This Week in JK

Center Time

We have been busy wrapping gifts in the dramatic play center.

We have some pretty cool new apps on our iPads. Also, our ABC center this week is all about hanging up the Christmas lights...in ABC order of course!

 Recess

We are having SNOW much fun at recess. Here, a group of us are playing penguins. :)

Mystery Reader

Thank you to our latest mystery reader. She came to us all the way from Deadwood!

Christmas Party

We have had quite an amazing last few days at school before break. Here, students are playing a game where throwing "snowballs" indoors is considered OK!

Assembly

We had an assembly on Tuesday. Students who dressed in holiday gear were entered into a drawing. Two of our JK students won a prize at the assembly. We also had the pleasure of listening to members of the high school choir sing Christmas carols. 

Special Visitors

We had a few special visitors as well! Rudolph and Santa sure know how to make the kids' day!

Christmas Program

I'm so incredibly proud of these kiddos. They did a wonderful job at their Christmas program.

This Week in JK

Dakota Prairie Museum Visit

We welcomed Miss Mary back from the Dakota Prairie Museum. As Christmas time gets closer, many children have toys on their minds. Miss Mary introduced us to many antique toys.

Miss Mary taught us how to play Graces. You toss a ring back and forth with sticks.

We explored toys like a view finder and Jacob's ladder.

 We got to play pick up sticks and use a toy called a propeller. 

 This stereoscope is more than 100 years old. The picture you see inside is 3D. 

Miss Mary taught us how to play marbles.

We got to play with kaleidoscopes, tops, weaving boards, dominoes, and so much more.

None of the toys we played with needed batteries! That was quite a shock!

We are very thankful for the time and energy the Dakota Prairie Museum has put into their visits with us. We are so excited to have  Miss Mary back with us for a day in January.

This Week in JK

Letter of the week: Pp

Students each got to share a picture card showing different words that begin with the letter Pp.

We are working hard on our Penguin Fact Book. We are hoping to finish them up next week. There is so much to learn about penguins.

Pease Porridge Hot is a fun partner hand clap game. It's taking us quite awhile to get the hang of it.

Did you know an emperor penguin can be up to 4 feet tall? That is taller than each of our JK students. Take a look at the awesome penguin shirt for penguin week. Cool!

Our favorite books this week were about Tacky the Penguin. He is quite the character.

Art

For art class this week, we painted a watercolor striped background. In the foreground, we will be making penguins. 

Centers

 The dramatic play center features a gift wrapping station.

The sensory table is filled with dyed rice.

The puzzle center features some cool Christmas puzzles and penguin puzzles.

Mystery Reader

Thank you to our latest mystery reader. We are looking for a few mystery readers in January. If you are interested in reading to our class, please let me know!

This Week in JK

Letter G

Students used their Glue, Glitter, Grass, and Gravel to make this letter of the week project.

Color Mixing

We talked about mixing colors in science class this week. We have had science class and been to the science center, but this week we introduced science experiments. We made predictions and recorded results.

We also used color mixing to create the sky in our Christmas tree pictures this week.

Center Time Fun

The reading center is a favorite when we can kick back and just listen to Mrs. L!

We talked about size words this week, so this fun game was added to the puzzle center.

We made shape snowman in the math center.

Another fun math center game is to sort these cool counters. However, these students found another cool way to use the counters. They used them to make the first letter of each of their names.

Mystery Readers

Thank you to our latest mystery readers. We were lucky to have 2 this week! 

This Week in JK

Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you to all who participated in the family feather decorating project. Our turkey is unique to our class and we love it!

Art

Students are painting with legos to make the kernels on their Indian corn project.

Center Time Activities 

We practiced matching letters to spell out Thanksgiving fruits and veggies that we might see in a cornucopia.

We put new puzzles together and baked initial sound pies. :)

We baked pies in the JK Bakery at the dramatic play center.

We practice identifying the difference between numbers and letters. 

Socktober Contest Winners

 Based on a socks collected per student ratio, our JK class was awarded this awesome trophy and a root beer float party for collecting the most socks for families in need. Thank you to all of the JK families that were able to donate, and thank you to Miss Seeklander for organizing the event.

Cans, Cans, Cans

These kids are something else! They have hearts of gold, and it shows when you take a look at the number of cans we were able to collect and donate to the BAGS program here in Groton and to the Salvation Army. They enjoyed building this pyramid just like the characters in the story, Thanks for Giving.

Dakota Prairie Museum Visits

Miss Mary from the Dakota Prairie Museum visited us on Thursday as the first part of a series of visits. Since we were studying community helpers this week, her lesson was on community helpers in the "olden days."

We learned about what it was like to be a barber and a basket weaver.

We learned about being a candle maker and a cobbler.

We learned how to comb wool to make clothes and what it might have been like to bargain for your produce.

 We got to see a 100 year old firefighter belt and items that were once in a haberdashery. 

We got to pretend we worked at a women's hat store and a candy store. We even got to try some old fashioned treats.

 Here, students learned about being the miller and the glove maker.

We learned that teachers used chalkboards and read books made of linen. 

Here, a toy store owner shows off the ice skates he made at his store and a homemaker demonstrates how clothes used to be washed.

 A huge thanks to Miss Mary! She did an amazing job with our kids and they all got the chance to participate. We can't wait for her to come back in December to talk about old fashioned toys.