Husky time /Green Eggs and Ham

Today we celebrated the end of Dr. Suess week by reading and eating Green Eggs and Ham. 

Students have also begun bringing in their Leprechaun Traps! We have a very mischievous little leprechaun that likes to make messes in class, and we are trying to catch him :)

Catching up our blog on snow days :)

Miss Cramer's Canines have been busy! I'll be catching up the blog all weekend with random pictures from the month of January :)

The children have been working diligently in reading and at literacy centers- it shows! I am so proud of their reading, and I can see their pride in themselves :) It's very joyful. They are the best cheerleaders for each other, too!

Here are some random pictures from centers:

Scott at the sight word "code" center.

Elena working on sounding out words at a phonemic awareness center. Sully working hard next to her buddy :)

Audrey working with beginning sounds at the stamping center.

Sawyer doing some letter work.

Elli also doing some letter work.

Brooklyn works on a winter word book.

Kyle at beginning sounds.

Paige at the buddy reading center- with Ellery being an excellent listener! :) Children read leveled books to each other and log those books in their Buddy Reading Log. Some of the kiddos have already logged over 40 books! It's one of the ways the children can take ownership of their learning in the classroom. 

That's it for now... Pictures from Rossi's visit coming soon!  Hope everyone is staying warm :) My snow day felt very official, as I went sledding with my niece and nephew today. I am missing our kiddos though, and hate missing all the fun stuff I had planned :( If your child is getting bored, check out some of the websites that are linked under our resources page! 

Polar Express Pajama Day!

Forgot to post these!

Polar Express Day was crazy , but I did manage to snap a few pictures ! We read the book before watching the movie , and nearly every child preferred the book.  We talked about how the movie added some parts (like the the scene on too of the train) that weren't in the book. Isn't it funny ? The book is better than the movie, even in kindergarten! :)

We drank hot chocolate in fancy cups, too :)

My dad also stopped in (wearing pajamas. That my grandmother made. In the 90's.) to read a book, bring doughnuts, and give the kids gifts (twistables ).  Here are some pictures- 

They were pretty excited for the twistables :)

I loved my job today!

Today was awesome. Our classroom family had missed each other! They were all so happy to be together. January is such a fun time to be a kindergarten teacher. It's as if the kids come back from break more mature and ready to learn. It's awesome. They were also being so kind and sweet to each other. It did my heart good. Love my job! 

I am posting some student writing from today! I was excited to see how hard they all worked, it was great! This week in Writer's Workshop, we are working on personal narratives.  My focus in writing is on developing their skills as a writer, and helping them to see themselves as writers. We use inventive ("sounded out") spelling because the focus is on content and the writing process. We do practice spelling- just not in this space. Also, as students become more advanced in reading, their spelling will improve as well.

For Writer's Workshop, I begin by teaching a 10-15 minute mini lesson. Then the children are given an opportunity to write (and hopefully practice using the topic of the mini lesson!)

I love using all the new supplies donated from the gift tree! I am so excited and appreciative! I used the giant pad of paper to create some anchor charts for Writer's Workshop. Anchor charts are used to illustrate the concept or topic being taught. After the lesson, I post it to the wall and it serves as a physical/visual reminder of the topic.

Here's the anchor chart we used today. The lesson was about writing small moments instead of general sentences.  Don't judge the pictures.  My intended audience is 5-6 :)

(Now if your child starts talking about a "watermelon seed story," you'll sort of understand) :)

I asked them to write about something they did over the break. They did a terrific job! Here are some samples of student work from today (with translations!) :) Can you spot your child's work ? 

I danced with my family at home. It was fun.

I woj (watched)  (the ) nowz (news ). 

I went to ice skating. I went downtown. It was fun (with) mom.

I went to the Thunder game. It was loud. I went with my babysitter.

I watched the magic school bus .

I went to the Thunder game (with) my family and friends.

I played with the toys with my dad.

I went to the park. I loved to play lots. I played with my friend.

I went to ice skating with my  sister and my mom and my friend.

I went to my mom's friend's house. I watched Elf.

Over break, I went swimming. It was fun. I love it. I hope I get to go again.

Now if your child starts talking about a "watermelon seed story," you'll sort of understand :)

Here are some anchor charts for lessons we will be doing this week:

Gingerbread House decorating!

We had a blast on Friday! Decorating the houses was a great time- thank you so much for all the help and support ! I can't say thank you enough! Here are some pictures of the event...

Brooklyn and Ms. Wall begin her masterpiece 

Trevor and Ms. Laura (my mom). All Cramers love kindergarten.

Kyle and Brian had a great time decorating houses. Shoutout to Elli's grandpa for volunteering with a smile and what appears to be no chair! You are totally awesome!

Hayley gives it two thumbs up. 

I know that many people couldn't come- it's hard to take off work after having all the snow days, etc. Please know that your children all had a blast, and that there were an abundance of caring adults helping to make it happen.  It's totally cheesy, but I felt blessed to be in a room with so much love and joy. The kids had a great time. Thanks for sending in all the stuff and thank you to all the people who can in to help out and be with the kiddos. I was totally stressed for nothing. 

And one more picture group... Making it "snow" on all the houses...

I really appreciate the Kinzie and Clayton hung with me on the reindeer hats .

 

Okay, glad I wasn't the only one who kept the reindeer antlers on. That might be embarrassing. Thank you Elli, Kyle, Se 'Kyia and Hayley :)