Winter...or is it?

We keep talking about winter in Kindergarten, although it certainly hasn't felt that way much!  We are so excited to get some snow...enough snow to make snowmen and build snow forts anyways.  In class, we shared our December family projects.  This was AWESOME.  It is so interesting to see how each family celebrates the holidays in their own way.  I learn so much this way!  Below are some from our friends...

We also created our own snowmen, since we don't have enough snow to make them for real!  This was a great opportunity to work on our fine motor and cutting skills.  

Before break, we also talked about the real meaning of the holiday season.  We talked about all the things that we hoped to get for Christmas and then read the story Night Before the Night Before Christmas.  In this story, a family runs into all sorts of problems when getting ready for Christmas.  The cookies are burned, the tree is too skinny, the outside lights don't work, Mom is sick and on and on and on.  At the end of the story, the family realizes that all they really need to make their holiday special is each other.  We talked about the things in our lives that are the most important to us and how more often than not, they are not things, but people.  We talked about how we are thankful for our families, pets and the hugs and love we get from our family members.  We wrote about it and drew a picture inside the present.  So sweet!

  

 

  

The Gingerbread Man

Before winter break, Kindergarteners focused on comparing and contrasting various Gingerbread Man stories.  We read The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth, The Gingerbread Boy, The Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Baby and The Gingerbread Man.  We have been working hard on strengthening our story listening and comprehension skills.  Kindergarteners have been practicing their Turn and Talk, which is where students turn to their partner and respond to a question I have posed about a story we have read.  We have also been working on retelling key events in a story, making predictions, and making connections to other Gingerbread stories we have  read.  Our culminating activity was to read The Gingerbread Baby with Mrs. St. John's and Mrs. Schuttrow's Kindergarten students.  We read the story and then made a real gingerbread man of our very own!  Students helped mix the batter and decorate him.  Then, we took him to the kitchen to bake.  We then headed down to the library where Mrs. Sarro read us The Gingerbread Man is Loose in the School.

 

After the story, we realized that our gingerbread man was done cooking!  We headed to the cafeteria to take him out of the oven and much to our surprise...he was on the loose!  He left a clue for us that led us to the office.  Each time we arrived at a location in the building, a new clue was left for us.  We searched and searched and searched.  Finally, our last clue led us to our classroom, where we realized the Gingerbread Man left us a plate of gingerbread cookies.  We enjoyed eating our cookies and also created a graph showing which part of him we ate first!  This was the BEST DAY EVER according to many Kindergartners!

Pattern Block Fun

Before break, students were given an opportunity during our centers time to explore with pattern block cut outs. Oh my, it's amazing what creativity we see when they are given free exploration! I saw students building people, making landscapes, using symmetry and more! Check out some of the awesome work below!