Ask me all about our classroom library!  One of our favorite characters, Llama Llama visited us and brought all of our favorite books!  We curled up and read many stories with our special friend.  Llama Llama's Mama and Teacher, Mrs. Zebra, also came! It was a perfect way to review our reading behavior and it was so fun!
We taught Llama Llama that readers...
*Sit on their bottoms or bellies
*Stay in their Reading Station
*Hold the books carefully
*Look closely at the pictures and the words
*Talk about the story
It was easy for Llama Llama to see how much we LOVE reading!

Ask me all about our Number Talks!  Every day we end Math Workshop by sitting together and taking a close look at a math problem.  We start by putting our hand on our heart (because we love math!!!).  Then we think very hard about what the answer is.  When we have an answer, we put a thumb up!!!  Then we share our thoughts and strategies.  It is so much fun to listen to our friends' ideas!   We always ask questions and wonder about different ways to solve the problem!!!  We are so smart!!!!  :)

Ask me all about apples!  We have been reading fiction and non-fiction books about apples and Johnny Appleseed.  Today we worked together to make homemade applesauce!!!!  (Thank you for sending in the apples!!!)
First we peeled and chopped up the apples.
Then we put them in the crock pot with water, sugar and cinnamon .
Then we let it cook all day long!!!  It smelled so good!
Finally we got to eat it and share it with our friends, just like Johnny Appleseed shared his apple trees! 

Ask me all about Reader's Workshop today!  We had a visit from our Fourth Grade friends!!!
First, Mrs. Newton read Otis, by Loren Long.  It is a wonderful story about a very special little tractor.  We turned and talked with our friends, made predictions, and shared our thoughts.
Then we partnered up and showed our buddies how readers sit, hold their books carefully, and point to each word as they read.  It was so much fun!  Everyone was engaged and excited about reading.  YEAH!!!!!

Ask me all about Apples and what Fall feels like!!!  I will use my Five Senses to tell you all about how it smells, tastes, feels, sounds, and looks!!
Fall is here.
Fall is here.
Yes it is.
Yes it is.
All the leaves are falling.
All the leaves are falling.
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
Crunch, crunch, crunch!

We have also been working on the letter Ff.  Today we practiced making our Frog Jump Letter Ff.  It was so much fun!!!

Ask me all about Dot Day!  We celebrated the story The Dot, by Peter Reynolds.  We loved the theme of the book (what the author was trying to teach us)...believing in yourself and making your mark on this world.
We wore dots, made our names is dots, counted dots, created pictures out of dots, and much much more!!!  We even found dots on the playground!!!

Ask me all about my classroom!   We worked so hard today getting ready for Open House tonight!  Mrs. Brady has a Classroom Scavenger Hunt waiting for us.  We can't wait to show you everything!!

_Ask me all about my pencil grip!!!  I have been working hard on                holding my pencil just right!!!  Today we even made dancing                       pencils for our windows!!!!
I'm picking up my pencil...look at me,
All my fingers are where they're supposed to be!
I'm picking up my pencil and you'll see,
I can hold it correctly!!!
The thumb is always bent,
Pointer points to the tip.
Tall man always helps the pencil grip.
He lets the pencil rest right on his side,
The last two fingers, tuck them in for the ride!!!

Ask me all about the Harvest Luncheon!  Everyone worked so hard preparing special dishes to share.  We harvested vegetables of all kinds from our garden.  Then we washed, cut, and cooked them in many different ways.  Many of us tried all of the different recipes.  There was...
Tomato Basil Salad
Cole Slaw
Roasted Peppers and Onions
Seasoned Potatoes
Soybeans & Tomatoes
Roasted Squash
Rhubarb Bread
Green Tomato Salsa
We had so much fun eating with our family and friends!!!

Ask me all about our tomatoes!!!  We picked two big bowls full from our Harvest of Dreams Garden.  Then we worked carefully, following a special recipe for our Harvest Luncheon.  It was so much fun!  We cut the tomatoes and then added olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and basil.  Yum!!  We can't wait to try it tomorrow!!!

Ask me all about my new friends!!!  We are starting a special unit in Social Studies called All About ME.  We are learning all kinds of things about each other.  Sometimes, we like the same things and sometimes we don't.  We are learning that what makes us different, makes us special!!!
We love learning with our new kindergarten friends!

Ask me all about Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons!!!!  We used Pete the Cat as our math mini-lesson today.  We sang along as he lost his buttons.  Here is the link for the story!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7va0beuK58

Then we looked closely at the buttons on our Smart Board. We sorted them into different collections.  We also got a chance to do some "hands-on"math, making our own collections!!!
How fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ask me all about Literacy Stations!!!  Today we used the wooden pieces (from Handwriting Without Tears) to build letters!!  We used big curves, small curves, big straights and small straights.  We made words, too!  Some of us even built our names!  It was so much fun!!!

Ask me all about Reader's Workshop!  We are amazing readers! 
We learned that Readers....
*Sit on their bottom or belly
*Hold the book and turn the pages carefully
*Look closely at the pictures and the words
*Share books with friends
*Are confident and always do their best!

Today during Literacy Stations we also explored with some special pieces of wood.  We noticed that there were big Straight pieces, small straight pieces, big curves, and small curves.  We sorted them, practiced naming them, and polished them...to get them all ready for tomorrow!!!  We wonder what we are going to do with them!!!!????

We have been enjoying Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. during shared reading.  We have been playing letter matching games, singing songs, and we even watched a special Reader's Theater. 
Today, we found a big coconut tree in our classroom!   We got to retell the story and make all of the letters climb up the tree.  We also made Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees out of our hands.  We searched through all the letters of the alphabet and made our names climb the tree. 
During Math Workshop, Mrs. B. came in and read us Chicka Chicka 1 2 3.  We talked about all of the numbers in the book and then showed her how well we can count! 
At the end of the day Miss Powell came in for some musical enrichment.  We sang Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and used lots of different instruments. 
What an exciting day!!!  It was so much fun!!! 

Ask me all about Reader's and Writer's Workshop!!!  We have had so much fun exploring the classroom library and sharing books with our friends.  We are even illustrating our own alphabet books! 
In writing, we learned that authors can tell wonderful stories with pictures!  We loved sharing our summer stories.

Ask me all about our Kindergarten Promise!!!  On the very first day of school we read the book How do Dinosaurs go to School, by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague.  We talked all about what we wanted our classroom to be like.  We shared stories and made a list of the most important rules we could think of.  Then we all raised our right hands (the one with Mr. Smiley stamped on it) and said the Kindergarten Promise.
Today we revisited our promise.  We talked about what Kindergarten Behavior looks like in the classroom, on the playground and on the bus.  We thought our promise was so important that we had it shining on our SMART Board all day long!

Ask me all about Mat Man!!!  Today we found a big bag of lines.  There were curved lines and straight lines, big lines and small lines.  Carefully, we put them all together to make a person!!!!  We had so much fun working as a team to make Mat Man come to life. 
Then we went outside and made ourselves.  We included arms and legs, feet and hands, eyes and ears.....just like Mat Man!!!!  We are all ready for Writer's Workshop tomorrow!!!  We can't wait!!!

Wow!  What a great first day!  We had so much fun getting to know each other!  We sang songs, read books, played outside, explored math materials, shared stories and played games.  Make sure you look in my Take home folder!!!  There is even a special surprise for you!!!
Boy are we tired!  But we all can't wait to come back tomorrow!!!