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

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!

Field Trip Video

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.

We will be reading Stone Soup and will make Stone Soup next week. We will also learn more about thanksgiving and discuss the importance. We will be making turkey and stone soup related crafts during afternoon workshops. Remember about our Thanksgiving feast on Tuesday, November 24th! We are asking for parents to cook a traditional item and bring it to the feast (or the morning of). Children will not eat lunch in the cafeteria that day. Instead, children will eat at their normal lunch time outside having a traditional Thanksgiving feast. Children will perform a small skit/song for parents who attend.

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!

Boo to You!

Happy Halloween Video!

Make Sure You Watch it All

Wednesday is Day 50!

The end of the first trimester at Samsula Academy is near! Mr. Gibbs and Mrs. Shannon has revamped the kindergarten curriculum to meet the needs of your children and our expectations. We have been using a very structured and accelerated reading program where each child is challenged. Assessments for the end of this trimester are near. Below are skills that your children should currently know how to do. Remember there is two or so weeks left in the trimester; therefore, continue to practice these skills and any new skills introduced.

Reading
-recognize all letters (lower and uppercase) of the alphabet
-know the sounds of the following letters: Aa, Mm, Ss, Pp, Tt, Ii, Nn, Cc, Oo, Ff, Hh, Dd, Rr, Ee, Bb, Ll, Kk, Uu, Gg, Ww.
-recognize the following high-frequency words: I, can, we, the, like, a, see, go, to, have, is, play, are, for, you, this, do, and, what, little, said, here
-recognize all 40 pre-primer Dolch words
-blends and decodes basic CVC words
-read CVC words and sight words in a story
-understand that every story has a beginning, middle, and end
-identify parts of a book
-makes predictions baout a story using pictures and title
-identifies where a story takes place
-identifies characters (and main character) in a story
-retell the main idea or essential message about a story
-compare and contrast using pictures and illustrations

Language/Writing
-listen attentivly to a story
-use complete sentences (orally)
-write from left to right; top to bottom
-write at least one sentence independently correctly
-recognize spacing between words
-use sign words and CVC words in writing
-spells basic CVC words.

Mathematics
-recognize basic shapes and colors
-copy and extend patterns
-identify a pattern unit
-find a missing pattern part
-use concrete objects to create a pattern
-describe spatial relationships
-describe; sort and re sort objects by color, shape, size, and position
-identify objects that do not belong in a group
-count to 1s to 50 (or more) orally
-count by 1s to 20 using objects
-identify number of objects in a set to 20
-write numberals to 30
-recognize numerals to 30
-given two or more sets identify which is more and which is less.

We will be introduced to Xx and Ww next week. We will learn the initial sound of /w/ and the final sound /x/. We will learn different motions to help us remember the sounds. We will begin primer words this week. Your child should know all 40 pre-primer. This week the words are: all, am, are, at, ate. Teach students ways to remember these words. Most children should already be familiar with are. Children can remember at because they know how to blend those two sounds. Remind children that e on ate makes the a said a new sound Teaching children tricks is very helpful. Remember to always review all pre-primer words.

Remember to practice writing numerals with your child. We will be going up to 20 this week. It is important that children remember the correct formation and direction of numerals when writing. We are slowly learning how to count to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s. We have also begun learning how to count to 20 by 2s. These are little things you can do in the car to help your child become more proficient in math.

We are getting excited about Bodyology! Our field trip is quickly approaching and this week we will begin learning healthy habits! Our afternoon workshops will all be related to our bodies. We will be making a brain hat. We will also be making a shirt similar to the one Slim Goodbody wears.

Wednesday is the 50th day of school. We will be making special glasses and hats on this day. I would like all children to be able to count to 50 by 1s, 5s, and 10s on this day. Mrs. Shannon and I are so excited to mark the 50th day with your child! We will be making a special snack on this day. We are asking you to send a snack with your child to school this day that will be mixed to create a large trail-mix. We are asking for small items: choclate candy, cherrios, pretzils, etc... However, we are asking only for 50! Have your child help you count out 50 of an item and send it in with your child. We will be counting everything and making a large group snack! There are no peanut butter or nuts allergies in our classroom that I am aware of. Make this a fun activity. Remember to send it in with your child on WEDNESDAY!

Classroom Wishlist:
-computer microphone (for digital stories)
-jumbo pencils (without the erasers)

Thanks for making this year AMAZING!

-Mr. Gibbs