Powerful Writing Trees

We have been working on our writing all year. Finally, they accomplished writing a paragraph about themselves. We used a powerful writing tree to help us write the paragraph. They did a great job with their sentences, spacing, and punctuation. We are still working on using all lowercase letters except for at the beginning of a sentence. Here are a few of their awesome powerful writing trees:

Our 2nd Field Trip!

Today, we went to the Mulvane Art Museum's Art Lab. First, we got a chance to explore in the Art Lab. They could go wherever they wanted! There were places where they could make rubbings, small sculptures, and self-portraits. There was also a large, glass window and a rock wall they could draw on. They even had large blocks, cylinders, and other objects they could use to build large sculptures.
After we finished exploring the Art Lab, we went outside to see a huge sculpture made out of sticks from the marshes of the Kansas River. It was made by local artist, Patrick Doughetry. He was inspired by nature to make it. The curator told us that all artwork comes from a person's "big idea." The students had the opportunity to explore the sculpture. It had windows and secret hiding spots. Also, many birds live in the sculpture. It was a lot of fun!
Lastly, we went back to the Art Lab to make paintings. The students were told how to mix colors together to get other colors. Also, they were encouraged to think of their own "big idea" when making their paintings. Their paintings turned out wonderful and we had a fantastic time!
Warning! Lots of pictures ahead. :-) Also, three of the kindergarten classes went today, so those are the extra kids you'll see in some of the pictures.
Here's our class in front of the Art Museum:

Exploring in the Art Lab:






A video clip of them exploring the stick sculpture:

Pictures of them in the stick sculpture:





Painting in the Art Lab:












Two of the friends finished paintings:

More Jelly Bean Fun!

Today, we finished our Sing to Read book called, "Jelly Beans." I managed to get a video clip of each group reading it. We also taste tested Starburst Jelly Beans today. Each student tried every flavor. Then, we graphed our favorite flavors. Cherry was our class' favorite! Lastly, we began our first of five Junior Achievement lessons. An employee from Bank of America is volunteering her time to teach us about economics (in Kindergarten terms). Today, she read them a story about a student visiting a farm. They talked about life on a farm and about selling and trading crops. Then, she had each student draw their favorite animal. Also, she gave them neat Junior Achievement magnets. They can't wait for their next lesson on Wednesday!

Each group reading their "Jelly Bean" book:



Our favorite Starburst Jelly Bean graph:

Ms. Sandra reading to the class:

Drawing their favorite animals:

B's favorite animal was a flamingo!

Jelly Belly Fun and Bunny Trails

Today, we watched a cool video about how Jelly Belly's are made. Then, we taste tested some of the fun Jelly Belly flavors. Most of the students loved the flavors! In math, we measured "bunny trails." Each student was given different sized "bunny trails." They glued the trails to their papers. Then, they measured them with unifix cubes. After they finished measuring, they wrote how long it was and then added details to their pages. We also finished our hundreds charts today. We have been working on our hundreds charts for the past 3 days. I am so proud of them. They worked really hard on writing their numbers the correct way, and everyone made it to 100!

Taste testing the Jelly Belly's


A few friends holding up their finished bunny trails




Here's a friend's finished hundreds chart:

Graphing Jelly Beans and the Limbo

We are doing a jelly bean unit for Spring. In reading groups, we are making a book called, "Jelly Beans." It is another Sing to Read book. These books are great because they are set to song. When we are finished with the book, I'll try to get a video clip of them singing it. We have also been working with jelly beans in math. Yesterday, we did a fun estimation activity with jelly beans. Today, each student was given a small bag of different colored jelly beans. The students sorted and graphed their jelly beans by color. They did great and loved eating the jelly beans when they were finished. They are looking forward to more jelly bean activities tomorrow.
In P.E., the students have been doing the limbo. They love it! I managed to get two video clips of them today. Very fun! :-)

Graphing their jelly beans



A few students holding up their finished graphs



Pictures and video clips of the limbo: