Season of Giving

The Kindergarten students at Chets Creek this year decided that our Season of Giving project would be to collect diapers for Helping Hands Diaper Center. We were amazed by the outpouring of support to all of the families who chose to donate to this worthy cause. We were so proud of the amount that we were able to collect and the workers at Helping Hands were amazed by the number of diapers that we were able to donate. As always the families at Chets Creek are always willing to assist in helping those in need. What a wonderful way to celebrate the Season of Giving. Happy Holidays!

Long Time No See

Oh my goodness. It has been a long time since we have posted. There have been so many exciting things that we have been doing. We have participated in the Literary Parade at the end of October. Each of the children dressed up as their favorite literary character. We spent all of November studying the Seminole Tribe and learning about their traditions and culture. We culminated that unit of study with all of Kindergarten as we celebrated Pow Wow. The children performed Native American Dances and sang Native American songs. The children spent the rest of the day traveling from station to station, learning, playing, singing tasting and listening. It was an amazing day.

We are quickly approaching Winter Break. Many exciting activities to come. We will be celebrating Polar Express day with our jammies and making home made doughnuts.

Diamond D Ranch

We had our first field trip to the Diamond D Ranch. It was a terrific day. We had bautiful weather lots of fun and we learned a lot as well. The children were able to ride on the drum roll. A ride that spun them around and around. We went on a hayride and were allowed to feed some very large cows. The children saw a buffalo and fed the goats. We were given the opportunity to meet and brush a miniature horse and were given the opportunity to ride a horse as well. We had many moms, a dad and a grandmother join us for this wonderful day. A great time was had by all. Can't wat for the next new adventure in kindergarten!

The First Day of School!

What a terrific first day. Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Meissner welcomed a terrific group of kindergartners. We spent some time in the classroom establishing some of the class routines. We then went to the Media Center for an assembly where we learned a new song. After lunch the students went outside for a Wow experience. The students visited a petting zoo filled with sheep, a pig, bunnies, chickens a pony and more. The children were able to see an enclosed bee hive up close and taste fresh honey. Each child was also able to plant a seed. They were able to choose between broccoli, cabbage and collard greens. Wow what a first day and this is just the beginning! We are all looking forward to 179 more exciting and learning filled days.

Welcome to Kindergarten

We would like to welcome our new class of Kindergartners. We were so pleased to see such a great turnout at Orientation. Please remember to fill out all of the forms that you received at Orientation. We are looking forward to an exciting year filled with a great deal of learning, growing and fun. We will see you Monday morning for the first day of school. Be prepared for a Wow experience!

African Storytellers

Thursday was another day of wonder and excitement as we entered the dining room for another wonderful performance to celebrate Cultural Arts week at Chets Creek. We were greeted by two wonderful performers, with a variety of African Musical instruments. They sang beautiful songs, told wonderful African Folk tales and spoke to the children about respect and character. There were many children invited to the stage with some very lucky teachers to perform and play the many instruments. Wow it has been an exciting week so far with many lessons learned and great exposure to a variety of performing art forms. Who knows this may be the week that one of our very own students becomes inspired to create beauty as an adult and become an artist.

Mrs. Poetry

We had a poet come to us. She started with a cool poem about hats. That certainly got our attention. She did lots of voices and movement as she recited the poetry. She asked teachers to come up and act out her poems with her and she invited Mrs. Brown to participate. Mrs. Brown had to talk and act like a monster. Alexis says that Mrs. Brown was very silly. Nolan declared that Mrs. Brown was "very funny". Kiersten liked the part when Mrs. Brown was acting like she was stirring the pudding. When asked what they thought of the poetry lady the students comments were, Nidhi says, "She was funny." Nino says "She was silly." Daphinie says "She was funny because she acted like a beetle coming out of a box." Gabby says, "She did a Beach poem that was funny." The last thing we did was recite altogether one of Mrs. Poetry's poems that she wrote. It was called NERDS RULE! Mrs. Poetry said herself, "I don't just write poetry, I don't just read poetry I LOVE poetry" and so do we!

Posted and written together by Mrs. Brown's students

Two Drummer's Drumming

We had two gentlemen from the Percussion Section of the Jacksonville Symphony with us on Tuesday. They were terrific! They introduced us to many different instruments. Some of these were, Bongos, glockenspiel, tambourine, xylophones,cymbals and the cow bell. They played a few pieces of music. One of the pieces of music was like how they used to communicate in the army before there were radios and walkie talkies. We clapped with them and they told us about different genres of music.

