Caterpillars and Crows!

“Lots of people found caterpillars in the morning. Carly and Emma came into our classroom after recess and told us that the crows were eating our caterpillars! So we found lots of caterpillars in the afternoon and we hid them in the bushes so the crows won’t find them.” ~N.S
“Josh found me a caterpillar. I used a hat and some leaves to make a home for it. After recess I had to let it go because it was time to go inside. I had to leave it outside because they won’t live inside our classroom. I put my caterpillar in the bushes so the crowns won’t eat them. I put it there to hide it from the crows.” ~H.C
“I made an alarm for the crows that were eating the caterpillars. I banged a shovel on the pole of the play structure and I shouted ‘Crows eat a caterpillar! Alert! Alert!’ and I repeated it over and over again. I found 12 caterpillars at morning recess. When I found the 12th one it was time to go inside so I let them free, but not in the bushes because I didn’t know that crows would eat them. But they were okay because the Pre-Kers took care of them by taking them out of the place they got freed and taking care of them.” ~A.R
“Maya did find a caterpillar and she holded it. I did pick it up. It feeled like mushy chocolate.” ~A.G
“I accidentally threw the caterpillar that I found. I found a whole bunch of sand and I didn’t see that the caterpillar was on the sand. I picked up the sand and threw it at the crow. And if the crow got it she (the caterpillar) will die.” ~M.E
“A crow was looking at the spiky caterpillar and I looked at it, and then the crow was about to get it, it was flying and I ran to get it and I got it just in time.” ~E.E
“I tried to get one, but I still have zero. I tried to make a home for it. I put leaves in a bucket and I put rocks in a shovel. I didn’t get a caterpillar. And the crow ate one! He found it on the playground. He ate it because he is a hungry crow.” ~E.M
“I got to hold Josh’s caterpillar because I helped him make his caterpillars home. The caterpillar feeled like something was tickling me and walking at the same time.” ~J.R
“It was fun playing with the caterpillar. It liked the playground and house I made for him. I tried to protect him from the crows.” ~J.W.
“When I found my caterpillar it was where you ride on your trucks. I got a bucket and filled it with leaves. The crow was flying all over. First it was on the building, then it was on the play structure, then it was on the sand and then it flew away.” ~M.N
“I was the first one to catch one. It was very cool. I got another one so I gave it to Hadley. I wish I found 3 so I could give one to Jim. I made a home with leaves and I put flowers in mine. When it was in the bucket the caterpillar went all the way up to the top!” ~J.M
“The crow ate the caterpillar from the sand! The caterpillars were all over the playground! I think there were 10! I think there were 500! I kept my caterpillar on my finger and I helped John Pierre find one. On the first recess I had a caterpillar, but not on the second recess. I dropped my bucket and it fell out then crawled into the sand really quick. We (Terin, Anna, Carly & Emma) caught 15 caterpillars.” ~T.S & P.W

Spring Time at TCS!

This week we began our study of spring and poems. The children began the week sharing their thoughts and ideas of what spring meant to them. Here are some of their ideas.
Activities:
We swim at the beach and in the pools. ~N.S
People like to hike and fly kites. ~J.W
Plants:
Flowers bloom. ~M.N
Trees grow J.R
Leaves grow back onto the trees. N.S
Animals:
Animals come out of hibernation J.W
Bugs come out. A.R.
Bears come out of their caves. J.M
Beetles come out. T.S
Butterflies come out of their chrysalis. H.C
Bunnies and puppies are born. M.E
Fishes come out. E.M
Groundhogs and Whistle Pigs stop hibernating. J.M
Weather:
Sunny, windy, rainy, hot.

We then took these ideas to create mixed medium representations of spring (samples above) as well as acrostic poems (samples below).

