Tiger Habitat

Our school is building a habitat for the stuffed tiger we received to represent the tiger our school has sponsored.  Our contribution was to be a source of water... either a river or a pond.  We have been very busy with the messy yet beautiful technique of making a river for our tiger!

The finished product was something to be proud of!!!!!

A great bith THANK YOU and HUG to SHAR!!!!!!  :)

Fun Math Game

We played a fun math game as a class today that your child might like to try at home.  They need to be pretty comfortable with adding.  I will keep looking for an easier one.
Alien Addition

Student Readers

We are starting to have student readers present to our class!  Children who have practiced a book either at home or at school and can read it without getting 'stuck' are invited to read the book to the class.  They are also required to read it loud enough that all can hear.  This is an excellent experience for a student at any age to present to a group!

Currently we have a schedule for the students to share their writing if they chose to do so on that day.  Starting in March we will have a similar schedule for reading a book.  Students will have a day of the week they are invited to read if they want to and are ready.  When it is ready I will post the schedule to the blog.

Buddy Reading with Ms. Samuelson's Class

Valentine's Day

The Class had a very nice, fun Valentine's Day!  Thank you for sending in their cards without recipient names.  This made the passing out of cards so much easier and did not eat up precious classroom time.
The children decorated white bags and we hung them from the counter.  All they had to do was pass them out while going down the line.

At the end of the day your child got to go through their bag and look at the cards.  They were also allowed to pick two treats to eat.  The rest are to go home and they were told to check with you!

I think we are done with any major celebrations now until it is time to celebrate the ending of I Love to Read Month!  Phew!

100th Day of School

100 Tally Headbands

Can we read 100 books?

Making our I Love to Read Locker Tags

Valentine's Day Bags

Building with 100+ magnets

Wall Climbing in Gum

Race to 100 Game

100 Chart floor mat with inflatable dice and place markers!

Great Day!

Wow!  You would not believe what all we did today!
Pictures to come tomorrow!

We will all sleep well tonight!

:)

ONE HUNDRED!

Unless we have an unexpected snow day, Tuesday, February 12th will be the 100th Day of School!  This is an important celebration for the Kindergarten Class at Discovery (and in most Kindergartens across the country!).

We will be doing many fun activities at school... math projects, art projects, reading activities.  It will be a full and busy day.

I would greatly appreciate your help with two things for that day:

1)  Have your child bring in 100 pieces of something edible that we could put into a 'trail mix' snack.  This could be cereal, pretzels, chocolate chips, etc.  We have no peanut allergies in our immediate classroom to worry about.  Please have your child wash and help do the counting at home and then send it in.  You can send it early or wait until Tuesday.

2)  Reaffirm with your child that the 100th day of school is not the LAST day of school!  I have told them many times, but every year there are a few who get confused about this!  :)

Thank you!!!

New Reading Homework

Dear Parents,

As we get into the second semester of the school year, the reading homework your child will bring home starts to look different.  I will be sending home their purple envelope with a ‘real’ book inside.  There will also be a sheet that has a running list of the books and a place for you to sign.  Your signature on this sheet tells me that you saw the book and you know your child practiced (and/or you helped them practice) the book.  You may also put notes for me on the sheet about your child’s progress.  

When you are done, please send back the book AND the parent signature sheet.

The homework envelope will no longer just come home on Thursday.    Each time your child brings the green envelope back, I will do my best to send it back home with a new book that day or the next day.  If your child does not bring back their purple folder, they will not get a new book to take home.

Reading Homework is especially exciting because your child comes to school every day!  The children who practice will have built a solid foundation for reading.

Don’t forget about those sight words (heart words)!  The goal by the end of the year is for each child to know 20 words, but the more they know, the better their foundation for first grade.

Please call or email if you have any questions about the homework.

Sincerely,

Kimarie Tacke

763-682-8447

ktacke@buffalo.k12.mn.us

I Love to Read Month!

At Discovery on of our 5 C's is to CELEBRATE!  February is "I Love to Read" month!  It is a great month to celebrate reading and learning!  One of our favorite quotes is:
      "The more we read, the better we get!"
To encourage reading growth and excitement students will have many fun reading opportunities.  Some of them include:

*  Stop, Drop and Read:  You never know when, so student have a book ready at all times to Stop, Drop and READ!
     *  5th Grade Readers:  Our amazing 5th graders share their love of reading during Town Square
*  Locker projects:  Each class will have a different theme for decorating their lockers
     *  Character Parade:  Thursday, February 28th.  Watch for more info!
*  Weekly REading Buddies from other classrooms
     *  Teachers will perform some reader's theater plays for the students
*  Bob Gasch:  One of DES's favorite story tellers, Bob Gasch, will share some fun and lively stories during the evening of conferences on February 19th.  Watch for more info!
     *Parent Readers during Town Square
*  Read-a-Thon at the end of the month to celebrate all our good practice and progress in reading!
     **AT HOME reading log.  See your Tuesday envelope!

Happy Reading!