New Opportunities!

Summer has come to an end and I hope all your children are excited about going back to school tomorrow! I had a few ask so just wanted to publish an update on where I will be this fall!
I have accepted a second grade position in Michigan City at Knapp Elementary! I am very excited for the opportunity to have my own classroom! The staff is great and I look forward to meeting all the kids tomorrow! I would have liked to have stayed in the area, but did not receive any offers from local schools so had to look elsewhere! I will most likely be moving closer to the school in the Fall.
I hope you all had a great summer and I am confident all your children are prepared for first grade! Continue the hard work with them at home and they will all continue to soar!
Joshua Schultz

Summer Learning Materials!!!

Kindergarten Families,
The last few days have been very depressing here at the school! It is very weird being here without the kids! We got everything cleaned up in the classroom and moved at the kids will come back to a new and improved Prairie Vista this Fall! All new carpet and walls with doors!
I have uploaded all of these documents for you to use with your children this summer. It is so important to spend a few minutes throughout the day refreshing skills we have covered and pushing them to better prepare for First Grade! 20 mins reading/comprehension, 10 minutes math, and 10 minutes writing! If you want to do the workbook thing I suggest a first grade workbook for the kids. Also if you need ANYTHING please comment on this blog or email me at JOASCHUL@GMAIL.COM as I am not positive how long my PHM account will be open!
Please have a fun and Safe Summer!!!
Joshua Schultz

Everything is hopefully organized into subjects!
Sentence Structure
Writing
Language Arts
Language Arts 2
General Skills and Ideas
Science
Language Arts 3
Sight Words!
Addition
Addition 2
Subtraction
Subtraction 2
Math Skills
Math Skills 2
Math Skills 3
Comprehension Skills
Comprehension Skills 2
Comprehension Skills 3
Comprehension Skills 4

June 5th 2013 LAST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!!!

Kindergarten Families,

I wanted to thank you all for an awesome experience here at Prairie Vista! I have loved working with your children and getting to know them each day! I very pleased with their growth and development over the course of my time as their teacher! I encourage you to continue their growth throughout the summer and I am confident they are each ready for first grade! Some Pictures and other activity sheets were sent home with them today! The worksheets are extra's I had in the room that we did not get to. I hope to upload a larger file of documents tomorrow or Friday that I encourage you to use throughout the summer to keep your children growing. Please check the blog periodically as I will put things on there as I find them. I also encourage you to purchase additional workbooks for your children to work on for 20-30 minutes each day. They should be ready for First grade workbooks and those might challenge them a little more. 

I am still in the process of job hunting for the upcoming school year so not sure where I will end up just yet. 

My personal email is JOASCHUL@GMAIL.COM and I encourage you to get into contact with me if you ever need anything. If you need tutoring or ideas please feel free to contact me. Also check in with the blog and feel free to comment on anything or ask any questions! http://schultzpvkindergarten.blogspot.com/

I will miss seeing your children everyday, but I am so glad I had this opportunity to be their teacher. I hope you are happy with the progress your children have made, if you have any comments or suggestions for me please feel free to email!

I highly recommend 20 minutes of reading, 15 minutes math facts, and 10 minutes of writing each day. Split these things up so they are not all at once, but I do encourage you to try and cover these subjects each day. Remember learning is everywhere so try and make things as simple as a trip to the grocery store educational!!

Hope you all have a GREAT SUMMER!

Joshua Schultz

On to First Grade they go!

Field Day!

We had a great final Monday at School!
This morning we finished our bird houses and made hats for field day!
We had four center rotations as well! We have fun centers today and tomorrow!
The kids ate lunch outside as a special treat!
We had Kona Ice following lunch.
Then we had our recess time before starting field day activities!!!
It was a GREAT Day and the kids had a blast!
Looking forward to another great day tomorrow!!
Joshua Schultz

Friday May 31, 2013

We had a GREAT FRIDAY!!! 
The kids were excellent today and we just had a fun day!
This morning we worked on our May writing and then had our final sing a long with the entire Kindergarten! Next we had two center rotations and then a read aloud before heading to lunch!
Following lunch we worked with Mrs. Lord's class on a birdhouse craft! We will finish them and send home Monday or Tuesday!
We also worked on a special gift for the end of the year!
We finished the day with art where we watched a video!
Kindergarten scrapbooks are going home today!
I want to thank Mrs. Oneal and the parent volunteers for all their hard work on these. It takes A LOT of work to put these together and they turned out amazing!
If you have time this weekend I encourage you to have your child write a Thank you card to Mrs. Oneal. Encourage your children to thank Mrs. Oneal for all her hard work throughout the year and for the memory book! 
I am heading North for some camping this week so am hoping the rain holds out! I hope you all enjoy the weekend with your children!
Only 3 days left!
Remember to send a labeled water bottle with your child on Monday for field day!!!
Have a GREAT weekend!!!
Joshua Schultz

Wednesday In class
Thursday In class
Math Centers

DIBELS Breakdown!

PSF - Phoneme segmentation fluency is sound segments for example FAN the child says F/A/N - say all the sounds. Students need 40 correct in a minute to be on target.

FSF - First sound fluency is beginning sounds for words. For example MAN the child says /mmm/ or /ma/ This was not tested for End of Year, however in Middle of Year students needed 30 correct in a minute to be on target.

