Imagination Station

Eric Carle Author Study

2008-03-27T15:01:00.002-04:00

Our students had a great time learning about Eric Carle and all of his amazing books. Our slideshow shows the students participating in Eric Carle activities and making their own creative artwork!! Hope you enjoy seeing your children hard at work and play!

Eric Carle Unit

2008-03-07T20:04:00.005-05:00

Hello to all! I want to start out by saying that I hope your child had a great time at the zoo. They enjoyed learning about all of the animals and seeing our class alligator! I hope most of you have heard about all of the wonderful Eric Carle books we've been studying. Some of them include The Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, From Head to Toe, and The Very Busy Spider. We have read these books to the students multiple times and they have enjoyed writing about their favorite part, their connection, and their re-telling of each story. After reading each story, the class completes an 'Eric Carle Attribute Chart' which includes the characters, setting, main idea, genre, and connections. This helps them keep track of each book, since many of his books include multiple animals. In Writer's Workshop, we have given the students a rubric in which they must follow to receive a 'happy face ladybug.' For example, if the student is re-telling the story, they should include the following: A lead sentence, the title, author, what happened in the beginning, middle, end, and details! We go over the rubric before they begin writing, and post it on the board so they can check off what they have done.

We have also completed a few crafts with the class, incorporating the books. For the Grouchy Ladybug, we had the children create their own ladybug, in which they told us something that makes them grouchy (these were quite fun to read!). They also created a character mobile for The Very Busy Spider...they look fantastic! Below is a slideshow which includes pictures of our rubrics, the arts and crafts projects, and some of the students' work. Enjoy!

LOTS to update on!

2008-02-20T18:10:00.008-05:00

Okay, so there is a LOT of fun stuff I have to share with you all! To begin with, Hiedi Robinson was nice enough to give us a lot of pictures from Fall 2007. These pictures include the Pow Wow, 1st 9 weeks awards ceremony, and fall fun. I uploaded all of these pictures into a photobucket account, where you can view them by album. (Pictures from the 100th Day are also posted here!) After clicking on the link, you will find the albums on the left hand side.

Mackarado Pictures

If you see any you like, you can save them and print them out, or even order prints directly from the web site. Enjoy!

Moving along, I'm sure most of you have heard that the class has begun an Eric Carle unit. We have been doing a lot of fun things in readers and writers workshop, so I hope your children are filling you in on some of the books we've read so far! Here is the link to his official page where you can check out creative activities, view photos of him, and watch videos showing how he creates his pictures.

Official Eric Carle web site

In math, we've been going over 2D and 3D shapes. Students used pattern blocks to create 2D designs, and let me just say that your children are VERY creative!! Below is a slide show where you can view some of their creations.

Keep checking back for the latest in the Mackarado classroom! Thanks!!

-Ms. Sanchez

Back in action!

2008-02-07T20:56:00.000-05:00

Hello all! This is Ms. Sanchez, and I will be responsible for updating the blog and keeping you all posted on the latest happenings in the Mackarado classroom. To begin with, I would like to say that I am so happy to have met some of you and all of your children! They are all so sweet and it has been a pleasure getting to know them.
During the month of January, the school was able to celebrate Chets Creeks 10th birthday. The children participated in many activities such as a ride on the magic school bus and a birthday party accompanied with dancing and cupcakes. Below is a video showing the children dancing during the birthday party (right after the teachers had to do the hokey pokey on stage!)

2007 Pow-Wow Activities

2007-11-19T20:26:00.000-05:00

Our Kindergarten Class participated in so many activities centering around the Native American Tribe, "The INUITS."

Students learned all about where they lived, what they looked like, what they wore, how they traveled, and what they did. Along with learning all about the Inuits, students helped decorate their costumes with Artic Animal Stamps.

They also painted and made their own harpoon, which was used for the "Harpoon Dance" during our culminating event POW WOW! Pictures were taken of various activities leading up to and including Pow Wow.

We hope that you enjoy seeing these great pictures of all that we learned and did during this exciting unit of study!

Pre Pow-Wow Activities

2007-11-19T15:24:00.000-05:00

Here are some class photos of activities leading up to pow-wow!

Class Field Trip

2007-11-13T21:30:00.000-05:00

Students had a great time on our last field trip to see "Mr. Al" live in concert.

Make and Take It

2007-11-13T21:25:00.001-05:00

We had a great time tonight during our Make It & Take It. Thanks to all of you
who were able to attend and spend time making Inuit Igloos! Our class sponsored the
"Alex's Lemonade Stand" and we want to thank Mattison, Meagan C., & Tanner from our
class for volunteering.

The Mackarado Class

2007-09-11T21:46:00.000-04:00

We are so excited about our class this year and our 35 "Mackarados." Now that we have been in school for a few weeks, students are really doing a terrific job learning the daily rituals and routines. We hope that parents will visit our blog often to get an inside look into the fun and learning that their child is having in the Mackarado Kindergarten Class. We are looking forward to an exciting year! :) Mrs. Alvarado & Mrs. Mack