Read Aloud - May 1 - Swimmy

Today Ms. Horton, one of our RTI tutors, reads us the story Swimmy by Leo Lionni. Deep in the sea lives a happy school of fish. Their watery world is full of wonders, but there is also danger and the little fish are afraid to come out of hiding… until Swimmy comes along.

After listening to the story, Here are some questions to discuss:

• How did Swimmy feel when he escaped from the tuna and swam alone
• in the deep sea?
• What helped Swimmy feel happy again?
• Why didn't the new school of fish want to swim and play and see things?
• Did Swimmy think the fish were right to lie still so they wouldn't get eaten?
• Why do you think Swimmy thought what he thought?
• What did Swimmy do to help the fish solve their problem?
• Why do you think Swimmy offered to be the eye of the fish?

 After listening to the story color and label the animal characters

Swimmy Story Recall

Try this counting and graphing worksheet. See which group of fish has the
most. Which has the least?

A Fine Kettle of Fish

Color Swimmy and his friends

Swimmy and Friends

Move with the Laurie Berkner Band and Let’s Go Swimming

Sing with Pine Glen’s Ms. Agati

Be sure to think some good thoughts!

Today’s Chant:

Kind hearts

Kind words

Kind voices

Today is a good day to have a good day

Updates On Remote Learning

Updates on remote learning were published by the Town today.  Here is the link for you to read through the statement.

Two highlights gleaned from the information as Mrs. Hoyt looked through it are as follows:

1 -  Pre-requisite content standards have been identified.  Activities presented on the choice boards from  will focus on these skills.  Supplemental task offered by Mrs. Hoyt and Mrs. Kerr will also support these standards.

2 - An expectation that communities "Develop a system for identifying and supporting students not effectively engaged in remote learning."  Let us help you!  We strongly encourage students participate in our class meetings and are completing tasks offered on the choice board.  Share what students are doing on Seesaw or email evidence to Mrs. Hoyt.

Here is a link to the State's guidelines. 

Please contact Mrs. Hoyt with any questions you have.

Read Aloud - April 30 - The Day Teddy Beddy Bear Got Lost

Read Aloud - April 30 - The Day Teddy Beddy Bear Got Lost

Today our friend Mrs. Fallon reads us the story The Day the Teddy Bear
Got Lost by Avery Slier. It is about a boy named Adam who loses his
teddy bear on the way home from the park. Imagine how you would feel
f you lost something special to you. What would you do? 

Listen to this silly song and see if you can pick out all the rhymes;

 Have fun making your own movable teddy bear. Color, cut him out and
put him together.

Teddy Bear Puzzle

Have you ever lost a pet or a pet stuffed animal or toy? Click below to
create your own poster to help find them!

Lost and Found Poster

Try this math page where you need to match the sets of objects to the
correct numerals

Bear Repair Math

Check this out - Friday and Saturday will be the
Everywhere Book Fest website .  Author/illustrator, Grace Lin, who we
learned about in December will be featured on Saturday afternoon! 
We can learn about her upcoming book.  Book sale opportunities exist
through the event!

Sing with Pine Glen’s Ms. Agati

Be sure to think some good thoughts!

Today’s Chant:

I am loved

I am kind

I am awesome

April 29 - Read Aloud - Beaky the Greedy Duck

Beaky the Greedy Duck is a clever tale about a

duck that learns an important lesson. She eventually
realizes her mistakes, fixes them, and makes a friend
along the way. Listen to this timeless story read by
Miss Varrell.

What lesson did Beaky the duck learn in this story?

How do you know? Have you learned any valuable lessons

in your life? What are they? Draw, write, or record your

answers on paper or on Seesaw.

Learn about ducks here:

Take some notes about different duck facts you learned.

• Where do they live?
• What do they eat?
• How do they grow?

Get some exercise and have some fun while

shaking like a duck! Enjoy this silly shake break!

Do you like to draw? Here is an easy way to learn

one step at a time.

Learn to draw a duck here:

Join Miss Caitie’s Classroom for all kinds of

duck activities.

Enjoy lots of duck singing, counting, and stories here:

Sing with Pine Glen’s Ms. Agati

Be sure to think some good thoughts!

Today’s Chant:

I am loved

I am kind

I am awesome

April 28- Read Aloud- One

Today Ms. Kendall reads the story One by Kathryn Otoshi. This story
is about bullying and how friends help you find the courage to stand up
for yourself and promotes courage, open-mindedness and tolerance.

Feelings and Emotions Scavenger Hunt- This Emotions Scavenger Hunt
is a great way to build emotional awareness, perspective taking, whole
body listening, and social skills. By focusing on other people in a relaxed
environment, it takes the pressure off by eliminating the need to
interact while experiencing the various feelings that need to be
explored, recognized and defined. After all, people watching has
been a popular sport throughout history. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS TO ASK WHILE READING

• Have you ever felt like Blue? Red? Yellow?
• Tell me when you felt that way?
• What would you do if you were Blue?
• Would you stand up for Blue?
• Has anyone ever said something that made you feel bad?
• What did you do when that happened?
• Did anyone help you?
• Do any of the characters in the book remind you of anyone that you
• know?
• Can you give examples of when people you know act like the colorful
• characters in the book?

My Many Colored Feelings: Putting colors to emotions has been going on
for centuries. After all, some people believe that the expression
“green with envy” goes back to ancient Greece. Carol Grey made putting
colors with emotions popular with her comic strip conversations.
This activity helps children process their emotions using color as a visual aid.

