Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Food and Nutrition Interactive Website
http://www.nourishinteractive.com/about/overview
RSS Feed - "Meet Your Vegetables" Unit
These books were found through the RSS Feeds under Scholastic Unit Plans - "Nutrition and Me"
SUPPORTING BOOKS
Eat Healthy, Feel Great By William Sears, Martha Sears, Christie Watts Kelly
Oh the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You! All About Staying Healthy by Tish Rabe
Good Enough to Eat: A Kid's Guide to Food and Nutrition by Lizzy Rockwell
Staying Healthy: Eating Right (The Library of Healthy Living) by Alice B. McGinty
Being Active (Healthy Eating With My Pyramid) by Schuh
Staying Healthy: Personal Safety by Alice B
"Meet Your Vegetables" Unit
The pupose of this unit is to teach students about different kinds of healthy foods, and how to make better nutritional choices.
I have included only the first lesson for this week's blog so that you can get an idea of what we will be doing in class the following weeks regarding our health and nutrition unit.
Please visit our classroom blog before the end of the week for important information regarding our upcoming "Meet Your Vegetables" Unit.
California State Standards for Kindergarten Nutrition and Physical Activity
Standard 1: Essential Concepts
1.1.N Name a variety of healthy foods and explain why they are necessary for good health.
1.2.N Identify a variety of healthy snacks.
1.3.N Describe the benefits of being physically active.
1.4.N Recognize the importance of a healthy breakfast.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/healthstandmar08.doc
The following lesson was accessed through the Scholastic website. We will incorporate this lesson into our classroom using California State Standards.
Meet Your Vegetables
By Jeremy Brunaccioni
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/unitplan.jsp?id=287
This unit was designed as a fun introduction to healthy foods. Taking an integrated approach, students become familiar with vegetables through art, music and cooking. While the nutritional aspects are inherent, my goal is to help students become more aware of where the food comes from and to become more familiar and comfortable with vegetables and fruits.
OBJECTIVE
Students will:
1. Gain the knowledge and skills to select a diet that supports health and reduces the risk of illness and future chronic diseases.
2. Identify a variety of fruits and vegetables and how they are grown and harvested.
LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Vegetable Faces: A Guiseppe Archimboldo Portrait Study
Lesson 2: Vegetable Soup: A Reverse Recipe
Lesson 3: In My Garden Sing Along
REPRODUCIBLES
Vegetable Request Letter for Parents (PDF) Lyrics for In My Garden Sing-Along (PDF) Classroom Newsletter to Send Home (PDF)
SUPPORTING BOOKS
Books for An Apple A Day Unit Plan
About the Author
Jeremy Brunaccioni is a kindergarten teacher in Massachusetts.
Lesson 1:
Vegetable Faces: A Guiseppe Archimboldo Portrait Study
By Jeremy Brunaccioni
View a slideshow of photos - use the following link for the slideshow: http://content.scholastic.com/browse/media.jsp?id=301
Download full-size images: basil, beans, cabbages, carrots, eggplant, garlic, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, radishes, Swiss chard, tomatoes, tomatoes (cherry), tomatoes (assorted), zucchini
As part of the Meet Your Vegetables thematic lesson plan, students create vegetable portraits like the Italian painter, while learning how to identify different fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet.
MATERIALS
an assortment of vegetables
drawing paper
colored pencils
scissors
black Sharpie markers
glue
black construction paper (about 11" X 17"), one sheet per student
copies of the vegetable request letter
SET UP AND PREPARE
Visit the following sites and print out color copies of some of the Guiseppe Archimboldo images.http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/arcimboldo_giuseppe.htmlhttp://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/a/arcimbol/index.html
Send home copies of the vegetable request letter (PDF).
DIRECTIONS
Gather students together and share some of the Guiseppe Archimboldo images. Have a discussion about what the artist used to create his faces. Explain that students will have the opportunity to create similar faces.
Use a Sharpie to demonstrate how to draw the outline of a vegetable. Use colored pencils to color the vegetable drawings before cutting them out. After washing their hands, give students the opportunity to arrange the vegetables to create faces.
After they've had a chance to experiment with vegetable faces, students can arrange their vegetable drawings on a sheet of black paper to create a portrait. Once they are satisfied with their face, they can glue the drawings to the paper.
SUPPORTING ALL LEARNERS
Have sample face collages posted around the room to serve as visual cues for the project. Use toothpicks with attached facial features to create individual Mr. Potato Heads.
LESSON EXTENSION
Have students write a grocery list of the vegetables they used in their collage.
Try using fruits to perform the same activity.
ASSESS STUDENTS
Are students engaged and on task?
Do all students have a finished product that looks like a face?
ASSIGNMENTS
Make a list of the vegetables used in the face collage.
Create a "vegetable face" using Play-Doh.
HOME CONNECTION
This lesson can establish a home connection in a variety of ways. Parents can contribute to this project by donating vegetables as requested in the newsletter. Hang the artwork in a prominent place outside of the classroom. Be sure to include photos of the project in both the classroom and school newsletter (PDF).
EVALUATE THE LESSON
Was I clear in my directions?
Was I set up and prepared with the proper materials?
Would I do anything differently next time?
About the Author
Jeremy Brunaccioni is a kindergarten teacher in Massachusetts.
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=823
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Newsletter for March 15-19 2010
Kindergarten Newsletter
Ms. Hudson’s Class
March 15-19, 2010
A message from your teacher:
Your students are making great strides in their reading skills. Some students are reading stories to the rest of the class! All children are phonetically spelling out words in their writing journals! This is a wonderful academic growth spurt for the children! Be sure to take advantage of this and work with your child! Remember to read the little books that are sent home daily. To challenge your child point to words in isolation and see if your child can read it. Give your child simple phonetic three to four letter words to sound out, as well as work with your child on the sight word flash cards.
