Winter Break Project

Habitat Shadow Box

The Puffer Fish winter break project is to make a habitat shadow box. For this project students should choose a habitat (dessert, pond, grassland, arctic, ocean, etc.).  Then research what animals and plants are native to that habitat. These should be included in the design of the shadow box.

Along with the shadow box, students should fill out attached worksheet about the habitat they chose. After returning from winter break we will present on the habitats we’ve created.

The Puffer Fish should create and write as much as possible of the project on their own with assistance from adults.  Answers to the worksheet may also be typed. We appreciate you and all your help with this project!

Projects are due back to school on Wednesday January 4^th.

Thanks to everyone for supporting us as young writers and ordering our peace book! If you ordered books, they will be ready for pick up in February. Updates to follow!

We had a blast at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center! What a fun and exciting museum to visit!


                       

Updates!!

The Puffer Fish have decided to give back to the community this holiday season by doing a can/ non-perishable food and hygiene product drive to help those in need!

The Puffer Fish want to give back this holiday season!

We chose to do a can food and hygiene product drive to help Clearview Methodist Church provide these items to people in need!

Please donate can food, nonperishable items or hygiene products such as tooth brushes, tooth paste, soap, shampoo, deodorant ect. Anything you donate is much appreciated!  

We will be collecting donations from now until Thursday, December 15^th. Please leave all donations in the box located outside the Puffer Fish room.

Thanks for your help and kindness!  

This past month in science the puffer fish have been working on projects about the human body. We started exploring the senses then moved onto the muscles and bones and are now focused on the organs! Take a look at what we have been working on!

Exploring senses with gummy worms,

Puffer Fish Math and Literacy Games!

Kindergarten-

Math Games

·         Sorting groceries by attributes- such as frozen/refrigerated or pantry item or fruits or vegetables.

·         Coin sorting- use an old egg carton and sort coins

·         Penny Dice Game-  Roll the dice and take that amount of pennies. The person who gets 20 pennies first wins!

·         Teen Tangle- attached I have printed out teen tangle game. This game is just like twister but with numbers! Cut out each number card. Make the spinner with a brad and a paper clip. Place number cards close together on the floor in random order. Players spin the spinner and see which teen number they get. They then have to find that number on the floor and stand on it. If a player falls they have to start again. The last player standing on the numbers without falling wins the game!

Literacy games

This sight has a lot of fun hands on sight word activities!  

http://childhood101.com/2013/09/sight-words-activity-ideas/

Here are a few

·         chalk hop scotch with sight words- have them say each word as they hop.

·         sight word target practice. write sight words on paper plates and attach them to the wall or a tree. Have students throw a ball at the sight word you say.

First Grade

Math Games-

·         Money Exchange game- Have students roll a dice and take that amount of cents out of the bank. The bank should contain all coins. Have them exchange coins when they can get a coin of higher value.

·         Top it. You need a deck of cards without the face cards in it. This game is a lot like war. Two people put down cards at the same time. The person with the higher card gets both cards. You can switch this game up by putting two cards down and having them add or subtract the cards

Literacy- .

This sight has a lot of fun hands on sight word activities!  

http://childhood101.com/2013/09/sight-words-activity-ideas/

Here are a few

·         chalk hop scotch with sight words- have them say each word as they hop.

·         sight word target practice. write sight words on paper plates and attach them to the wall or a tree. Have students throw a ball at the sight word you say.

Classroom updates!
Just so everyone is aware...

•  We have decided that every Wednesday will be bring a stuffed animal to read with day. Everyone may bring one stuffed animal that fits inside a bag or a backpack for book nook time in the afternoon :) 
• We have PE on Mondays so sneakers and a water bottle would be handy for that day. 

Thanks! 

Just an update!!
For the past few weeks, the Puffer Fish have been focusing on many new concepts and practicing ones we already knew in both math and literacy.

Kindergarten
          Math

• Setting up daily routines (calendar, clip collection, daily graph, and number line counting)
• Patterns (colors, shape, size, sound, motion) 
• Varying ways to show numbers (fingers, objects, dice, domino) 
• Sorting according to attributes
• Coin comparison 
• Comparing height and length
• Exploring shapes
• Spatial vocabulary 

          Literacy 

• Sight words list http://www.sightwords.com/pdfs/word_lists/dolch_kindergarten.pdf
• Word families ( -at, -an, -am, -ap, -ag, -ad, -et, -un, -in, -ig) 

First Grade 

         Math 

• Investigating the number line 
• Exploring tools used for counting and comparing 
• Estimation
• Number stories
• Comparing and ordering numbers
• Organizing data on a tally chart 

          Literacy 

• -or, -ar, -er, -ir, -ur 
• A as in America 
• A as in father 
• Sight words link http://www.sightwords.com/pdfs/word_lists/dolch_1st.pdf

 

The Puffer Fish have had an awesome first couple weeks of school! We have been focusing on getting adjusted school and setting up classroom routines. Each day we are becoming more and more independent and capable in the classroom. We have been focusing on cooperation and team work. Here are some of the projects we have been working on over these past weeks.

We worked in teams to make a friendship banner, celebrating the new friends we have made in our class. We also worked on cooperation and shared one flag per two students. 

We also read the Rainbow Fish and created our own Rainbow Fishes with only one of each color per table. Each group had to share the colors and take turns.