Retelling With Props

Today we read the stroy, "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie."  We talked about the repetive language of the story and how the author kept adding more and more as each page went on.  We are learning that another way to read is to retell the story.  Boys and girls know that when they are able to recall the events of a story in order from memory, it shows that they understood what they read.  We retold the story together on the smart board to practice this skill.  Then the boys and girls made little old ladies and props that they could use to tell the story.  As we used our tools to retell the story, boys and girls focused on using some of the language that they remembered from the book as well as remembering the correct sequence.  Retelling is an important reading skill and your child should get lots of practice! Have them retell the story using thier props at home.  You can also have them practice retelling with other books that you read.  When you have finished reading, you could ask them to tell you what happened in the beginning, middle and end of the book.  We are learning that good readers not only can read the words in books, but they can understand and talk about the story as well!  Happy Retelling!

Goofy Gobblers

Yesterday both Kinderplus classes did an art project with our Boulan Buddies.  We made goofy looking turkeys out of construction paper and googly eyes.  The kindergarten kids were shown how to do it and then the Boulan Buddies helped them in following those directions.  There was a lot of cutting involved in this project- which many kindergarten kiddos still need practice with.  We are so thankful to have middle school kids that can come assist with art projects!  These gobblers are hanging in the Kindergarten hallway. 

IPADS Come to Bemis!

Today was a very exciting day because our Kindergartners were able to experiment on the new Ipad's that Bemis received as a the result of a bond that was passed about 5 years.  The last of the money was put towards purchasing 1 class set of them per elementary school.  We were very excited to get to test them our with our buddies.  The Ipad's are going to be a wonderful tool that will be available for all grades. 

 Last year I passed on an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal regarding handwriting and how tools such as the Tablet, Ipad, Droids, etc were giving practicing handwriting a boost.  I have attached the link.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518.html Wall Street Journal Handwriting Article

Today we mainly just explored with our buddies in Mrs. Clay's class.  I know that many of the students have had practice already on Mom and Dad's at home. 

Parade Company!

Today we went on our first field trip to the Parade Company in Detroit.  Prior to the trip we watched a short video clip on Youtube of the Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit.  They boys and girls were amazed at all of the costumes, floats, balloons and other characters in the parade.  They were so excited to go and see these things up close. 

At the Parade Company we were led around the warehouse by a guide.  We learned about how the floats are designed, and watched as workers carved different pieces of new floats out of styrofoam.  We got to look inside floats to see how they are driven down the road.  We got to touch many of the fabrics, plastics, and other materials that are used to make the floats.   Some of the floats had parts that moved, some were designed by students, others had familiar characters from fairy tales.  We saw hundreds of paper mache character heads that weigh up to 50 pounds and are worn by volunteers in the parade.  Many of the floats are rented out by other cities to be used in their parades.  Some of the floats are several decades old and have to be repaired over and over.  The boys and girls were able to take home a clown noses and an activity book from the Parade Company.  It was so interesting learning about all of the work that goes into making the Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit so spectacular.  Don't forget to watch it on TV on Thanksgiving Day!