Mrs.Kapsner's Kindergarten Class

Have you Enjoyed our Blog This Year?

2010-06-04T17:00:00.001-07:00

If you have viewed and enjoyed our classroom Blog this year, please let me know. I am evaluating whether parents and other family members have learned about our school day & the experiences we have in kindergarten through this added means of communication. As it is a time-consuming process, I'd appreciate your feedback. Please send me an e-mail or note if you have found it of value to you and your child. Thank you!

*Remember, you may right-click on photos to save or print.

Thanks for a great year!

Mrs. Wishy-Washy

2010-06-04T16:56:00.001-07:00

MRS. WISHY-WASHY was our literature selection for our W page in our ABC books.

ROCKETS Help Reinforce Math Skills

2010-06-04T16:47:00.001-07:00

20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-BLAST-OFF!

In kindergarten, students learn to count back from 20 to zero. We made countdown rockets to help with mastery of this skill.

Science: Wood and Paper Unit

2010-06-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

For our culminating activity in our Wood and Paper unit, students created wood sculptures!

Testing the water absorbency of various types of wood

Sink and Float experiment

Memorial Day

2010-06-04T16:29:00.001-07:00

As part of our Social Studies this week we learned about the significance of Memorial Day.

Students wrote sentences telling about Memorial Day.

Our Visit to 1st Grade!

2010-05-21T13:25:00.001-07:00

We visited Mrs.Smith's 1st Grade class this week! It was SO cool to see the insides of real desks and lockers! Our 1st grade buddies gave very good tours!

Mrs.Smith read us a story and we got our questions about 1st grade answered!

Only 14 more days left of kindergarten!!! (That's if Mrs.Kapsner can bear to let us go!)

Science: Living Things

2010-05-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

In addition to observing goldfish and tadpoles, kindergartners planted and observed the following plants:

sunflowers
zinnias
lettuce
marigolds
summer squash
basil and
pumpkins

Today they will go home. Remember plants need water, light, air, space and soil to thrive!

Mmmm! Mmmmm! Cupcakes!

2010-05-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Aidan brought in Minnesota Twins cupcakes to celebrate his birthday. Can you guess what color the frosting was? Take a look and you'll see:)

Elm Creek Fun Run

2010-05-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

The weather cooperated today! After nearly a week of rain, there was plenty of sunshine for our Fun Run!
On your mark, get set, GO!

Creating During Choice Time

2010-05-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

Creativity at work!

All we need are scraps, scissors and glue and look what we create!

MOP TOP by Don Freeman

2010-05-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

We reviewed the short o sound with the book MOP TOP. As you can see, Moppy looked like a mop on top!

Media Center Fun!

2010-05-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Olson loves reading to us!

We are becoming proficient at checking out books by ourselves! Just another sign we are nearly ready for 1st Grade!

Getting Ready for 1st Grade: LUNCH at SCHOOL!

2010-05-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

We practiced learning our lunch codes this week during Kindergarten. Friday was the big day to eat lunch at school. Kindergartners did a great job! They are certainly growing up! Just think: next year they get to do this every day!

Olivia and Winter were great helpers! Thanks, girls!

After lunch students finished this statement: My favorite thing about having lunch at school was....

Louis - the pizza!
Olivia - eating lunch!
Aidan - the chocolate milk!
Kaden - I loved everything I picked on my tray!
Elsie - the chocolate milk and ranch salad!
Divante - pizza and carrots and orange juice!
Lagusta - the pizza!
Maddie - the oranges!
Jason - the carrots!
Deja - the pizza!
Andy - when you typed in the lunch code!
Jacob - the food!
Alexis - all the stuff!
Damarius - the rice!
Dalylah - pizza with chocolate milk!
Ethan - the pizza!
Hailey - the salad!
Chasia - the pizza too!

It's a Wonderful World!

2010-04-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

Students worked as a team on this mural, illustrating the words of IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD!

Springing into Learning!

2010-04-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

Clifford had a great spring break with Andy! He even went to Target Field for a Twins' Game!

Lifetime Word BINGO!

Learning by doing!

Our ABC Literature books: THE NAPPING HOUSE - We retold the story with miniature characters!

Kindergarten Art Gallery

2010-04-16T13:25:00.001-07:00

We had a productive week filled with art lessons. Students painted with primary colors, made self-portraits and also created artwork using repetition and printmaking. Our hallway is a colorful gallery!

Scientists at Work!

2010-03-12T05:07:00.000-08:00

Take a look at our budding scientists!

We had an action-packed week during our FOSS Fabric Science unit.

Some activities included:

making a fabric collage
taking apart burlap and wool
weaving with yarn
sewing
dyeing fabric
checking the absorbency of various fabrics
staining fabric with ketchup, toothpaste, chocolate and jelly
testing various methods of stain removal

Look! We can sew!