Singing at home
Poems about Spring
Roses growing
It is the right temperature
New weather… Yay!
Growing plants
~J.R

Singing in the trees
Picking flowers
Running in the rainbows
I play with my friends
Noticing that spring is here
Growing flowers
~A.R

Sun is sunny
Plant flowers in the park
Rainbows come out
I play tennis
Noticing the flowers
Growing roses
~M.N

Shouting Hooray!
People eating pie
Rabbits hopping
I catch bugs
No snow!
Green grass
~T.S

Swinging in the trees
Petals blooming on flowers
Rain on our houses
I like playing with my brother
No painting on the wall my mom says
Going to the store with mom
~J.W

Smiling in the sunshine
Picking petals
Reading out loud
I have fun in the sunshine
No words to make people sad, just words to make them glad
Go to the sun and have some fun!
~N.S
Some people go to work
Playing baseball
Running for exercise
I like to chew apples
Newspapers to read
Growing flowers
~E.M

Swimming in the ocean
People flying kites
Rain comes from clouds
I like to fly kites
Notice that it rains
Grass grows green
~P.W

Sun warms you up
Puppies playing
Roses grow
I know that flowers bloom
Nice friend playing
Good morning sunshine!
~J.M

Swimming in the nice warm pool
Playing with friends in the park
Running on rainbows
I like to eat donuts
Noticing caterpillars hatch from cocoons
Great great spring
~E.E

Sun shines bright
People in a pool
Rabbits raise their babies
I like to eat ice cream in the shade
Noticing the birds eating
Green grass growing
~M.E

Swimming in the warm lake
People playing tag
Roses bloom
It is time to rest
Noticing the butterflies
Growing more flowers
~H.C

13 Kids in a Candy Shop

In math this week we began to learn about “Tiny Tumblers”. Using Tiny Tumblers allows children to work individually on recording sets of partners for different numbers (1+5, 2+4, 3+3 are partners for 6). The children also created titles and prices for our Andy Warhol Art Gallery. Next week we will open up our gallery for buying and selling various pieces of Andy’s art.
During Reader’s Workshop the children are participating in a mock Caldecott election. This is an activity from one of my master’s classes that I thought the children would enjoy. Each week we are reading 5 picture books and the children are rating them based on the pictures and the story. After each book is read the children are responding to the book with specifics on what they enjoyed, did not enjoy about the story. We are also continuing to read the Andrew Lost series every morning from 8:30-8:45. Thank you to everyone who are getting their children to school on time to enjoy this!
During our Andy Warhol study we have been exploring Andy’s art. We practiced painting his cat Sam using the blotted line technique that he used in his early years. We also enjoyed watching some youtube videos about him doing things such as painting a BMW, being interviewed and using a computer to create a digital portrait of a popular celebrity.
Thank you to everyone for providing your child with $5 for the Powells Candy Shoppe. We had a wonderful time and it looks like we are going to have some very colorful canvases!

Exploring All About Books

During Writers’ Workshop this week we began learning about “All About Books” (commonly know to adults as nonfiction texts). The children began by comparing nonfiction Big Books with Dr. Seuss books. Here are some of the things they noticed:
“The pictures and writing was bigger.”
“They are more grown-upy.”
“The pictures are realistic.”
“It told me what a Bumble Bee egg looks like and is called.”
“It taught me things.”
“It was written about real things.”
“The pictures are taken with a camera.”
“Sometimes they have experiments.”

In Math are working on Volume 2, Unit 4 in the Kindergarten Math Expressions program. This unit builds on the children’s understanding of addition and subtraction story problems. The children will deepen their knowledge of problem solving as they learn the reverse connection of creating story problems for addition and subtraction equations they have solved. They will also continue partner work for partners 2 through 6 (example; 1 & 4 are partners for 5 because 1 + 4 = 5) and practice visualizing teen numbers as a ten and extra ones.

