INFER! FIGURE IT OUT DUDE! And SAFETY RULES!

This week we have been working hard at learning how to INFER.  Our target was “I can make an inference to help me make better predictions.”  We make inferences every day without even thinking about it.  Infer is simply a fancy word for “figuring it out”.  The students know that Mrs. Kressin is excited and happy to start school every day.  I do not have to come right out and tell the students I am excited and happy every day, but they are able to INFER that I am happy by the big smile on my face and my excited “Good Morning!” they are greeted with.  Good readers are always trying to INFER or FIGURE OUT what is going on.  It is kind of like detective work, trying to figure out what is going to happen before it happens.  To INFER we use CLUES in pictures or words to help us figure things out.  Sometimes they are clues on characters faces to help us know how the character is feeling.  

To INFER we also use our own BRAIN POWER to figure things out.  Using your own BRAIN POWER will help you to use what you already know about something to help you to INFER.  For example, students may be reading a book about a birthday party.  They may be able to infer that the main character will get to have a birthday cake at their party because they know they get to have birthday cake at their own birthday party.  So we are using our own experiences and knowledge to help us figure things out.  Even though we are in Kindergarten, we know a lot of things about a lot of things!  Making inferences helps us predict what will happen next! 

We had a special visitor this week.  A student’s family member came in to give us a SUPERB SAFETY TALK!  Officer Chris was an excellent source of knowledge for our students!  The students were amazed with everything that he carries with him and on his belt!  The student’s learned about gun safety, and that no gun is safe even if it looks like a toy, tell an adult!  Some toy guns look like real guns, so we have to be very careful and always tell an adult if you ever find a gun.  Students learned about seatbelt safety and what it means to be a safe rider in a bus or car.  Students also spent some time talking about STRANGERS.  Students learned what people are “Safe” people.  If a stranger were to ever approach you to try to talk to you, you should put your arms up, take a step back and yell “STAY BACK!”  If they don’t leave you alone, you run away, and scream and yell as loud as you can so that a “safe” adult can come help you!  Check out the video below of the students practicing their “STAY BACK!”  Officer Chris also went over different scenarios of when you should or should NOT call 911.  The students learned a lot and were fascinated by everything Officer Chris was teaching them! 

LUNCH FOR LEADERSHIP!!  3 students in class were recognized for Leadership.  They students were nominated because of their daily leadership abilities.  These students are always kind, helpful and communicate really well with their peers.  These students would also do the “right” thing even if it were not easy!  Here they are enjoying their lunch. 

Happy Heart Day!

Before we enjoyed our happy heart day festivities, we had to review SUMMARIZING!

Students chose their favorite Chapter in "Animals In Their Habitats" to summarize.  They were doing a great job!

Students enjoyed a treat from Mrs. Kressin as they passed out their Valentine's days cards to their friends.

 I heard some "My Mom never lets me have these!!"  Don't worry I only let them have one treat, but I thought it was so cute how excited they were!

Pay It Forward!

We had two more authors this week publish their books by reading them to the class!

We have been working on mastering the reading strategy of "SUMMARIZING".  Summarizing can be very difficult for adults, so breaking it down for students to understand can be a complex concept.  Many times, students want to tell you every last detail they remember.  It is great when they can recall information, however, we have been working hard at recognizing the difference between supporting details of the text and   summarizing the text.  We try to focus on what the text was MOSTLY ABOUT!  Not just a detail.  We need to see the forest and not just one tree.  

 Students are holding links in the chain that describe how they helped to "pay it forward" last week. 

Look how many good deeds we accomplished as a class in just one week!!

Student working on meeting common core standard K.OA.4. "Finds the number that makes ten when added to a given number and records the answer.."

Since it was too cold to go outside for our FUN FRIDAY ACTIVITY, I taught the student's.....wait for it....the MACARENA!!  They thought it was hilarious!! :)

100 DAYS SMARTER!!!

Today was the 100^th DAY OF SCHOOL! 

We had a fantastic day.  First things first, what kind of a party would it be without a 100^th day party hat?!   The students did a great job making their hats. 

Mrs. Kressin's parents came to visit for the special day!

Thanks to the help of Mrs. Kressin’s parents, we had 100 themed science centers.  The first center was predicting how far up a cup would be filled with 100 drops of water.  Students compared their prediction to the actual outcome.   About half of the students predicted that the 100 drops of water would fill up the entire cup!  However, they quickly discovered that the 100 drops ACTUALLY barely filled up the bottom of the cup.  One student then predicted that it would take 150,000 drops to fill the cup!  I told him that was a great prediction!!! 

 Students showing their prediction line on their cups.   

 Transferring 100 drops of water!

The next center students got to know 100cm.  They discovered what things were greater than 100cm (i.e. THEMSELVES!!!), less than 100cm (a book or poster), and things that were equal to 100cm (paper taped together to perfectly make 100cm. I found there isn't much that is equal to 100cm.) 

Students are GREATER THAN 100cm!

Another center was predicting what is heavier?  100 popped pieces of popcorn OR 100 not popped kernels of popcorn.  The students discovered they were equal to!!!  Who would have known?! 

Heavier?? 100 Popped or 100 Not Popped

Check it out! It's equal to!!

The last center was a favorite, but proved to be VERY difficult.  The students were asked to build a 100 cup structure!  Students had great ideas, but they were not always the easiest to follow through with.  Some students made a circle tower, others tried to build a fortress around their buddy, but the cups wouldn’t cooperate and kept falling!  I loved their positive attitudes and effort regardless! 

 They only had a few cups left before it all tumbled to the ground!  But it looks great here!!

This group kept trying and trying!! but standing still proved to be very difficult!!

Once we finished centers, we took 100 steps out of our classroom and made it about halfway through the library!  After the 100 step trek, the students earned their 100^th day treat from Mrs. Kressin!  

Finally it was time to announce the winner of the 100 M&M and 100 Marshmallow vote.  At first everyone was disappointed to find out that everyone guessed the wrong one for both contests!  Lucky for the class, then they were ALL able to share the M&M’s and marshmallows instead of just one person. 

 Voting! 

 Correct answer was: D

Correct Answer was: B

We ended the day with a bouncy ball competition, how many times can you bounce the ball in 100 seconds!  The students took a few moments to write what their favorite thing they learned over the last 100 days was.   Here are some of the students responses: …..that we learned that the earth orbits the sun, about fairy penguins, that fairy penguins like to stay in groups, learning about frogs, etc.  

Couple quick videos!

I wanted to show these two videos!  The first video is of the students partner teaching each other about what they know about writing an informational report. 

The next video, I love how this student takes her time to solve the problem!  Awesome!!!