Posted by the students in Mrs. Brown's class

IT"S ARTS EXTRAVAGANZA WEEK!!!!

This week is Arts Extravaganza week at Chets Creek. This is an annual tradition. This week is for experiencing and appreciating a variety of Art Forms. Each day the children will be able to go to an assembly to enjoy and learn. Monday's assembly was a Puppet Troupe with lots of silliness, music and a great message at the end. "Don't judge someone by their outside but it is what is inside that counts." Stay tuned for what new experience Tuesday's assembly brings.

Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole

Chets Creek had the great pleasure to have a visiting author and illustrator with us.Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole were at the Creek. They are the author and Illustrator of our new Book of the Month, Princess Pigtoria and the Pea. Our class had the great fortune to go and listen to Mrs. Edwards read the book Livingstone Mouse. We also enjoyed directing Mr. Cole as he drew a new character based on the directions of the children. They were very entertaining for the children as well as a wealth of information for the budding authors and illustrators in First Grade.

Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole are Coming!

The Author Pamela Duncan Edwards and her collaborator Henry Cole an illustrator are coming to Chets Creek to share their knowledge, and their books. We have been reading and enjoying their books in class. Yesterday, we went to Henry Cole's website and explored the site. We as a class sent him an e-mail, and when we arrived at school this morning, he had written us back! He also included a link for us to see the Trailer of his newest work.
Here is what he wrote to us...


Mrs. brown and first graders!


i am so looking forward to seeing you next week. i think chet's creek is one amazing fabulous school and i can't wait to spend the day there.
i have several new books coming out... one in particular i want you to know about. you can watch a little trailer for it (i'm sending the link). i think 'nest for celeste' is my favorite-ever book... and yes i just love my job!


thanks for the great email and see you soon,
henry cole


http://email.hample.com/t/y/l/uuium/ujliijlii/r

Groundhog Day

We had a wonderful opportunity to work with a Kindergarten class on their Groundhog's Day Science. The kindergartners were learning about their shadow, and the way the sun is in a different part of the sky at different times of the day. Our class had just finished our study of the Solar System so we had plenty of information to share with the kindergartners.

In the morning the kindergarten students stood on a line and found their own shadow. The first graders traced the shadow so that the the kindergartners would be able to compare there shadow throughout the day. The kindergarten class went back out at midday and at the end of the school day to make observations about their shadows.

After assisting the kindergartners we came in and our class wrote in their Science Journals. They drew what they observed when we were outside and made predictions about what they expected the kindergartners to see throughout the day. Our learning of the Solar System for Sleepover really payed off. All of our students were able to make accurate predictions.

Sleepover Under the Stars.

One of the amazing traditions at Chets Creek Elementary is the annual First Grade Sleepover. Traditionally the first grade has done a series of lessons and activities centered around narrative stories about sleepovers. The "Grand Finale" of the study was on Sleepover Day when the children come to school wearing their pajamas and carrying their homemade Teddy Bears that they had made for homework. They then spent the day participating in many different sleepover related activities.

This year the First Grade Teachers decided to shake things up a bit. The new tradition includes a great deal of focus on Science. The theme focuses on the night sky! The children learned about stars, planets, and the sun. Science was Incorporated throughout the day. The children read non-fiction texts about space and wrote about what they were learning. The children also participated in a series of labs surrounding the study of Space.

There was an amazing family night where first graders and their families came to Chets Creek to watch a movie under the stars. The following Friday was the culminating day! The children paraded through the building in their pajamas holding their homemade pillows which included Venus, the sun, stars, Jupiter and many more "Spacey" themed pillows. Immediately after the parade the children enjoyed a donut and juice breakfast, in the dining room. There was a slide show presentation where each first grader was represented. There was loud music and even line dancing by the teachers and our Fearless Principal Mrs. Phillips.

After breakfast, the children traveled through several different stations , they sang Unearthly songs in the Music Station. They made super cool picture frames in Art, an indescribable experience in a very large bag where the children could watch the earth and moon move, and They were able to play intergalactic games on the Smart Board. The end of the day was held in the media center where the children watched a shadow story on the ceiling! They watched a space movie and then they cranked the music and everybody danced! It was a fun filled day and a great way to celebrate all the learning that the children did about Space. What a great "new" sleepover tradition.