March has been all about $$

All month we have been learning about money, money, MONEY! We have been nickeled and dimed to death. We learned about each coin's value and what makes them different. We learned about each president on our coins in addition to counting change and making a dollar. For us having manipulatives and a hundreds chart was a must! 

 Here are some resources for you, whether you are teaching, reteaching, or reinforcing at home. Enjoy!

Crazy Coins Lesson Plans

Money Song

Money worksheet for visual learners

Money Flip Book

Money Booklets

Math Center

Welcome to Kindergarten

I was so proud of some of the group work my little cuties did using Prezi to make a slide show presentation for an open house at our school.  While students did need me to type their words they picked pictures, clip art, music, and voted on the template they wanted to use.  Great job class, I'm proud of you!

There is more than one way to think about math...

Kindergarten answers the question: How would our life be different if we did not have numbers?

Taylor: "We wouldn't be able to use a telephone"
Haylee: "We wouldn't be able to learn math"
Tejas: "We wouldn't be able to tell how many of something there is"
Maya: "We wouldn't be able to type in the password on a smart-phone"
Ty: "We wouldn't be able to read/tell time"
Anthony: "We wouldn't be able to know when to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner"
Joey: "We wouldn't be able to count" "You wouldn't be able to tell if someone had a temperature"
Daniel: "We wouldn't be able to able to read a thermometer(tell how hot and cold it is outside)"

The Lenten Journey

The Lenten season is upon us again. It is a time for us to reflect and try harder to emulate our Lord and Savior Jesus. It can be a difficult concept to explain to children, I know this first hand as each year I try to explain this to my kindergarten cuties. For those of you with older children or students the following videos can be fun to share to help explain or start a conversation about the Lenten and Easter season. Enjoy!

 Below are some kid friendly ideas of what to give up OR do for the Lenten season:
  Things you could give up for Lent:

• Television (or certain shows)
•  Favorite foods (pizza, ice cream, etc.)
•  Soft drinks
•  Clutter
•  Certain books/magazines (read ones that will help you grow spiritually)
•  Social Media sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.)
•  Computer use 
• Negativity 
• Gossip
•  Lying 
• Procrastination 
• Social Networking 

Things to add during Lent:

• Going to Mass more than once a week 
• Praying the Rosary 
• Attending weekly Stations of the Cross 
• Making time for personal prayer with the Lord 
• Praying with your family 
• Going to Confession 
• Quiet time 
• Commitment to exercise 
• Being a better friend 
• Staying positive 
• Volunteering 
• Works of Mercy (feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, etc.) 
• Getting enough sleep at night 
• Being on time

Goodbye to February....

As we wrap up February we think about all different things we learned this month.  We learned about our body and the heart in Science, about Presidents in Social Studies, read Valentines stories, created fun Valentines for our family, and learned more about God and Jesus' love for us.  In an effort to summarize the meaning of love the Kindergarten class collaborated in writing a story to define what love means to them.  Check it out, in so many ways they are wise beyond their years.

Celebrating Our Presidents

Kindergarten was very excited to learn more about our Presidents.  Some things that we focused on during our study were:

• President Washington
• President Lincoln 
• Brief discussion on the Civil War
• President Obama 
• Where the Presidents lived
• What is the job of the President
• How many Presidents we have had in the United States

Here are some fun resources used during our exploration of Presidents:

President's Day Information

Kindergarten Social Studies


Other Resources (not used in Kindergarten):

Dear Parents...

(Reminders for the upcoming week)

First, due to the Multi-Culture Fair and schedule changes on the Thursday before our February break there will be no formal Valentines party.  The children will be able to exchange Valentines towards the end of the day and view a Valentines film.  If your child wishes to bring in Valentines for the class, please be aware that they must bring one for every classmate (11). 

Another important change is the 8^th grade carnation sale.  The deadline for flower orders has been extended to Tuesday February 11^th.  The flowers will be distributed on Wednesday February 12^th in case we get the snow they are predicting for the 13^th.

Lastly, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not forget about the class basket for the wine auction. 

This is one of the schools biggest and most profitable fund raisers.  Our class basket theme is Fairy Tales.  Each family is asked to donate either $20 to $25 dollars (and then I will go out shopping) or Fairy Tale items (such as Fairy Tale stories, toys, games, movies and stuff animals). Thank you for your support and help.

Stay warm!