A look at all the fun...

Wow, our time together is absolutely flying!!!  I can't believe we have already been in school or 12 days!  I feel like I have already known my little Kindergarten Leaders for months!  Here is a look at what we have been up to in Room 1005 at Estes Elementary!

 We used the book, "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" and "How Full Is Your Bucket?" to talk about how to be good friends and how to help each other feel happy at school!  I loved how many connections our students made to their real lives using these two books!

 We used these books to write about how we can be bucket fillers in our lives like the people in the two books we read!

We used the book, "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister to help explain Habit #1, Be Proactive!  The Rainbow fish was proactive when he chose to give his beautiful scales away to the other fish so we wrote about what types of things we could share to help make others happy!

We also used the book, "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae during a growth mindset lesson to help us understand that it's okay if we don't know how to do some things yet, but we know if we work hard we will be able to do them someday!  I was so proud of my students' awesome responses during this lesson!  Many, I had to admit I still am working on myself, like cooking and trying to remember where I put things down!!!

 We also have been having a wonderful time playing with our new friends at recess and in the classroom!

 Math Workshop is one of our favorite times in the day, everyone loves playing with all of the math manipulatives and I love watching them explore the new ways to build things using new shapes and patterns!

 We also love Developmental Center time where everyone's imaginations come to life and the most extraordinary "play time" occurs while they are developing their little brains and learning new things everyday!  I feel so lucky to get to be a part of this time in their day and hear and watch their little imaginations take off!

 Today for our first Mystery Reader, we had Gage from Mrs. Lemus' 4th Grade class come read to us!  I will be sending home a letter next week about being a "Mystery Reader" for our classroom, but remember it's suppose to remain a secret until the day we have our mystery reader come!  I can't wait to have new mystery readers join us this year in our class for this fun activity!

 We also started Wit and Wisdom, Module One and I could not be any more proud of the amazing "Notice and Wonder" activities our students are already able to begin and how focused they have been throughout the entire lessons!

As you can see, we have been very busy!  However, it has been so much fun and feels like the time is flying by!  I am so excited about all we have ahead of us and the magical adventures that await us in Kindergarten this year!  I know it will be an amazing year!  

Miss Jones' 2017-2018 Kindergarten Class

I am so excited about my AMAZING new group of Kindergartners this year at Estes Elementary for the 2017 - 2018 school year!  We have had so much fun in our first week together and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for our new group of Estes Leaders!

I hope everyone enjoyed these special "first day of school" crafts!  We have another special craft that will be coming home this week to help everyone remember what our first week of school has been like, so please keep an eye out in your student's nightly folders!

A picture like this says a 1,000 words...recess and sunshine make everyone smile!

Miss Jones' special box of 2017 edition crayons, themed off of the book, "The Crayon Box that Talked"

 These thoughtful little writers did not want their crayons to run away after reading "The Day the Crayons Ran Away" so we wrote letters to our favorite colors pursuing them to stay with us!

 Recess Fun!

I can already tell how amazing this school year is going to be for my group of fantastic Leaders!  I am so proud of them!

 Math Workshop Fun with our Friends!

I am so excited about this year and all the fabulous things we have planed!  Please keep an eye out for updates on twitter and here of events our class has going on!  Thank you so much for being a huge part of our classroom community, we are so lucky to have to you with us on this journey though Kindergarten! 

Walking Field Trip to Weaver Park

We had so much fun practicing using our mapping skills to get ourselves to Weaver Park!  It was a great day and enjoyed by all!

 So many happy faces loving our day at the park enjoying the sunshine and friendships!

 We also had our last virtual Skype field trip to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee!  It was so amazing to learn all about these amazing animals!  Ask your students how they can tell the difference between the African and Asian Elephants, I promise they will be excited to share the answer with you!  (A little hint, it has something to do with Ears and Tusks!)

The Pisgah Wildlife Center and Fish Hatchery Field Trip

We had such a wonderful day Tuesday on our field trip to The Pisgah Wildlife Center and Fish Hatchery in Brevard!  We had beautiful weather to match our awesome experience!  

We started our day with a hike guided by one of the Park Rangers!  He led us around showing us different types of plants and areas for Animal Habitats!

 We crossed creeks and bridges on our hike (and even spotted a small baby snake!!!)

 Our Park Ranger Guide was amazing with his knowledge of the plants and trees as well as how patient he was with our very excited group of Kindergartners!

 After our hike we ate lunch picnic-style before going to check out the trout in the huge water tanks!

 So many fish in one place!

 So fun to watch them swim and splash!

 Then we headed inside a classroom area to learn all about trout and their life cycles, including which type of trout is most common in our rivers (the brook trout)!

 Checking out trout eggs and the different stages of their development until they are baby trout.

  After learning all about trout, we went out and played a game where the students acted like they were trout up against all the predators and conditions that might cause harm throughout their lifetime.

 To finish up the day we headed back to the trout farms to feed the fish!  This was probably one of our class' favorite parts of the day!

 We can't thank the amazing Park Rangers enough for their kind words and helpful information about trout and the Wildlife Center as a whole!

 Truly a great day for all!  Our last field trip for the year is coming up next week when we walk to Weaver Park.  We will be leaving Claxton around 10 to walk to Weaver Park!  We would love to have you join us, if you are free and able that day!