The Kissing Hand

We completed and survived our first week of kindergarten! We had smiles, tears, laughs and wails.  When my brother and I started school, we were complete opposites. I didn't even realize my mother had left while my brother cried before they even reached the door! This is fairly typical for the kindergarten transition and I know as the weeks continue, our smiles and laughs will outweigh the tears.

Our theme this week was based on the book, The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. We read this book on Monday and talked about how we were feeling about starting school. Answers varied from, "excited" to "sad." Throughout the week, we made our own kissing hands, Chester books, went on school tours, made new friends and started becoming more familiar with our new "home."

By Friday, I could tell even our more reluctant group of students were becoming more comfortable with me and our class. How do I know this? Well...one of my rules in kindergarten is, "No scribble scrabble" and I explained that to the kids daily this week. On Friday, a group of girls (whom shall remain nameless), came up to me and said they had a present for me. They had a mischievous grin on their face as they handed me a paper full of nothing but...SCRIBBLE SCRABBLE!! I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Only one week and they totally get my sense of humor!

I can tell that I am going to really enjoy this group of kids...:)

A New Year Begins...

Dear Kinders,

It was so fun meeting you today and singing with you at our sing-along. I am sure that you are feeling excited, scared, nervous and happy about starting school. All of those feelings are natural and I can assure you that come Monday morning, any anxious feelings you have will go away as soon as you walk in the door and see your new classroom. 

I can't wait to see you!

Love, Miss Cuenca

Dear Parents,

It was so fun meeting you today and singing with you at our sing-along. I am sure you that you feeling excited, scared, nervous and happy about your child starting school. All of those feelings are natural and I can assure you that come Monday morning, any anxious feelings you have will go away as soon as your child walks in the door.....

;)

Looking forward to a great year!

Lawmakers Look at English Learner Education

Dear Parents,
Many of you have children who are learning the English language. In kindergarten, many of our students are referred to the English Language Development Center. Cupertino offers this support program which is critical to our students' needs, growth and confidence.
As parents of English Learners, the best thing you can do is educate yourselves on English learner educational policies.
Here's a report I heard this morning. I encourage you to listen to it.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201203280850/b

Dr. Seuss Day

Dr. Seuss Day was a tremendous success. We celebrated this on March 2nd which is also called, Read Across America Day. All week, we read Dr. Seuss books, created art inspired by Dr. Suess characters, did Dr. Suess activities and even had Officer Holly from Sunnyvale Police Department come and read us The Cat in the Hat.
I can't emphasize enough how important these stories are for young, developing readers. I myself learned to read with Dr. Seuss and I'm sure some of you did as well. Here are some pictures from our fun and exciting week.

100 Days!

We had a lot of fun celebrating our 100th day of school! We had a fun rotation. Some of the activities we did were:

• Race to 100
• Made 100-shaped glasses
• Made crowns
• Drew pictures of what thought we would look like when we are 100 years old
• Made Fruit Loop or "Silly Circle" necklaces
• 100 exercises
• Made 100 handprints
• Dot-to-dots up to 100
• I wish I had 100 of...
• 100 paper chains

It was a fun day! Here are some pictures of our amazing 100 projects!

Arthur Unit

Arthur stories by Marc Brown are a class favorite. They are also a wonderful teaching tool. We've been using this Arthur unit to:

• Use appropriate comprehension skills and strategies
• Interpret and respond to literature
• Write a variety of types of texts
• Communicate effectively

Throughout this unit, we are focusing on Making Connections, Visualizing and Summarizing. The kids are responding well and as the unit has progressed, the kids have been able to make more Text-to-Text connections. Unsure what that is? Ask your child! :)

Visualizing how the characters were feeling

Welcome 2012

Happy New Year!
We welcomed the new year with writing our own resolutions. The kids had great ideas of things they could work on in the new year. "Being nice," "Helping Mommy with the dishes," and "Read more books," were just a few of the things the kids came up with.
Miss Cuenca's resolution? Getting the classroom organized and keeping it CLEAN. ;)
Hope all your resolutions last longer than mine inevitably will!

:)

Getting organized at Target. Thanks N.L for the gift card from the beginning of the year! It went to great use! (Finally!)