More measuring!

 Measuring lines around the room with popsicle sticks.  We learned to measure end to end for accuracy!

 The children had to measure lines of different lengths and record their findings.

We even learned to estimate by saying about "almost" a whole stick or "half" of a stick.

Papa Wright Party!

We had a special guest with us today name Papa Wright!   He came and taught us all about percussion and rhythm and beat...and the best part was we got to join him in making some awesome music.  Check out some of our in action snap shots....

Be sure to check back later tonight for some awesome kindergarten kid videos with Papa Wright!

Move over, measuring masters...

The kindergarten kids and their third grade buddies were on a roll today.  We have just started exploring measuring with non-standard units and kicked of the unit by using linking cubes to measure ourselves and our buddies.  We were even able to compare the two by looking at how many more or less blocks we used when measuring our buddies.  The students did a great job challenging themselves and counted beautifully...I was so proud of the re-counting happening as they got into the bigger numbers.  Be on the look out for more measuring challenges coming up this week and next and don't be afraid to have your child measure things around the house using their own choice of non-standard units.

Celebrations-Traditions (India)

Thank you to Nikhil and his mom for sharing about India.  The children had the opportunity to see the beautiful colorful clothes from India and learned that Indian children wear light cloth because India is a very hot place to live.  We even had the chance to model boy and girl outfits (thanks Nikhil and Amisha)!  The children also listened to music from India, heard about the native foods (many of which contain peanuts, sugar, and rice) and learned about special holidays and traditions (Diwali, henna, and bin-dis).  The children loved learning about a different place from their classmates.  We even learned how to greet someone who is taller than us....Namaste (hands together).

Measuring Maniacs!

We have just wrapped our first week of our new measurement and data math unit.  This week the children had the opportunity to read several books on measuring and learned vocabulary words such as longer, shorter, taller, heavier, and lighter as they worked to compare themselves to the word around them.  We had the opportunity today to talk more extensively about units and how when we measure in non-standard ( not fixed) units we need to look at our vocabulary attributes since they will affect how many of a unit we need to measure.  Next week we will dive into comparing the length of different objects and seeing how changing our units changes the number of items we need when measuring!

Shoe Man Celebration

Drum roll please......
633!
That is the number of donated pairs of shoes that we will be giving on behalf of our service learning project to George "The Shoe Man" for his shoes to water project.  The children did such a great job publicizing the project and setting goals to collect their the shoes.  It was especially exciting as we rubber banded the shoes, grouped them into bags of 10, and completed the final count up.  Woo hoo, we have so much to be proud of!  To cap the celebration each of us received a water bottle with the saying "I turned shoes into water" so that we would remember to share our news with you tonight!
Thank you for all the ways your support your child's learning and this service opportunity.  We couldn't have reach such an incredible number with you!