What, Why and When Feelings Worksheet: A simple and visual exercise to
help children identify and process feelings.

Balloon People: Social Skills Activities to Help Children Explore Their
Feelings: Balloons are one of the best inventions ever! There are an
endless amount of ways to have fun with balloons, so coming up with
this idea to use balloons to explore feelings was natural. These balloon
people help children explore and identify their emotions in a fun and
playful way. Don’t be surprised if a tribe of balloon people invades your
house.

Move to a couple GoNoodle songs that deal with feelings and mood-
Be Nice or Mood Walk

Mrs. deSalvador is back - this time she is sharing a poem!

Sing with Pine Glen’s Ms. Agati

Be sure to think some good thoughts!

Today’s Chant:

I am loved

I am kind

I am awesome

Community Helpers

Are you a community helper?,.......share with us!

April 2020

Hello PG Kindergarten Families,

Soon we will be starting a mini-unit on community helpers!  We are aware that a lot of parents of our students may have community helper professions.  Due to this year's remote learning situation we need to be innovative with our approach. We would like to invite parents who are community helpers to video record themselves answering the questions below about their job. The students always look forward to having their parents help us in the classroom. This video recording approach will allow for parents to continue to help us.  Plus, seeing you on the computer/tv/iPad talking about your job and knowing that their classmates will be able to “see” you too will fill students with pride!

 If you are interested in sharing about your job, and we hope you are, please think about your answers to the questions below and video record yourself answering them.   Note:  If you would prefer to respond over a video chat we could arrange a time for an interview with a teacher to record the call.

1. What is your Community Helper job and what do you do to help the community?

2. Do you wear a uniform for your job? (Maybe you could wear it when you record yourself). Please tell us about the important parts of your uniform.

3. Do you need any particular tools or items to be able to do your job?

4. Why did you decide that this job was the job for you? What credentials do you need to do your job? How would someone train to do your job?

5.  What is the best thing about your job?

We look forward to seeing these Community Helper videos! Please email your child’s teacher by May 4th if you are willing to help us out with this project. This experience will be more meaningful to our students if parents are the people telling us about their jobs. However, we will recruit others in the community if we don’t have parent volunteers. All videos need to be completed and submitted by May 8th.  Thank you for your continued support even when we are not in the classroom!

Sincerely,

PG K staff

Reminder dates

May 4th - Let teachers know you will share your community helper job

May 8th - Video recording completed and submitted

Thank you Healthcare Workers!

Encheng and his sister Enyi teamed up to create a beautiful poster!  Nice job!  

Great to give thanks and to cheer our healthcare workers on!

April 27 - Read Aloud - Imogene’s Antlers

Today’s read aloud is Imogene’s Antlers by David Small. Mrs. Kearney
shares this story with us. This book is about a girl who wakes up with
antlers on her head. Her whole family is in dismay as they see her
walking down for breakfast. They try and cover the antlers up, but find
it is impossible. Then, others around her find good use of her antlers,
and make the best out of them.

Questions to discuss after listening to the story;

*What were some of the difficulties Imogene had after her antlers
appeared?

*What did her brother believe happened to Imogene? What do you think?

*Why was her mother upset? How did she try to solve Imogene’s dilemma? 

*How do you think Imogene felt about her antlers? What would you think
if it happened to you?

What would you do if you woke up one morning and had grown antlers on
your head? Write a story about how you would handle that crazy situation!

If I Grew Antlers

After you write a story, illustrate a picture of yourself with antlers and
how you might decorate or disguise them.

Draw your own antlers

Dance to this GoNoodle about another animal with antlers… a moose!

Great Big Moose

Try another Mystery Bag challenge with Mrs. deSalvador!

Sing with Pine Glen’s Ms. Agati

Be sure to think some good thoughts!

Today’s Chant:

Good, better, best.

Never let it rest.

Until your good is better,

And your better is your best!

Pick A Stick

We use choice in the classroom all the time.  Saw this suggestion on social media and wanted to share it with families at home.

Lots of great ideas!

Sensory Fun And More

Mrs. Hoyt recently subscribed to receive updates from this blog:

In this article, the author, Sharla Kostelyk offers lots of ideas to help us while we are home.  I love the Easy Sensory Activities to do inside a home - check them out!  We could all benefit from some additions to our sensory diet these days!

I certainly don't want to make light of the situation we find ourselves in, but there are also practical considerations and one of those is that most of us now have our kids home with us ALL. THE. TIME.

Even when I was homeschooling, that never happened. We were out and about and seeing other families, so it didn't feel anything like this.

And with kids home all the time and on top of that, dealing with big feelings, it only stands to reason that they may be climbing the walls and going a little bit stir crazy. That can lead to problem behaviours. I know you don't need that on top of everything else!

So I've put together a few resources for you to get started (and I'll have more coming).

1. I've compiled some Easy Sensory Activities to do Inside at Home. Remember that sensory input is so important for emotional regulation and mood.

2. If you're looking for ways to change things up a bit and stop the days from blending together, check out these Theme Day Ideas for Family Fun.

3. Sensory bins are an easy way to curb boredom and they take just minutes to put together. You can use things you have around the house so it doesn't have to cost anything. When people think of sensory bins, they often assume that they are only for toddlers and preschoolers, but older kids and even teens often love them. You may just need to present them in a slightly different way. Find all our sensory bin ideas here. Read about using sensory play with older kids and teens here.

Sharla