Carving Pumpkins!

Today was a blast! This morning after we did calendar and went to library we talked all about pumpkins. We talked about how to pick the perfect pumpkin then completed a packet all about OUR pumpkin. Then when it was time, we cut it open and explored all the gooey mush and seeds inside. We split into two groups and carved different pumpkin faces.

Check out all the action!

Amaya was answering whether or not our pumpkin has a stem.

No bumps on our pumpkin, Anthony thought it was nice and smooth!

Shannon was so excited to check out what was inside!

Diego was shocked at how ooey-gooey it was inside our pumpkin!

Amaya looking at all the seeds inside.

And now... our carved pumpkins...



REMINDER!

Tomorrow, Thursday, October 28th is pajama day!

     In the afternoon we have our monthly PBIS reward for good behavior and for those who earned tickets. Tomorrow's incentive is a SOCK HOP! We will be dancing in the gymnasium from 2:15-2:45. We are so excited!

Community Trip on Friday October 22nd!

     Getting into the holiday spirit, last Friday we went on a community trip to Popcorn Town and Candyland! We saw where they made all different kinds of popcorn and freshly made gummy bears. To top it off everyone got their own little bag to fill with candy to take home! Then we walked to Culver's right next door for lunch. We also stopped at a store after lunch and had lots of fun trying on all the Halloween hats. Everyone also had a great time walking around and checking out all the scary animatronic decorations!

Check out all the fun we had!

Talk about candyland!

Diego picking out candy!

Maybe he will share with his sisters!

So many sweet choices!

Shannon LOVED his frozen custard at Culver's!

Lorenzo getting scared of the scary animatronic monster shirt!

But he loved coming back and hitting it again!

Walking by the spooky graveyard!

Amaya pretty as a princess!

November Calendar

Hot off the press! Here it is... the November calendar! Don't worry, I have sent a hard copy home also today.

Technology Connecting Classrooms!

    Yesterday we were so excited to Skype with our friends in Ms. Urbanik's classroom at Old Quarry! Skype is a program that allows you to talk face to face through live video with another Skype user... and the best part is its free!
    We had so much fun chatting with our old friends from Kerkstra and meeting some new ones! We look forward to connecting with our DESTINY friends at Old Quarry in the future!

Today's Community Trip!

     Today we went on a community trip to the Oak Forest Fire Department! The tour of the fire station was so exciting! We got to see where the firemen sleep, cook, train, go to school, and relax. We also got to take another look at the fire trucks and ambulance. Lieutenant Tim did such an excellent job of giving the tour and explaining all about what firefighters do and how they keep us safe.

     A special thanks to Lieutenant Tim and the other fire fighters who made our visit such a fun one!

Take a look at all the fun we had!

Lieutenant Tim showing us the inside of the ambulance.

Checking out the fire truck and the laptop mounted inside!

This part was too funny! Lieutenant Tim wanted to show the students the different types of clothing the firefighters have to wear!

Finishing up our tour inside the garage!

It didn't take long for us to make ourselves at home in the fire station's tv/movie room!

Junior Firefighter Amaya is pretty in pink!

Junior Firefighter Shannon ready for action!

Another Junior Firefighter Anthony showing off his badge!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Oak Forest Fire Department for welcoming us and giving us such a wonderful experience!

County Line Orchard Trip! 10/18

     Our trip to the County Line Orchard was so much fun! We had a little bit of a rocky start since our busses were late but once they arrived we were rollin'! First we learned all about bees and the important part they play in an apple's life cycle. Then we went on the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch!
   Here are some great snapshots from the trip!

Ms. Katlyn, Lorenzo, myself, and Amaya on the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch!

We were only allowed to pick pumpkins that could fit in the bag... but that didn't stop Lorenzo from trying!

Anthony fearlessly exploring the bees!

Looking through the glass while the staff make fresh candy apples! YUM!

Lorenzo and Amaya posing in front of the great big tractor!

Shannon and Margo marching through the pumpkin patch!

Happy Birthday Ms. Carol!

Today is Ms. Carol's birthday! Since we were on a field trip today we will have our party tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Ms. Carol!

This Week We're Learning About...

We have been learning all about our eight legged friends! Most importantly we have been learning about how and why they spin webs, what they eat, and other important facts from our latest issue of Weekly Reader. So far our favorite spider book has been The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle.

Take a look at what we've been up to!

Here we are making a large spider egg using casting material!

We are hoping the finished product will eventually look like the picture below! Here is the link if you'd like to try it at home...

Spider Hatchlings

Here we are doing a small math group!

Students would draw a card and have to put the number of spiders on the web to match the number they pulled!



After we read the story The Very Busy Spider, a story about a spider who was too busy spinning her web to play with her farm animal friends, we spun a web of our own! Using cooked spaghetti, glue, wax paper, and glitter we all became busy little spiders!

Room 24's School Store!

What's all this talk about tickets?

     Kerkstra has been implementing postive behavior intervention strategies (PBIS) since the beginning of the year. We have been rewarding students with tickets when they are spotted exhibiting good behavior or following the Cougar Code, which is be respectful, be responsible, and be safe. At the end of the month their tickets are added up and whoever received the most amount of tickets our of the classroom during that month becomes Student of the Month.

     Here in room 24 we are not only rewarding students with tickets for positive behavior daily throughout the day, but we open our classroom store at the end of each week! The classroom store is new to our room and so far it has been a great incentive for students to display positive, "thumbs up" behaviors.

Here's how it works:

• Throughout the week students earn tickets for displaying positive behavior and following school rules. For example, if a student was caught helping a friend by picking up a book they dropped, they would receive a ticket. Or if a student was caught using kind words with their friends or teachers they would get a ticket. Tickets can be earned by following directions and listening to their teachers too!
• Students use these tickets at the end of the week to "buy" items from our classroom store.
• At the end of each week we gather at the group table and each student counts out their tickets and is applauded for all their good work this week. They then get to shop at the store using those tickets.
• Items on the board range in value from 1 ticket to 30 tickets!
• There are many different items available at the store- here are some examples:
• stickers
• temporary tattoos
• computer time
• snack size bags of Doritos, Pringles
• candy
• play doh
• bracelets and other jewelry
• eat lunch with a teacher of your choice
• walk to the office
• be the calendar helper
• a magazine
• can of pop
• and many others!

Here are some pictures of our classroom store in action!



Fire Prevention Fun with Ms. Kempke's Speech Group!

In going along with our fire safety theme last week, Ms. Kempke took us to school on fire safety in the kitchen. While we baked a delicious apple treat she taught us all about what kitchen appliances are safe to touch and which ones are not. Take a look at all the fun we had!

Everyone got a turn to slice their piece of cookie dough to go in the shell baker. Ms. Kempke always comes up with the tastiest recipies!

Anthony did a great job slicing his piece and having safe hands in our kitchen!

After our cookies were done baking then came the really fun part! We put cinnamon apples and ice cream into our cookie shell. Shannon said the ice cream was his favorite ingredient!

Amaya loves baking!

Of course, I had to have a little Halloween fun at the end of Ms. Kempke's group.

Lorenzo loved the creepy moving hand... except when it went after his cookie! 

Great speech group Ms. Kempke! Everyone had a blast!