It's been too long...

but boy are we having a good time in kindergarten!

Routines are becoming just that, routines finally and we are getting wrapped up in learning.  Pretty soon, my minions will come off my door to make room for mummies.  I'll post a picture of the door when it's done.

Anyway, we are really building our writing stamina in Writer's Workshop and are beginning working on our reading stamina.  My students are really doing great with the writing. I have never had a class that will just go for it and write.  I am more used to being asked over and over about how to spell words.  These kids are just going for it- some are writing the actual sounds and others are just writing a jumble of letter at this point, but they are trying which is awesome.  I used Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills Writing unit and I am happy to say it has made a huge difference.  The children's drawings are becoming so detailed and I think it is really helping them understand what a setting is in a story. We have backgrounds in our stories/pictures, not just a character! Awesome!

The children really enjoyed shopping for "Good Fit" books like Kim Adsit's Reader's Workshop unit suggests.  The had a ball choosing their books and then going deeper in their books and making substitutions.  Lean and Tell and Turn and Talk have also been introduced and they are starting to understand the difference.  I love listening to their conversations with each other.

Both of these workshops occur daily, but we are still able to fit in creative time with some fun projects.  We started our study of letters with the letter A and made ourselves into astronauts.  They turned out so cute as you can see.

We also got introduced to Nelly Noun thanks to Kreative in Kinder for her ELA Super Heros pack.  I created a project to go along with her and the kids loved her.  I think it is going to make such a difference in getting them to remember what a noun is.

Finally, we also celebrated the coming of the fall season with some scarecrows and the seasons of an apple tree.

We are off to a great start in kindergarten and I can't wait to see what comes next!