Kindergarten Coders

Today we participated in Computer Science Week by learning how to code. Yes, I said code! These kindergarten boys know their way around a computer. We started with the basics of coding. The boys took to it quickly and seemed to really enjoy and understand it. Who knows where the boys will be able to take this new knowledge. Here are some pictures from our "Hour of Coding". 

Christmas Gift Ideas and our Kindergarten Wish List

Christmas is a great time to think about giving as well as receiving. We all get excited about getting gifts but it is just as much fun to give them. Here are some things we would like to give as well as a wish list for ourselves. Merry Christmas! 

Here is what we would like to give:

Dudley - my Transformer toy to my friend Tyler

Sohum - a Kindle Fire HDX to my sister 

Carter - a train set to my brother

Stephen - a Christmas plate to my parents

Frank - a Lego set to my brother

Renat - a Skylander to my sister

Reese - Lulu Lemon gift card to my mom

Aadil - a bow and arrow to my mom

Michael - a Power Ranger sword to my little brother

Madoc - an iPod to someone in another country

Kevin - a Starbucks gift card to my grandmother

Reid - a cross bow for my dad

Whit - a Lego rescue ship set to my brother

Witt - an Xbox One to my big brother

Craig - a blanket to my friend Jack

Noah - a rece car track Lego set to my big brother

Chris - a remote control helicopter to someone that doesn't have one

Jackson - a remote control boat to my friend Drew

Here are a few things we have on our own wish lists just in case Santa checks our our blog! 

Reid - a cross bow

Whit - red electric scooter

Witt - the Skylander Swap Force Dark Star Pack

Craig - a Power Ranger sword

Noah - the Lego fire station

Aadil - a space heater

Michael - a Skylander Swap Force Starter Pack

Madoc - Kindel Fire HDX

Kevin - the Ultra Sonic Raider Lego Ninjago

Reant - Skylander Tree Rex

Reese - a 5-in-1 Sports Scooter

Frank - Ninjago Snack Car

Chris - Scooby Doo stuffed animal

Stephen - Motor Scooter

Carter - Catchers Glove

Sohum - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Wii game

Jackson - a cross bow

Dudley - iPhone 5s

How to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Kindergarten style!

It is always fun to have the class give their best directions int he kitchen. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner and here is how the boys would get it ready if they were in charge.

The Turkey
Purchase a 5 pound frozen turkey.
Let it that in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Preheat the oven to 7 degrees.
Cover the turkey in salt, dressing, ketchup, pepper, and butter.
Stuff the cavity with  spices, pepper, onions and ranch dressing.
Cook the turkey for 3 hours.
Let the turkey sit for 74 minutes before serving.


Sweet Potato Casserole
Purchase 6 large sweet potatoes.
Peel and boil the sweet potatoes for 10 hours.
Mash them up with mashers.
Add one cup of cubed Swiss cheese, about 2 cups of ketchup, 4 cups for sugar, and 10 cups of pepper.
Top with oil to give it flavor. 
Pour in a casserole dish and cook at 20 degrees for 50 minutes.

Green Beans Casserole
Get 30 cans of green beans.
Pour in bowl and add flavor, fresh tiny green beans, little tiny pieces of rolls, 5 cups of butter and 13 tablespoons of hot sauce.
Pour in casserole dish and cook at 29 degrees for 8 hours.


Stuffing
5 Drops of Ketchup Powder
7 Loaves of Corn Bread
5 Loaves of Rosemary Bread
6 Drops of Mustard
9 tablespoons of pepper
12 sleeves of Saltines
15 Eggs
39 Tablespoons of Butter
10 stalks of Celery
Mix everything together.
Cut the turkey in half. Stuff each side with stuffing. Put the turkey back together so it looks like a whole turkey. Put cheese around it. After the cheese melts it will stick the sides together.
Cook at 400 degrees for 81 minutes.


Pumpkin Pie
The Crust - Use white bread  and  9 sugar cookies. Put them together and make a circle for the crust. Put in a pie dish. Cook at 100 degrees for 19 seconds.
The Filling - Scoop out the inside of 5 baby pumpkins. Add 10 cups of white sugar and 10 cups of brown sugar. Fill the pie crust. Cook at 30 degrees for 31 minutes.
After cooking, top the pie with 20 drops of whipped cream.

Hope you enjoy our special Thanksgiving recipes! Happy Thanksgiving! 

Being Thankful All Year

Thanksgiving Pictures

November is finally here! We all think about what we are thankful for around Thanksgiving but the boys and I think you should remember these things all year long. Here are some thing we are thankful for all the time. 

Reid - My Family
Whit - My cat Holly
Witt - That I have the nicest family in the whole wide world.
Craig - My class and my whole family. I will love them forever.
Will - My friends and my family.
Aadil - My food and water.
Carter - Our hearts
Kevin - The world
Frank - Nature
Renat - This whole country
Madoc - All the states that God gave us
Stephen - That the Native Americans and Pilgrims  found this country so all the people that want to live here can live here.
Noah - My whole family, my cousins, my nanny and grandaddy, and my grandma and grandaddy.
Chris - The whole class and the teachers
Dudley - My dogs, my family and my cousins
Sohum - My whole family,  my pet goldfish, and all the people that live here
Michael - My Parents

Pumpkin KWL

Fall is finally in the air here! The temperatures are finally below 80 and we are ready for some fall weather. One thing that always makes us think of fall is pumpkins. We have started exploring pumpkins this week and thought we would learn something new by making a KWL chart.

K - Here are some thing we KNOW:
Chris - they are hard
Reid - the stem is hard
Witt - you can carve them for Halloween into Jack-O-Lanterns
Sohum - you can get a pumpkin and you can make the face and then you can put a light bulb in to it can glow
Dudley - they are kind of gooey inside
Kevin - they are gross on the inside
Reese - you can use it a lot of different ways
Michael - they are really heavy
Renat - there are a lot of seeds inside
Stephen - the seeds taste like pumpkin pie
Aadil - some are big
Will - farmers grow them
Carter - you can put lanterns inside of them
Craig - they can have sprouts in them and there is lots of yucky stuff in there
Noah - they are so round that you can roll them like a ball
Madoc - some pumpkins have leaves on them stem

W - This is what we WANT to learn/know about pumpkins:
Stephen - Does the size of the seed determine how big the pumpkin will be?
Renat - I wonder if you drop the pumpkin if it will pop or not.
Michael - Are some pumpkins so huge that you have to roll them to move them?
Kevin - If there are a bunch of pumpkins that roll down a hill will they all break?
Reese - If you throw a ball at a pumpkin will it come back or make a hole?
Carter - How many lines are there on pumpkins?
Reid - How big can they get?
Craig - How do the seeds get in the pumpkin?
Sohum - How do the seeds grow the pumpkin?
Frank - How to the pumpkins get the food that helps them grow?
Madoc - I wonder if pumpkin seeds are slimy.
Dudley - I wonder of pumpkins can get gooey on the outside.
Jackson - I wonder if you can draw a jack-o-lantern on paper and then copy it on a pumpkin?
Chris - I wonder if the pumpkin breaks if a dog scratches it.
Will - How do pumpkins grow into different colors?
Noah - Can a pumpkin bounce?

We will post again with the L of our KWL at the end of the month! 

It is November 4th and we are ready to add the L to our KWL chart.
Here is what we L - LEARNED about pumpkins.
Renat - They have a lot of seeds.
Sohum - Outside they are very hard and inside they are smooshy
Madoc - There are lines on pumpkins.
Will - They grow in a field.
Chris - They grow on vines.
Stephen - The stems on orange pumpkins are larger than the stems on green pumpkins.
Witt - There are so many lines you can barely count.
Aadil - The grown seeds inside the pumpkin.
Reid - They get picked by hand.
Michael - I learned that some are so large that you have to roll them to move them.

Fall Break is here!

We have been in school for about two months and it is time for a little break. Our Fall Break is this week and some of the boys are taking fun trips and some are going to have great staycations here at home. Here is what we will be up to on our break. Some have been elaborated a bit and some are accurate. Either way, they are fun to read! 

