The Letter K

It's time to celebrate the letter K!

And the song of the week came about after our first K snack--

What you do-oo-oo for a Klondike bar??

We also enjoyed some Very Berry Kix!   Some of the children asked for milk to add and some ate the cereal dry. 

Here is our Environmental Print (snack) Wall!  



With each letter, the children practice writing it in uppercase and lowercase forms on these great practice pages I downloaded from Starfall.

One homework assignment this week was for the children to find an item at home that begins with the letter K and bring it in to share. 

Kit Kat bars, Kisses, Kangaroos, Kittens, and Koalas, oh my!

Nathan brought in and wore his Knight costume. 

Hellloooo silent K discussion!

The children then added a K page to their ABC books.  On the second day of each letter study, the children write the letter, draw a picture of something that starts with that letter, find that letter in the newspaper and find that sticker.

Austin is searching through the newspaper! 

 These girls are both working on pictures of kittens!

Here is Samuel working on one of our weekly picture sorts on the Smart board.  He is sorting pictures that begin with K and other letters that we've studied. 



Thanks for celebrating the letter K with us and for Keeping Up With The Kindergartners!

The Letter F

It's time to celebrate the letter F!

We had a fun couple of days learning and exploring the letter F! I'll start this post with my favorite part of letter study--

the SNACKS!! 

Fig Newtons were a favorite! 

Many of the children had never tried them before. 

But, the children really flipped for the Funyuns!

 Nathan enjoyed a little of both!

We added the Funyuns label to our Environmental Print Wall.  Here's what we've tasted and can read so far.

We always begin a new letter study with a quick uppercase and lowercase letter sort on the SmartBoard.  Then, the children move into some handwriting practice. 

I leave out the letter tub full of items that begin with that letter during center time.  The children usually go by to see if they can name each one. 

 Dario and Abby did!  



One of the last things the children do is complete the letter page in their ABC books.  With each letter, the children practice writing it, find the letter sticker, draw a picture of something that begins with that letter, and find it in the newspaper.  I am thinking of adding a 5th step this week--a stamp!



Abby and Giovanna found the F sticker! 

 This child wrote the letter F first!

Zachary found the letter F in the newspaper! 

On Fridays, we combined the two letters that we studied that week.  This Friday, we combine E and F.

Caitlyn works on her E and F picture sort.  

 Dario sorts pictures on the SmartBoard.

 Dallas and Vincent are "dotting" the uppercase and lowercase E's and F's. I love these dot art "markers" from Lakesore!

Letter study this week was Excellent and Fantastic! 

The Letter A

It's time to celebrate the letter A! 

For the first few weeks of school, I will do a quick review of each letter of the alphabet.  We learn about and explore two letters and week and then combine both letters on Friday for more practice.

"/a/ /a/ /a/ Abby is sad and /a/ /a/ /a/ is A!"  This is the chant we learned for the letter A from The Phonics Dance. 

"A for Apple, /a/ /a/ /a/!"  This is the beginning of Dr. Jean's "Action Alphabet" song that I use all the time.

I purchased this Letter of the Day Pocket Chart from Lakeshore through a Donor's Choose Grant last year and it is awesome!  It is an alphabet pocket chart.  There are many elements to it: handwriting practice, picture cards, an alliteration poem, and a tracing card.  I have this set up with each letter we study and the children get so excited to come in a see what letter is next.

Snack time is always a great time to integrate more letter practice!  On Monday we had Apple Jacks!  We cut apart the box and taped what we could all read to our "Environmental Print Wall".  On Tuesday, we had apples.

Then, we did a little handwriting practice! 
Look at those Awesome A's!

We were even making A's during cooperative play center time!  Here is an A made out of blocks!

I'm trying something a little new this year in the form of ABC books.  Each child has their own blank book (13 pieces of construction paper bound together).  On the second day of a letter study, we fill the page!  Since we are just starting out, the children only had 4 items to get on the page.  They had to write the letter, find the letter sticker, find the letter in the newspaper, and draw a picture of something that starts with that letter. 



Of course, we found items that start with the letter A and made a list of items that start with the letter A too.  The best part is--we have THREE friends in our class who start with the letter A!!  Abby, Austin, and Audrey really helped me out this week.  There is a lot to be said about the power of the children's names! 

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Here is what I'm loving today--

I'm loving that I am back to work today at the best elementary school ever!  I'm loving my job and the people that I work with.  I am one lucky gal!  Here is a picture of us 3 years ago when our school was just built. 

I'm loving Cherry Coke Zero and it's help in allowing me to make it through my first day back at work!

I'm loving these NEW ideas that I found on Pinterest and have tried out in my classroom!  You can click here to see my boards.  Here are some of the pictures from what I'm loving in my classroom---



I'm loving  this project that I tried out in effort to create a more numeracy rich environment--

I'm loving this is a wall decal that I found at Hobby Lobby.  I think it really brightens up my cabinet!

I'm loving my new Environmental Print wall.  It's in my snack area so we'll add snack packages after we eat!

I'm loving these boxes that I bought at the Target Dollar Spot.  I plan on letting my students use them to keep leveled books in.



I'm loving that Big Brother comes on tonight!  Go Jeff and Jordan!

And last, but not least, I'M LOVING  my sweet kitties that I missed so much today!  Doesn't look like they caused too much trouble at home! 

Link up with Jamie!

What are YOU loving today?