2,4,6,8, meet me at the garden gate...

Building Blocks in coming.....

2014-04-11T18:58:00.001-06:00

2013-04-11T16:24:00.001-06:00

We will be visiting a great little site made by a #kinderchat peep. Matt Gomez, a Kindergarten teacher in Texas has created this and allowed us to share it with our classes. Thanks, Matt!
#Kinderchat symbaloo PBS kids math

He got away again!

2013-03-18T16:27:00.000-06:00

Record and upload voice >>

I just love our Reading Grannies....

2013-03-15T21:36:00.002-06:00

So, off we go in -13C weather to the Villa where the Reading Grannies live. We were greeted at the door by three Grannies who were just so happy to see us. We took off our toques, mitts, snowpants, coats and boots and made our way into our reading room. We started the afternoon with some of our songs and the Grannies were quite impressed that we knew "1,2, Buckle My Shoe" and they remembered learning that when they were in school. Each little one then grabbed a book and a Granny and off they went, like they had know each other for years and this was our first visit. These Grannies were amazing, they treated our student's like pure gold. After reading a few books, we were given juice and cookies and visited a while longer. Sharing time like this together between generations of people is so important and really a beautiful thing. I love Reading Grannies and can't wait to go back next month.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Simply fabulous.....

2013-03-13T23:10:00.001-06:00

Five year olds are so fun and creative and spontaneous and experimental. So, I give them a large outline of a shamrock. I give them four little containers of paint, three white and one green. I give them a Q-tip. I tell them to mix some green and white and see what they come up with. They were thrilled, they mixed and mixed and mixed and were amazed with all the different colors of green they created. Then they painted their shamrock and they were all so different. Watching them do this and be so engaged could be in the list of a thousand reasons I love being a Kindergarten Teacher.

Always the best field trip of the year!

2013-02-27T22:42:00.003-07:00

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

And this is why....

2013-02-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

hockey is Canada's most loved sport! Would you just look at these 5 year old's skate!

So, I have this friend.....

2013-02-18T21:14:00.001-07:00

To my complete surprise, to my post office box was delivered an amazing gift. It came from Calgary from one of my BFF's, who is a pretty good "egg." She sent a whole box full of craft goodies to make gifts for each other and show kindness to one another. I cannot wait to show this to my Kindergarten Kids tomorrow, they are going to flip over this huge box of goodies. Good friends are pretty amazing to have and I am thankful for mine.

The story of the giant snowball...

2013-01-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

It all began with this random picture that I put up on our smartboard.

The Kindergarten kids were amazed, enthralled, captivated and motivated! "We have to make one!" I reply, "But Kindergarten Kids! We are not big enough or strong enough to make a snowball that big." Jake comes up with our solution, "Ben is strong enough!" I thought to myself, well of course he is and so are the rest of those Grade 10 kids. So, off we go to find the gym teacher to see if we can borrow those big kids sometime today. He thought it was a fabulous idea and arrangements were made for 1pm. The Kindergarten kids were so excited and those big kids did not disappoint. They rolled snowballs, packed snow, picked up little kids, held them on their shoulders. We are so lucky to have such good kids in our school. A great afternoon was had by all.

As the snow falls....

2012-12-11T21:47:00.001-07:00

What do Canadian kids do when the snow is falling outside their classroom window? Big flakes that look irresistible to a five year old. We grab a shovel, we grab a tray and head outside to get some of that fresh, fluffy stuff. First we pat it down and use a Popsicle stick to practice the letters we know, then it is time to create whatever we want. And there you have the beauty of Kindergarten.

Little Scientists....

2012-12-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, science experiments in Kindergarten turn out to be so exciting. Five year olds are just so impressed with the simplest things. Here is what you need, clear cups, hot water, cold water, salt and cooking oil, and candy canes. First, we made a hypothesis about what will happen to each candy cane when they are dropped into each liquid. You will get responses like, "it will explode," and "we will probably see fire." Record all these answers. Next, with your students help drop a piece of candy cane in each liquid.

Now wait, within a few minutes, big things will begin to happen and you would not believe the excitement.

I gave each student their own glass with hot water and a piece of candy cane, they loved it. After we figured out what happened in each liquid, we went back and compared the results with our initial hypothesis. Great excitement for authentic learning. It just can't get much better than that.

Why didn't I think of this before!

2012-12-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you take a small plastic pool, throw in some small boxes, scissors, tape and squares of wrapping paper. You get an amazing Kindergarten Center! I cannot believe that I have not thought of this before. The kids were so excited to get their hands in that pool and they wrapped and wrapped and wrapped. They were measuring, estimating, cutting, writing, and taping. The fine motor skill development alone was fantastic. I would encourage all my Kindergarten colleagues to throw together a center like this one, I guarantee it will be a hit.

Sequencing

2012-11-13T15:31:00.001-07:00

Kindergarten Sequencing 1 Kindergarten Sequencing 2
Kindergarten Sequencing 3
We will be visiting the computer lab to reinforce our classroom learning about sequencing. The above links are the sites we will visit.

It's a new month....

2012-10-29T19:51:00.003-06:00

In the above page tabs, click newsletter to see our November newsletter, field trip permission form and Parent/Teacher Interview schedule. Also, if you click on the Calendar page tab, you will find the Parent Helper Days listed for the entire year.