Jackson - I am going to a football game to see Ole Miss play.
Frank - I am going somewhere that has a lot of rides and I get to go on bumper cars.
Sohum - I am going somewhere to go hand gliding.
Chris - I am going to this big mountain to look at the stars and I am going to a beach where I can go waterskating. Then I am going to this place where I have to sign in to go on a boat trip. Then I am going to a museum and then we are going out to eat. It is going to be a long trip.
Noah - I am going to have a staycation. I will probably go to fun places.
Steven - I am going to go to St. Louis and then I am going to Six Flags. The amusement park not the water park.
Madoc - I am going to Tanzania and New York to visit my cousins.
Reese - I am going to Washington, D.C.
Aadil - I am not going anywhere. I am going to play with my brothers.
Renat - I think my mom said we are going for like a cruise for like 5 days. It has 4 pools.
Carter - I am going to Disney World and my brother is going to have his birthday there.
Kevin - I am going to to go Little Rock to stay at a hotel and eat a bunch of bacon for breakfast.
Reid  - I am going to the lake at my land.
Whit - I am going to Florida and lots of people are going to come with me.
Witt - I am going to the beach and I don't know which one it is but it is the one with Sugar Shack.
Craig - I am going to the Children's Museum water park.
Will - I am going to the Little Red River and I am going fishing there.

Can you tell me how to get...

 

We enjoyed this fun video from Jimmy Fallon and The Roots in class this morning. Sesame Street always makes you feel good! It is something everyone shares a memory of. So I asked the boys....

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? Here are their directions. 

Reese - Jump into the television

Will - Go left in an airplane. Then you go straight and you land in Sesame Street. 

Witt - Drive and try find a hidden portal to go in the ground and then you drive to another portal that leads you to Sesame Street. 

Noah - Find a big building and then once you get there you find the secret passage way. Then you shrink down and take the secret passage way to Sesame Street. 

Michael - Go in a magic sewer and then you run through the sewer until you get to the sewer at Sesame Street and then you climb out of the sewer on to Sesame Street. 

Madoc - I think you go to the top of a tall building, look for Sesame Street from there then jump off when you find it. 

Renat - Sit on a chair and the you press a green and red button  and the chair takes you to Sesame Street

Sohum - You can hand glide until you find it and then you can land and jump on your feet. 

Chris - Climb a tall tree with a vine that goes through the sky. Swing on the vine until you land on a cloud over Sesame Street then you jump down. 

Craig - Take an airplane, fly left, then straight, until you get to Sesame Street in Alabama. 

Whit- Take an airplane to Sesame Street. 

We all love Sesame Street here in SK and here are some of our favorite memories:

Kevin - You can make friends with the Sesame Street people. 

Michael - I like to see Oscar

Carter - I would like to sleep in Big Birds nest. 

Will - Going to see Elmo's World. 

Witt - Cookie Monster

Reese - I like to watch Cookie Monster eat cookies. 

Stephen - I would like to live in a trash can like Oscar. 

Reid - I like Snuffy. 

 

Goodbye Summer! Hello Fall!

We are all ready to say goodbye summer here in Memphis! It has been hot, hot, hot and we are ready for some fall temperatures. As we wave goodbye to Summer 2013 we would like to share some of our favorite memories. The Fall season begins on Sunday so we are also going to share what we are looking forward to in Fall 2013!

Favorite Summer Memories 2013:

Kevin - going to Mexico for my birthday

Michael - swimming in my pool

Madoc - playing with my mom

Stephen - water park

Dudley - going to a really fun water park

Renat - going in the pool while I was on vacation

Reese - going to Destin a lot

Aadil - playing basketball with my brothers

Carter - playing basketball

Jackson - playing soccer

Whit - spending time with my family

Witt - going to the Children's Museum

Will - playing T-ball

Chris - going to my Grandma's house and getting a toy dragon at the toy store

Frank - having my birthday

Craig - playing all kinds of sports

Reid - going to the lake

Sohum - going to the Delta Fair

Here is what we are looking forward to this Fall:

Michael - jumping in the leaves when they fall down

Craig - going to the Children's Museum and going to my Nana's

Frank - raking leaves with my dad

Kevin - getting ready for Christmas

Chris - jumping in all the leaves

Stephen - Trick-or-Treating

Reese - Fall Break

Madoc - decorating my house for Halloween

Jackson - Halloween

Witt - Halloween

Will - carving a Jack-o-lantern

Reid - dressing up for Halloween

Aadil - seeing the leaves fall down

Carter - playing with the leaves

Witt - decorating my playhouse in the backyard for Halloween

Are you ready for some football?

The football season is upon us! The boys in my class love to talk sports and football is a hot topic these days. We have lots of favorite teams in here and here is a list of who we are rooting for this season! 

