D.A.R.E.

On Friday, Officer MacParland, a Middleton Police Officer and the D.A.R.E. Officer, came to class to talk about safety.

Officer MacParland began with discussing safety signs that we see everyday on our streets. 

He then talked to the children about how to be safe on the streets.

Next, he talked to the children about personal safety and stranger danger.  

Officer MacParland ended our time together with sharing information about his uniform and all of his safety gear.  Most importantly, Officer MacParland expressed to the children how much all police officers are friends to the children!

Thank you, Officer MacParland,for taking the time to teach the children about safety!  We learned so much!

Weather Scavenger Hunt

Last Friday, the kindergarten went on a Weather Scavenger Hunt with our wonderful first grade buddies in Miss Klipfel's class.  We spent time in our beautiful courtyard.

The first grade children were given

 a iPad and the kindergarten students got the paper and a clipboard.

  Together they followed the checklist hunting for the clues.  

The pictures are just a few of the amazing pictures the students took with the iPads.

Can you find something that crawls on four legs?  Do you see the turtle?

The students had a super fun time hunting and using all of their investigative skills to find everything!

Fun time had by all!

Are You My Mother?

After a field trip to the Newburyport Firehouse Theatre, we were inspired to create a Chatterpix movie.  Thank you to the MPTO for our awesome field trip and experience!

The Surprise!

Teacher Appreciation Week!

Thank you to the MPTO for the awesome door decoration!  It was an awesome surprise to come to school with such a heartfelt and loving decoration as I entered my classroom.  

Thank you to all of the parents and my students who worked so hard on this beautiful and creative door decoration! 

I have been so blessed to teach Kindergarten for 19 years in the same classroom!  It is with all of the support and love for the community, both Middleton and Fuller Meadow, that has made all of my years teaching so amazing!

Thank you so much!

Rocks Rock!

Did you know that we all live on a rock? That's right!  Earth! Earth is a big rock!  Kindergartners have been working hard learning about rocks.  The children became investigators learning about the different characteristics of rocks.  Rocks have different textures, colors, and sizes. Our student teacher, Miss Hannah, took charge leading the investigation!

First, the students brainstormed a list of what they know about rocks.  Then, Miss Hannah read the story, If You Find a Rock, by Peggy Chistian. To continue the investigation, Miss Hannah had the students make connections to the 5 senses.  They made a chart of how rocks touch, see (look), hear, smell, and taste (what?!).  

In small groups, the students got to experiment with the rocks they brought in.  

Using string, they measure the length of their rock and circumference.   Then, they  measured the rocks using a ruler.

Next, the children got to predict and estimate which rock would roll the farthest.  They also got to predict the height of the ramp would create the fastest and furthest roll. 

This was a favorite by all! CCSS: Science: Uses scientific method (observes)  Knows concepts of the following: seasonal changes, properties of objects, transportation technology & engineering, living and non-living things

We Are Readers!

The children have been working so hard this year learning all about the alphabet in Room 121!  We know that the alphabet is made up on consonant and vowels.  Consonants are any letter that is not a vowel.  So, what is a vowel?  Did you know that vowels have 2 different kinds of sounds?  <

Watch this cute Scratch Garden video about short and long vowel sounds!

Watch this video: writing words with digraphs!

All year students have been working on identifying the letters of the alphabet, the corresponding sound, and a picture associated with the beginning sound since the beginning of the year. We have been reading c-v-c words and building our fluency! C-V-C words are consonant-vowel-consonant words in which the vowel is always a short sound.

These writers are learning how to writing real c-v-c words and nonsense c-v-c words.  What are nonsense words?  Words that don't make any sense at all!

Happy Reading, Kindergarten!

RF.K.2: Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

RF.K.3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

Author David Biedrzycki

Welcome David Biedryzcki!

Author and Illustrator David Biedrzycki came to Fuller Meadow!

The Kindergarten got an interactive visit with him while he shared the different ways he comes up with his ideas for his books.  He showed us his sketch books and a very cool tech tool.  Author Biedrzycki showed us www.sumopaint.com and how  he uses it for his drawings! 

Then, Mr. Biedrzycki showed us the creative way publishers put all of the drawings together to make a book!  Who knew?

He even put our very own Mrs. Carreiro into one of his books!

Author and Illustrator David Biedrzycki entertained and enlightened us with his stories and illustrations!  

Thank you, Mr. Biedrzycki!