Saturday, February 28, 2009

Mardi Gras














We celebrated Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, in kindergarten this week. We made masks, wrote about beads, and ate King Cake. Josh got the baby in his piece of King Cake in the morning class so he is King Josh and Fernanda got the baby in the afternoon so she is Queen Fernanda!

Our Air Force Visitor


Another one of the soldiers that we sent letters to over in Iraq has returned! This time Ezequiel's Uncle Ricardo returned to America and back to his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He made a special trip up to Colorado though to stop by our class and thank us for the letters that we wrote him while he was away. We got to ask him questions about being in the air force and what he did in Iraq!

Spanish



We have been learning some Spanish in Kindergarten. While we do not actually get to take a Spanish class (that will start next year); the Spanish teacher, Mr. Pena, sometimes pops in to see how we are coming along with our counting. Recently he started teaching us the Spanish alphabet. We are really getting good at it!

Our Litte Escape Artist


As many of you now know, my favorite SAINTS player, Deuce McAllister has been released from the SAINTS. His namesake (our hampster) in his grief over this, tried to escape from his cage. I am thinking that he wanted to try to find the real Deuce and convince him to stay with the SAINTS!

Monday, February 23, 2009

We wrote a letter to Deuce McAllister

When the afternoon kids heard that Deuce McAllister was cut from the SAINTS, they wanted to write him a letter. Here is what they wrote:

Dear Our Favorite Saints player,

I am so sorry your leg got hurt. We love your sport. You are the most famous football player. I am so sorry that you don’t get to play for the SAINTS anymore. Can you come to our class? You are our favorite player on the SAINTS. We have a little hamster named Deuce and we named him after you. Your team is our favorite team out of all the teams. You can come visit anytime. We want to say “Boo Broncos” and “Go Saints”. Our teacher, Ms. Baker, really likes the Saints. Maybe you can come out to recess and teach us how to play football. Can you come in your football suit?

Love,
Ms. Baker’s PM Kindergarten Class

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

North Carolina (or as my cousin says, North Cakalaka)





I got to go to North Carolina for Presidents' Day weekend with my two best friends. I thought that it was great that I got to go right after we learned about the Wright Brothers since they too went there (they went to test out the first airplane.) While I didn't get to go to Kitty Hawk, I did take a picture with a license plate that says "First in Flight" and has an airplane just like the Wright Brothers. I also got to see my brother Russell who calls himself "Awesome Abe" even though Abraham Lincoln's nickname was "Honest Abe." Another cool thing I took a picture of was the wall in the restaurant where we ate breakfast. It had SAINTS signs! And hanging from the ceiling was a chandelier (I checked to see if Roscuro was hanging from it but he was not.) We were just reading about a chandelier in our book, The Tale of Despereaux. I hope you all had a great weekend too!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day!








Today we had our Valentine's Day party! We decorated shoe boxes to use as mailboxes, made frames with pictures as a present for our moms and dads, and had rice crispy treats! We had so much fun passing out valentine's to all of the kids in our class. A student in the morning class even made me a little purse that was the perfect size for our hampster, Deuce McAllister! One student said as we were leaving to go home: "This was the best day of my life!" That pretty much sums up the great day we had!

George Washington





Here is what we know about George Washington:
1. He was a general is the Revolutionary War (that freed us from England)
2. His house is called Mount Vernon
3. He said "No" to being the King of the United States and "Yes" to being the first President.
4. He did not live in the White House (it wasn't built yet)
5. His hair turned gray from fighting in the war
6. His nickname is "The Father of our Country"
7. He loved horses
8. He was very honest (we read the story about him chopping down the cherry tree and not telling a lie but we do not know if it is true or a legend!)

These are pictures of us with our General Washington hats on!

Geoboard Wizards







We started learning about Geoboards this week. They help us with geometry (making shapes and angles) and measuring. The kids love to make all kinds of things with the geoboards. I have seen trains, hats, houses, cats, stars, guitars, etc. We are having lots of fun and learning lots too!

P.S. Thanks to Heather Dawson for the tips on new blog backgrounds!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Congratulations!!





The PM kindergarteners won the golden plunger! To win this you have to be the best class in the school when going to the bathroom. You have to walk down the hallway quietly, go straight there and back, only use a little soap and towels, and not yell in the bathroom. We were voted the best class so we get to keep the golden plunger for a whole month!

The Queen


We had a special visit from the Queen this week. She taught us that "U" always comes after "Q" and about what one must do if they are in the presence of the Queen (bow and curtsy and NEVER touch the Queen!)We also got to make our own crowns and write what we would do if we were king or queen (go to battle, chop off heads, read to children, fight, wear a crown, wear a dress, and get married were the top ones!)

Saturday, February 7, 2009

We are 100 days smarter









This past Monday marked our 100th day of kindergarten. We have learned a lot in these past 100 days and it was a good chance to celebrate. We made snacks with 100 treats, a necklace with 100 beads, figured out what we could eat 100 of (m&m's and marshmallows were at the top of the list), and said what we could do with $100 (toys and trips with the Saints!) The kids also had to do a project at home with 100 items on it and present it on our 100th day. I pretended to be 100 years old but am now back to my normal self! It was a great day.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Marines



This week we had a Marine come to visit us. He is the Dad of a student in our afternoon class and he just got back from Iraq. He wrote us a letter while he was in Iraq and taught us that "Freedom Isn't Free". One of our kindergarteners thought it would be a good idea to make him a book with each of us drawing a picture and writing a sentence about why we are thankful to live in America. We gave it to him when he came to visit our classroom. When he answered questions for us, we learned what all of the medals mean, why Marines can't wear their hats inside, and why they have a red strip on their pants. Thanks for coming to visit us, Andre!

Wright Brothers







Last week we learned about the Wright Brothers. We learned that they made the first motor powered airplane. They were from Ohio but had to go to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina to fly it because they needed more wind. We read that their first flight lasted 12 seconds and they went 120 feet. We decided to be scientists (with the help of our 3rd grade buddies) and see just how far 120 feet is. We agreed that if we were still on the playground at the end of 120 feet then the first flight was a short distance (because we don't need a plane to get across the playground) and if we walked all the way to Denver (with permission of course) then it was a long flight. We discovered that 120 feet is actually very short and is only halfway across our playground. We then tried running for 12 seconds to see if we would get further than 120 feet or not quite as far. Many of us made it past 120 feet which means that we can run faster than the first airplane!