TRC - Text and reading comprehension. The students read a short book to me and then I ask them questions about reading. B is proficient which means they are on target and C is above target.

NWF - Nonsense word fluency is asking for students to say all the sounds in nonsense words. For example SOG S/O/G Student need 28 correct in a minute to be on target.

LNF - Letter naming fluency. Students read a list of mixed upper case and lower case letters. There is no benchmark for this but all students did very well on this. 

WR - Sight word list. Students read a list of words. There is no benchmark for this, but all students did very well on this. They should have been able to identify all in first list which was 23 words. Anything after that is exceeding expectations

Everyone in my class did an Excellent job testing! I believe their scores reflect the hard work they have put into their first full year of Elementary school! 

These scores reflect students ability to tap out new words and quickly identify ones they already know. The score also gives us a good idea of where they are at with their reading level. The letter score for TRC reflects the reading scale A-Z. When looking at leveled readers the back has a letter that tells you how difficult the book is. Students should be able to read any leveled book up to the letter they scored on their own. I encourage you to maybe look online and purchase some books at their level, but also books up to two levels above their score. If your child had a C I would be sure to have C books available, but also D and E for reading with you. These books will challenge them to tap out new words and use strategies to expand their vocabulary. Please remember to ask questions following reading to see how your child is comprehending. Comprehension skills are so important. It may also be helpful to pause and discuss the story at several different times while reading! It is so important to challenge the kids at this age as it is incredible how they pick up new things so quickly. Please try and read 20 minutes everyday this summer as it will put them ahead of the pack for First Grade!!! The extra work will pay off in the long run!!!

Please email me at anytime throughout the summer if you have any questions or concerns. I am going to put together a packet or worksheets that will be available on this blog for summer work. 1st grade workbooks would also be a great tool to work on throughout the summer! I would encourage pausing for a bit of school at different times throughout the summer day! A little time in the morning, afternoon, and evening is a great way to get the 40 minute time in but just split it up so it is not overwhelming. Just 30-40 minutes a day will be a HUGE benefit!

20 reading

10 Math

10 Writing

Joshua Schultz

Wednesday May 29, 2013

We had a GREAT day today! The kids were the best they have been in about a week so that was nice!!!
This morning we worked on a adding doubles worksheet! They all did a great job with this! I asked them to write a sentence and draw an illustration on the back when finished!
We had two center rotations this morning before heading to the computer lab where we worked on Odyssey ABC and 123.
Following computer lab we had language arts. Today we worked on a reading comprehension worksheet. We spent a lot of time discussing the importance of underlining and reading the questions before reading. We also read and re-read the story. We then went to lunch and came back to answer the questions after lunch. This was important because it highlighted the importance of underlining. We went 30 minutes between reading the story and answering the questions, but the underlined parts helped us answer the questions quickly without re reading the entire story! The kids did a GREAT JOB with this!!!
Following this we had ten minutes of silent reading. The kids picked a book and spent the entire ten minutes looking at it and reading it silently!
Following silent reading we had a hot pencils math assessment!
During math today we had Centers! We have five centers and the kids went to two centers today! We will finish up the centers tomorrow and Friday! We are focusing on addition and subtraction, and story problem creation and solving!!
Following math we had recess outside and snack time!
We got new seats today!!! I switched the tables around and the kids each got a new seat for the end of the school year!!!
For science today we started our focus on Birds! We discussed what birds do and how they look. We completed a sequencing activity and then took a nature walk to look and listen for birds!
We finished the day with a reward recess! I am proud of their behavior today!!! I know it is tough at the end of the year, but they did a GREAT JOB!!!!
Hard to believe we only have five days left of Kindergarten!!!!
Have a great evening!!
Joshua Schultz

Friday May 24, 2013

Thank you all for the flowers this morning!! The kids were so excited to bring them in!
Morning work this morning we colored a flag and discussed the American Flag. We watched a video that showed the flag throughout the years.
We then had our morning board time and sing a long with the rest of Kindergarten!
We had two center rotations today to finish out the week! Following centers we listened to two books on tape! Next was lunch
Following lunch we listened to several non fiction books from the IDOE Summer Reading webpage!
In Math today we discussed in depth the addition and subtraction boxes. This took some time, but the kids all seemed to understand. We solved all the addition and subtraction problems together.
Next we worked on some subtraction skills and strategies.
We finished our day with recess and a discussion about Memorial Day. We discussed why we celebrate Memorial Day and listened to a book all about the Holiday. Each of the kids got their own American flag to take home and show on Memorial Day!!!

We finished our day with Art!

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Please remind your children of the true meaning for Memorial Day and to honor all American Veterans who have defended Freedom over the years!!!!

Happy Memorial Day!

Joshua Schultz

Friday Activities!

May 23, 2013

We had a GREAT THURSDAY!!!
This morning we read in the pit quietly for morning work! Then we went to the Library!
Following Library we had two center rotations.
Following centers we had our morning board time. We had some good discussion during out sentence correction time!
Next was lunch
We came back and had some read aloud time before heading to gym.
After gym we had math. Today we had a three minute math test and then worked on a math worksheet that had addition and subtraction problems on it. The challenge today was the format of the question. They did a great job with this but it took some time!
Following recess we had a special activity that Mrs. Hanna, and Mrs. Shepard prepared for our class. We got to make our own ice cream!!! The kids had a BLAST doing this and it turned out great for everyone!!!
Following this time we had read in the pit time while some finished their math sheets from earlier!

