Favorite Books

Every person has a favorite book! Mrs. Conte's favorite is Goodnight Moon because it's the one that she reads to little Charlie every night before he goes to bed. In a great green room, tucked away in bed, the little bunny says, "Goodnight room, goodnight moon." Then to all the familiar things in the softly lit room - to the picture of the three little bears sitting in chairs, to the clocks and his socks, to the mittens and the kittens, to everything one by one - he says goodnight. What a perfect lulling book for the end of the day! Good night, little Charlie...

Mrs. Timmons' favorite book is Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do You Hear? Like Mrs. Conte, she also has a little one at home and little Kallyn loves this special Bill Martin, Jr. book that is illustrated by Eric Carle. It's the perfect book to follow the beloved Brown, Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by the same author and illustrator. This book appeals to Kallyn's sense of hearing as it moves through simple rhymes and colorful illustrations...

Mrs. T has a favorite book too. She loves The Three Billy Goats Gruff which is one of our "Star" books. When her daughter Courtney was in kindergarten, it was her favorite book. Courtney loved changing her voice to be the big, gruff billy goat and then to change her voice again to be the wee, little billy goat. She would dissolve into laughter every time! Of course, Mrs. T's little one isn't so little any more! Courtney is a Senior at FSU majoring in... Early Childhood Education! She wants to be a teacher! Mrs. T hopes that all of her kindergartners will love this book as much as Courtney did. She hopes the children will ask their parents to read it over and over and over and over...

We were just wondering what your child's favorite book is... Leave us a comment and let us know his/her favorite!

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock!

The mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck one

And down he did run.

Hickory Dickory Dock!

This week we learned the nursery rhyme and motions to Hickory Dickory Dock! What fun!Make sure to ask your child to say the rhyme and to do the motions! Then ask that the rhyme be recited in a little squeaky mouse voice!

We are still working on words that rhyme. This week one of the Literacy Centers that children could choose was to put pictures under words that rhyme with "hill" (as in jack and Jill) or words that rhyme with "clock" (as in the Hickory Dickory clock). Ask your child if the following words rhyme with hill or clock: dock, Jill, rock, shock, pill, knock, jock. Can your child think of other words that rhyme with hill or clock? To download a copy of the rhyme for your child to "read" go to http://www.kinderfriends.com/hickorydickory.doc.

Next week is that all-time favorite, "Humpty Dumpty." He just cracks me up!

Special Volunteers and Visitors

We are just about ready for our parent and grandparent volunteers to join us in the classroom as TIMMONTE VOLUNTEERS!

In the mean time, Mrs. Conte has had some special family members come and visit our classroom. Her brother, John, was visiting from Mississippi, and spent Tuesday morning volunteering with us! He put labels on our math portfolios, got our homework assignment ready and separated some books.

Mrs. Conte's baby, Charlie, came by today for a special visit. He came just in time for read aloud, so we all got to meet him. He even gave us a smile! Boy, he sure loves kids!
We can't wait until our parents and grandparents can come and volunteer. Maybe they will even get their picture taken and get to be on our blog!

Mother Goose is on the Loose!

You may remember the traditional nursery rhyme Jack and Jill from your own childhood! This week the children talked about Jack and Jill going up the hill. They learned what a well is and even acted out the rhyme (in our case, we used a trashcan to represent the well!) The children practiced "reading" the rhyme from left-to-right and top to bottom. They read the rhyme using a deep, gruff "Jack" voice and a silly, high "Jill" voice. Make sure to ask your child to recite the rhyme using a "Jack" voice and then a "Jill" voice! For a copy of the rhyme for your child to practice reading, go to http://www.kinderfriends.com/jackandjill.doc

Finally we talked about rhyming words:

What's the word that rhymes with Jill? Can you guess the word?

Standing outside my windowsill, in the winter I feel a ... (chill)

My dad does woodworking with lots of skill. I love to watch him use his ... (drill)

Eating hamburgers is a thrill when we cook them on the ... (grill)

When I was sick and feeling ill, my mom gave me a yellow ... (pill)

What a fun week! Next week's nursery rhyme... Hickory Dickory Dock!

Caps for Sale and Some Monkey Business

As the day was coming to an end and we were busy getting prepared to go home, we overheard Nathan say, "This was the best day of Kindergarten!" Truly music to a kindergarten teacher's ears! From Matthew being chosen as the Star Name of the Day in Skills Block, to learning all about our independent reading book bins, to listening to a favorite read aloud of the star book, Caps for Sale, to making our very own cap-wearing monkeys (from the book), it was a busy, yet fun day. The class has even started working together as a team to earn "class rocks"...because they know that when the jar gets full, we will celebrate with a party of their choice! Our second week of Kindergarten is almost through and WOW...have we made progress!

Welcome to Wonderland

We have been in school for 3 days now and wow, have we been busy in Wonderland! Our Kindergarten "Wonderers" saw a fabulous and funny magic show and jumped in a bouncehouse on the first day of school. Since then we have been off and running....learning rituals and routines in our classroom. Today, we brainstormed "good choices at school" and made our "Class Promise" which will be displayed all year in the back of our room. Tomorrow, we will have our first Resource class, PE! It's been an adventure already, but we are excited to watch our wonderers continue to grow and blossom! Here's to 177 more days of Timmonte Fun!

Great Summer Find

I try my best to relax in the summer, spend time with my family and re-energize for the coming year. However, I just come across things that make me think about my upcoming year. I recently visited the Schultz Center and previewed a book sale. I was looking for more board books for my 4 1/2 month old little boy, when a peddler with caps on his head caught my attention. Yes, Caps For Sale! I am always looking to increase my collection of great literature for my students to "read" when they enter school and Caps for Sale is one of my favorites! Even better, the paperback book was on sale for $1.50 each. Of course, I bought a small handful, knowing they will come in handy this coming year in my Kindergarten classroom. I can already envision my little students shaking their fingers and pretending to throw their caps as they "picture read" the book. Now I can't wait for August!