Staining Fabric!

Will we get these stains out?

All clean!

Art Adventure

2010-03-12T05:00:00.001-08:00

We learned about artwork featuring family, friends and foes during an Art Adventure presentation. This lesson was a kick-off to the upcoming kindergarten art lessons we will have during the next two weeks. Coming soon: Kindergarten Art Gallery! You won't want to miss that!

RAD Zoo Visits Elm Creek

2010-03-12T04:52:00.000-08:00

We were fascinated to see and learn about reptiles and amphibians!

There were lots of "oohs" and "aahs" !

We even got to tocuch a snake and a tortoise! Mrs.Ross is nearby with the hand sanitizer!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

2010-03-04T06:30:00.001-08:00

We had a Seussical week! THE CAT IN THE HAT, GGREEN EGGS AND HAM, and ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, BLUE FISH were a few of the books we read.

Students graphed with colored Goldfish.

Teamwork: Puzzles and Teen Numbers

2010-03-04T06:17:00.000-08:00

In math students have come a long way! Using manipulatives, they worked together to make the teen numbers.

Puzzle Time: Students worked against the clock to put together puzzles. Great team work!

We Love to Read!

2010-02-26T11:21:00.001-08:00

Today students had the opportunity to go to the media center and select a book to KEEP! This is the second of three book give-aways for the Reading Is Fundamental (R.I.F) grant. It was a great way to begin our Friday!

We're 100 Days Smarter!

2010-02-24T14:50:00.001-08:00

We counted to 100 for snack!
Students sang to 100!

We made a book of 100 Things:

10 hearts
10 faces
10 stars
10 words
10 numbers
10 shapes
10 letters
10 snowflakes
10 stickers
and 10 colors

And... we made 100 hats to help us celebrate being 100 days smarter!

Presidents' Day

2010-02-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

In Social Studies we have been learning about our presidents. As you can see, our focus has been on Abe Lincoln and George Washington. We read several books about both our 16th and 1st presidents. Kindergartners can share what they have learned with you at home.

Hip! Hip! Horray for Valentine's Day!

2010-02-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day celebration was filled with a variety of activities. Students rotated in small groups through 4 stations. The stations included:

BINGO
Ice cream sodas for snack
Opening and reading valentines from our friends and
listening to FRANKLIN'S VALENTINES.

Thanks to our parent and staff volunteers who helped make the party a success!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Maple Grove Fire Fighters Visit Kindergarten

2010-02-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

Our class had a visit from the Maple Grove fire department on February 1st. We learned about fire safety; including fire prevention and response to emergency situations. All kindergartners should know their home address in case of an emergency. Be sure to practice reciting this regularly! Students had a chance to practice "Stop-drop- and roll" in the event that their clothing caught on fire. We also learned about fire fighter's protective gear. All of us are better informed as a result of the visit!

J is for Jam!

2010-01-29T14:09:00.001-08:00

Today we read the story BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES. Afterwards we conducted a taste test and graphed our results. As you can see from our class graph, most students liked both grape and strawberry jam. Students also graphed the results individually in their ABC Literature books.

January Projects

2010-01-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

Kindergartners learned about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Following our lesson, each kindergartner shared one wish they have for our world.

Students painted a wintry wonderland!

This story is a favorite! Students made conferences folders for their parents.

H is for Hat!

2010-01-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

To reinforce the sound for "H", students were invited to wear a hat or headpiece to school. They introduced themselves as who they could be in their hats.

For example, "My name is Hailey and in my hat I am Jessie from TOY STORY."

See if you can find:

Cinderella
Jessie, from "Toy Story"
an outdoor girl
a magician
a princess
Alvin from "Alvin and the Chipmunks"
an explorer
a t-ball player
a pirate
a MN Viking
a police officer

Letter L: Ladybug Day!

2010-01-15T05:23:00.000-08:00

L Day brought lots of learning in our class! After listing lots of words beginning with "L", we read nonfiction books about ladybugs. Students recalled and contributed facts resulting in this paragraph about the Common Ladybug:

All About Ladybugs

by: Mrs.Kapsner's class

Ladybugs are insects. Ladybugs are red with 7 black dots. Ladybugs eat aphids from leaves. In the winter, ladybugs hibernate inside trees or under leaves. If a bird wants to eat a ladybug, it turns on its back and sends a stinky smell from its legs! Ladybugs are interesting!

After completing our research, students made and ate ladybugs!

Here is our tasty recipe:

1 vanilla wafer

vanilla frosting

red food coloring

7 mini chocolate chips

small piece of pull & peel licorice.

We love Clifford!