Our First Day with Andy

“Today we learned about our Great Artist Andy Warhol. We read the book Uncle Andy’s. I learned that he paints really well, and I learned that he has 25 cats named Sam. I also know that he wears purple glasses and a white wig. He has white hair that looks just like his wig. He lived in a big house, I think it was a Skyscraper. He had a lot of steps in his house and lots of cats and stuff. His house was in New York City. At night he liked to go out to parties. At day time he made art. He painted soda bottles, soup cans and Elvis. He got boxes and made them into soup can boxes. At meeting time we shared the pen and wrote what we know about Andy Warhol. Maya wrote about the cats and I wrote New York City. Sharing the pen is when some body has a pen and somebody has a sharpie and when you don’t know how to exact spell it the teacher helps you and that is when you share the pen. At job time I drew what I think Andy looks like. And I wrote that Andy paints unique pictures. Some friends wrote their questions to Andy.” ~J.M & N.S

100 Days of School

“The world in 100 years will be good, healthy, happy, clean, shy and green if we work together to clean it. We help the Earth if we reduce, recycle, reuse and turn off the water and the lights.” ~Room 5

Today we celebrated the 100th day of school! The children combined Fruit Loops into groups of 10 & 5 to make a necklace of 100; made a trail mix with 100 items; wrote their numbers from 1-100; made 100 tallies; estimated which jar contained 100 beans; read “Mrs. Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten”; wrote about what they want 100 of; made 100’s glasses and wrote about what the world will be like in 100 years! What a day!


“What have your learned during your first 100 days in Kindergarten?” ~Lisa J.
“I learned that La Jolla Kayak does not sell surf boards.” A.R
“I learned how to write words.” T.S
“I learned how to spell T-H-E” P.W
“I learned that Hotel La Jolla has 10 stories. And how to write ” J.R.
“I learned how to spell the word ‘Dear’ just today” M.E
“I learned that we can make pizza at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club” E.E
“I learned how to write a lowercase a.” J.M
“I learned how to use finger spaces” J.W
“I learned that Surf Divas has blue and other color surf boards.” E.M
“I learned that there are a lot of different kind of Fairytale characters.” N.S
“I learned how to write all the lowercase letters.” H.C
“I learned how to add things in the ladybug job in math.” M.N
“I learned how to say yes and no in English” A.G

88 Days of School!

In Math this week the children began learning about money. We began our study by reading “Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday” and having the children share their knowledge about money (see below for their thoughts). During job time some children sorted and classified the coins while others worked in small groups and did Counting Mat activities. Throughout the week the children used their Counting Mats with pennies, nickles, penny strips and nickel strips to represent numbers 6-10 and later to create addition equations.
Our Avenida study this week focused on mapping. We began our investigation into mapping by reading the book “Me on The Map” and having the children share their background knowledge about maps with their friends (see below for their feedback). Throughout the week we created maps of our classroom, school and Avenida de la Playa. The children also enjoyed comparing maps from around the world.
During Writer’s Workshop we focused on “The Magic 5” and began using our Magic 5 checklist after each writing job was completed. Throughout the week we wrote about what we learned about Avenida de la playa, what we think we might do this weekend and what we liked about our artist in action.
Next week we will have noon dismissal on Tuesday, February 3rd and conferences will be held on Tuesday afternoon, all day Wednesday and all day Thursday. Class will resume on Friday, February 6th with a field trip to La Jolla Shores.
Money:
“It buys things.” E.E
“The government is the only thing that can make real money.” H.C
“You keep it in your pocket.” A.G
“Robbers steal it.” J.M
“You keep it in your wallets.” J.R
“You keep it in your piggy bank.” T.S
“It can be gold.” E.M
“It is bad to lose money.” M.N
“Money can be in the shape of a circle.” M.E
“Money has the year it was born on it.” P.W
“Money can be shaped like a rectangle if it is a dollar bill.” N.S
“It can be shaped in an oval if it goes through a machine.” J.W
“Every money has a guy on it.” J.R
“The guy on money is a VIP.” M.E

Maps:
“They are made so you don’t get lost.” J.R
“You can get a map of the earth.” J.M
“You can draw things on them so you know where you need to go.” P.W
“It can be round like a globe or flat.” N.S
“They help you find people and places.” A.R
“You can make a map with a crayon and paper.” M.N
“Maps have labels and pictures.” J.W
“Maps show where you are in the state.” T.S
“There are maps in my mom and dad’s phone.” E.M
“The map of the world has all of the countries and the United States.” E.E

Our Monday

“In Music with Lauren we read a funny book about a music teacher and kids that said rumors about the teacher. One of the rumors was that when she sang one of the boy’s glasses broke because she was so loud. At the end she was a normal teacher and the rumors were not true. In Art with Carrie we dotted on paper then folded it and when I opened it there was a picture. After recess we talked about handwriting. If you don’t have good handwriting people cannot understand you. Good handwriting is when you spell the letters properly. You draw the letters so they bump the lines and they start at the top. At job time we practiced lowercase d’s, g’s and c’s. They all start with the magic c. At afternoon job time we read “Alexander Who Used To Be Rich Last Sunday” and we learned about money.” J.R.

