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page is filled with wonderful classroom photos, so it may take a few extra
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Happy
Groundhog Day from Pismo Beach, California!
Friday sunset, about ten minutes after
I got to town.
This one was taken a few minutes later
... winter sunsets happen fast!
OK,
I actually celebrated Groundhog Day with my KinderKids in Bakersfield,
then drove to the coast to attend a CCSP session at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,
where I spent all day Saturday working on my Under
The Sea Unit.
Because
parts of that unit are my year-long project for CCSP (Central Coast Science
Project), I probably won't have Under The
Sea online until early April. I DO have
two interactive emergent readers completed for the unit, and will add new
links to them below. If you're interested, you can take a look at
my
CCSP website, which has some info about my project and links to other
techie type sites.
Last
week, we spent our entire Friday morning making our February
Quilt, using all-new designs I created
just for KinderKorner. The KinderKids did a terrific job and didn't
complain about having to spend the whole morning doing artwork so
I could get it up on the website to share with all of you :o)
Groundhog
Day is the first of many February holidays and special celebrations, and
we try to do something to acknowledge each of them, although having two
consecutive three day weekends really cuts into instructional time.
This
month we'll also celebrate the 100th Day of
School, Valentine's
Day, the birthdays of George
Washington and Abraham
Lincoln, and Black
History Month, all of which will have special
activities and projects.
And
if the KinderKids are ready to move on, we'll be finishing our Author Studies
on Jan Brett
and Lois Ehlert,
along with our Let It
Snow Unit. The KinderKids have enjoyed
The
Mitten so much that we've barely gotten started on Brett's wonderful
story companion story, The
Hat.
I'm
a big believer in letting the kids set the pace on many of our thematic
units and author studies, so these may continue into March and beyond.
One thing is certain ... every child who leaves my kindergarten or first
grade class can tell you who their favorite author is :o)
I'll
be updating all of those units in the coming days and weeks, in order to
share the latest books and projects we're using in class. I also
have a unit called Along Came A Spider on the
KinderKorner Website, that many people enjoy using with their bugs and
insects units in the Springtime.
Not
surprisingly, it's now Monday evening and I'm working hard to get this
page finished so I can get it online. I've added a Mini
Unit on Penguins to the page, to make it easy to find. Enjoy
what's here and rest assured that more is coming soon. I'll be out
of town over both 3 day weekends, so if I seem to be a little bit behind,
bear with me for a few extra days before you write to ask when the next
update will be posted.
The
one I made ... that's a clothespin holding his head on the easel :o) For more information
on TLC -- Teaching Little Children -- projects and artwork, visit
the TLC website.
Penguin By Meish Goldish
I know a bird That cannot fly: Penguin is its name. It cannot fly, But it can swim With speed that wins
it fame! I know a bird That lives on ice And waddles by the sea. It looks so cute In its black and white
suit, As handsome as can be!
I'm a little penguin short
and fat Wearing my tuxedo without
any hat I live in Antartica where
I splash and play Whales, sharks, and leopard
seals make me run away.
Their suits are black
and their vests are white. They waddle to the left
and they waddle to the right. They stand on the ice
and they look very neat, As they waddle along
on their little flat feet. Six little penguins off
an iceberg did dive, One bumped his beak,
then there were five. Five little penguins
swam the ocean floor, One saw a whale, then
there were four. Four little penguins
spun around, whee-ee! One spun off, then there
were three! Three little penguins,
with nothing to do, One went fishing, then
there were two. Two little penguins,
having lots of fun, One fell off, then there
was one. One little penguin, when
the day was done, Went home to sleep, then
there were none.
I'm
a Little Penguin
I'm a little penguin Black and white. Short and wobbly An adorable site.
I can't fly at all But I love to swim. So I'll waddle to the water And dive right in!
The
Penguin
I am a bird you know quite well, All dressed in black and white. And even though I do have wings They're not designed for flight.
