Instead of a picture talk today, we watch a Pixar short and talked about why the setting is important.  We also thought about words to describe the main character Piper.  We talked about how the character changed in the story.  Ask me to tell you about PIper!  We loved Piper!

 We read a story called The Spider and the Deer.  We talked about the story elements, the character, setting and beginning, middle and end of the story.  Ask me retell the story of The Spider and the Deer.
We are also learning about prepositions.  We know prepositions are like a bridge between words.  Prepositions come before nouns or pronouns.  Kinders need to be able to use them.  We are not diagramming sentences in kindergarten!  

In math, we finished up Unit 3 that was about measurement and numbers to ten.  We worked to identify strategies to show more and less.  Our next unit is about adding and subtracting.  We will work with story problems, number bonds, and will begin by learning about decomposing and composing numbers.
We had art in the classroom today.  Mrs. Park was absent and there was no sub, so Miss Monet filled in.  I am Miss Monet!  I try my best to do something for art with the class so they don't have to be split up and attend a class they will be going to later in the week for the same lesson.  Today, we listened to Abiyoyo again and drew the giant Abiyoyo.  I got out the big manila paper and folded it into fourths.  Then, we looked at the illustrations and noticed the shapes and lines that make up Abiyoyo.  I talked about dividing up Abiyoyo's body into four parts and we sketched one part at a time.  I emphasized using the whole paper and which part of the paper we were on as we did each part.  I modeled and then they drew.  Then, when the children came back from lunch, I gave them some time to color their picture and add a setting.  I hope you enjoyed the pictures!
In case you don't know the story of Abiyoyo, I'll put it in so you can enjoy it.  This is an old copy from Reading Rainbow with the author of the song, Pete Seeger.

Have a nice evening!
​Miss Wolfe

Thank-you for your support not only of our Read-a-Thon, but of our vocabulary parade today.  The Read-a-Thon continues next week.  We will be reading many great books together, and I will be putting out some different books in our classroom library.  We loved the vocabulary parade.  What a great activity!  We had a great time seeing the costumes and learning new words or understanding familiar words better.  Here are the pictures I took this morning.  

We read the book Peggy, A Brave Chicken on a Big Adventure, by Anna Walker.  This is a sweet story of a chicken who gets blown from her home in the suburbs into the city by a blustery wind.  Pretty much the perfect book for a blustery day like today, and a great reminder of the word adventure we talked about yesterday.  Our purpose today was to study the pictures and discuss the settings in the story.  Ask me to retell the story of Peggy!

We had an SEL lesson the afternoon.  I chose the book A Little Spot of Anger: A Story About Managing Big Emotions, by Diane Alber.  We discussed what some big feelings are we have sometimes, but then zoomed in on anger.  The story gives thee children a strategy of counting to four and breathing in, then out, on the four fingers, and gave examples of what to do when they suddenly get angry.  Then we talked about what we can do when we have those big feelings and are feeling overwhelmed, tired, sad, or really any time we just need time to slow down and relax.  We learned about Zen Doodling.  I provided examples of different doodles they could on a peace sign.  We used our Flair markers to make the doodles.  Doodle happened to be my vocabulary costume today.  We put some quiet jazz music on and worked silently, focusing on the lines and designs we were drawing and on our breathing as we worked.  I reminded the children to draw their lines and designs slowly and to really focus their eyes on the pen as they moved it across the paper.  This is not only a great activity for mindfulness, but also for fine motor practice.  I told the children this is something they could do on their own at home, with siblings, or something the whole family might want to do.  You just need paper, a thin marker, and a thicker marker is good to make the shape and to section off the shape into smaller spaces to make the designs and lines.  

Here are a few more pictures I took today.

Today we had an assembly.  It was only our second assembly so we talked about expectations during a program.  The children did a great job listening, participating and sitting quietly.  They sat flat on their bottoms, and even when other classes were on their knees blocking their view momentarily, most of them continued to sit flat on the floor.  
The program was presented by Dr. Mokemo from the Museum of African Culture.  He brought masks and artifacts that he shared as he talked about the power of the African art objects.  As he presented the masks, he talked about what each represented.  I've included some photos below that show parts of the program.

Have a nice evening!
​Miss Wolfe

The children had a busy morning with back-to-back specials first thing this morning!  The children went to Wellness first, then to music, before recess and lunch.  
In the afternoon, we listened to the gorgeous book Someone Builds the Dream, by Lisa Wheeler and beautifully illustrated by Loren Long.  This book celebrates the team of people who work together to build and create bridges, amusement parks, wind farms and books.  It is a beautiful book to look at that shows the different types of work that are necessary to complete a project.
​We learned about Harriet Tubman today as well.  We read a beautiful book called Before She was Harriet, by Lesa Cline-Ransome, that recounts her life from an old woman, back to Araminta from Maryland.  We talked about how Harriet Tubman did so many amazing things that helped so many people.  She was a true superhero.  Ask me to tell you some of Harriet's other names and things she did in her life.  This book got applause when I finished, and a couple children wanted me to find a copy to put on our blog, so here it is.

