Love is...

On Valentine’s Day we asked the children in Kindergarten Room 301, “What does love mean to you?”

Love is…

You love yourself. They read me stories. I try to be nice to my brother. –Melissa

You draw them a heart. –Jason

To share with them. – Peter

You have a picnic together. –Josephine

Giving nice things. Mommy packs my lunch. –Mackenzie

Swimming with my sister and I splash her. –Amanda O.

Hugs from mom. –Sebastian

I listen to my mom. Sometimes mommy lets me sleep in her bed. –Salma

My mom gives me my favorite lunch. –Michael E.

I think loves means that you care a lot and because you give good stuff (love) to people. - Dehne

Love is about caring for each other. –Daniel

Love means you mom and dad and whole families love you. They give you kisses and hugs. – Julie

Love means kissing and hugging. –Amanda M.

When you ask for something you mom gives it to you. –Edward

You like people very very much and they love you. –Zoe

Giving away stuff like toys and playing tag. –Joey

Love is when my mom lights and we watch a movie together. –Adam

Love is being kind to people. When I give kisses to mom and dad. –Christine

Love is when I give hugs to mom and dad and when I clean my toys without being asked to.
–Michael S.

Going to the movies with my mom and dad. They’re nice. –Nicholas

Love means you like someone. –Sarah

Being kind and nice. –Vincent

Being happy, being cool. –Mark

Saying I love you. –Brianna

Hugging and playing with people you love. –Konrad

Being nice to people and helping people. –Julia

Sharing and being nice to people. –Reed

Giving kisses and helping others when they need help. –Robert

100th Day of School

Our 100th day of Kindergarten celebration will be on Friday, February 25. Last week a labeled baggie was sent home with your child's name. For the 100th day of school I'm asking your child to put 100 objects (ex: paper clips, pasta noodles, cotton balls, etc.) into the baggie and bring it to school. We're making a "100th Day of School Museum" and will use the baggies for the math lesson on February 25th. If you have completed an alternative project such as a poster or book, GREAT! Those will be displayed in the museum as well.

Bear Down!

We loved supporting our favorite football team, the Bears!





Here is a picture of the kids working together and playing Bingo. I'm so proud!

What did you learn at school today?

Today's science lesson was all about the human heart and lungs. Here's what the kids learned;

"When you sleep, your heart goes slow." -Dehne

"The heart has a beat." -Adam

"The heart pumps blood." -Reed

"When you get a lot of exercise, the heart beats faster." -Brianna

"You have to eat healthy foods." -Sebastain

Penguins

We had a great first week back to school from Winter Break. The theme was penguins and the students all had a great time learning about this arctic animal. During a science lesson, we experimented with feathers to keep their hands warmer when an ice cube was placed on top.



Penguin vocabulary words; brood patch, toboggan, and feathers. Here the kids are trying to hold a "penguin egg" on their feet, the way a father penguin cares for the egg while the mother searches for food.



The kids also measured their height to an actual penguin, some are the same size and others are taller than an Emperor Penguin. Thank you Ms. G for the pictures and ideas!

8th Grade Reading Buddies

Ms. Jeannie O'Connor brought her lovely group of 8th graders to Kindergarten this week. Some kiddos were a bit overwhelmed by the size and number of "big kids" in the room, but after the initial introductions they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Here are some pictures!

Holiday Party 2010

Our room was FILLED with holiday spirit this year! Santa Clause even came to leave Reindeer Food for the kids to sprinkle on the lawn. We had an amazing party hosted by the room moms; Laura Scully, Kelly Sanabria, and Judy Mendoza. Thank you so much for planning and putting everything together ladies.

All aboard The Polar Express.



Playing "Pin the Button Nose on Frosty."



Decorating ornaments with the kids picture and markers. They turned out so cute, guaranteed keepsakes!



Somehow I managed to tangle up the necklaces, oh boy.



I hope you enjoy the Winter Break with you family. Happy Holidays and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2011!

Garvy Addition

Ms. G and myself are going to be a part of history at John W. Garvy. Friday morning we went to the construction site and wrote our names on a beam that will be placed in the addition. The addition is going to be amazing, can't wait to see it complete!

Daniel's Book Club

Daniel celebrated his December 31st birthday a little early this year. Thank you Mrs. Berg for coming in and reading stories to our class!

!

What Did You Learn at School This Week?

Kindergartners have been busy learning all about the Gingerbread Man/Girl/Baby/Friends. Run, run, as fast as you can!

We've been practicing our song for the Holiday Assembly on Tuesday morning. Here is a picture of our bell decoration.



In math, the kids have been exploring patterns and beginning addition.



The cold temperature and snowflakes have encouraged us to practice zipping coats, and dressing ourselves for the winter elements. Here is a picture of us racing to zip the coats.



Hope you're staying warm and enjoying the holiday season!

Just a little about me- Ms. G

I would like to introduce myself, I am Ms. Govig (aka Ms. G). I am the aide in Ms. Bachman's wonderful Kindergarten classroom. I am so happy to be here and to have the opportunity to work with these amazing students.

Last spring I graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with my Bachelors Degree in elementary education. I am also the proud mother of two beautiful girls Ainsley, 6, and Ella, 5.

I look forward to working with the students this year, I know it will be a great one!!

Thanksgiving Pie Feast

What is your favorite kind of pie? Blueberry? Pumpkin? Apple?

In our room there was a tie between apple (12 votes) and pumpkin (12 votes). Thankfully Mrs. McGlade came in to taste and broke the tie, PUMPKIN pie was chosen as our class favorite. Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Mendoza for bringing a pumpkin pie and helping plate and serve. Thank you also to Mrs. Hehn who brought in the apple and blueberry pie from our Market Day pie sales.

The kids loved decorating foam turkeys with feathers and stickers. Thank you Mrs. Sanabria for your donation of the materials.





I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

What Did You Learn at School This Week?

This week the kids were busy with mixing colors; yellow and blue make green, yellow and red make orange, and blue and red make purple. The science experiment included taking small plastic baggies filled with glue, shaving cream, and a couple drops of food coloring. Students then mixed the bag together and used the concoction to make 3-D feathers on turkeys. The kids also watched a video about mixing colors and thought it was absolutely hilarious. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dczpjt5HLo





We also worked on writing during Writer's Workshop. Here are some of our friends at "Authors Chair."



Their friends are always so excited to give them a compliment or ask a question about the story!



Last week in science the kids did weaving, they loved it!

Mancala Website

Today I showed the kids a fun game online. It's a fun strategy game that can be played online or as a board game (can be bought at Target for $5). Here is a link to Mancala.

http://www.jgames.com/cgi-bin/mancala.cgi?whofirst=1&twohumans=false&depth=1&numstones=4&playsounds=on&f=

OR

http://www.freegamestower.com/game/530/mancala


Enjoy!

Red Ribbon Week, Spiders and Bats, and Halloween

We've been very busy in Kindergarten learning about tricky teen numbers 11-20, estimating, symmetry, carving a pumpkin, putting letters and sounds together to read consonant-vowel-consonant words, and practicing the sight words.



Today we had an AWESOME Halloween party! Thank you so much to Mrs. Mendoza, Mrs. Sanabria, and Mrs. Scully for all of your time and energy in organizing and preparing the activities. The kids dressed in their costumes, had a cupcake and juice snack, played games, participated in a school-wide parade, made a pumpkin craft, and watched a special Word World Halloween DVD on the projector. Please remember to send only 1 piece of candy in your child's lunch next week.



What did you learn at school this week?

"Bats and birds can fly." -Mark
"Symmetry is the same on both sides." -Zoe
"We guess to estimate." -Mackenzie