Mrs. Gossage's Groovy Gorillas

Spotlight on Learning

Writing:  We are learning about informational writing this nine weeks.  We use various resources to research a topic and then write about the facts we learn.  We will study and write about various polar animals, President Washington, President Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and how-to stories.

Reading:  We will be reading many non-fiction texts during this nine weeks as we do our research for informational writing.  We will use different graphic organizers to help us organize the information we learn. 

Guided Reading:  We are continuing to learn how to apply phonics skills as we track the text with our finger.  The comprehension quizes and activities help us to retain information from the stories.

Math:  We will be continuing to learn strategies to help us count objects and write the correct number.  Some of us struggle with reversing the numbers when writing two-digit numbers so we will work on that skill.  We will also learn to read number words to ten.  We are doing very well with identifying the penny, nickel, and dime and naming their values.  We will introduce the quarter.  We will also begin measurement activities.

Science:  We will be learning about rocks and soil and living/non-living things.  We will have several opportunities to visit the Science Lab as well.

Social Studies:  We will be learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President's Day, and several national monuments.  We will also be studying map skills so that we can state our address, our city, our county, our country, our nation, and our continent.  I think that should keep us pretty busy!

I hope this gives you just a little "taste" of what all we will be learning during our 3rd nine weeks of school.

The Gingerbread Baby Escaped

First, we read this wonderful story about a gingerbread baby who runs away from everyone he meets.  Then we realized that OUR gingerbread baby was missing from our shelf!  We decided to go look for her.

To our amazement, we soon learned that our gingerbread baby had run over a teacher in the hallway.  She told us that she just saw a blur of brown and heard someone say, "Catch me if you can!".

We helped Mrs. Callahan up and gave her hugs.  We promised to find that little gingerbread baby!

We looked on the first grade hall and stopped in Mrs. Kastner's classroom.  Mrs. Kastner informed us that she saw some little person messing with her tape player this morning.  Before she could say anything, the gingerbread baby ran toward the media center yelling, "Catch me if you can!". 

We looked lots of other places, and FINALLY found our gingerbread baby in the CLINIC!

Nurse Jeannie said that the gingerbread baby came to her and complained that her leg was hurting.  Nurse Jeannie bandaged her up and she was ready to come back with us to our classroom.  We are so happy to have her back!

Happy Veterans' Day

Here are our hats that we made today to celebrate 11-11-11!

Join us for an OUT OF THIS WORLD Book Fair! 

Grand Opening ~ Friday, 11/11, 5:30-7:30 pm. 

Family Fun Night ~ Tuesday, 11/15, 5:30-7:30pm.

Open Daily ~ 11/14 - 11/17, 7:30am-4pm and 11/18, 7:30 - 12:00.

Great books!  Great gifts!  Great fun! 

Check out the details and see the Intergalactic Previews!

 

 

Computer Lab Websites

This 9 weeks we are working on using the mouse to click and drag.  Here is a great website to use at home with your child.

abcya.com

We clicked on the Kindergarten activities and practiced with the games:  Build a House, Magnets, and ABC Order.  There are lots of other great activities to explore.  Have fun!

Spotlight on Writing

This week we are learning how to label our pictures just like the author did in the book, Eating The Alphabet.  We are learning to write phonetically in Kindergarten.  We write the letters of the sounds we hear in words.  We are all gaining confidence and doing very well in our writing.  Today we labeled our A pictures from our Object Day activity.  Be sure to look for your child's great work in their Kinder Keeper today.  Let them practice sounding out and writing words at home.  They know that the words are not spelled correctly right now, but later in the school year we will begin to learn about editing our work before we publish it.  We love to write in the Groovy Gorilla classroom!

 

 

Popcorn Words

       What are popcorn words?

 

  Popcorn words are high frequency or sight words that "pop" up in our reading and writing frequently.  Our first 40 popcorn words are required words in kindergarten.  After these are mastered, students can progress at their own rate to learn all 156 popcorn words.  I introduce two new words each week.  We go over the words in class, often playing games and working with the words at center time.  Since the words are always on our Word Wall, students should be able to spell the popcorn words correctly in their writing.  They should be able to recognize the words instantly, so the words "pop" out of their mouths when they read them. 

