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

We continued celebrating and learning about all things fall this past week.  Ms. Jamie's class made Witch's Brew for snack one day.  The kids LOVED this activity so much that they shared it with Ms. Jodi's class!  Students have to listen and follow the directions carefully to make their Witch's Brew just right!  Then at the end they have to stir it all up and say "BOOOOOO!"  They took this task of stirring and saying BOO very seriously!  

Hoot #2

We wrapped up all of our October festivities and learning with a field trip to the pumpkin patch on Halloween Day!  The students had so much fun on our first field trip of the year!  They got to experience a corn maze, hay rides, pig races, petting zoo, and a pumpkin patch!  I heard some talking about it after we returned to school, and they said that this was the "best day ever!"  

 WE ARE CRAZY ABOUT OUR PARENT INVOLVEMENT!!!

This wonderful adventure wore us out!!!

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Kristen at A Day in First Grade.  She has TONS of inquiry based, hands-on learning activities!  We love her science units in her TPT store, and so do our students!  Definitely hop on over to her blog and see for yourself how AWESOME this teacher is!  

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot#1

Last week was all about Fall. You can't do fall without Scarecrows. We talked about the job of the scarecrow and read The Scarecrow Hat by Ken Brown. Then we made text to self connections by discussing things that scared us! This is the followup activity that we did.

Bryleigh wrote, "I see big spiders."

Hoot #2

Do you ever have those moments in your classroom where you want to pull your hair out?? You know, that moment when, for some, your students have forgotten how to be a classroom community, and you need to have a "Come to Jesus" talk? That can look so many different ways to so many different teachers. This week, I was busy with my students in my class, when one of them said, "um, Mrs. Jamie, what is Mrs. Jodi doing?" Well, I wasn't certain but I took this picture!

Later, I found out that Mrs. Jodi's class was having one of those moments. She took her girls outside and held hands in a circle.  These girls shared what they liked most about each other and how they can be a better friend. This, not only built their self-esteem, but it also hit so many of our speaking and listening skills. My point is this, instead of raising your voice reminding students for the 100th time about expectations...sometimes it better to just model it.

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Megan at First Grade Roars! We absolutely love her Small Group Guided Reading Prepped post! It contains everything you need to get started right away, meeting the needs of your students.  Go check it out!!