What's happening this week?

We are so near the end of the year that kids are beginning to smell it in the air. However, that is not the only reason that excitement is beginning to build.  Last week, in science, we began our study on animals and their habits, body coverings, etc.  With that said, we went to the zoo yesterday and had an amazing time.  Several kids were even able to get one of the parrots to talk to them.

Next week, we will begin community helpers and the fire unit will bring in a portable "house" that the kids will be taught lessons in and allowed to escape through a window. 

We also have science projects being turned in this week with a science fair, Latin show and art show one night this week.  

Field day is also this Friday so you can see why the excitement is happening.   

In language we are all now reading (most kids very well) and are working on fluency.

In math we have finished with all our addition facts and are finishing up the last of our subtraction facts with the difference of one and difference of two facts as well as subtracting 10 from a number facts.

I can't believe the year is so close to an end.

In Christ,

Johnny

April is coming to an end

Wow!  April will soon be over.  Can you believe there is only 5 weeks until the end of the year?  This week we had our final field trip to the park for community service.  The kids once again loved it and it was a great way to celebrate Earth Day.  We had a picnic lunch followed by a quick clean-up of the park and some play time before returning to school.  This week we will look at ways to "save the earth" by recycling and water conservation. 

In language kids are reading far beyond what I expected and in math we are beginning to add 3 digit numbers, looking at geometric shapes looking at what we call the oddball facts.

I am blessed to have been able to share the year with them.

In Christ,

Johnny

They are so smart

I am totally amazed at how much kindergarten has learned this year. The level at which kids are reading and the math facts that they know is beyond reason. Kids are picking up and reading 101 Dalmations and writing the answers to math facts from memory rather than using counters including the addition and subtraction facts through 9. I am so proud of them.

In Christ,

Johnny

Spring break is coming

Spring break is just around the corner and the kids (and I) are all excited. This week we are working on reading comprehension and fluency as well as matching words and sentences to story pictures.  We are also introducing the letter Pp in order to work on handwriting skills.

In math we will begin counting by 100's and learning to identify what number added to a given number will equal a sum of ten.

In science we will begin our unit on dental health and learn how and why we brush our teeth as well as identify the parts of the tooth, why we loose our baby teeth, the names of teeth and where they are located in the mouth. 

In social studies we will discuss the Emerald Isle and St. Patrick's Day.  We will also learn who St. Patrick was and why we celebrate.

Friday is early dismissal before spring break and we will spend the morning at a local city park doing community service.

Hope you enjoy the break.  Spend some quality time with your kids.

In Christ,

Johnny 

Rodeo Day and the month of March

February is over and March is here.  As we celebrate Texas history month, we began March with a rodeo day here at school.  Kids dressed in western apparel and stations were set up for them to rotate through.  They enjoyed a pinto bean race, horseshoes, cow paddy (frisbee) tossing and calf roping as well as horseback riding and a petting zoo.  They also saw first hand how to shoe a horse.

This week in Language we will continue working onwriting skills and story comprehension as kids continue to practice reading skills.

In math we will begin our plus 10 facts and work on various problem solving strategies.

As we study our Texas unit, we will have discussions about our state tree, flower, bird, mammal, gem and other Texas symbols.

Kids will work on the bible memory verse for letter "V".  They have already learned a verse for each letter a-u.  

In Christ,

Johnny

February 18th

We have just finished celebrating Valentine's Day with a class party and Big Red floats.  Now we are moving on to President and President's Day.  We will predominantly be talking about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington but will also discuss how laws are made and how they effect us.

In Math we are now adding two digit numbers without regrouping and studying congruent shapes.

We have now moved on to the Superkids club in Language Arts and are studying when and why we use exclamation marks, looking at word families and reading for comprehension and fluency.  We are also looking at the use of synonyms.

Kindergarten is amazing.

Johnny 

Lent: Growing Closer to God!

Here in the Episcopal church we are getting ready for the season of Lent. Today in my class we did a little preparation so the children are prepared for Ash Wednesday. During Lent, we do things to help us to know God better and the life of God's son, Jesus. Sometimes we spend extra time in prayer or in reading the Bible. Some people make the choice to give up something like television or chocolate. Years ago, people did not eat rich foods such as butter, eggs, or sugar during the Lent season. This brought about the tradition of Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday as some call it, to eat all those things you wouldn't allow yourself to eat during this season.

The children and I also talked about the story of Jesus in the Wilderness from Matthew 4:1-11. See if your child remembers the 3 temptations of Christ.

All the children are coming home with a little pipe cleaner pretzel. If you would like to see the story and tradition they learned about, you can retell the story below to your child or have them tell it to you.

Angelo and the Pretzel

A long time ago, there was a monk in Italy named Angelo. Angelo worked in the monastery kitchen baking bread.

One morning, Angelo began to bake the day's bread. Since it was Lent, he didn't put any butter, eggs or sugar into the dough.

While the bread was in the oven, Angelo sat down to think and pray. The children in his parish didn't seem to be learning their prayers. He wished he could come up with a clever way to help them remember. As Angelo thought, he rolled a leftover piece of dough between his fingers.

In his day, the children were taught to fold their arms across their chest when they prayed. Angelo kept on thinking as he rolled that piece of leftover dough.

Suddenly, he had an idea! Angelo twisted the rolled piece of dough into the shape of praying arms.

He put the dough on a pan and baked it. Angelo got busy cleaning the kitchen and let the dough bake too long. But when he tasted it, he decided it was delicious.

"I will call this treat a 'pretiola' (preh-zi-o-la) which means 'little reward,'" he said. "My treat will be a reward for the children who learn their prayers."

That afternoon, Angelo baked an entire batch of pretiolas. When the children came to the bakery to visit him, he gave the pretiolas to those who knew their prayers.

Before long, all the children began to remember their prayers, and they ate batch after batch of pretiolas.

And that's the story of a monk named Angelo and the very first pretzel.