Your child's popcorn word list is located in the back of his/her Kinder keeper.  Please practice these words at home with your child.  You may make flash cards or play a matching game.  Please keep the lists in your child's Kinder keeper.  We will ask your child to read their list of popcorn words to us every Thursday.  We will have various incentives including stickers, the treasure box, or even popcorn for a snack.  Students in the past have loved learning popcorn words.  The more words they learn, the easier reading will be for them when we begin Guided Reading later in the year.

Thanks so much for your help!

       What are popcorn words?

 

  Popcorn words are high frequency or sight words that "pop" up in our reading and writing frequently.  Our first 40 popcorn words are required words in kindergarten.  After these are mastered, students can progress at their own rate to learn all 156 popcorn words.  I introduce two new words each week.  We go over the words in class, often playing games and working with the words at center time.  Since the words are always on our Word Wall, students should be able to spell the popcorn words correctly in their writing.  They should be able to recognize the words instantly, so the words "pop" out of their mouths when they read them. 

Your child's popcorn word list is located in the back of his/her Kinder keeper.  Please practice these words at home with your child.  You may make flash cards or play a matching game.  Please keep the lists in your child's Kinder keeper.  We will ask your child to read their list of popcorn words to us every Thursday.  We will have various incentives including stickers, the treasure box, or even popcorn for a snack.  Students in the past have loved learning popcorn words.  The more words they learn, the easier reading will be for them when we begin Guided Reading later in the year.

Thanks so much for your help!

Science Lab 9/15/11 Keeping our Teeth Healthy

We went to the Science Lab for the first time today.  We met our Science Lab teacher...Mrs. Kauffman.  We had fun learning about how to brush our teeth and keep them healthy.  We even got to brush a dinosaur's tooth!  We had fun!  Please enjoy some pictures from our day.

 

 

Week of 8/29 - 9/2

Whew!  It has been a very busy week in the Groovy Gorilla classroom.  The children have all worked so hard and are really improving with our classroom routines.

Here is what we have been working on this week in the various subject areas:

Math-  We are learning about patterns and how to write our numbers correctly.

Reading - We have enjoyed listening to a variety of stories that make us excited about reading.  One of our favorites is Pete the Cat.  It is a funny story about a cat who loves his new white shoes, but he keeps stepping in things that change the color of his shoes.  He does not get upset....he just keeps on singing his song.  Ask your child what he sings.

Writing - We are learning the procedures of writing in our classroom so that we can become great writers.  We each have a journal and we write in it every day.  We are learning how to select an event or idea to write about, how to write our name and our date, and how to draw a colorful, detailed picture.  Some of us are beginning to add text to our work.

Literacy Centers - We are learning how to retell stories, work on Starfall on the computer, listen to a story on cd in the listening center, write our name the correct way, and many more skills.

Social Studies-  We are learning about how to be a friend.  We are also learning about where we live and about Georgia.  We also talked about the different kinds of community helpers and that "workers take a rest" on Labor Day.

Science - We are learning about living and non-living things.  What do living things need?  What makes something non-living?

Computer Lab - We are learning how to move and click the mouse properly.  We have enjoyed playing games to help us practice.

We also got to check out our first library book on Friday.  They were so well-behaved and did a great job of following directions in the Media Center.

I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Computer Lab

Today we went to the computer lab for the first time.  We met our Computer Lab teacher, Mr. Tener.  We all thought he was so funny!  We learned about the rules of the lab and how to take care of our computers.  We all also got to log in and type in our password.  Mr. Tener showed us how to get to the Paint program by using the start bar.  During the first nine weeks, we will be learning how to control the mouse by clicking and dragging.  If you have a computer at home, let your child try out the Paint program under accessories.  We will also be practicing in our classroom.  We will go to the computer lab every other Friday morning.  We will also go other times, as well.