Chinese New Year

It is always interesting to learn about different traditions and cultures.  On Friday, January 31st we learned about how one of our friends celebrates Chinese New Year and Korean New Year.

Children practiced saying happy new year in Chinese. 

We learned that this year is the year of the horse. 

We learned about the importance of the color red, oranges, and cleaning before New Year.  

Each child was given an envelope with an even amount of change for good luck. 

We also learned about ceremonial clothes worn to celebrate the new year. 

During our reading workshop each student had the opportunity to color in their own horse picture to represent the year of the horse.  

I am so grateful to families who are willing to share their family traditions and culture with our class. 

Until next time...

January Scenes

Much learning is taking place in the full day kindergarten.  Look at all the children are working on each day.

Until next time...

Classroom Expectations

It is hard to believe that time is moving so quickly in the full day kindergarten!  Children have been very busy this month.  After a lengthy break it has taken us some time to get back into our routines.  Classroom expectations are reinforced daily.  Friendships are very strong and the children are feeling comfortable.  It is this comfort level that allows them to test the waters and try out different behaviors.  It is the natural evolution of classroom behavior.  I restate the rules often and work with the children to help them remember what to do in school.  The following is posted in our classroom.  Your support in this work is so important.   Thank you!

Classroom Expectations

Mrs. Pagnotti’s

Full Day Kindergarten Class

1.          We are respectful.

2.      We keep our bodies under control.

3.      We try our best even when things are hard.

4.      We use our best manners.

When we forget Mrs. Pagnotti will help us remember what to do in our class so that we can stay safe and learn. 

If we continue to forget Mrs. Pagnotti will talk with our parents and make a plan to help us remember what to do in class so that we can stay safe and learn.

If we still need help remembering we will talk with our Principal, Mrs. Dolloff.  She knows how to help children stay safe and learn. 

Until next time...

Happy New Year

It is hard to believe that we are starting a new year.  The month of December went by in a flurry of activity.  Throughout the month we welcomed many guests who were happy to be a part of our classroom community.

Guest readers shared old favorite stories as well as holiday classics.

Mrs. Dolloff read a holiday story to the children as they enjoyed a picnic snack. 

This friend enjoyed having her grandmother read a class favorite.  

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas was enjoyed by all the children.

We learned about bees and bee keeping in preparation for our winter workshop.  Mrs. Blauss was kind enough to bring in some of her tools and share her experiences with the children.  They were all very curious, especially about the bee keepers netted hat.  

On the Tuesday before vacation our classroom was transformed into a winter workshop.  We had parent volunteers from our class and Mrs. Bramhal's am and pm kindergarten class join us as children rotated through a variety of winter learning activities.  This day would not have been possible without the support of our  parent volunteers and the help of Mrs. Gigliotti, Mrs. Goodman, Mrs. Whitehouse and  Mrs. Blauss.  

Here the children are decorating cups for the candles they chose to bring home to their families. 

Paying attention to detail, the children painted pine cones and added glitter to create a holiday keepsake.

Mrs. Gigliotti works with the children on patterning with red and white beads.

Once their job was done children were able to enjoy spending time in our housekeeping center.  In this area of the classroom children work on problem solving as they play with peers.

Holiday card writing with fancy pens and brand new crayons and pencils.

Children traced a pattern and then cut out and used water color paints to decorate mittens. 

Listening to The Mitten.

Symmetrical mittens cut out and painted by the children. 

Until next time!