Kevin - New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers
Frank - Alabama
Craig - Dallas Cowboys
Michael - NY Giants and the Ole Miss Rebels
Madoc - NY Giants
Stephen - Steelers and the Memphis Tigers
Noah - NY Giants
Chris - Memphis Tigers
Aadil - Memphis Tigers and Baltimore Ravens
Renat - Memphis Tigers
Reese - Alabama
Dudley - Memphis Tigers
Carter - Tennessee Vols and Memphis Tigers
Reid - Oakland Raiders and the Memphis Tigers
Whitt - I don't watch football
Witt - Tennessee Vols
Sohum - Memphis Tigers
Will - Memphis Tigers & Ole Miss

Mrs. Thomas - Steelers
Mrs. Perry - Memphis Tigers and Florida Gators

Knuffle Bunny Tales

This morning we enjoyed reading Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too. We are looking forward to checking out Knuffle Bunny Free from the library to see what happens next! The boys are coming up with their own ideas about what happens next in the Knuffle Bunny series. 

Here is what we think happens next...

Will - The girl has kids.
Stephen - The girl gives the Knuffle Bunny to her kids and then she will lose it again. I think also if she keeps it she will sleep with it at night because she is afraid of the pillow monsters.
Aadil - I think she'll give it away because she is going to be a grown up.
Craig - She'll get married and have two kids.
Reid - She will give Knuffle Bunny to somebody else.
Witt - She will keep the Knuffle Bunny with her and she won't give it to her kids.
Renat - I think when she is a grown up she will have her own closet and put Knuffle Bunny away.
Reese - I think she will lose it and then she will cry even though she is a mom.
Dudley - I think when she has Knuffle Bunny she will put it in her closet and when she goes night night she will sleep with it.
Frank - I think when she has a baby she will give it to her baby.
Noah - When she is a grown up she will give it away and she will put it in a washing machine and she will break the stuffing.
Madoc - I think that when she grows up she will give it away to one of her friends that has a baby.
Jackson - She will probably give Knuffle Bunny to one of her friends and then her friend will give it to one of her friends.
Chris - I think she is going to get married ad have 5 kids.

We can't wait to get our hands on  copy of Knuffle Bunny Free to see if we are correct! 

We Have a Dream

Today is the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech. We were lucky enough to watch his speech this morning as a school. We have been able to talk about it, think about it, and now we are going to write about it. We are thankful for his words and and his work.
This is how we would like to live out his dream. 

Kevin - be kind
Frank - be good
Craig - selling things other people need
Michael - be nice to people who don't get anything and share
Madoc - give people stuff they don't have
Jackson - share with my sister
Noah - If you get a toy that someone else wants you can share it with them or give it to them
Chris - help people if they lose something
Aadil - I could be nice to my brothers
Renat - give money to other people if they don't have enough money
Reese - help people who are sick
Dudley - if someone doesn't have fruit you can give them fruit
Carter - share toys and play with everyone
Stephen - treat people fairly
Whit - respect people
Witt - you can help people win a stuffed animal in a crane game
Sohum - sharing
Will - love and help

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

Hello to a new school year and a new class of boys!

We have had a great start to the school year and have come up with some of our favorite things so far. Here they are! 

Kevin - snack time

Frank - playing on the playground

Madoc - computers

Chris - art time

Noah - listening to the books

Jackson - playing outside

Michael - going to the cafeteria

Reese - going to the cafeteria

Renat - computer time

Carter - recess

Aadil - going to the cafeteria

Will - cafeteria

Witt - cafeteria

Stephen - cafeteria

Whit - cafeteria

Reid - cafeteria

Sohum - computer time

Dudley - center time

We have been to the cafeteria only once and it clearly made a big impression! The boys had a great time picking out their lunches and eating with friends. 

Martin Institute/Harvard Project Zero Scholarships

My school, Presbyterian Day School, was thrilled to recently be chosen as a satellite location for Harvard's Project Zero. I was lucky enough to attend in Cambridge a few years back at it is amazing. I encourage all educators to mark their calendars and head to Memphis in February. There are some scholarships available through the Martin Institute. I am cutting and pasting all the info here. The links on the cut and pasted info won't be live so you can check them out here. 

If you attend, come by my class and say hello! Hope to see you all here! 

I don't know why all my writing has white on it but I am running too late to fix it today. :-)
Class starts next week so we will be posting as a group again soon. 

-----------------------------------------------

The Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence is pleased to offer a scholarship fund of $100,000 to support participation of teachers and school leaders from the Memphis region in the Project Zero Perspectives Conference on February 13 - 15, 2014 on the campus ofPresbyterian Day School in Memphis.

