Everyone in Victor's class stayed on green today!
They have learned songs about the days of the week and the months of the year, which Victor SANG to me. He made up his own song about the seasons.
In carpet time, they identify shapes and sight words.
Today, during library time, instead of listening to a book read aloud, they watched a movie with a funny talking scarecrow. He taught them about recycling seeds: the seeds grow and then you have more seeds.
The scarecrow also taught them about weeds.
According to Victor, "Weeds have little things like penises that suck up all the water. They are bad and want to kill all the trees and other plants.To get rid of them you have to dig them up with a shovel and dig up all the roots."
Victor says he wants to eat cafeteria food some time.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Victor's Fourth Week
This week, Victor realized that at school, he works all day. But at home, he plays all day.
He also decided that he preferred his four-year-old class centers, which included blocks and a play kitchen, to his kindergarten centers, which do not.
There were some perks, though.
1. He got to put glitter on the kite he is making in art.
2. The homework became more interesting and winnowed to 1/3 the time.
3. The bus.
4. He got to wear his red raincoat twice.
5. The listening center, which involves headphones.
6. He finished the book he made about fall.
He also decided that he preferred his four-year-old class centers, which included blocks and a play kitchen, to his kindergarten centers, which do not.
There were some perks, though.
1. He got to put glitter on the kite he is making in art.
2. The homework became more interesting and winnowed to 1/3 the time.
3. The bus.
4. He got to wear his red raincoat twice.
5. The listening center, which involves headphones.
6. He finished the book he made about fall.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Sensational Second!
You may notice an addition to my blogroll: Sensational Second, from my good friend Jenny. She has been teaching school since we graduated from college and is a literacy specialist.
Sensational Second is her blog about teaching second grade, and it has lots of great ideas I'm excited to try at home.
Besides the fun ideas, I like to see what a second grade class looks like so I can better gauge kindergarten and first grade.
I hope you enjoy it!
Sensational Second is her blog about teaching second grade, and it has lots of great ideas I'm excited to try at home.
Besides the fun ideas, I like to see what a second grade class looks like so I can better gauge kindergarten and first grade.
I hope you enjoy it!
Zeke's Second Day and Victor's Ninth
Zeke was aglow when I picked him up yesterday.
"Miss Lynn painted my fingers red!" he said.
Other highlights:
"We played on the playground. I played on the seesaw! But no throwing mulch. No going up the slide. My teacher said you can't throw mulch into the air. You can't walk up the slide. You have to walk up the ladder."
Victor had PE today. They ran one mile, which is eight laps around the field. After each lap, Coach checked off their names. They were allowed to walk or run, but not to sit down.
He described his day as "first we do some learning and then we play [PE] until lunch and then lunch and then we do some more learning and then we ride the bus!"
"Miss Lynn painted my fingers red!" he said.
Other highlights:
"We played on the playground. I played on the seesaw! But no throwing mulch. No going up the slide. My teacher said you can't throw mulch into the air. You can't walk up the slide. You have to walk up the ladder."
Victor had PE today. They ran one mile, which is eight laps around the field. After each lap, Coach checked off their names. They were allowed to walk or run, but not to sit down.
He described his day as "first we do some learning and then we play [PE] until lunch and then lunch and then we do some more learning and then we ride the bus!"
Friday, September 9, 2011
Victor's Ninth and Tenth Days
Victor stayed on green all day on Wednesday and Thursday. I can tell he makes a big effort.
On Wednesday, he went to art class. They are making kites out of paper. All of the children were given the same paper. He did not get to choose his color.
On Thursday, he went to music class. It was a lot better than last week.
The really big news on Thursday was that a girl in his class got on BLUE. She was not following directions. If you get on blue, the teacher calls your mom.
On Wednesday, he went to art class. They are making kites out of paper. All of the children were given the same paper. He did not get to choose his color.
On Thursday, he went to music class. It was a lot better than last week.
The really big news on Thursday was that a girl in his class got on BLUE. She was not following directions. If you get on blue, the teacher calls your mom.
Zeke's First Day
Wednesday was Zeke's first day of preschool. He had a very nice time. There are 11 boys and four girls in his class.
Me: Zeke! How was school?
Zeke: Good.
Me: What did you do?
Zeke: I just played with toys.
Me: Which toys?
Zeke: Oh. A fire truck.
Me: Which fire truck? The small, medium or big one?
Zeke: Oh. The medium and the small fire truck.
Me: That sounds fun. What else did you do?
Zeke (more excited): I shot Scott with a gun. Then with a bigger gun!
Me: Oh? What did your teacher think of that game?
Zeke: She thinked it was good.