Looking forward to a GREAT FRIDAY!!

Have a great evening!

Joshua Schultz

Wednesday May 22, 2013

We had a good day today, a little talkative in the afternoon!
In the morning we worked on place value and counting to 100. This morning work went well and I was very impressed with all the kids during this time!
Next we had our morning board time and then went to computer lab! Today we worked on Odyssey 123!
During language arts we talked about rhyming words and word families OG and OAD. We had some good discussion during this time and the kids independently sorted the words!
Next was lunch!
When we returned from lunch we finished our Language arts worksheet!
We had some science time where we finished our Magic School Bus "Gets Planted" video!
I demonstrated the Indiana Department of Education online summer reading program. We listened to a couple of books to show the kids how it worked! The were excited about finding one about Jackie Robinson!
In Math we had our 3 minute math test and then worked on a graphing sheet. We discussed the parts of a graph and worked together to complete this worksheet. It was a challenging sheet for the kids, but I like to introduce challenging topics to them! They did a great job!!!
We had outside recess and came in a little early because of the rain!
To finish our day we watched Pocahontas! We discussed how this movie is realistic fiction. We explained to them that some of the characters in the movie were in fact real people, but the story line is not exactly how things played out for Pocahontas.

During the movie we had the opportunity to try some Cheese Curds! As many of you know I have deep Wisconsin roots and I was up there over the weekend so I brought back some cheese curds for the kids! They LOVED them!! It was fun to see some of the be cautious about trying them, but once they did most of them really liked them and wanted more!!!

Looking forward to a GREAT Thursday!!!
Joshua Schultz

SUMMER READING!!!!!!!

I am so excited about this awesome recourse the State of Indiana Department of Education will be providing this summer! 
This FREE reading program is amazing and will provide the opportunity for children to read by themselves or be read to! There are books on all genres and non fiction and fiction choices! Non Fiction is big in Common CORE so I encourage a lot of non fiction reading! I hope that you will use this throughout the summer! 10-15 minutes each day would be a great way for kids to read while online which can be exciting for them!
The Link will take you to the Indiana Department of Education website and it will give you the username and password to log in!!!
Check it out and save this link for summer reading!!!
Summer reading link!!

Tuesday May 21, 2013

We had a GREAT Tuesday!!!!
This morning the kids wrote five sentences of their own choice! It is fun to read what things they are writing about and it is even better to see their spelling of sight words and use of punctuation and capital letters improve! When they finished with the sentences they read in the pit!
Following our morning board time we had a comprehension skills worksheet! We had some good discussion through this reading and the kids did a great job answering the questions and explaining their answers. Critical thinking is very important!!
Next we had two center rotations!
Following centers we worked on Fact and Opinion! The kids did a GREAT job with this! We reviewed what a fact was and what an opinion was. This was a good discussion! We worked on our worksheet together and discussed each question and answer. We completed this after lunch!
Next we had our math time! Today we had three minute math and I am so impressed with how many passed today! It is great to see the kids mastering addition and subtraction! Next we discussed groupings of ten to help count correctly. We discussed why it might help to circle groups of ten and then add. We completed some sample problems together and then the kids worked independently on a worksheet activity. They ALL did an awesome job with this!! We finished our math time working on graphing. We discussed the purpose for the bar graph and how to read it. The kids then worked interdependently on the graph worksheet. They ALL did a great job with this activity! We will continue to discuss graphs throughout the week!
Next we had recess and snack
We finished our day with a Magic School Bus video about seeds!
The kids had art at the end of the day with Mrs. Oneal!

Only ten more days left until first grade!
Thank you to all who brought snacks for me today! I really appreciate it!

Please remember that Thursday the kids will go to the Library and the book fair. If you would like to send money with your child Thursday will be the day for it. You may also want to specify that they spend money on books if that is what you want. There are erasers and some other things that the kids often want to spend money on, but if you only want them to spend it on a book please write a note with the money you send in on Thursday. If you send it in a envelope with their red folders I will be sure they get it before heading to the Library. 
Have a great evening!
Joshua Schultz
Tuesdays activities!

Monday May 20, 2013

We had a busy Monday back at school!
This morning we had a coloring sheet with even and odd numbers. It is important for the kids to remember that odd numbers end with 0,2,4,6, or 8. Even numbers end with 1,3,5,7, or 9.
Following the morning work we had our morning board time!
In Fundations today we used our personal whiteboards to think of words using different blends. We had some good discussion during this time. Following that we completed a short reading and questions. The kids are doing an awesome job with the comprehension paragraphs!
Today we had two center rotations!
Following centers we worked on Fact and Opinion. We refreshed what we learned on Friday and used those skills to discuss and debate fact and opinion  We completed the worksheet together as a class and discussed each statement as being fact or opinion.
Next we had lunch and finished our worksheet after lunch!
We had music and movement in the gym today! The kids are excited to be done with play practice so they can get back to their normal gym schedule!
Following gym today we took a nature walk to see how the trees have changed since budding their leaves. We discussed the difference between oak trees and maple trees. We also discussed pine and cedar trees! We enjoyed out walk through the prairie and woods!

We then had our regular recess time with the rest of Kindergarten!
After recess we came in and enjoyed our snack!
Next came math! Today we were busy in math! We had a hot pencils 3 minute test to start things out. Next we worked in our May Math Journals! After that we discussed subtraction skills and completed a subtraction worksheet. We talked about putting the larger number in your head and then pulling out the smaller number by counting to it. The kids enjoyed this and I hope it will help them in their subtraction skills!
Following our subtraction activities we worked on grouping tens. We will spend all week discussing this. Students struggle with taking time to count and circle the groups of then but they need to understand that making the groups will help them have less mistakes in their addition and subtraction of larger numbers!
We finished the day with a discussion of how things have changed outside since spring first began in March!
We had a great Monday back at school!! This is our last full week of school! 11 days until First Grade!!!!
Please continue to read, work on writing, and math skills each night with your children!!!
Have a great evening!!
Joshua Schultz
Today's in class activities!

Friday May 17, 2013

We had an AMAZING FRIDAY!!!
The kids were awesome today!!!!
What a great program they put on for you all last night! The kids were proud of all their hard work and we were all so proud of their performance!!!
This morning we worked on our little books! They are enjoying the opportunity they have to write their own books! We will share them on Monday!
We had a video for our sing along time and then had two center rotations!
We had a reward recess before heading to lunch!
Following lunch we finished our Jackie Robinson book and discussed it! It was a great read aloud lesson!

Next we had some math time! We discussed groupings of ten today! Next we discussed graphing and introduced a lesson on context clues! We had A LOT of good discussion during this time!! I am so excited about these kids ability to discuss and be willing to attempt to answer new things in front of the whole class! Next we went outside for a reward for a great performance last night of Popsicle's! The kids enjoyed this and then had recess time!
Following recess we had ten minutes of silent reading and then a Fact and Opinion activity! The kids WERE GREAT during this time and again their ability to discuss and willingness to share their responses is awesome! We had a great discussion about the difference between facts and opinions! I encourage you to carry on this lesson in everyday conversation with your children. It is important for them to know the difference especially in advertising and news stories!
We finished our day with Art and a special birthday snack from Ryann S! Happy Birthday!
Hope you all have A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!
Joshua Schultz

Wednesday May 15, 2013

We had another GREAT day!!!
This morning we discussed more about Jackie Robinson and we started making our own books! The kids get to write about whatever they want and share with the class when they are finished! I am excited to start this with the kids as it gets them writing and allows them to be creative! They love it!

We had our DOL this morning and the kids did a GREAT job identifying what was wrong with these sentences! I am really pushing spelling on basic sight words and the kids did not miss a mistake in the two sentences!!

We had computer lab this morning where we worked on Odyssey ABC! We earned 15 minutes of free time because we did such a good job in the morning!
Following computer lab we had Math pentathlon! Our final of the year! The kids enjoyed this time each month!
We had play practice following lunch. I am looking forward to tomorrow nights performance! The kids will get their tshirts tomorrow!
We then had snack and recess!
Following recess we stayed outside and discussed onomatopoeia's! We sat and listened for sounds and wrote what they sounded like! This was very fun and the kids really got into it! We discussed all kinda of onomatopoeia's!  We then came inside and wrote a poem!

To finish the day we had our PHM exercise video!

Continue to work on writing, math, and reading each and every night!!!
Enjoy the weather!!!
Joshua Schultz

Tuesday May 14, 2013

We have had a busy two days here in Kindergarten! The Kindergarten program for Thursday evening is really coming together! It is fun to watch them get so excited for their parts!
This morning we had fifth graders come in and lead our class in exercises! We will be doing this all week!!

We have been reading a book about Jackie Robinson and discussing it whenever we have time! It is great to hear what the kids are retaining as we read! We have talked a lot about how some people in our country were treated unfairly. It is great to expose the kids to nonfiction readings and important historical events that have changed our country for the better! When the 42 movie comes out on DVD is might be a great movie for the kids to watch with the family this summer!
We worked a lot with Story Elements today through several different readings. We broke down characters, setting, main idea, and theme. It is important to ask higher level critical thinking questions when reading and discussing readings! The kids have great thoughts!
We have had two center rotations each day! The groups that have been reading with me have done an awesome job! They are sounding out words and comprehending what they are reading!
We have been focusing on simple addition this week in math.
We ended our day with Art!
Today was healthy snack day here at school! Mrs. Duffield provided some delicious strawberries, Cary's Hockenhull provided us with apples and I provided grapes and bananas! The snack was delicious and we discussed why fruits and vegetables are a good choice while deciding things to snack.

Following our snack time we discussed the importance of compost and how all of these items will break down to soil and fertilizer! We discussed how organic things such as leaves, fruits, vegetables, and sticks will eventually break down into dirt and become fertilized soil! I will be taking this bag of peels and leftovers to put into my compost at home! The kids may pressure you into creating a compost bin at home =)

Please continue to read, work on writing, and simple math skills at home! 
15 Days until Summer Vacation!!!
Have a great evening!
Joshua Schultz

Friday May 10, 2013

We are FINISHED with Dibels testing!!!!! 
We all did a GREAT JOB and I am very happy with our scores!!
This morning we worked on practicing identifying the larger number worksheet!
We then watched a movie with the entire Kindergarten so we could celebrate the end of Dibels testing! I finished my testing during this time!
Following the movie we had centers time! We had one rotation this morning.
Following lunch we worked on our Mothers Day Cards (I hope I am right this week!!!)
Next we had our Kindergarten play practice! The program is really coming together!
After practice we had Fairy Tale Time! I had Mrs. Lords class during this time!
We ended the day with our final center rotation for the week and a read aloud with Mrs. Peaks class!

I am so relieved the our Dibels testing is done and am so happy with how the kids did!

I am sending home our tomato plants with the kids today! Please wait and plant it outside next week sometime. We are supposed to have  frost on Sunday evening! The kids are very proud of these and I hope they will be able to observe them throughout the Summer and Fall! We started these from seeds and have been observing their growth! If you do not have a garden you could plant them in a large flower pot! The need full sun and regular watering! Hope they will produce some tomatoes for the kids to try this fall!!

In the red folders is a Mothers Day card for all you awesome Mothers!!! The picture was taken on May 3rd in the front of the school!!! Hope you enjoy the cards and pictures!!!

Please continue reading with children, working on sentence writing, and math skills!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!
Joshua Schultz 

Tuesday May 7, 2013

We had another busy day today!
This morning for morning work we had a thinking and writing worksheet. The kids had to think of things they have done on rainy days and then write about it. It is great to have the kids thinking and expressing their thoughts in writing!
We completed our morning board and worked on vowel sounds during Fundations.
We had two center rotations today and then went outside for free time because of I step testing so we would not disrupt the testing!
My class had lunch in the yard outside! We had a great time! This was a reward the kids earned! It was fun to sit outside and enjoy our lunch on such a great day!

Following lunch we practiced our lines for the play

We had practice fort he Kindergarten program.

During Math we took a 3 minute math test, worked on our May math books, discussed number words and missing number.

We went outside for science and observed our tomato plants and then took a short nature hike! We talked about oak trees, maple trees, red bud trees, cedar trees, and ground plants. It was a great time!

The kids finished the day in art!

Please work on reviewing missing number skills tonight. Will be testing that tomorrow for Mclass!

Have a great evening!

Joshua Schultz

Mclass Review Packet

What a great Monday back at school today!
We had a very busy day once again, and this week will continue to be a little crazy due to our Mclass testing schedule!
I will start testing tomorrow. We will test on counting to 100 in under a minute. Please work with your children tonight on this skill so it is fresh in their minds! Remind them not to skip any numbers!
This morning our morning work as to write 3 sentences about what you did over the weekend. It is great to see the kids be able to come up with original thoughts for their writing. They also are doing a great job using punctuation and capital letters when needed! I did not help with spelling and encouraged them to use the skills we have learned in Fundations to sound out and spell out their words. 
Following morning work we completed our morning board calender time.
Next we had Fundations! Today we discussed blends CH and SH. We really spent time discussing how different the sounds are and how we can identify a CH and SH when spelling. 
Next we had two center rotations. My reading groups did a GREAT job reading both books!
During our Language Arts time we worked on a reading comprehension sheet. The kids are doing a very good job with these and more and more are volunteering to read out loud each day which is great for confidence! 
We finished the reading comprehension sheet after lunch and had our play practice! Things are really coming together for the play!
We had math in the afternoon. We took a three minute math test and I had 18 students pass today! It is great to see so many passing each day! After the three minute math we had a calender worksheet that was very challenging but we worked through it together. I want the kids to really understand what the days of the month mean and how we can break down days and weeks and months! We had some good discussion during this time! 
We had recess outside today! What great weather!
Following recess we went back outside to do some addition and subtraction problems using sidewalk chalk! The kids enjoyed doing this and we also squeezed in some sight word spelling practice with the sidewalk chalk!
We finished our day in science where we took a nature hike in the woods and prairie  We discussed different plants, trees, and animals that we saw! I think it is great to expose the kids to nature and for them to really just walk and watch how nature works! It was a great time! 

We then came inside to do our bean observation! The seeds sprouted and we discussed why that happened! All seeds need is soil, water, sun, and air to grow! The kids brought these home today! I encourage you to keep this "experiment" going and maybe try planting one of the sprouted seeds as well as keeping one in the bag to keep growing. The kids were very excited about this and I think it may be beneficial for them to continue with their observations at home! Kids need to explore and test things on their own and this is a great way to work their observation skills!
Please work on Mclass packets this evening, review and discuss the skills being tested. Focus on counting to 100 as fast as they can tonight! Will test tomorrow so please be sure kids get a great night of sleep and a good breakfast!!!
Have a great afternoon!!
Joshua Schultz
Monday in class activities!
Mclass review!

May 3, 2013

Happy Friday!
We had a VERY BUSY day today! We worked on a craft for Mothers Day that took a long time to complete!
We also had play practice today that took up a lot of time!
This morning we completed a math worksheet for morning work and then started on our Mothers Day craft. We then had centers and read aloud before heading to lunch.
Following lunch we had our play practice and then worked more on our Mothers Day craft. We then had recess and more time to finish our activity.
We finished the day with art.

Mclass Practice

Please practice MATH this weekend! Mclass testing is next week!!!

Have a good weekend!!!

Joshua Schulttz

We had an awesome day in Kindergarten today!!!!
Will be keeping this short as I have an appointment to get to this afternoon!
I have attached today's lesson plans and activities!
I want you to all focus on Math skills with your children specifically Number identification 0-100, Missing number 0-20, Counting to 100 in a minute, and identifying the larger number out of two numbers. 

I will be sending home some practice sheets for you to work with them over the weekend. This is very important as the end of the year Mclass testing is coming up. We will continue to review in class each day!

This has been a great week and the kids are doing a great job with all their work in the classroom!
Have a great evening! Enjoy the weather!
Joshua Schultz
Wednesday Activities!

What a great way to start our Monday with a two hour delay! I hope everyone enjoyed the extra rest this morning!
We came in and got right to work with our morning work this morning! The activity asked the kids to write their own story and illustration. Most of the kids wrote just basic sentences, but that is fine. They also had to match pictures on the other side of the worksheet. We discussed the connection each picture had.
Following morning work we had our morning board time. Then we had lunch!
After lunch we shared what we did over the weekend and had a short read aloud before heading to the gym to practice for our Kindergarten program!
After practice we had language arts time! Today we continued our discussion on ABC order and completed a worksheet! I am VERY impressed! The kids worked independently to complete the ABC order worksheet and ALL did a GREAT job! We will continue to stress ABC order throughout the remainder of the year!
After completing the ABC order sheet the kids got time for silent reading or read with a partner. They are all doing such a great job during this time and it is great to see them excited to read in the pit!
We had outside recess today which was great!
Following recess we had our math time. We started off with our hot pencils math test. I am very impressed with the amount of students passing each day! Then we worked in our April math books. Following the April math books we discussed different ways to get to ten. This is review but it is an important standard for students to master in Kindergarten. We completed a worksheet to go along with this discussion. Everyone did a great job during this time! We finished math with some Mclass practice. The Mclass testing will begin next week so we will spend a little time each day reviewing the main concepts that will be tested. I am confident that ALL students will do very well on the math testing!
We finished our day with science! Today we discussed seeds and how a plant grows from the beginning! We started our baggy seed growing activity today and discussed how we will observe it over the next couple of weeks! We also had some reading from our science big book today! These kids are really excited about growing and plants and trees! I love discussing and answering questions they come up with during our science time!
I sent home the script for the play today. Remember not all students have speaking parts, and if they are not involved in this play they will be involved with other parts of the Kindergarten program! If your students has lines please practice with them at home!!
Please continue to read and work on math and writing at home each night! 
Have a great evening! Enjoy the weather!
Joshua Schultz!
Monday Activities!

April 26, 2013

We had a GREAT Crazy Friday here in Kindergarten! It was fun to be crazy for a day!

The kids were great all day and did not ACT CRAZY!

We had a crazy schedule as well today. 

This morning we had discussed the OI and OY blends. We had a great discussion and completed the worksheet together. We will continue introducing more blends so students will be able to sound out bigger words!

We had a guest reader from third grader read to us this morning!

We had our sign along time this morning. We practiced our songs for the program in May!

Next we had two centers!

We had a read aloud following centers and then went to lunch!

Following lunch we had a shortened math time in which we completed a quick hot pencil test!

Next was fairy tale time! Our class went to Mrs. Lords room for a special activity!

We had an extended recess today as a reward for doing such a great job on Dibels and TRC!!

Following recess we had our snack and then practiced our play!! It is coming together and it will be great come May 16th for the school program!

Today was a REWARD Day for our children! They have been doing such a great job each and everyday and I am especially proud of their Dibels and TRC scores! They have done such an awesome year and I am excited to be able to have more reward time as our year winds down! 

Please continue to encourage your children to read at home with you each day! Also work on math skills! Mclass math testing will start on the 10th. The testing will be on counting to 100 in a minute, number identification, fill in the missing number, and identifying the larger number. Will will also hit this in review starting next week! Once Mclass testing is done we will be done for the year!!!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!

Joshua Schultz

Todays activity!

Thursday April 25, 2013

We had a GREAT Thursday!!!
The kids did a great job today! We had Mr. Glassman here all morning! The kids learned all about several animals and he even brought in a salamander and snake for them to hold or touch if they wanted! The kids loved this and it was funny to watch them react to the animals!!

It was a fun morning for the kids!! This is a picture of the salamander and snake!

We had two centers today which were free time centers for the kids. We did not have regular centers this week because of the Dibels and TRC schedule.

Following lunch we had play practice!

Following that we had math time. We took a hot pencils math test and I am so happy with the results! More and more are passing everyday! We also worked on counting by 5's and even and odd number recognition. That proved to be challenging for some because we were dealing with two digit numbers. We had a long discussion and I believe most took away an understanding of how to identify based on the ones digit! We also worked in our April Math books! 

We then had recess which was inside because of the rain!

Finally we worked on a reading comprehension page! The kids are really doing a great job with these pages! This is such a tough skill and the kids are really catching on quick! I am confident that these skills helped produce the excellent scores on TRC testing!

At the end of the day we practiced our Kindergarten program songs and nursery rhymes!

I did send home a math page to be completed for homework tonight! 

Please continue reading, working on math skills, and writing at home each night!!! 

Looking forward to Friday! Remember it is crazy day! So crazy hair, crazy clothes for a dollar donation that will go towards to PHM Silver Mile Foundation! 

Look forward to Friday!!!

Joshua Schultz

4/22-4/23 Materials
4/24-4/25 Materials

April 22, 2013

Happy Earth Day!!
We are going to have a different week this week! Today was way different!
This morning we watched The Lorax in honor of Earth Day! The kids enjoyed watching and discussing this movie! We talked a lot about the importance of Earth Day all day today!
Following the movie we had a discussion and then moved into some Fundations time. We worked with Consonant S blends. The kids were GREAT during this time!
We also had our morning wall time before heading to lunch!
Following lunch we had gym which our kids used to start preparing for the Kindergarten program in May!
Following gym we did an Earth Day coloring sheet and wrote a sentence about what we would do to save the Earth. The kids also drew an illustration to go along with their sentence. They had some great suggestions for ways to keep our Earth clean!
We had recess today outside! It is beautiful out and hope the kids can get out more once they get home!
Following recess we had some math time. We worked on a Earth Day math sheet that had us counting and writing the number words out. The kids did a great job during this time!
To wrap up our short math time today we did some counting, and number identification activities!
We finished the day by practicing our songs for the program!
The Kindergarten Program will be on May 16th at 6pm!!!
Will continue with our mixed up week tomorrow! Working on TRC testing! Kids that have been tested so far have done an excellent job and I am confident that all will do well!!!
Have a great evening! Enjoy the weather!
Josh

Friday April 19, 2013

We had a busy Friday! It has been a crazy week with Dibels so I apologize for not updating blog daily. We ALL did awesome on our Dibels testing and the TRC reading part will start next week. This one is even more time consuming so please be sure kids are ready to go each day here at school!
This morning we wrote our sight words for morning work. We are working on handwriting and I also want students to know how to spell the sight words.
We had our morning board time and sing along.
We did two centers today and I was VERY impressed with those the read with me today! We are doing a great job of trying to sound out new words that we do not know! I am very pleased with the progress these kids have made!
After centers we had a story that we all listened to.
Language Arts time was after lunch today and the kids were great during the lesson. We had a build it, write it, say it sentence activity! The kids did a GREAT job with this and were able to explain why the first word had a capital letter and why the last word was followed with a punctuation mark!
We then worked on a comprehension worksheet! We are doing a great job with comprehension skills and understanding the importance of know what we read! We will continue to stress this throughout the remainder of the year.
We then has recess and snack time.
We finished the day with some math and partner reading!
The kids had art at the end of the day!
It was another busy week here in Kindergarten and I am excited about the progress these kids are making! It is awesome to see the learning and growing! 32 Day until first grade!
Have a GREAT weekend!!!
Joshua Schultz

Tuesday April 16, 2013

We had a great Tuesday!
Our morning work was the other side of our add and color worksheet. The kids did a great job with this activity and enjoyed coloring in the pictures!
We then had morning meeting and morning board time. All the kids did a great job staying focused during this time!
We had two center rotations today. My groups started working on the story details sheets that we will be working on throughout the remainder of the year after we read!
Following centers we worked on our fundations worksheet. We are talking about blends! Today's lesson was consonant r blends. We had a lengthy discussion about this before centers and completed the worksheet after centers. We took our time and worked through this. Blends are difficult for many to understand but we will be discussing them everyday through the end of the year.
Next was lunch, today the group of students who brought back spring break packets got to have lunch with me in the classroom! They really enjoyed this and it was great to be able to reward those who completed the extra practice work!
Following lunch we had read aloud time.
In math today we completed a hot pencils math test. The kids are doing a great job on these! Next we completed three pages from our April math books. We also worked on addition problems. The kids really are mastering their addition skills! Finally we introduced the different ways to add up to ten. We used blocks to give a visual during this time. We also talked about turn-around facts. The kids did a good job during this and we will continue to practice throughout the week.
Finally we ended our day working on our spring acrostic poems. We did not finish but the kids have been coming up with great things to write!
We had art to finish the day!
Dibels testing will start tomorrow so please be sure that your child gets a good amount of sleep and a healthy breakfast to start the day! Tomorrow we will be tested on letter sounds in nonsense words. For example they will see the word MIP and must say /M/ /I/ /P/. I am confident that they will all do well!!!
Get them outside after school to run around and play!!
Mr. Schultz
Tuesday activities!

Friday April 13, 2013

Today was a Great Friday here in Kindergarten!!!!
This morning we worked on addition and coloring in the numbers to reveal a picture. The kids enjoyed this and it was great to see them taking their time to work on it! We did not finish so I collected it and we will work on it again next week!
We had morning meeting and calender time. We completed everything on the morning board!
We had sing-a-long next with the entire Kindergarten! We are practicing our songs for the Kindergarten program in May.
We had two center rotations today. I used this time to practice the Dibels testing format with individuals. The practice run is turning out great with most in green!
After centers we had a read aloud with Mrs. Peaks class!
Following lunch we read a chapter from our Magic Treehouse book!
During our math time today we practiced turn around facts on the whiteboard, had a 3 minute math test, and worked with base ten blocks to make numbers. We discussed place value for tens and ones during this time. There were 4 students who struggled in the beginning and it was awesome to see them gain and understanding of the use of base ten blocks today! Math went well today!!
Following math time we had our fairy tale time block. Our listened to Jack and the Beanstalk, and then made Jack or the Giant! While reading we discussed story elements. The kids were excited to color their own giant or Jack! These turned out good!! They will have the opportunity to make the other character next week!
This took us until the end of the day when we packed up and finished with art!

The kids are doing an awesome job during partner read/read to self! This picture shows them reading in the pit! They really are doing a great job! It is fun to just sit and listen to them read! Their favorite books are still my Dr. Seuss collection!!

This was a great week here in Kindergarten! I am actually looking forward to our testing times next week because I am confident that these kids will do a GREAT job! It will be exciting to see the result of their hard work all year! These tests also give us an idea of area's we can better improve on through the remainder of the school year!

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Joshua Schultz

Friday in class worksheets!

Thursday April 11, 2013

We had a good day today!!!!
This morning we worked on counting and graphing for our morning work! The kids did a great job with this activity! It is important for them to know and understand how to make a graph and how to read a graph!
We then went to IMC!
When we came back from IMC we had time to check over our graphs and discuss them! Then we had two center rotations!
During centers time I spent time preparing kids for next weeks Dibels testing! I think we are in good shape!
After Centers we had our morning meeting and completed our morning wall!
After lunch we had a short read aloud from the new chapter in our Magic Treehouse Book!
The kids went to Music and Movement! I used this time to switch out books for book bags that will come home today!
When the kids returned we had our comprehension strategies time! We had a short story with six questions. The kids did a great job with this. I am calling for volunteers to read aloud. It is great to see them so excited to have the chance to read out loud! We took our time to underline and discuss each question! Most important thing to remember is that the answer is RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR FACES! We just have to find it!
We had inside recess today because of the rain!
After our snack we had math time. We had our 3 minute math test. It is great to see so many passing each day! We have more than half the class now on subtraction and I am sure that by the end of next week we will almost have everyone on subtraction! This is a great accomplishment!!!
Next we worked on our April math books. We had good discussion throughout this! Finally we got out our personal whiteboards and worked on math facts together in the pit!
We then worked on some Fundations things and discussed the different sounds X can make and beginning sounds/letters.
We ended our day by starting an Acrostic poem for Spring!!! We will finish these tomorrow and they will hang in the hallway!
It was a great day today!!!
Looking forward to Friday!!
Mr. Schultz

My Apologies! Week catch up!

I apologize for being behind on the blog this week! All has been going well in class this week! I have been very busy getting things ready for the start of our Dibels and TRC testing next week. I will be starting that on Wednesday and it will take a couple of weeks to complete as I can only test at certain times throughout my day.
The kids have been great this week and I am very happy with their effort each and everyday in class.

We have a new class motto and it is " EXPECT SUCCESS" 
We have been discussing what this means every morning. I want the kids to understand that being successful does not necessarily mean getting everything 100 percent correct. I want them to understand that they can be successful in whatever they do. The definition I am using for success is, " When you do your personal best and work to achieve your goals." In class I want the students to know that I "expect success" from them each and everyday and they need to also "expect success" from themselves and be confident in their work.

Will be updating this evening and I am doing my best to keep up!!!

I am attaching the comprehension practice sheets we will be doing everyday. It wouldn't hurt to do these at home when you have extra time. I really stress a 4 part approach to these. 1 Read the questions. 2 read the story and highlight/underline parts that are important (think about the questions). 3 reread the story. 4 answer the questions. It is important to stress that ALL of the answers are in the reading. All we have to do is go back and FIND them!!! re-read multiple times if needed!!!
Comprehension skills

We are ready for a GREAT Thursday!

Mr. Schultz

Monday April 8, 2013

I could not have asked for a better first day back from break! The kids were great today! It was fun to hear all of their stories about what they did over spring break! They all agreed that they all were able to relax and have some fun over the break! They got right back into the swing of things in the classroom so that was great! The kids started out with new Green Bay Packer pencils this morning! I am a huge Packer fan and was in Green Bay for a day over break so I bought them all nice new pencils!

For morning work they each wrote at least 2 sentences about something they did over break. Then they drew an illustration to go with their sentence. We then had our morning meeting and shared our spring break activities. In Fundations we talked about the long a sounds and how most of the time ai makes the long a sound. We had some good discussion and made a list of words with long a and with the ai spellings!
We had two center rotations today!
Language arts we started discussing story characteristics. We will be doing much more with this throughout the week.
We finished our Magic Treehouse book today after lunch.
The kids had music and movement.
When they came back from music and movement we worked on our word families and some math facts. We practiced counting and number identification.
After lunch and snack we had our science time. We discussed seeds and the process of planting and growing them. We planted our own tomato seeds and will be monitoring their growth throughout the remainder of the school year. I am very excited for this process and know the kids are too! Each got to plant their very own tomato plant seeds!

We finished the day with math skills about more or less and number identification. The kids were great during this time!
It was a great first day back!!! We will start Dibels Mclass testing next Wednesday so please be practicing counting to 100 in under a minute, number identification 0-100, missing number 0-20, and Quantity discrimination. We will be hitting these things hard each day in class but extra practice at home will make a big difference! It would be great to see everyone in Green to finish out the year!!!
Looking forward to a great week!
Joshua Schultz
Today's in class worksheets!