Mrs. Garrabrant's Classroom: Countdown E-I, Butterflies, & More!

We had another fun filled week here in Kindergarten! We completed letters E-I in our alphabet countdown, observed our butterflies before releasing them, worked hard in Literacy Lab & had a visit from the Moraine firefighters. They also earned two rewards and worked with Mrs. Boxley on something for their portfolio. Check below for more details on our interesting week!

For our end of the year Alphabet Countdown, we completed the letters E-I.

We did a science experiment for our letter E day.

We discussed what it meant to dissolve and the students predicted whether 4 different things (salt, rice, sugar, sprinkles) would dissolve in water or not. After they made their predictions, we did our experiment. The students enjoyed this science experiment!

We figured out that salt and sugar dissolved in water but rice and sprinkles did not.

Eli wore the perfect shirt for our science experiment!

On Tuesday the students shared their favorite stuffed animals with the class for the letter F day.

Wednesday was our letter G day and we wore Green and talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up.

Here are just some of their answers!

For the letter H day, we watched a video and learned how to say hello in different languages.

Friday was our letter I day and we enjoyed ice pops outside since it was such a nice, hot day!

On Friday, the students shared our Alphabet Memories book and a sight word book with their Preschool Reading Buddies.

When we came into our classroom on Monday we found that two of our caterpillars had come out of their chrysalises and the students were so excited! Throughout the day Monday, they continued to come out and by Tuesday they had all come out! The students really enjoyed watching this process take place and learned so much!

The chrysalis on the left is empty after the butterfly had emerged and the one on the right is before the butterfly came out.

I also explained to the students that the red stuff that came out when the butterflies emerged wasn't blood but it is called meconium.

We documented what happened with our caterpillars/butterflies.

"The caterpillars are butterflies. There was two butterflies out of the chrysalis."

"The butterflies got out of their chrysalis. They have color on their wings."

"Five caterpillars came out of the chrysalis. They are crazy."

"Five Butterflies came out of the chrysalis. They drink the oranges."

"All of the caterpillars have hatched. The meconium is on the side."

At the end of their butterfly observation book, we documented what our painted lady butterflies look like. We also labeled the antenna, wings, and legs.

We also learned about the life cycle of a butterfly. Then the students glued the pictures in the correct order; eggs, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly.

On Tuesday, we released our butterflies outside! Only one of them flew out on their own, the rest I had to help. You can watch the videos of our butterfly release below!

We worked hard in Literacy Lab this week as well! In the listening area, students listened to the story "The doorbell rang" and wrote about their favorite part.

They also worked hard on their iReady lessons!

Students worked with me on guided reading and vocabulary. We read the story "Presents for Jack and Billy" and they wrote about their favorite part.

"My favorite part was when they talked to dad."

We also learned the vocabulary words "leave" & "cool".

"I leave my house." & "I leave for school."

"I am going to wear a dress to our Spring Sing to look cool." & "I look cool in sunglasses."

Mrs. Arnold worked with students on sight words and guided reading.

Mrs. Ogletree worked with students on rhyming words, guided reading, and sight words.

After rescheduling twice, the Moraine firefighters were finally able to come and talk to us about the importance of fire safety. They showed us how they put their uniform on and explained it to us. We learned that they aren't scary and it's important to not hide if they have to come into our house to rescue us in a fire! The students enjoyed learning about firefighters.

They even got to give the firefighters a high five!

This week the students earned two rewards! One for meeting their goal for iReady lessons passed and the other for earning 22 compliments as a class, one for every student in the class. They chose to have popsicles & popcorn so we enjoyed the popsicles on Monday and popcorn on Tuesday.

Mrs. Boxley worked with students to put their handprint on an end of the year poem for their portfolios. I can't believe it is almost here!

So far for our two week iReady goal, the students are more than halfway there!

This will be our last iReady goal for the year because during the weeks of May 14th & May 21st, the students will be taking the end of the year iReady diagnostic for math & reading.