Conference Details

Project Zero Perspectives Conference
How & Where Does Learning Thrive?
[ Conference Website ]
February 13 - 15
8am to 4pm (lunch provided) on 13th and 14th
8am to noon (no lunch) on 15th

Presbyterian Day School (map)
4025 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38111
ample parking available

Conference fee: $675.00

Our Objective

The purpose of this fund is to help schools maximize the number of teachers and schools leaders participating in this exceptional and transformational professional learning. We hope that through this fund your school will be able to send more teachers and school leaders than they would have without the financial support. Decisions regarding the support awarded will be made based on the goals and implementation plans regarding information learned at the conference; the school’s overall professional development budget; and evidence of support from administrators and school leaders.

Application Criteria

• School teams of 3 people minimum.
• Teams must be from schools within a 125 mile radius of Memphis, TN.
• Priority consideration will be given to applying teams that have a school leader or administrator on their team.
• Priority consideration will be given to teams that submit a well-defined sharing and implementation plan included as part of their application.
• Application must be made online.
• There are no full scholarships; awards will range from 50% to 80%.
• Awards will be made within three weeks of application.

A parting song from the boys! Happy Summer!

Our Class Day program will be tomorrow. This is a great end to the school year and a fun start to summer. Please enjoy one of our Class Day songs, Jesus Loves Me sung in English, Spanish and Mandarin. Happy Summer! 

My Favorite Thing About Kindergarten

We are counting down to First Grade here in my class! The boys are so excited about moving up a grade. Last week we got to "sneak-a-peek" at First Grade! Even though we are so excited about the move, there are some things the boys are going to miss about kindergarten. Here are some of our favorite things about SK.

My favorite thing about Kindergarten has been...

Palmer - playing in the block center

Wilkes - the marble center

Jackson - having an afternoon recess at the end of the year

James - the computer center

West - my teachers

Tucker - P.E. class

George - my teachers babies, Jack & Rhett (we have a faculty nursery so the boys get to see the babies sometimes), Mrs. Perry, Mrs. Ripper and Mrs. Wojcik

Jude - extra recess, block center, my teachers

Charlie - using the computers

Houston - Mrs. Perry

Wills - journals

Thomas - blocks and computer center

Marcus - extra recess

Hyde - state books

Chrishton - the life cycles unit

Clearly, my curriculum didn't stand out this year nearly as much as centers, playtime and computers! :-)

We only have 6 school days left. We will try to blog one more time before summer. If we run out of time and don't get to blog...

Have a wonderful summer break!

SK Mother's Day!

With Mother's Day upon us, we would like to share with the world why our moms are the best! We had a fun Mother's Day Picnic yesterday that included lunch out on the field, relay games and a HUGE game of Twister! Check out our Twister board!

A good time was had by all!

What is special about your mom?
Palmer - She snuggles anywhere with me.
Thomas - She is pretty and takes care of me.
George - She is pretty and special.
Hyde - She cooks dinner for me.
West - She snuggles up with me.
James - She plays Lego fighters with me.
Wilkes - She takes me to bowl.
Jackson - She takes me to Target.
Marcus - She tucks me in at night.
Houston - She had a water balloon fight with me.
Wills - She sings to me every night.
Charlie - She sleeps with me if I have bad dreams.
Alex - She married a very good daddy.
Jude - She always keeps me healthy because she only lets me play video games on the weekends.
Matthew - She plays Harry Potter on X-Box with me.

If I could get my mom anything in the world, I would get her a...
Palmer - a kiss
Thomas - a sister
Wilkes - a trip to L.A.
Chrishton - a trip to NYC
Hyde - a trip to the beach
George - a trip to Hollywood
Tucker - a trip to her mom's house
West - a trip to see her sister
James - a trip to Oklahoma City so we can see a Grizzlies away game
Jackson - a trip to Beverly Hills, CA
Matthew - a Macy's shopping trip and a trip to California
Houston - a giant water slide
Wills - private plane to go to Birmingham, AL to pick up the
 Taco Momma restaurant and bring it to Memphis
Charlie - a Chihuahua
Jude - I would get her ice cream and doughnuts and then take her to the beach so she can do anything she wants. Then I would get her pretty flowers, a statue of a bird and picture frame.
Alex - a giant heart that you can open and 100 kisses inside of it
Marcus - a diamond ring

Fine Feathered Friends in SK

For the last month we have been learning about life cycles. One of our biggest life cycle activities is hatching chicks! After 21 long days of waiting we welcomed 8 chicks to our class this week. 

