Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1
This hoot is all about PUMPKINS!  We have read about them, learned about them, explored them, carved them, and picked them!  
First we read this book, then we guessed how many seeds we thought would be in our pumpkin. Our pumpkin had 681 seeds!!   

We cut open our pumpkin and pulled out all of the pulp and seeds.

We dug through the pulp to pick out the seeds.  
Then we counted out 20 pumpkin seeds to take home.  

We completed a pumpkin brace map after we explored and carved our pumpkin.  

The Rockstars voted, and they decided that their jack-o-lantern was going to have a scary face.
  I think they were happy with the end result!  

The next day, we were able to take our pumpkin unit further by attending a field trip to the farm.  Every student got to ride on a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick their very own pumpkin to take home!!   

Hoot #2

This year our kindergarten team decided to go all out on Halloween!  It was SO much fun, and the kids loved the entire day!  Students and teachers got to dress up in a costume for Halloween!!  There was only one catch though...it had to be a book character costume!

We also had students from the middle school come and read to our class in costumes!

After reading Room on the Broom, students got to make Witch's Brew for snack!  They got to help mix the snack in the cauldron and make spooky noises to make sure it mixed just right!  There was dry ice under the cauldron, but it had stopped smoking before the picture was taken.  The dry ice was so cool!! 

Then we got to do a "potion" and see whose jack-o-lantern would make the most elephant toothpaste.  The Jitterbugs won!  On the count of 3, we all shouted "HOCUS POCUS" and watched our jack-o-lanterns erupt!  The students all "oooohhh'd" and "aaaahhhhh'd"!  It was AWESOME!  

A Spook-tacular day was had by all!!
Even heard one student say, "this is the best day ever!"

This Week's Holler...
This week's holler goes out to all of our kinder team! We all work hard (that goes without saying), but we also work very well together as a team! This year we decided to dress up as letters from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The students absolutely loved seeing their teachers dressed up, and even though they may not admit it...the teachers had fun dressing up too!

 

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

This week we had a special surprise at our school during a faculty meeting.  Our superintendent came to our school to award us medals for "Raising the Bar".  We were recognized for increasing student performance in 5 out of 7 proficiency/growth categories during the 2017-2018 school year. Our school was one of 11 schools to meet this criteria in our district!  It was a GREAT day to be a GATOR!!  We are so proud of all of the hard work and dedication of every single staff member and student!  It was a great reminder of why we do what we do and the difference we make every day!

Hoot #2

At this same faculty meeting, something else happened that has NEVER happened in all of our years of teaching!  We all entered the room knowing we were going to have to do some type of group activity...and let's face it, we all are tired after school and don't want to go to a meeting, much less be forced to do a group activity!  If you are a teacher, we know you totally get what we are saying!  Instead, our principals announce here is your Selfie Scavenger Hunt checklist, you have 15 minutes to find your partner and GO!  Teachers were running, making a mad dash to find their partners and were going in all directions!  You could hear running feet and laughter all through the halls of the school.  Some students were at school for play practice, and they kept watching teachers in awe as we ran by laughing and having a good time.  It was PRICELESS!  We get so bogged down with the hustle and bustle of everything that has to be done, that we only have time to say "Good Morning" to each other and we keep going.    We got to know and to hang out with another teacher that we normally wouldn't get the chance to hang with...and it was a great time had by all!! 

 BEST. FACULTY. MEETING. EVER!

 

 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Tara West over at Little Minds at Work.  We began using some of her reading, writing, and phonics units this year.  We absolutely LOVE them! Her units are so easy to follow, and they are age appropriate!  It is exactly what our students need!  If you haven't ever used any of her things, go check out her blog and TPT store!  We guarantee you will find something you cannot live without! 

https://littlemindsatwork.org/

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

Our first hoot all about the letter P. We had an awesome party to celebrate the letter Pp!  Thanks to our wonderful parents, we were able to eat pizza, pickles, popcorn, pretzels, Pringles, pixie sticks, pop tarts, purple juice and so much more. We got to even wear our pajamas to school!!  We also had popsicles at recess and made pirate hats.  We topped off the afternoon with a real princess coming to read to our classes! We just love days like these!
Jitterbugs & Rockstars love princesses!

Hoot #2

Our second hoot is something that has helped us show a lot of growth already! If you have not heard about the "Blue Book," we highly recommend that you look into it. Over the past few years, it seemed that our students really struggled in the area of phonemic awareness. We have also struggled with trying to find the right combination that would work with our littles. We do believe that we may have found it!  It is perfect because it is quick and covers all of the areas of phonemic awareness. It takes about 15 minutes (max) to do it. It We do it daily, every morning during large group time. We do hand motions to help the students retain the information. We love it, and the students do too!!  We would love to answer any questions that you may have about this. 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to a beloved coworker who has began a new chapter in her life.  She has worked at our school for 15 years, so we have had lots of laughs with this special lady!  Bonnie, we are so very blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know you and call you a friend!  Good luck on your new adventure!  
We love you!  It is not "goodbye"... it is "see ya later!"