Super Readers Celebration!

Today we had such an exciting day...all the kids became official Super Readers, complete with superhero capes and masks! They showed off their super reading powers by reading a whole book, independently, to their third grade buddies. They loved every minute of it and were so proud of all they have learned. I am so proud of them too!

Yesterday we had so much fun at our Winter Party watching a very fun and exciting Mad Science show. The kids were amazed by the science happening right before their eyes. If you haven't heard about him already, be sure to ask your child about "Dangerous Dan." 😊

Happy Holidays to you and your families!

Mathematicians and Teachers

We have been learning about addition in math. Today, the students practiced recording equations, or "number sentences," to represent picture problems. After they finished their work, the kids were paired up to be teachers and students. One student read each equation, and the other student double checked the work, checking the numbers, symbols, and sum for accuracy. They learned a lot about addition, and also how to work with someone else to help everyone learn better.

We Are Writers

We have some budding writers in kindergarten! We have been doing independent writing during Writing Workshop and are learning how to create books about events from our own lives. We have also been doing interactive writing together as a class, learning how to write and build complete sentences. We have been practicing writing and spelling our kindergarten "snap" words correctly as we write sentences. Whenever the kids are getting ready to write new words that aren't snap words, we have been practicing the rubber band strategy. This is a great strategy for you to use at home with your child when he/she asks you how to spell words.

• Pretend to hold a rubber band.
• Say a word aloud slowly, stretching the rubber band. Repeat several times.
• Isolate and say the beginning sound, writing a letter for that sound.
• Repeat for the remaining sounds in the word, rereading and putting together sounds as they are recorded until all sounds are represented.

This is called "invented spelling," and research shows that the more experience children have in exploring our language and word patterns in this way, the more skilled and confident spellers they become.

Below is an example of some of our interactive writing. We compose the sentences together on the SmartBoard, taking turns writing letters, leaving spaces, practicing directionality, writing snap words, among many other things. As we compose a sentence on the SmartBoard, the kids are also composing the same sentence on dry erase boards. Many of these interactive writing projects become class books for us, and you may see some of them come home with your child.

As your children blossom into writers, it is so important for us to celebrate and praise their writing...even when their writing is actually an approximation or an attempt at writing. It is so fun for me to watch your children grow into confident and capable writers!

PJ Day!

We had another fun and cozy PJ day today. The kids loved bringing their stuffed animals with them to school, too. Their job today was to teach their animals all the things they know and can do in kindergarten. Make sure to ask your children what they taught their animals today!

Thanksgiving Recipe Collection

In honor of Thanksgiving this week, we have some very special turkey recipes to share with you. Each child drew a picture of his/her Thanksgiving table, and dictated a turkey recipe to me. I was impressed by the recipes' details, along with how fast some of your turkeys cook at home! Try to guess which recipe and picture belong to your child...you will find out for sure when our How to Cook a Turkey class book starts coming home after Thanksgiving break. Please note...don't try these recipes at home. 😂 I hope you enjoy! I wish all you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Kill a turkey with a knife and bring it home and cut off the feathers. Then you heat
it in an oven for 2 or 40 or 50 minutes. Make sure the oven is like 50 degrees
I guess. When it rings you put the mittens on your hands that protect your
hands from getting too hot and you lift it out. Then you get to eat it.

Buy a turkey at a turkey store, then take it
home. Take off the wrapper, put the turkey in the grill, and then turn on the
grill to hot, about 14 degrees. When you check it you might know when it’s done
because you might have cooked it before. Then you put it on a plate to eat.

Turn on the oven to 11 degrees. Then you put it
the turkey in the oven. Then you take it out of the oven after 5 minutes.
Before you cut it, you put some good oil on it, then you cut it and it’s ready
to serve for Thanksgiving.

Go to the store and look in every freezer aisle
and find a good one. Then walk to the checkout and pay for your turkey. Then
you’ll go home. Take the turkey out of the bag and make it thaw out a little bit
so it doesn’t have to stay in the oven even longer. You put the turkey on a
little grill-ey thing so it doesn’t fall in the oven and get on fire. Put that
whole thing in the oven, and make sure the oven is on 40. Cook it in there for
50 seconds, and then that’s pretty much it.

Get a turkey from Schnucks and pay the checker
outer for it. And then you take it home and then you put it in a probably big
or medium pan if it’s medium, use a medium or big pan. Put pepper on it and
cook it in the stove. Cook it for 12 minutes…I think the temperature should be,
I don’t know, maybe medium temperature. Then what I would do is take it on a table and have the grownups cut it and then you eat it.