Please help us welcome our fine feathered friends!

Up next.....butterflies. We'll keep you posted. 

Kid Blogging

We have a writer's workshop class here in SK once a week. Today the boys started new blogs on Kid Blog. Here are some of our topics! Do you blog? If so share your site with us.

 

 

2013 Martin Institute Summer Conference

I am so proud to have the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence housed at my school! I encourage all teachers to attend this year's Martin Institute Summer Conference here in Memphis. Check out all the information and register here!

 http://www.martininstitute.org/conference/

Welcome Spring! Our favorite thing!

Spring is almost here! We are looking forward to warm weather and Easter. The boys have listed some of their favorite things about Spring and they CLEARLY have Easter on their brains! Welcome Spring and feel free to share with us your favorite things. 

Alex - candy from Easter
Wilkes - The Easter Bunny
Charlie - Rainbows, the Easter Bunny and Peeps
Matthew - trees and Easter
Chrishton - Easter egg hunts
Houston - when Jesus comes back
Tucker - finding Easter eggs
Marcus - eating candy from Easter eggs
Palmer - Easter hunts and candy from the Easter Bunny
Thomas - going to my grandpa's to go on an Easter egg hunt and eating the chocolate carrots
Jackson - summer coming up
George - we get to play in the sun and the pool
Jude - chocolate bunnies
James - the Easter Bunny
West - Leprechauns and gold
Wills - going back to Birmingham to visit my grandparents for Easter

Hitting the road!

 Spring break is upon us and boy are we excited! Some of us are hitting the road and some of us are having "staycations". Here is where we are headed and here are some places we WISH we were headed. Where are you going and what will you be doing on your spring break?

Where I am going:

WG - Texas

CA - Destin, FL

MM - NYC

HD - Staycation

MMc - Cancun, Mexico

PL - Utah

CK - Staycation

TD - Steamboat Springs, CO

JP - our lake house in AR

JT - Park City, UT

WL - Destin, FL

HC - New Orleans

WF - Staycation

JM - the beach (not sure which)

GS - Seaside, FL

TH - staycation

Mrs. Perry - Staycation

Mrs. Ripper - Staycation

Where I WISH I were going:

TH - skiing in Colorado

GS - Colorado

JM - Dollywood

WF - Mount Rushmore or Italy

HC - Destin, FL

WL - Canada

JT - Legoland or Disneyworld

JP - Florida

TD - Big Sky, MT

 CK - NYC

PL - Utah (I am going!)

MMc - New Orleans

MM - Hollywood

HD - Orlando

CA - Legoland

WG - Hawaii

Mrs. Perry - New York City or California

Mrs. Ripper - Maui

If I could write a Caldecott winner...

This week we have been talking about Caldecott winners. One of our favorites is The Snowy Day. We have read The Snowy Day, written about it, illustrated our own pictures, watched the video, and even played Snowy Day gamed online. This has made us think about what kind of book we would write. So, our question of the day is this...
If you could write a Caldecott winner, what would it be about?

Mrs. Ripper - My King Charles dog named Chai
Marcus - My three dogs Jazzie, Nola, Zoe
Matthew - a trolly and the city
Wills - character cruise adventures
Tucker - the months of the year
Jude - forts and castles
Houston - my cat Maddy going on adventures everywhere
Palmer - dragons knocking things down
Alex - battles
West - my dog Pete and the two Siamese cats
Charlie - Space and the Titanic
Wilkes - Greek Gods
Thomas - Kindergarten classrooms
Mrs. Perry - Baby Jack's Bold Adventures in NYC

We love books so much here in SK that we thought we would share our favorite Caldecott winners with you. Go check them out at your local library or bookstore. But you don't have to take my word for it!

I know the planets! How about you?

 

 In January we studied the planets. This was such a fun unit! 

Here are some interesting facts we learned along with our planets song. Enjoy!

• Tucker - Pluto is a dwarf planet
• Wilkes - Neptune has rings
• James - Neptune has a blue spot on it
• Matthew - the Sun is a star but not a planet
• Wills - we thought that Saturn had 3 rings but it really has millions
• Chrishton - Jupiter is a gas giant
• Jude - Jupiter has the big red spot
• Alex - Jupiter can fit all the other planets in it
• West - there are no clouds on Pluto
• Palmer - comets fly past earth
• Marcus - Venus has clouds
• Houston - Mercury is closest to the Sun 
• Charlie - Uranus has rings but you cannot see them
• George - Pluto is a gas planet

Be My Valentine!