2010-01-15T05:19:00.000-08:00

Each Friday a student takes Clifford and a several Clifford books home for an adventurous weekend. With parent assistance, students write about their weekend activities with Clifford and share them on Monday. Last Monday Clifford returned looking a bit fancier than usual:)

Dressed for Winter

2010-01-15T05:11:00.000-08:00

As an at-home project, Elm Creek Kindergartners dressed themselves for a Minnesota winter activity. To mention a few, our hallway display has hockey players, ice anglers, snow princesses, shovel-ready kids!

Wrapping up 2009!

2009-12-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

A few highlights of our last week of Kindergarten in 2009:

We read the book IF YOU TAKE A MOUSE TO THE MOVIES and followed up on it by having a popcorn snack. MMMM! Students also brought a favorite stuffed animal from home. They wrote a journal entry about their stuffed buddy.

Mrs. Price brought in REAL sleigh bells for us to see! They were heavy, but we are STRONG! The sleigh bells sound beautiful!

POLAR EXPRESS and Pajama day:

We were able to go to the cafeteria in our PJs and slippers to join in on the trombone music of Mr.Rassier.

Finishing touches for special gifts!

MR. WILLOWBY project: No glue needed; we licked the marshmallows and they stuck!

Deck the Halls!

2009-12-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

We read many versions of the Gingerbread Boy story last week. We even read THE GINGERBREAD GIRL and THE GINGERBREAD BABY! After comparing and contrasting the various books, students designed tasty gingerbread people of their own. They were asked to tell what each treat they drew was (i.e. My buttons are Skittles, or my eyes are gumdrops, etc.). We also made a "First Bite Graph". Each student was given a gingerbread cookie and told to take only ONE bite. They then tore a paper gingerbread cut-out to represent their first bite. So...if they bit off a leg, they tore off the leg, etc. As you see from the photo, most bit off the gingerbread head first. A few bit off the legs so they couldn't run away! They are always thinking!

We also painted Santas using our hands as the Santa's beard.

Students quickly figured out how to make a paper chain. In about 15 minutes, look what they did! Lots of the kids placed their links in a pattern, like we've been practicing in math.

Hoping you are having as much fun as we are while we learn together in Kindergarten!

Computer Lab

2009-12-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

Typically we visit the computer lab once each week. Students are becoming proficient at logging in and navigating to the designated game or site! We have been exploring the activities in "Starfall Reading".

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

All year during Kindergarten, we recite and illustrate poems for a "Poetry Book". This collection will come home with students at the end of the year.

Here is the poem we learned today:

The turkey is a funny bird,

his head goes bobble, bobble.

all he says is just one word:

gobble, gobble, gobble!

Learning and Playing Together!

2009-11-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

Students have opportunities every day to learn and grow through interacting with peers. Here are some snapshots of hands-on learning during our Kindergarten day. This is a truly a group of eager learners!

Playground Fun!

2009-11-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

We go outside 2-3 times per week at the end of our school day. The kids love the fresh air and the chance to run and play. Each time we go out, we work on balance activities and also strengthening upper bodies with the monkey bars. After those required activities, students have free time to interact with friends from our class and often Mrs.Swanson's class too. The mild weather has been perfect for this!

Where Are All of the Turkeys?

2009-11-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

Kindergartners have been busy creating disguises for their turkeys.

Here are some of them:

I am not a turkey, I am a vacationer!

I am not a turkey, I am an elf!

I am not a turkey, I am a glitter goblin!

I am not a turkey, I am a skunk!

I am not a turkey, I am a screaming lady!

I am not a turkey, I am a lion!

I am not a turkey, I am Darth Vader!

I am not a turkey, I am a tiger!

I am not a turkey, I am a police officer!

I am not a turkey, I am a sheep!

I am not a turkey, I am a pig!

2009-11-03T13:54:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Math

2009-10-28T14:22:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin Math

We had a great day of school today with our Pumpkin Math! We weighed & measured our pumpkins. We scooped and counted seeds. Students designed their Jack-o-lanterns and the dads and grandpas did the carving! Even Mr.Meyer got in on the carving!

Thanks to all our our volunteers and to the students for their awesome behavior! Have a great, festive weekend!

Our Blog

2009-10-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

This blog is intended for kindergarten families and friends interested in seeing more of what we are doing in kindergarten. We are learning and growing in many ways every day! This will also give YOU an opportunity to ask your child specific questions and connect about your child's school life. It is intended to trigger memories regarding what we have been learning and doing at school. Feel free to leave comments! It's also easy to right click on photos you like to save for your own collection of memories.
Kindergarten will go by quickly! I am delighted to be a part each child's growth and look forward to a prosperous and productive year of learning together. I hope you enjoy our blog (keep in mind this is my first attempt at blogging!).