I waddle, waddle, waddle, On my funny little feet. Across the icy snow I go To find a fishy treat!
On
February 1, each of the KinderKids made a prediction about the groundhog's
shadow, and then we made a graph:
We
checked our predictions at 10 a.m. on Groundhog Day, during morning recess.
I used the children's predictions to determine what type of groundhog patch
they would make for our February quilt, passing out materials for a sunny
patch or cloudy patch according to the way they had voted.
February
Quilt
This
month's patches are something new for the KinderKids. The groundhog
body and arms were traced around a pattern and the kids did a cut-and-paste
for that part during a directed art lesson.
We
voted on whether we should have snow or grass on our patch, and decided
grass, since it doesn't snow in Bakersfield. Our grass isn't this
green in the winter unless we overseed it, but green looks nice.
Each
child got to choose a red or pink heart for their other patch. The
hearts, too, were traced on construction paper. A parent helper cut
colorful strips using decorative scissors, and the kids got to decorate
their hearts however they liked.
The
close up photos show how lazy I've gotten with my quilts, thanks to some
good advice from another teacher. I used to glue all the patches
to bulletin board paper, which took a lot of time. Now I staple them
to the wall. The purple background square was stapled up first, and
the heart patch stapled onto it. The black border is the same one
from last month ... I pulled the mittens off and put up Ellison diecut
hearts.
This
is a patch I've used in previous years. Though it's hard to see in
the photo, the red sections of the heart are either 2 1/4" squares or triangles
cut from 2 1/4" squares. This patch looks wonderful made from foil
wrapping paper in Valentine's Day colors.
Mrs. Landucci's Snowman Quilt
This
is my friend Margaret's quilt, which was finished the last week of January.
She made the white pattern block shape snowflakes and had her kids paint
their snowmen. If you check all the way back in October, you'll see
her painted skeletons, which look terrific!
February Calendars
This
month's pattern is ABBBABBB
February Homework Calendar
Our
February art project is a mosaic heart, made from pre-cut construction
paper squares of random sizes. This year one child made his entire
heart red ... I've never had a child do that before, and it looked terrific!
Calendar sets are available for Instant Download
and can also be shipped by postal mail.
February Good Morning Song
I
took this picture in a hurry so I could share the words. I'm in the
process of re-writing all of the Good Morning songs, to eliminate references
to religious holidays, etc., and hope to have a set of blackline masters
with artwork available soon :o)
We
never see the narrators, but they've been saving "good stuff in
a sack" and waiting for the perfect snowball day to build a whole family
of snowpeople.
There's
the Snow Mom and Snow Dad, big brother and baby sister, the family cat,
and my personal favorite, the family dogSpot, decorated with dozens of
bright buttons.
Ehlert's
simple text is wonderful for Shared Reading, and the kids ask for this
story several times a day. The illustrations are collages that inspire
lots of discussion and fun follow up activities and projects. Choose
from the inexpensive paperback
edition or the collectible hard
cover edition.
Ehlert's newest book,
pulished in May 2000, is the perfect partner to Snowballs
because of the wonderful textile and realia folkart. The language
is evocative and my KinderKids love comparing this story with Snowballs,
which kicks off our Lois Ehlert Author Study, where
we revisit books by Ehlert we've read in the Fall and get ready to read
more of her stories the rest of the year. Be sure to read the Amazon.com
reviews
of Market
Day, they're terrific. Highly recommended!
Click
Below For Extension Activities For
Snowballs
by Lois Ehlert This
link will take you to the January 23 page of InMyRoom To
return to this page, use your BACK button
More
Stories By Lois Ehlert We
read all of these during the year!
Our
Favorite Snow Stories We get lots of practice
finding the /ow/ phonogram in these books
...