Adventure to Avenida

“Yesterday we walked from the school, over the bridge, next to my grandmas house and down Paseo Dorado to get to the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. When we got to the club we saw some huge Seahorses. On our trip we counted them in our neighborhood guidebook. I counted over 101 seahorses! We saw ducks, swans and geese in the lake. I also found an alive turtle. Lisa A gave us a tour. First we went to the beach and we helped the beach stop littering and picked up the trash. Then we met Mr. Juan and he teached us how to play golf. He showed us to aim the ball line at the hole and then strike. Then we fed Peepers (a Seagull) hotdogs and planted a plant with Shelly. I liked planting because it helps the Earth. After planting with Shelly we went to Chef in the kitchen. We got to make our own pizza. I put on pepperoni and cheese. Then we went to the restaurant and ate our pizza and asked Lisa A. questions about the club. When we left we said ‘Thank you for the tour’.” E.E.

“On Tuesday I went to La Jolla Kayak. La Jolla Kayak is a place where there is Kayaks and you get to sit in them if you are kids, as long as your mom asks if you could. I got to wear a life vest. I didn’t have whistle on my life jacket. If someone is in the water and drowning they will do the whistle and a guy will jump in and get him and put him in the kayak. Jason showed us a video that showed us if the kayak was turning it might flip over and you would have to come out from under the top of the kayak. When we left they gave us a piece of paper with all the fish in the sea and a map of the ocean. I learned that if you tip over the kayak you will fall into the water. After La Jolla Kayak we went to Surf Divas and we watched a video about a girl surfing a whole world. Megan showed us how to do a pop up and how to paddle. When a wave gets close to your back you get up. When we left they gave us hats. At surf Diva’s I counted the boy bathing suits and there were 13. I found out that the have 20 surfboards, but I counted more than 20. You can buy them and rent them.” P.W.

Thursday's Artist in Action

Click on the image to see an enlarged view.

Jobs in our community

What a wonderful few weeks we have had! The children have been busy going on field trips to Starbucks, Barbarella’s, La Jolla Shores Market, Surf Diva’s, La Jolla Kayak and Hotel La Jolla. We will be wrapping up our small group tours on Thursday with our last trip to the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. While the small groups are on their tours of Avenida de la Playa the children on campus have been learning about jobs in the community, transportation and what we can do to take care of the environment around us.

Here are some reasons why kindergartners feel we have jobs:

“It is important to have a job so that people can get money so they can buy things, like clothes and food. Jobs help the community because if I was a veterinarian, I would help others by helping their animals. It is important so that their animals don’t die. Another important job, is a cowgirl. If cows were escaping the cowgirl brings them back in. That is important so they don’t escape so they won’t give milk. It is important for parents to have jobs so they can have money to buy us food.” M.E

“It is important to have a job so people are not very worried, because there is nothing to worry about. If there was an issue or problem and they need help, a person can help, a lawyer or a beauty maker. The beggars don’t have pretty clothes, they don’t have lipstick or anything. People with jobs can help them, beauty shop makers make women beautiful and men handsome. People want to dress however they want and beauty shop makers ask them what they want to look like and the person answers and the beauty shop maker makes their wish granted. People need to look good to go to parties. If there were no lawyers, people would fight all the time. People need to follow the rules, if no one followed rules it would be a mess. If no one followed the rules it would be a disaster, somebody would get hurt…. So that is why they needed lawyers.” A.R