Me: Really? What happened next?
Zeke: I shot him, then someone shot me back and forth.
Me: And what did your teacher think of this game?
Zeke: She thinked--thought it was really, really bad.
Me (observing): You don't play guns at our house.
Zeke: I know. We don't have anything to make good guns.
Me: Zeke! How was school?
Zeke: Good.
Me: What did you do?
Zeke: I just played with toys.
Me: Which toys?
Zeke: Oh. A fire truck.
Me: Which fire truck? The small, medium or big one?
Zeke: Oh. The medium and the small fire truck.
Me: That sounds fun. What else did you do?
Zeke (more excited): I shot Scott with a gun. Then with a bigger gun!
Me: Oh? What did your teacher think of that game?
Zeke: She thinked it was good.
Me: Really? What happened next?
Zeke: I shot him, then someone shot me back and forth.
Me: And what did your teacher think of this game?
Zeke: She thinked--thought it was really, really bad.
Me (observing): You don't play guns at our house.
Zeke: I know. We don't have anything to make good guns.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Victor's Eighth Day and a Milestone
Monday was a big day. Not only was Dad home ALL DAY, but Victor lost his first tooth!
It was very exciting.
He told his teacher on Tuesday, but she did not hear him.
Also on Tuesday, Victor's class did not have centers. Instead, they played a sight words game with four teams. A girl named Kelly is on Victor's team. The teacher asks each team in turn to identify a sight word.
In the cafeteria, the students must use voice levels 0 or 1. They did not have recess after lunch because they had P.E. earlier in the day. (I think this is barbaric, but never mind.)
It was very exciting.
He told his teacher on Tuesday, but she did not hear him.
Also on Tuesday, Victor's class did not have centers. Instead, they played a sight words game with four teams. A girl named Kelly is on Victor's team. The teacher asks each team in turn to identify a sight word.
In the cafeteria, the students must use voice levels 0 or 1. They did not have recess after lunch because they had P.E. earlier in the day. (I think this is barbaric, but never mind.)
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Victor's Seventh Day
The highlight of Victor's seventh day of kindergarten was, "There's no homework today!"
He also explained the voice volume system:
0--no talking
1--whisper
2--conversation
3--outside voice
Sadly, Victor had to be on yellow because he used a 2 during centers, when only a 0 or 1 is allowed.
There are four centers. One is a set of lowercase letter stamps that you can use to stamp your name and the sight words. Another is a whiteboard and marker where you can write your name and the sight words.
While the students are in centers, the teachers test one student at a time, "to see if you know stuff." For example, the teacher shows you a word and then takes away a letter to see if you know the new word, too. For example, "you read DOG and she takes away the D and you have GO."
Victor had PE yesterday. The activity was to act like whatever animal the teacher "spotted in the bushes." He got two strikes because he did not participate. He explained that he was hot and wanted to stand in the shade.
He also explained the voice volume system:
0--no talking
1--whisper
2--conversation
3--outside voice
Sadly, Victor had to be on yellow because he used a 2 during centers, when only a 0 or 1 is allowed.
There are four centers. One is a set of lowercase letter stamps that you can use to stamp your name and the sight words. Another is a whiteboard and marker where you can write your name and the sight words.
While the students are in centers, the teachers test one student at a time, "to see if you know stuff." For example, the teacher shows you a word and then takes away a letter to see if you know the new word, too. For example, "you read DOG and she takes away the D and you have GO."
Victor had PE yesterday. The activity was to act like whatever animal the teacher "spotted in the bushes." He got two strikes because he did not participate. He explained that he was hot and wanted to stand in the shade.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Victor's Sixth Day
On Wednesday, Victor had music class. It was taught by a woman.
He also had to move his name from green to yellow.
He explained that there were two teams, black for the boys and pink for the girls. The boys had 13 points and the girls had 12 points. He wanted to win! So he did this to his classmate.
And he demonstrated a fist bump.
I have no idea if that's what really happened, but we practiced gentle fist bumps, just in case. I don't ever do fist bumps myself, but I saw Obama do it once, so I copied what he did.
Finally, Victor has a classmate named Pinch. Prince? No, PinCH. PINCH.
He also had to move his name from green to yellow.
He explained that there were two teams, black for the boys and pink for the girls. The boys had 13 points and the girls had 12 points. He wanted to win! So he did this to his classmate.
And he demonstrated a fist bump.
I have no idea if that's what really happened, but we practiced gentle fist bumps, just in case. I don't ever do fist bumps myself, but I saw Obama do it once, so I copied what he did.
Finally, Victor has a classmate named Pinch. Prince? No, PinCH. PINCH.
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