Source: http://teachers.eusd.k12.ca.us/jdarland/weekly_letter.htm
Homework Corner:
Monday: Reading; at least 15 minutes daily. Language Arts: “A Very Special St. Patrick’s Day Alphabet” worksheet.
Math; Writing 1-10 worksheet.
Tuesday: Reading; at least 15 minutes daily.
Language Arts: “Shamrock connect the dots alphabet” worksheet.
Math: “Garden Math” worksheet.
Wednesday: Reading; at least 15 minutes daily. Language Arts: “Pot of Gold color by letters puzzle” worksheet.
Math: “Trace & Match 1-5” worksheet.
Thursday: Reading; at least 15 minutes daily. Language Arts: “Shamrock” worksheet
Math: “Trace & Math 6-10” worksheet, and “Pattern Recognition 1-2-3” worksheet.
Homework folders are due Friday!
Turn in Reading Logs!
Upcoming Events:
The long awaited trip to our local Ralph’s Grocery store is coming up on Monday, March 22. All permission slips need to be turned in by this Friday, March 19th!
Parent Education Information:
The Huntington Beach City School District is sponsoring a parent education event this coming Thursday, March 18th 6-8PM, at the district office. The topic will be: “The Homework Blues”. Parents will learn the latest strategies and techniques to help their students stop whining and start winning!
Community Connection:
The Huntington Beach Central Library always has fun things going on for kids! Visit their website for weekly events and special upcoming events.
http:www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/government/departments/library/
Quote of the Week:
“Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire”
- William Butler Yeats
A Short History of St. Patrick's Day
His Twenty years of work building schools and converting the pagan Celts made him one of Ireland's most honored patrons, and the Catholic Feast Day honoring his death on March 17th, 461 has become a day for celebrating Irish culture, a day when "everyone's Irish." The first U.S. celebration of St. Patrick's Day was in Boston in 1737, and today more than a hundred cities across the country sponsor St. Patrick's Day parades.
In his preaching, St. Patrick adopted the three-leaf shamrock as a symbol of Christian Trinity. It had been the sign of the Celtish goddess Brigit, representing her three responsibilities: poetry, healing, and crafts.
Also particularly identified with Irish culture on St. Pat's Day is the Leprechaun ("one-shoe" in Old Irish), a mischievous, elfin shoemaker in leather apron and plumed hat. People believed you could find a Leprechaun by listening for the sound of his hammer tapping away in the night, and if you capture him, he would lead you to hidden treasure. But this was not easy. The instant you took your eyes of a Leprechaun he would disappear, and captured Leprechauns would do almost anything to distract you.
Finally, St. Patrick was famous for having driven the snakes, perhaps symbols of evil, from Ireland, which is unlikely since there were not snakes there to begin with. Still, the story is that when he was de-snaking, one old serpent refused to go. When St. Patrick offered it a comfortable box as a home, the snake said the box was too small, and crammed itself inside to prove its point. Whereupon St. Patrick tossed the box, snake and all, into the sea.
www.FunLessonPlans.com
Recipes for fun!
4 cups water
2 cups salt
1/4 cup cream of tarter
1/4 cup oil
food coloring
Mix all ingredients in a pan at low heat. Stir constantly. When all ingredients are mixed, remove from pan and knead it like dough.
Best Bubbles:
1 cup water
2 tablespoons (tbsp) liquid dish wahing detergent
2 tablespoons (tbsp) glycerin (found in drugstores)
Mix all these ingredients together for the biggest, strongest bubbles.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Welcome to Kindergarten
Welcome to Kindergarten!
My name is Ms. Hudson and I will be your teacher this year.
Before we get started, I wanted to share some important information with you and your parents.
Classroom Expectations and Classroom Philosophy:
- Every child has a right to learn and every teacher has a right to teach.
- I expect my students to come to class on time and am prepared to learn.
- My students can expect me to come to class prepared and ready to teach.
- My students can come to me anytime with questions, comments, or concerns relative to student learning.
- I will talk with my students and their parents if I have any questions, comments, or concerns relative to student learning and my teaching style.
Classroom Management Rules
Classroom Consequences
The following links will help you get started on your way through Kindergarten and beyond.
School Web Site: (borrowed from Huntington Seacliff Elementary School, H.B.C.S.D., Huntington Beach, California, for the purpose of this assignment)
District Calendar:
http://www.hbcsd.k12.ca.us/Seacliff/Link%20Documents/2009-10Cal.pdf
Classroom Supplies List:
Daily Bell Schedule:
http://www.hbcsd.k12.ca.us/Seacliff/Link%20Documents/DailySchedule.pdf
Parent and Student Handbook:
http://www.hbcsd.k12.ca.us/Seacliff/Link%20Documents/ParentHandBook09.pdf
Volunteer Handbook:
http://www.hbcsd.k12.ca.us/Seacliff/Link%20Documents/VolunteerHandbook.pdf
Field Trips:
In Kindergarten we plan to take two special field trips.
The first field trip relates to “Communication” where we write letters to a relative and then we take a walking field trip to the nearest public mail box, located near our campus.
The second field trip relates to “Our Community” where we will taking a walking field trip to our local Ralph’s Supermarket.
Permission slips and flyers will be sent home a few weeks before trips are scheduled.
Educational Links:
http://www.starfall.com/ - great for beginning readers
http://www.aaamath.com/ - great for beginning mathematicians
To reach me:
Ms. Hudson
(714) 123-4567
Email: Bambi.Hudson@hbcsd12345678.com
Office Hours: Monday – Friday: 7:00-7:30 AM, Monday and Wednesday: 2:30-3:30 PM.
Let’s have a fun and exciting learning filled year!