Valentine's Day is a fun time in kindergarten. We make boxes for our Valentine cards and have a celebration. This is also a time to think about what and who we love. Here are some people/things we love and why. Happy Valentine's! 

James - I love my Transformers because they fight the bad guy Transformers.
Wilkes - I love my dog Rosie because she plays with me.
Charlie - I love Poptropica because you get to go in graveyards.
Palmer - I love my mom, dad and brother because my brother plays with me and my parents take care of me.
Chrishton - I love my mom, dad and sister because we go on trips together.
Jude - I love my XBox because you get to play multi-player on it.
Jackson - My brother Jerry because he plays basketball with me.
Thomas - I love my Wii because I get to play Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Kids Bob on the Wii.
Alex - I love my sister because she is real crazy and fun.
West - I love my family because they are nice to me.
Matthew - I love my dog Esko because I can give him bacon.
Wills - I love my friend Coleman because I have known him since I was born.
Tucker - I love West because he plays Star Wars Puppy with me.
George - I love my dog Maggie because she knocks me out of my chair and tickles me.
Houston - I love my cat Maddie because every time I get on the couch to watch something she sits on me.

Mrs. Ripper - I love Mr. Ripper because he is my best friend.
Mrs. Perry - I love Mr. Perry and baby Jack because the are my favorite guys.

What do you want to blog about?

We are having a brainstorm session this morning about the blog. We have checked our views, looked up some of the locations of our new viewers and now we are trying to figure out what to blog about next. Here are some ideas from our class! We will choose one and write about it in our next post. The list kept going and going! Do you brainstorm in your class? If so, let us know! 

Wilkes - Dinosaurs
Tucker - Star Wars
Wills - Space
Chrishton - Thanksgiving
Alex - Groundhog Day
West - Rockets
Marcus - Race cars
Houston - Universe
James - Mega force Jets
Charlie - Space, Planets and Rockets
Palmer - Valentine's Day
Tucker - Christmas
Jude - Easter

Wilkes - The Golden Dragon from Lego Ninjago

West - The American Flag

Matthew - The Planets and God

Marcus - Mardi Gras and Beads 

Wills - Money

Jackson - Space

George - What it is like in Heaven. 

Houston - How big is a bunny rabbit?

Palmer - Easter Bunny

James - Battle Force 5

Tucker - God and the Bible

Wills - Holidays

West - Pets

Palmer - How did God create the Earth? 

Wilkes - How did Moses part the waters?

Thomas - What do angels look like?

Jude - Who created the Bible?

West - volcanos

Houston - Snowmen 

Marcus - Battle

Alex - Planets

Tucker - Chess

West - Family

Palmer - Cement

Wills - Gravity

Jude - God

Marcus - Toys

George - Sight Words

Houston - Weight

Jackson - the sun

Chrishton - the galexy

Houston - symmetry

Jude - cats

James - Mario Cart

Tucker - Class Blogs

Palmer - Fruits and Vegetables

Jude - Everything, even families and pets

Houston - 100 Days

Marcus - Candy

Wilkes - the Super Bowl

Wills - the coldest day of my life

Tucker - soccer 

Palmer - how God made grass

Houston - how to make a sweater

Jude - Earth

Alex - basketball

James - the Wii

Marcus - sports

Happy 100th Day!

Today is a big day in Kindergarten! We are celebrating our 100th day. Today will be full of 100th day activities, snacks, book and fun. Just for fun, here are some silly 100th day facts about us. 