Flannel
Kisses Simple rhymes contrasting
warm-and-cozy inside things with a snowy day from beginning to end
Snow
Dance A rhyming celebration
of snow with lots of "snow experiences" for kids who live where it never
snows
When
It Starts To Snow Another wonderful rhyming
story that tells what animals do when it starts to snow
The
First Snowfall A child-friendly snow
story by popular author Anne Rockwell
Grandmother
Winter Another Winter story
I love because of the language ~ just what my emergent readers and writers
are ready for at this time of year
Bunny's
First Snowflake Cutout illustrations
bring snowflakes to life with a childlike wonder
Jan
Brett Author Study
We
began our Jan Brett study with Gingerbread
Baby in late November, and read all of Brett's Christmas-themed books
in December. In January, we're reading The Trouble With Trolls, The
Mitten, The
Hat, and Brett's newest book, Hedgie's
Surprise, which the KinderKids loved.
In
February, we'll read a few more Brett titles, including Berlioz the Bear,
Armadillo Rodeo, and Comet's Nine Lives.
The
Mitten is based on an old Ukranian Folktale, and Brett's version is
filled with her wonderful trademark illustrations that bring the story
to life. As with all of Brett's books, the KinderKids really enjoy
the sidebar illustrations that show what's going on somewhere else in the
story.
This wonderful picture
of mittens from around the world comes from Lois Ehlert's Snowballs,
one of our other featured favorite January stories.
Brett's drawings bring extra zest to
this popular story about a little boy who loses his mitten and all the
animals that crawl inside it to stay warm. Brett's website offers
downloadable coloring sheets and character masks for this book and other
Brett stories.
A feisty Tomten (who looks like a Troll
to me) is stealing all of Henny's eggs, which means she'll never have chicks
of her own. Hedgie helps Henny trick the Tomten and scare him away
for good. Beautiful illustrations lead to long discussions and wonderful
story predictions. Just released and already a favorite in my classroom
... We LOVE Hedgie!
A tale inspired by The
Mitten, and a lot of fun. Hedgie gets a sock stuck on his head
and suddenly ALL the animals want hats made of Lisa's laundry that's blown
off the clothesline. Sidebar illustrations show Lisa getting ready
for winter. Another classroom favorite we read over and over and
over again, and enjoy every time!
A gently told story filled with evocative
language, with a Christmas theme to be enjoyed all winter. My class
loves to join in on the repeated line "The children know ..." Here
is snowless Bakersfield, this book has inspired the KinderKids to lie down
at recess and make sand angels :o)
By Jonathon London This is my very favorite Froggy story,
and the first one I ever heard. Froggy simply doesn't want to go
to bed for the winter, but he has a terrible time getting dressed, forgetting
one thing after another. Great for sequencing and choral reading,
and it even has the magic word for young children, UNDERWEAR! Also
available in a softcover
edition.
Little Sara loses her teddy bear in
the first snow of the season, while out helping Mommy feed the sheep.
Another class favorite ... we always like stories with teddy bears and
happy endings. A nice addition to your read-aloud library. Also available
in a hardcover
edition.
By Jack Prelutsky Seventeen poems about snowballs, ice
skates, scarves, snowflakes, and snowmen celebrate a child's delight in
snow. "This seasonal romp could shape classroom excitement come the first
snow or raise drooping spirits come the inevitable winter blahs."--Booklist.
My KinderKids like this one even more
than Brown
Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Lots of rhythm and rhyme for
building phonemic awareness while learning about the sounds animals
make.. Available as a Big
Book for Shared Reading, as a durable Board
Book for small hands.
A delicious collection of delightfully
illustrated poems by Douglas Florian, author of Insectlopedia,
Beast
Feast, On
The Wing, Mammalabilia,
Monster
Motel, and other wonderful poetry books loved by children of
all ages. Brand new and highly recommended.
Weekend
photos
Saturday Night
Sunset ~ Pismo Beach, California Would it be more
palatable if I told you there was a strong, cold wind? California
style?
Click
Below For
