing a fantastic job with following the classroom rules. Jack is doing his personal best and has shown great improvement in his academics. I am very happy for Jack. Jack enjoyed celebrating the 50th day of school. Jack also learned that he is a great writer because he uses the word wall and his sounds. Jack (as well as most others) is writing three sentences! Way to go Jack! Jack enjoyed helping create pages for our two class books, "Duck on a Tractor," and "50 Days of Kindergarten." Please stop by and read our books - each student wrote a page and illustrated it. I am so proud of them all! 
Our class received an ice pop party today. Your class won second place in the box top contest! Our class did a great job at turning in our box tops to help raise money for our school. When our name was announced on the intercom, every child was happy. Remember there is currently a thanksgiving contest at Samsula - let's help our community and donate today!
Finally, next week will be a fun week. Remember there is no school on Wednesday and Thursday is our field trip (more information will come home next week). We will have homework next week and will continue with our next set of primer words. We will be working with Vv and Jj (can you believe we only have two letters and sounds left?) The words are: be, black, brown, but, and came. Students will have a writing numerals test this week. Students should be able to write numbers to 20 and identify them accordingly. Friday is not a popcorn day (every other Friday). As always, volunteers are appreciated. If you can't volunteer in class, please let me know and I will send something home with your child. Your child should be writing at least one complete sentence using a capital letter and period; however, most children are writing much more. Please write with your child nightly (even if it is a simple prompt: What I liked most about today was...). Writing is something we do daily and it is something the children enjoy. Remember to write using proper procedures: top(line), mid(line), base(line). Student's should be familiar with the procedures. I want to again thank you for sharing your amazing child with me! We are doing great things in kindergarten - and with that being said, HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!
