Buckets, Apples, Giants, and More!

This week we read the book, "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud.   The book explains that everyone carries around an invisible bucket filled with good thoughts and feelings about themselves.  We all have the power to both fill buckets and dip into them.  Bucket Fillers say and do nice things to others and Bucket Dippers say and do unkind things to people.  As a class we thought about ways we can be Bucket Fillers.

"...helping someone if they fall."

"...offering a girl sitting on the sidewalk when it is raining my umbrella."

"...helping someone if they are crying."

"...helping someone when they get hurt."

We also created notes for the girls to write to a person that filled their bucket.   These notes will be available in the classroom for the kindergartners to thank their Bucket Fillers.

Ms. Hamre came in as a special visitor to teach us about sign language.  We learned how to say, "thank you," "please," "yes," "no," and many other words.  We also learned how to say our names!  Using crayon and watercolor we decorated our names and they are now posted in the classroom.  Ask your daughter how to say her name in sign language!

Our scientists also continued their experiments with floating and sinking this week.  Instead of pumpkins and squash we used classroom items for our tests.  After experimenting with a unifix cube, toy car, and a craft stick among others, the girls tested a ball of modeling clay.  When they discovered that the ball of clay sunk, they were then challenged with trying to turn the clay into something that would float.  Through trial and error, the girls realized that making the clay thinner and turning the sides up to create a boat kept the clay from sinking.  That way the clay was lighter for its size and wouldn't take on water.

H, C, and N testing to see if a pair of scissors would float or sink.

G, T, A, and C discovering that the toy car sinks.

The girls created the second of their monthly self-portraits.

A, A, F, M, and E creating images of themselves.

We continued work in our handwriting books, practicing making vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and curved lines to get us ready for learning the letter formations.

A, C, M, I, and S practicing their lines.

In math, we graphed the results of our apple taste test from last week.  In small groups, we tested four different types of apples:  Jonathan, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Braeburn.  Using a 4-point scale, the girls rated each apple.

Friedie loved the Golden Delicious apple because it was sweet.

Alex loved two different apples because they were sour and sweet.

We then got into small groups to calculate how many people rated each apple a "4" and graphed the results in a class graph that they titled "The Graph of Apples We Think Taste Delicious."

That morning, we had asked the girls to predict which apple they thought would be the class favorite and they predicted the winner to be Golden Delicious.  They were right!

In Spanish, Señora Bibliowicz has been teaching the girls through songs and activities.  This week, she focused on counting and colors through the sorting of counting bears.  Each kindergartner received a handful of counting bears and then counted to make sure they had 12.  If they did not, Sra. Bibliowicz taught them how to ask for more in Spanish.  They then sorted their bears by color, returning them to the bin as Sra. Bibliowicz asked for each color in Spanish.

M L, F, A, and L identifying their osos verdes.

Of course, Giants fever also swept through the classroom this week.  Go Giants!

L, showing her Giants pride.

We are continuously impressed by the girls and all that they accomplish each week.  They are hard workers who have done so many things in their 31 days of kindergarten and they fill our buckets every day with smiles, hugs, and laughter.