Kindergarten Memories

Here are some of my favorite

Kindergarten Memories

from this school year...

Digital slideshow customized with Smilebox I shared this at our End of the Year Luau...  and cried my eyes out!!!!

Reading Challenge

At the beginning of May I proposed a Reading Challenge to my Kindergarten friends.

If they could work together to read 180 books

(the number of days we have Kindergarten)...

then I would throw them a pizza party.

They were SO EXCITED about the challenge. It was a wonderful way to keep my growing readers engaged for the last few weeks of school. 

I believe they ended up reading the 180 books in 8 or 9 days!!!!

WAY TO GO KINDERGARTEN FRIENDS!

I am SO proud of the great readers you have become.

Don't forget to sign up for the public library's reading challenge... and keep reading all summer long!! 

End of the Year Luau

For the past few years I have been having a Luau to celebrate summer birthdays.

This year I decided to have our Luau as our 
end of the year celebration. 
The children read their memory books with their family, enjoyed a special Kindergarten Memories movie, ate delicious food, and wore fun Hawaiian clothes and leis.

It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Here are some of the highlights:

Make your own digital slideshow

Thank you to all of the parents who helped make this party such a success! 

Young Author's Night

What a wonderful night we had celebrating my Kindergarten Friends' writing!

Here are some snapshots from our celebration:

I am tremendously proud of all of my students. 

They've all grown in so many ways this year. Their creativity and passion for writing inspire me daily!!!

One of my students from my very first year of teaching in Madeira came to visit. Macy asked me to come up to her 4th grade classroom to read her (amazing!) Young Author's book.

*love*


Macy has such a special place in my heart. I had the pleasure of being her preschool teacher for 2 years. 


Here she is in preschool:

(home visit)

(music unit)

Macy,

I love your passion for reading and writing,

your sweet smile,

your kind, thoughtful nature,
and so much more!

 I am very thankful that we had the chance to learn and laugh together. You will always have a special place in heart. I hope you continue to share your wonderful writing with me for years to come!

Love,

This Plus That

I just knew the minute I read Amy Krouse Rosenthal's book This Plus That, that it would be the perfect mentor text for my kindergarten friends.

They loved the book... and coming up with their own 
THIS PLUS THAT statements. We brainstormed together, tried a few on our own, then each published our favorite.

Check out some their "little life equations"....

The funniest part was - as we were almost finished brainstorming together our school secretary walked in with a delivery from my husband,...

 which prompted my students to come up with... 

Mr. Rider + Mrs. Rider = true love

Oh my goodness... melt my heart!!!!

after brainstorming together we had "try-it" time...

 Rachel wrote Brownies + M&Ms + chocolate chips = yummy!

Then we each published our favorite one.

Here is the complete collection: 

Personalize your own free picture slideshow

Growing Writers + Great Mentor Texts = awesome writing!

It was a huge hit with my class last year too!

Check out their This Plus That equations HERE. 

Field Day Fun

We had a wonderful time at Kindergarten Field Day!!

Here are the highlights:

Personalize a free slideshow

Land and Water

Before diving into our pond unit, we learned about
 land and water. 
The children did a really nice job brainstorming types of each.

Next we sorted pictures...

then animals... 

Finally, we drew and wrote what we had learned in our science notebooks. 

Way to go, Scientists!