Our Adventure to Avenida

Today we went on our first field trip to Avenida de la Playa. The children went on their journey in groups of three with a gracious parent as their guide. On their walk they participated in a scavenger hunt and took photographs of nature, buildings, structures, community contributors and business along the way. Here are some of the things they observed:
It takes 5-1,008 steps to walk across the bridge (depending on how big your steps are).
There are 9-10 floors in Hotel La Jolla
The Children’s School has the same trees and bushes as Avenida de la Playa.
The Children’s School does not have palm trees or Birds of Paradise
We take La Jolla Shores Drive to get to Avenida de la Playa (and we pass the street Ethan lives on along the way).
There is a house/business/apartment/building/candy factory or room next to the La Jolla Shores Market.
It says “Aloha” on the step leading to La Jolla Kayak and the Kayaks are green.
We feel that Barbarella’s serves pancakes/waffles, Hawaiian food, Italian food, pasta, chicken fingers, pizza or cheese.
The map at Surf Diva’s leads to La Jolla shores beach or “a place to get a lesson on how to surf… probably near the ocean… or in the ocean.”
On the way to Ethan’s house we saw grey, red, blue, brown, white, green, pink(ish), red(ish), pinky and rainbow colored houses.
Throughout the tour the children also focused on finding things that help and hurt the environment. Some of the things that hurt the environment were litter, big cars, and people picking flowers. Some of the things that helped the environment were trees, bushes, dirt, grass and nature. As Anna put it “When you pick a flower it is like pulling the earths hair. The Earth doesn’t like it and it hurts.” ~Room 5 friends
A BIG thank you to Leslie, Rose, Soleil, Venke and Tricia for being our great tour guides. A special thank you to Tricia, Ethan, Evan and Roger for opening up their home to all of us for a wonderful lunch and play time!

Back from the Break

On Monday the children worked on their Winter Reports and focused on spacing, proper letter formation and writing three things they did over the break. During Art the class they drew pictures of scenery and in Music they played with the rhythm sticks.
During morning job time we talked about new years resolutions and wrote about things we are not good at now that we would like to be better at (see below). Then they made fireworks with “glue and lots of different colored glitter”.
In the afternoon we began our Avenida de la Playa study by reading the book “Open Your Heart” by Grant and Layne Pecoff and discussing all of the different places people live. The children then drew pictures of their neighborhood communities and wrote about what community means to them.
New Years Resolutions:
“To learn how to speak English” ~A.G.
“To learn how to ride my bike” ~E.M.
“I want to learn how to fix my bike” ~M.N
“I want to be able to ride a bike without training wheels” ~J.R
“I want to be a better reader” ~J.M
“I want to improve my reading and learn how to do a handstand” ~H.C
“”I want to feed my cat everyday” ~P.W
“I want to be a better sister” ~N.S
“I want to learn how to do a bridge” ~ M.E
“I want to learn how to do a handstand” ~T.S
“I want to paint a cobra” ~E.E
“I want to guess what’s in Ned’s head” – A.R

On Tuesday “at morning meeting we read “Our Class is Going Green”. After we read the book we wrote about how to be green. To be green I will not litter instead of littering. So I will throw stuff in the trash can and keep the earth clean so it will smile at me. At the writing bean table I wrote about what I know about Avenida de la Playa. I know that I ate lunch at a place there that was kind of scary because it has ghosts and skeletons that had blood on its teeth. At Todd Time we played with the parachute. After Todd Time we glued trash onto a big piece of black paper. The other group glued recycled things onto blue paper. We are going to put them on the garbage cans to let people know what goes in them. During Readers’ Workshop we went on a hunt for readers. Below is a list of all the readers they saw at TCS.” ~E.E
Laura and Carrie reading the computer; Marilyn reading name tags and her computer; Julie Lee reading her January calendar for visiting guest artists; Denise reading a note for Jorge; Rachel reading a message letter; Lisa A reading her memory book (a planner); Tammy reading a message she wrote on her computer; Ryan (in first grade) reading a weather report; ALL of the first graders reading books in the library; The sixth graders reading their laptops; the fourth graders reading a screen; the third graders reading papers on the rug; the second graders reading papers at their desk.