Pajama Day and The Polar Express

     Beauclerc's Principal, Mrs. Kornblum, read The Polar Express to all twelve of the kindergarten classes on our last day of school before the Winter Break. It was also Pajama Day for the whole school. What a fun way to end the year of 2010. Best wishes for a great holiday season and a Happy New Year! See you on January 3rd.

 Listening to the story while wearing adorable reindeer antlers.

 Everyone in our class looked so cute in their favorite pajamas!

Mrs. Teper's kindergarten class was cute, too.

Winter Party!

     We had our Winter Party on Wednesday, December 15th. Unfortunately, Mrs. Beaver had to go to the doctor and couldn't attend school that day. Luckily, Jack's mom, Mrs. Kory, had planned most of the activities and with help from Jack's Grandma, Christian's mom, Mrs. Taliyah, Ms. Minor and our awesome substitute, Coach Chris, the party was a success!
     The students made "stained-glass" votives for their parents by using glue and water to attach tissue paper to a glass candle holder. Another activity was decorating gingerbread (sugar) cookies that Jack's grandmother made from scratch. Yummy!  The students also made "crackers" by stamping tissue paper with winter characters, then wrapping it around a paper roll filled with lots of candy, and finally closing them up with ribbons to open at home. The favorite activity was making a felt reindeer cover for a candy cane. Those can be hung on the Christmas tree for years to come.

 The students were anxious to get started!

Ms. Taliyah was in charge of helping the students make "stained-glass" votive holders. They turned out beautifully! Thank you!

They were Busy Beavers!

 Making stained-glass votives was a messy activity.

 Stamping paper for the crackers

 Those gingerbread men look awesome!

 Thanks for ALL your help, Mrs. Kory!

Kevin's Dad Comes to Visit

 Kevin and his dad, T.J. Neuman

     Kevin's Dad, Petty Officer T.J. Neuman came home for a surprise Christmas visit with his family on Saturday, December 11, from Iraq!  We were lucky enough to have Mr. Neuman talk with our class about his travels, accomplishments and jobs since joining the Navy eight years ago. He is currently serving with the Army in Iraq. Mr. Neuman shared and discussed money from the numerous countries he has visited. He also explained the many medals he has earned while serving our country. The students really enjoyed seeing his various uniforms and trying on 3 of his hats. We also learned about the important work he is doing overseas now, catching the "bad guys" and keeping everyone safe.

     We appreciate your service and sacrifices, Mr. Neuman! Kevin is lucky to have such a brave and awesome dad! :)

Stuffed Animal Day

Student Council's Stuffed Animal Day was a lot of fun! We got to hold our stuffed friends during our time at the carpet and they got to sit beside us at our desks!

Thanksgiving Feast

For our performance, each student was able to choose which costume he/she wanted to wear. We sang "Turkey Dinner" and "Before Thanksgiving Day" and recited the poem Thanksgiving Colors for our friends and family that were able to attend our feast on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010.

Making the Native American vests and hats are a lot of fun!

We made Pilgrim costumes and look so cute in them!

Kendrick was lucky to have BOTH his mom and his dad at the feast!

Jack's Mom, Mrs. Kory, brought Jack's brother, Gavin

Chris with his mom and his aunt

Hope's mom with Hope and Kevin

Lillie with her mom and her baby brother

Student Council's Hat Day

Our class enjoyed wearing some silly hats to show our Beauclerc spirit!
I hope we all show even more spirit on Friday, December 3rd, Stuffed Animal Day.

Zoo Field Trip

The field trip to the zoo on October 27th was a great success! Many parents were able to attend, so the children were divided into small groups of 2 or 3 to explore the different areas of the park. The students enjoyed the attention and counting how many of each different animal they saw during their visit.

There were 2 lions - a male and a female.

This cheetah couldn't hide from us!

Kevin, Gavin, Kendrick, Jack and Chris really enjoyed posing for pictures!

We also learned about taking care of our Earth and the animals on it.

One white tailed deer-so beautiful!

Watching the giraffes' eat was amazing. They were so close to where we were standing!

Because we went in October, we got to see the zoo decorated for the "Spooktacular." There were so many jack-o-lanterns, cobwebs, spiders and other spooky animals.

Everyone look at the camera!

Chris

Climbing on the metal sculptures of the gorilla, alligator and the elephants
was a lot of fun for Kindergarteners!

After exploring the animal habitats, we went to the "Zoo School." There we reviewed our five senses and discussed how important senses are to animals, too. Some animals have different senses than we do to explore their world.

This screech owl was quiet while we learned about her.

The brave children were able to pet the ball python and feel how smooth its skin was.

What a cute rabbit! Everyone was excited about petting her soft fur.

We also saw and touched a lizard. Was it an iguana?

Thanks to the parents who were able to attend and enjoy the day with our class: Gavin's dad, Connor C.'s mom, Connor D.'s friend, Jack's mom, and Jiwon's mom and dad! You helped make our trip fun and stress-free for the teacher, too! :)

All the children are excited about another field trip! Where will we go next time?

Learning is Fun!

During Literacy Centers, the students do "hands-on" activities to reinforce the learning we have been doing in large and small groups: building words, matching lowercase and uppercase letters, matching beginning sounds, practicing writing letters and words, etc.

Khwaish, Makayla, Seth and Chris at the Writing Center

Gavin is putting together an alphabet puzzle.

Hope is matching pictures that begin with the given letter.

Reading Celebration Parade

On Wednesday, Beauclerc kicked off the tradition of the "Reading Goal of each student reading 25 books per year" by having a school-wide parade. Each class chose a movie or book to represent in the parade. All of the Kindergarten classes donned red ears to represent Clifford, the Big Red Dog. It was hot, but very exciting.

It's a new year!

Welcome students and parents to the 2010 school year! We have begun this year by becoming familiar with the procedures and expectations of behavior for Kindergarten students. The students are beginning to remember to raise their hand to talk, to walk quietly in the hallway, and to listen carefully to the teachers' directions. During Writer's Workshop we are drawing detailed pictures and writing a sentence that matches it using phonetic spelling. In Reader's Workshop we learned what an author is and what an illustrator does. In Math, we have been exploring manipulatives, such as Geoblocks, pattern blocks, linking cubes, and several kinds of "counters." During Skills Block we learned a few songs, such as AlphaMotions and Jack Hartmann's Jack and Jill and Little Miss Muffet. And we are making new friends!

Jiwon, Jack, Makayla and Khwaish sorting attribute blocks

Kaydence and Alexis practicing writing numbers and letters

Matthew having fun with the teddy bear counters

Connor C., Gavin, and Chris exploring Geoblocks

Hope, Mackenzie, Connor D., and Seth sorting buttons

Jiwon, Alexis, Kevin and Kendrick (in the back) in Housekeeping

Kaydence, Connor C. and Jack in the Housekeeping Center

Connor D. and Makayla reading in the class Library

Connor C. practicing writing with Magna Doodles

Hope and Matthew on the computers

Kaydence using magnetic letters

Lillie and Jack putting together puzzles

Makayla and Conner D. exploring Playdough