Will.i.am sings to the Kindergarten crowd.....

2012-10-22T18:37:00.002-06:00

Thanks Mrs. Poulin for finding this little nugget, Sesame Street never gets old.

Happy Thanksgiving to my Kindergarten Kids!

2012-10-04T22:48:00.000-06:00

A new month, a new newsletter

2012-09-30T22:08:00.001-06:00

Just to let my parents know that our October newsletter is now online. It will be coming home with students on Tuesday. Just click the above tab,"Newsletters 2012-2013" to access this document. Also, an updated calendar on this site is on its way.

I know you have all been wondering....

2012-09-17T21:44:00.002-06:00

I know you have all been wondering what we have been up to in Kindergarten during the last few weeks. We have been getting to know one another, learning our classroom routines and learning about apples. We have picked them,counted them, washed them, cut them, ate them, cooked them, painted them and ate them some more. Sit back and have a look at what we do best...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Let's get this party started!!!

2012-09-08T20:31:00.000-06:00

WOO-Hoo!!! I am back in the classroom after a year in a half off. It is time to dust off the ole blog and get back onto the technology roller coaster and ride. I have noticed in my time away from blogging that the number of Kindergarten blogs has exploded. That is fantastic! The more of us who are sharing what we do in our classrooms gives our student's parents insight into their child's day and encourages fellow teachers with a new idea or the courage to try something new. I welcome my new class of smiling 4 and 5 year olds and anticipate a great year.

Well this made my day...

2011-05-31T10:14:00.003-06:00

Well, would you look at this! The California Teaching Credential Organization gathered together what they think are the 50 best Kindergarten blogs. Our little blog from rural Alberta made it. How cool is that! Sometimes it is nice to be recognized....

The California Teaching Credential Organization: Top 50 Kindergarten Blogs

Congratulations to all the other Kindergarten Teachers who were chosen and for all the good work they do in the classroom everyday.

Just a note...

2011-04-18T21:36:00.002-06:00

Hello to all,
Just a little note to let the other professionals who follow my blog that I will not be teaching for the remainder of this year due to a health condition. I will be back with "bells on" as soon as possible. I miss my network of professionals through twitter and those who follow my blog and comment often. I most certainly miss my Kindergarten Kids! Thanks to all who follow who have given me tons of professional support through this blog.
Joanne

Well hey.....

2011-03-05T15:11:00.003-07:00

Just a little message for the Kindergarten Kids. Just to let them know that Mrs. McMahon is missing them!

And they look fabulous....

2011-02-08T22:16:00.002-07:00

I am not going to lie to you. This project turned into so much more than I expected on all levels. We have been patterning like crazy for the whole month of January and honestly, we are all pretty sick of patterns. With Valentine's right around the corner and our love of paint, I decided we would make big hearts with a pattern and decorate the school up. I thought this would be an easy activity since we are SOOOOO good at patterning. As Bloom's Taxonomy would say, we were moving to higher level thinking and applying our knowledge. But guess what, it was hard! We had to start with a red heart in the middle, then add pink, then add purple, then back to red, then pink, then purple. Sounds easy, but it was not. I don't know if it was the sheer size that overwhelmed the kids, but some really struggled with this. Of course, others sailed through, but the students who had not firmly grasped patterning were evident. Now I know that some of us need to pattern more! By the end of this enlightening project, Mrs. McMahon had paint on her shoe and pants,her hair on top her head in a sideways ponytail, and a huge sweat on. Yes, it was messy, but they loved it and were so proud of their HUGE Valentines. And I absolutely know who has not grasped the patterning concept.
And by the way, the book called Mr. Hatch, Somebody Loves You is a great read for Valentine's Day. It is available online through Storyline if you have access.

Professional Development....

2011-01-29T19:16:00.004-07:00

We are very lucky to have strong professional development opportunities at our school. We are part of a project called AISI (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement.) We participate and complete activities under this directive at every staff meeting and PD Day. Our K-3 teachers often meet as a group to pursue tasks that include things like Blooms Taxonomy (higher level thinking) and way to create real life skills that utilize 21st learning tools. One thing our K-3 group has done is to create blog to put "stuff" we find and explain projects we are working on. One goal of this group is to add 3 interesting/educational websites a month. I decided to start adding mine to this blog so more than one group can utilize really good sites that I run upon in my web travelings. So, here are 3 of my picks for January...
Joe Bower's blog call "For the Love of Learning." I like this blog because Joe is an Albertan, he gets excited that Sir Ken Robinson is coming to Red Deer (and I am going!) and he discusses issues surrounding teacher contracts, which are a hot topic right now.
Free Technology for Teachers, an amazing blog by Richard Byrne is an amazing resource. I particularly like the blog post about decluttering YouTube videos. I always worry what is going to pop up on the sidebar while we are watching something. Richard gives three options to avoid the junk.
Bucket Fillers is a great find. Our school has a teacher created character education program that we put alot of work into. We are always looking for new ideas and this site will come in very handy. You can sign up for monthly newsletters.

Heading to the computer lab...

2011-01-20T08:52:00.003-07:00

We just love patterning!

The Building Game

Simple Patterns

Pattern Bridge

Patterning Kaboose