Have a nice evening!
​Miss Wolfe

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We started our day studying these amazing fishermen from Vietnam and talking about this incredible photograph.  I am always amazed what comes out of these little people's mouths who have been on the Earth just five or six years.  The first child that shared what they talked about with their partner very clearly stated that the two men on the boats were balancing, like the balance scale, and they had their other foot up on the stick so their side wasn't too heavy.  They talked about the shapes they saw, and we thought about what would happen when they put fish in their boats.
We will continuing a tradition my classes have had for the past five or six years but with a big modification.  We will be watching an eagle's nest.  In the past we have watched the nest at the National Arboretum in D.C., but the two eagles, Lotus and Mr. President have moved to another nest in the area that does not have cameras.  I blame it on Lotus.  She moved in with Mr. President and replaced The First Lady after a season where no eggs were laid.  Now Lotus wants a new home.  I'm really sad because Lotus and Mr. President were very entertaining, as well as educational.  I looked at other eagle cameras in the area and around the U.S. and decided on the Dulles Greenway Eagles Nest, ​www.dullesgreenway.com/eagle-cam/.  If you are unfortunate enough to have a fine on the Greenway, you can pay the fine there too!  We are late to the party on this nest with Rosa already laying two eggs.  They were laid two days apart about a week ago.  What you will see now on the nest is Rosa and Martin taking turns incubating the eggs.  There are two views on this camera.  I talked to the children about this being a wild nest and that they may see some things they think are gross, but I promise they will get used to, like when they tear a fish or rabbit apart for dinner.  There is also the possibility that the eggs won't hatch, or when they do hatch, won't survive.  We had one eaglet last year die shortly after hatching, but the children were very matter of fact about it saying that it was part of nature.  Hopefully, we will follow DG3 and DG4 until they fledge from the nest. We will start a journal on Monday to document what we see and learn from this nest.  

We started our Black History Month by reading a few African folktales.  We read Anasi and the Big Stick, by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens, Lazy Lion, by Mwenye Hadithi, and Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna Aardema.
We continued our Black History study today by reading the book An American Story, by Kwame Alexander.  This book beautifully tells the history of how the slaves from Africa were taken away from their homes, brought to America, and used as slaves.  This book tells this harsh reality of America's past with stunning illustrations that are actually sculptures.  The words Alexander chose are powerful and beautifully constructed, chosen carefully without overwhelming the reader with too many words.  I stopped along the way as I was reading to discuss some of the words, and when we finished we just shared feelings and thoughts.  Below you will find an interview with the author and artist who created this book.  

In math, we continued working with the vocabulary more, fewer, equal, and including the word than to compare two groups.  We looked at cookies and cupcakes and compared the groups using these words.  We also talked about how they knew one group had fewer or more than the other group.  We talked about using the fewer when we talk about a quantity instead of the word less.  Precise language is important in math!

Have a great weekend!
​Miss Wolfe


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We started our 100th day of school by looking at four places that are about 100 miles away from our school for a pretend field trip.  The children looked at the photos and talked with a buddy to share what they noticed and which place they would like to visit.  We took into consideration that Hershey Park would be closed this time of year.

We used tallymarks to vote for our choice of which place we would like to visit.  Ask me to tell you about our data and what we know now.

The 100 Day projects were great!  The children loved sharing them with their classmates.  So many creative ideas.  We made a little 100 booklet with what we would do when we are 100 years old, what we would buy with $100, what we would wish for 100 of, and what we could eat 100.  We will finish these booklets tomorrow so you can enjoy them as much as we did!
We worked our finger muscles to put 100 stickers on paper.  We also practiced writing 100, then used a hole punch to punch all the 100's on the edge of the paper.  

Have a nice evening!
​Miss Wolfe

We started our morning with this handsome guy.  The children studied the picture, then talked about what they noticed, then gave their opinion of the painting.  We reviewed that when you share your opinion you give reasons to support it.  The children overwhelmingly did not care for this painting.  We looked at some other paintings, sculptures and art that was inspired by this Giuseppe Arcimboldo painting too, and later this week or next will create our own drawings inspired by this handsome guy!
We did a quick area lesson in math.  The children used digi-blocks to cover a rhombus and a circle.  We will be using the digi-blocks for a few​ activities because they give children a good understanding of place value.  We also practiced counting by tens today.  We used imaginary weights to lift as we counted by tens.
We also collected data today to find out if more of our classmates wanted the groundhog to see his shadow, or if they wanted an early spring.  The vote was ten for six more weeks of winter, nine for an early spring, and three children had no preference.  However, they almost all want snow either way!

Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe