Fruit Exploration, Texure Walk, Visit from the Sheriff's Dept.

Ok, truth be told I got a little behind on the blogging.  David was about to return from his deployment, so in the days leading up to his return any spare moment was spent Marie Kondo-ing our home.  Then, obviously, I was overjoyed to spend some time with him in his return.  So my free time left little room for blogging.  I failed you! But I'm back. :)

Let's take a look at some of the things we've been up to:

August 25, Five Senses Fruit Exploration-

Students used all five senses to observe and explore fruit.  It was easy to tell which fruit was which with our sense of sight, but then we had to close our eyes and rely on the texture and feel of the fruits.  To make things even more challenging, we peeled and cubed some similar-looking fruits.  With our sense of sight alone, we could no longer tell which fruit was which.  We had to rely on smell and taste to be sure!

August 26, Five Senses Texture Walk-

Students took off their shoes and enjoyed the feel of various textures beneath their feet!  Students felt things that were soft, smooth, hard, rough, squishy and wet.

August 29, Visit from the Sheriff's Department-

Mrs. Watkins is married to a police officer and had this wonderful idea!  Shirley Hills Elementary School is promoting positive views of police officers by hosting a monthly appreciation day for them.  Once a month, officers will come by our school on rotation to sit and eat lunch with our elementary students.    Kindergarten students made the first batch of appreciation cards. 

For a lot of kids, their only understanding of a police officer is "you arrest bad guys and take them to jail."  It was pretty cool for the kids to have the chance for a Q&A with various officers.  Just look at that look of admiration:

September 8, Count & Dump Math Game-

Students roll one die or two dice.  They count that many of their counters as they place them in a cup. When finished, their partner dumps the cup and counts to check his/her partner's work.  Then it's the next player's turn.  This is excellent reinforcement for checking your work!

September 8, Fabric Texture Sort-

Students worked in groups to sort a bag of fabrics based on various textures. 

September 9, Books on Parade-

As our Readers' Workshop Unit 1 came to a close, we celebrated with our favorite books on parade.  Students selected their favorite books they've heard/read so far this year.  We awarded each with a blue ribbon, and headed around the school to show everyone our top choices!  Mrs. Dunlap, the API, listened to students' favorite parts.

Look at those SMILES! They're so excited about their books! LOVE IT! 

We ended our parade in our Book Buddies' classroom, reading our favorites to our fifth grade partners:

Next post will be a look into our new Reading and Writing units.