Building Up Choice Time- From Scratch!

Choice Time is a special time of the day where our young Kindergarten students get to explore, invent and create together. Our class is working on building up the choice time centers together, introducing one at time.

 We made our play dough for the play dough center from scratch together in a whole group. We read the recipe and made a flow map showing all the steps. Students helped to pour, mix, and squish our dough together! We them explored some different things we can do with our play dough - rolling it into skinny snakes, round balls, and flattening it into pancakes!

In the block center, students worked on using team work and communication to build something together, one block at a time. We shared our ideas for block center rules. Then we shared ideas for what we were going to build and each child had an opportunity to select a block and add to our castle. After building it together, we practiced clean up procedures. I wonder what our class will be creating in the block center this year!

Building a Community of Learners in Kindergarten

The first weeks of Kindergarten are a time for learning and exploration. We learn the names of our new friends, learn the routines of our classroom and learn all about working together in a school community. Students learn what is expected of them, and this can set the tone for successful learning for the rest of the year. Here are some activities we have been doing this week:

Bean bag games- We learn a variety of bean bag games that are fun an engaging. Students practice following directions and learn how to work together. Pass that bean bag!!

 Dancing & Brain Breaks - Students get many opportunities throughout the day to move their bodies and take a brain break. Our school is a healthy school, and we encourage students to get plenty of exercise. Here, we are doing a conga line dance for Mrs. Nesser's birthday!











One great way to build a sense of community in the beginning of the year is by singing together. Here is one of our favorite songs to sing together at the end of the day: Five Little Speckled Frogs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI1tkmd8tws