Kindergarten: Specials Spotlight
Third Quarter 2016-2017
Exploratory Team
Library
Art
Music
During the 3rd quarter of Kindergarten, we were busy having fun learning about the way music moves up and down. Students used feathers to show sound moving, and will next play instruments such as xylophones and glockenspiels to show music moving up and down. While they are becoming great English language readers this year, Kindergarteners are also learning to read music! We began learning about sound and silence and have been busy finding patterns and playing rhythms that combine beats of sound and rests, or beats of silence. This is a skill that will grow each year in music classes, and will help students become even stronger readers in other subjects.
Technology
We started this nine weeks off using MS Paint. The kids learned how to toggle back in forth between tools, colors, save and open a file in recent documents. After a little practice, we created a picture to put in an MS PowerPoint slide. We change the layout in a slide, inserted a picture, included a background and added text. After the slide was printed out, we created a Valentine's card. We hope you enjoyed them!
We continued practice typing using our sight words in MS Word. The kids are getting faster at finding the keys!
PE
At the beginning of third quarter, the students learned some new warm-ups such as “octopus tag”, “rolling rocks”, and “timed run”. We have focused all year on working with others and the importance of being a positive teammate. Within every activity we do, I am always reminding the students about how they can be kind and helpful, and they have done a great job trying their hardest to show those characteristics! A big portion of third quarter was spent learning to jump rope, which is no easy task! I have spoken with many adults that have said they wished they learned how to jump rope at a younger age. I am thankful that I am able to teach this age of kids and can help them learn skills that will help them all throughout their lives! Jump rope is a great cardiovascular skill, and you don’t need to do much before realizing that you are getting some great exercise. We spent a lot of time getting familiar with the ropes, how to hold them properly, swing them properly, and practiced jumping over the rope. The most important thing was that the students did not give up. I was extremely proud of them for trying their hardest, even when things got tough! We spent some time throwing & catching, rolling, and using the parachute (a personal favorite of mine J). I am looking forward to fourth quarter and a strong finish to a great year!
Counselor
Happy fourth quarter. Time has flown by. This quarter we will be finishing our Too Good for Drugs units. Their purple workbooks will be coming home with them so they can share what they have learned. The rest of the time we will be reading and learning the 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey. I would like to remind everyone that all community service hours need to be recorded, hours totaled, and turned into me no later than April 7th. If you are in need of addition logs please let me know. tthurmanmunsey@usd232.org. The window for community service hours is April 2016-April 2017. Again, please email me with any questions. I look forward to an exciting new quarter.