Fire Safety

At Chets Creek we always like to do things a little better every year. Luckily one of our parents is a fireman and is always willing to help us out with our Fire Safety program. Yesterday 3 firemen from Station 41 came to our school in full gear.
















This year was not just about teaching them what the fire truck looks like, show them the gear, or to make sure they understood what to do if there was a fire. This year the goal was to continue with those ideas as well as show them how a rescue takes place so they wouldn't be frightened if there was an emergency. Let's admit it, when they are dressed in full gear - they look and sound scary.

Our cafeteria was transformed into a two room house. There were tables, bean bags, a sofa, and even a fireplace. But there were also flames from the candle left on the table.













With the lights down low and smoke from a fog machine, we had a house on fire and a victim that was unconscious (me). The firemen came in on their hands and knees and searched each room, put out the fire with the long hose brought in from the truck, and pulled me out of the house.



The rescue was a success.









The kids were in awe and were so excited by the scene. They had lots of questions and lots of stories to tell. The firemen talked about calling 911, making sure each family has a meeting place, checking smoke detectors, and how to stop - drop - and roll. At the end of the presentation, the kids were allowed to walk around the truck and see all the equipement. So many knobs and buttons.












The students were given a homework assignment of discussing the day with their parents and making sure the batteries were new in their own home smoke detectors. At the end of the day, each child was able to go home with a fireman's hat and a great lesson about fire prevention and safety.















Remember, if you haven't changed your batteries recently - daylight savings time is a great time to do it.

Here is a glimpse of what has been happening in our class over the last couple weeks. You can see we have had a great time learning about pumpkins and loved dressing up as literary characters!

Our First Field Trip

Our first field trip was a huge success! On Wednesday we took a trip to see Kevin Locke - a Native American of the Lakota and Anishinabe tribes. He is known throughout the world as a hoop dancer, flute player, and story teller as well as many other things. He mostly performs for children and works immensly with children on reservations to ensure the survival of their heritage. We chose to see Kevin's performance as a kick-off to our annual Pow Wow here at Chets Creek. Each year the Kindergarten classes chose a Native American tribe to study in their classrooms. What better way to get our kids excited about the unit study! Kevin Locke's performance included 4 dancers dressed in beautiful Native American attire, dancing, singing, flute and drum playing, story telling, a puppeteer, and hoop dancing. The kids were in awe. The moment the lights went out the audience, which included 219 Kindergartens from our school, it went silent. You can visit his website at www.kevinlock.com

Two of my favorite quotes from the day were:
Alex: Mrs. Harbour, I've never been on a bus before. This is great!
Matthew: That was a great field trip!

Below are some pieces of work which showcase our favorite parts of the day!




It's when he used the hoops.


The girl was doing a dance.


When the man made the design.


The puppet.

I liked when he rolled the hoola hoops.

Take a look at Mrs. Harbour's blog to find out about a great new experience our kids will be participating in beginning this week. You can check it out on http://harbourhighlights.blogspot.com or by clicking on Mrs. Harbour's blog under Other School Sites.

A Class Survey

This month we started to take surveys as part of our daily Math Counts. This week please vote for which star book has been your favorite so far this year. We will post this next week on our graph.

My favorite star book has been:
Caps for Sale
Where the Wild Things Are
Harry the Dirty Dog
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Red Riding Hood

Post your answer by next Monday and receive a treat next week!

Our Small Moments

Over the last couple weeks we have been learning how to write about small moments in our lives. During the workshop mini-lessons, the students have learned strategies to help them think about their story and get their ideas on to paper. The first strategy the students practice daily is to "turn and talk" about their writing topic with their floor buddies. This time helps them to think about their topic, discuss it with a friend, have questions posed to them regarding their topic, and the opportunity to listen to others share what they will be writing about. One writing strategy we use in class is for the student to tap the sentence onto their fingers so he/she is sure of what the sentence is and how many words are in the sentence. While he/she is writing, the student goes back and continues to tap out the words until the sentence is complete. Another strategy students use is to use the chart on the back of their individual writing folder. This chart shows the letters with a picture that begins with that sound. This helps them find the sounds they are unsure about. The most important thing that happens during writing time is conferencing. While students are writing, I am able to meet with children one on one or in small groups to discuss their work and help them learn to sound out their words and organize their thoughts. At the end of our workshop we are able to share our work with our classmates and celebrate all the great work that has been written. Here are some samples of our work from this week:

I have a special dress and I love it really love it cause its like a magic sorceress and it’s really beautiful.


I went to the sleepover



I go to my friends house Anna. I played computer and played tag.



Me and my mom went shopping for clothes. We got clothes. We got two shoes. I got jeans.



I went on the spiderman ride. The car was caught in the web. It was fun.





Today I am going to soccer practice. I played soccer with my friends.



One day at school it rained every-where.