I wish I had 100:
Matthew - Moms
Wills - Akbash dogs
Hyde - dollars
Chrishton - iPads
West - Lego Toys
Wilkes - swimming pools
James - pirate ships to sail to every island on earth
Marcus - Cocker Spaniel dogs
George - Hershey kisses
Mrs. Ripper - pairs of shoes

I think I can eat 100:
Marcus - pasta noodles
Thomas - pieces of watermelon
Charlie - meatballs
Wilkes - chocolate chip cookies
Wills - pieces of cheese ravioli
Mrs. Perry - potato chips
Jackson - Dominoes cheese pizzas
West - pieces of chocolate cake with vanilla icing
Chrishton - chocolate candies
James - pieces of grilled salmon
George - pieces of bubble gum

If I had $100 dollars I would:
West - buy $100 worth of Legos
James - a disco ball
Wilkes - buy a mansion
Alex - buy 1,000 toys that cost a penny each
George - buy a trampoline
Charlie - buy the Golden Mech in Ninjago
Matthew - a real gold jet airplane 
Wills - buy the golden goose on Reading Eggs
Marcus - buy 100 Lego men that cost $1 each
Jackson - buy a giant Lego set

I can do 100:
Tucker - laps around a track
Jackson - jumping jacks
George - flips
Marcus - jumps
Wills - yawns
West - running in circles
James - spins

We have a dream....

We live in Memphis, TN which is a very important place in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We are lucky enough to all live close to the National Civil Rights Museum and many of us have be able to visit it. Like many children around the country we learn a lot about MLK every January around the national holiday celebrating his birthday. 

Here are some thing we learned about this very important man. 

West - He had four children.
Wilkes - Some people were not nice to him.
Charlie -  Jackie Waters was forced out of the hotel and she pickets the hotel daily.
Alex - He fought with his words and not with his fists.
Palmer - He shared his I Have A Dream speech.
Matthew - He was staying at the Lorraine Motel.
James - He changed his name from Michael to Martin.
Chrishton - Rosa Parks would not move her seat on the bus so she was arrested. MLK went down to help her.
George - Jackie Waters was a housekeeper at the Lorraine Motel.
Jude - He was thrown into jail many times.
Jackson - He got to skip a few years in school because he was so smart.
George - He was a pastor/preacher.
Marcus - He was fighting for peace. He wanted to change the world.
Tucker - He wanted to desegregate people. 

We are thankful for his work because:
James - He made people use the same things.
Wilkes - He made the word a better place.
Charlie - He desegregated people.
Palmer - He said people could drink out of the same water fountains.
Jude - He changed us.

How did you celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day?

Snow Days

In the South we don't get much snow. When we do get any snow or ice it is a big event and we usually get out of school early. Today is one of those rare days. We don't have any snow on the weather map but we have some ice headed our way so we are headed home soon. Here are some of our icy afternoon plans! Do you get many snow days? What do you do on your snow days? 

Mrs. Perry - Drink coffee and watch TV!
Mrs. Ripper - I am going to work in Rhett's nursery.
James - Play with my new toy I got yesterday.
Wilkes - Play Poptropica
Charlie - Go home and play Nintendo Land on my Wii U.
Hyde - Play in my room.
Houston - I am going to do a craft with my babysitter.
Marcus - Play at home with my brother Kevin.
Palmer - Play Tiki Kart on my new iPad.
Jude - I am going to play Hero Factory and with my new battle ship.
Jackson - Play basketball with my brother Jerry.
Thomas - I am going to play Pop Tropica on my computer I got for Christmas.
Alex - Go to James's house.
West - Watch Lego Hero Factory on TV.
Matthew - Drink hot chocolate, play with my new Hot Wheels set and watch Sponge Bob.
Wills - Play with my new Scooby Doo set.
Tucker - I might play with my friend Nicholas.
George - Play Skylander Giants on my Wii.

Looks like there will be a lot of video games being played this afternoon....hopefully after homework is completed. Ha! Ha!

Kindergarten Resolutions

In kindergarten we have been talking about the new year and resolutions. Big or small it is a great thing to have a goal every new year. Like many grown-ups my resolution is to exercise more. The boys have come up with some resolutions for themselves. Lets see what our class can came up with!

Here is what we want to do more of:

• Play basketball
• Handwriting
•  Play soccer 
• Read
• Running around
• Good things
• Running really fast
• Exercises 
• Eat healthy foods
• Learn more
• Play Legos with my dad
• Go biking more
• Ride my scooter
• Play basketball with my dad
• Play Star Wars with my friends
• Stay up late

Here is what we want to do less of:

• Eat less candy
• Drink soft drinks
• Stop bothering my big brother
• Stay up late
• Eat Chocolate
• Technology on games
• Grocery shopping with my mom
• Less video games
• Getting up early
• Help my sister quit watching so much television
• Eating sweets
• Playing the Wii
• Bothering my baby sister
• Bothering my cat Mattie

These are some of our goals for the year! What are yours? Please share with us. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!