Hunt the turkey down and cut the feathers off
it. Then get like a plate and put it on there and put in the oven. Make sure
the temperature is hot, and it should stay in there for 13 minutes. When the
oven dings you know it’s done. Then take it out of the oven with your gloves
and pull it out gently and put it on the table. Put lettuce on the sides of it
because I saw a picture like that one time. So you put it in the middle of the
table and everyone gets some.

You need rice then potatoes and then stuffing.
And then you need some orange powder. Then you need some salt and then you need
some bones and put all of that from the recipe…you use like 4 or 9 recipes,
inside the turkey. Then when it looks brown in the kitchen, you put it in the
oven for 12 hours, but not for a long time. Mom has to wait for it to cook in
the kitchen, then it’s done cooking when she says. Then, Mom, make sure you
call me and tell me its ready to eat, even if I’m in the upstairs or downstairs
or in the living room.

Buy a turkey at Target, the one my mom says to
buy…a kind of big, medium size one. Take it back to home and cook it. Put it in
a pan with salty stuff and that’s it. Then you cook the pan with the turkey in
the oven for maybe 5 minutes. My mom will tell me when it’s done. Then we put
it on a plate and then in a bag, and then put it in the car. We’ll eat it later.

Buy a turkey at the grocery store. Let’s go back
home and cook it. Put it in the oven for a few days, it’s done when it’s been a
few days and 20 minutes. Take it out and put chicken stuff on it, and put
ketchup in it! That would be great!

Go to the store and buy a turkey. Buy the one
that looks good. Bring it home and then put dressing on it, and also put salt
on it. Put it on a big plate thing and put it in the microwave. Microwave it
for 5 minutes, then take it out and put it on the table.

Get the turkey out of the pantry and maybe put
some lettuce on it and put it in the oven for 5 minutes and it is 7 degrees in
there. When the oven makes a ding from the timer, you put on the mitts and that
keeps your hand from getting burned. Pull out the tray that the turkey’s on.
Then set it on the counter to cool down for a few minutes and then you take it
out off the tray, you put a sheet on the table, and then you get a big plate
and then you put the plate on the table, and then you carry the turkey on the
tray and put the turkey on the plate.

Get the turkey from the store, then you cook it
in your home. Put the turkey in pan and then put it in the oven for three
minutes for 40 degrees. Close the oven, and then open the oven and then you
will take the turkey out and set it on the table with a plate. Then I eat it.

Get sugar and chicken, water, cheese. So you get
a bowl, you put the sugar in first, and you put a water in it, and you stir it.
Then you put the cheese in it, then the chicken, and you stir it all. Put that
stuff in the turkey. You take the turkey and you put it in the oven for 12
hours. When the turkey is brown in the oven, you take it out and you eat it.

Take a turkey out of the freezer. Then put salt
and pepper on it. Put dough on top of it and put it in the oven. The oven is on
at 20 degrees and cook it for 30 seconds. After that happens, take it out, and
I eat it. 

Get a turkey from Schnucks and cook it on the stove.
Put the turkey in a big pot and cook it for 7 hours. Add some salt and cook it
and stir it. Then put it on a plate and let it cool off, then that’s all. 

First my mom buys the turkey I think at
Schnucks, and then I think she brings it home and she doesn’t put anything on
it. It’s plain. We put it in a pan, a really medium size one, and we put it in
the oven. The oven is 50 degrees, which is really hot, and the turkey stays in
there for about 13 minutes. And then we take the turkey out, put it in
something, like a box and we bring it over to my Gaga’s and Papa’s house
because they like to have Thanksgiving parties. And we drop the turkey off
there and after that we need to make pumpkin pie.

Take some chicken, mix a little bit, put some
water in, then put in some hard bones, mix it all in, and put it inside the
turkey. Then put it in the oven for 50 minutes…make sure the oven is on high
very hot. Take it out of the oven, and put whatever you want on it, like sugar
or put some fruit on it if you want. Cut out some little pieces and take a
bite. It’s good!

I’ve never made a turkey before but I think how
my mom does it is first she gets a bowl so she can mix the dough in, then she
put it in the microwave so the dough can get hard, and then she smashes it with
a rolling pin. Then the dough is ready and you put it with the turkey and you
set it on the table for everyone. My Papa or Daddy or River cuts it with a
knife so everyone can have a piece.

Buy the turkey at Walmart, then drive home and
then you put the turkey. Take the turkey out of the case. Then you put it in a
pot and then we put salt on it and pepper and then you put it in the oven for
30 minutes. The oven should be very hot, like 1,003 degrees. Then take it out
of the oven. After you take it out the oven, you cut it up and put it on a
plate. Then you eat it. Happy Thanksgiving!