Welcome Back!

We're back! Today was our first day of school in 2014 after a long Winter Break. I hope that everyone had a happy and healthy holiday!  As far as our Monday goes, we got back in the routine of things with our morning business of the calendar, alphabet. attendance, and pledge. We read "My R Book" and brainstormed some "R" words. For language arts rotations, we read our new pre-decodable book "Pam" and made a tactile page called "Raisins on Rs on a Rainbow." At my table, we practiced "R" handwriting and learned how to play the game "BOOM!" Our new secret centers were revealed, too. They are: animal art at the art center, abcya.com at the computer center, "The Emperor's Egg" by Martin Jenkins at the listening center, subtraction practice at the math center, and blocks and games at the play center. After snack and recess, we learned our poem of the week, "Jack and Jill" and had math.  We worked on finding differences by drawing pictures and "x-ing out" the number we were taking away.

After lunch, we read "Madeline Says Merci" and talked about manners and being polite. We also talked about New Year's Resolutions. Each student tried to think of three thinks they promise to do in 2014 to make their year better. Then we wrote those resolutions on bell-shaped paper.  Next we introduced our Star of the Week. Iris shared her very cool poster and took questions and comments from the class. For P.E. this month, we're on the kindergarten yard, so we ran a lap and played with balls and hula hoops. When we came back in, we decorated a cloud shape that says "2014" and tried to tie our bells to it with yarn. It was a hard thing to ask, but I was happy that most students gave it a try. And several students did a really nice job!  To end the day, Jenny's family stopped by with cake to celebrate Jenny's birthday, which was yesterday. Then we passed out homework folders, and lined up for home.  Overall, I think we had a great first day back!

Be sure to check the green folders for homework packets and the next At-Home Project: The 100 Day Book. It's due on Friday, January 31st, the day before our 100th day of school.