Welcome back! I hope everyone had a restful and fun vacation! The kids were excited to be back and get into the swing of things again. Our week started off with a bang!
Our eggs have arrived! On Monday, all of the Kindergarten classrooms received a dozen eggs with possible chicks growing inside. We observed these eggs, and the kids noticed the variety of colors: brown, white, gray, and blue. They then illustrated what they saw. Every day the kiddos learned more and more about how the chick develops inside that egg. Later on in the week, we had the privilege of inviting Karen McCarthy, head of Elementary Science for all of Lexington, to do an egg show for us. Ask your children what they learned!
Math:
· Shrinking Number Monster – A blast from the past! At this class favorite, students rolled dice to determine how many “eyes” belonged on their monster work board. They then took away one eye, predicted what the one less number was, recounted the eyes, and wrote down the number that was one less! The cherubs were so excited when they had predicted correctly! This week, as an extra challenge, the boys and girls picked high number dice and really tried to figure out the one less number without using eyeballs! Way to go, mathematicians!
· Clear the Deck – This game is intended to provide cherubs with opportunities to distinguish between the plus and minus signs and to perform the corresponding operation. Each kiddo filled his/her game board with 20 colored tiles. The goal was to be the first to completely “Clear the Deck” or clear the board by using a plus/minus spinner and a number die. Everyone LOVED this station, and it was great practice for the class!
· Race to 10– This is another game that gives the kiddos practice in telling the difference between the plus and minus signs and performing the corresponding operation. Each player started with an empty working-space paper. First, he/she rolled a die to determine how many counters to put on the paper. Secondly, he/she spun the spinner to determine whether to add or to subtract. Lastly, he/she rolled the die again to see how many counters to add or subtract. The kiddos did a really fabulous job with this multi-step center!
· Wall Game – At this center, the kids worked with the number ten. After arranging a vertical line of cubes of that number, a teacher “walled” off a portion of their line so only a certain number of cubes was visible. The children then predicted how many cubes were over the “wall”. What a fun way to see the different number combinations!
· Build a Floor to 8 – A tricky station that the kiddos loved! The object of this partner game is to be the first to complete a “floor” made from Unifix cube trains lying side by side. Each train had to be made from cubes of two colors. This week, the students worked with the target number of 8. In the first stage of the game, the cherubs took turns rolling a number cube to determine the length of the first color of each train. Then, in the second stage of the game, they again took turns rolling the cube to complete their own floors, placing the indicated number of cubes (the second color) wherever they could on the board. The second number needed to combine exactly with one already on the board to finish one train! Finally, the kiddos wrote down on a recording sheet their addition number sentences! This was complicated work, but they rocked it!
· Two Ten Shapes - At this tricky new station, each child took a ten frame and one other shape and wrote the total number of cubes needed to fill both shapes (always a teen number). Next, the kids rolled number cubes to determine how many Unifix cubes to take away and finally, recorded the corresponding number sentence. This is a multi-step process that required a lot of brainpower for the children to complete!
· Fill the Hexagons - With what different shapes can you make a hexagon? At this center, everyone rolled shape dice to determine how to fill in their hexagons. This center really inspired the kids to think critically and carefully to see where they could fit each shape!
It’s that time again: a new self-portrait! This month, students used white chalk on black construction paper to create one-of-a kind portraits of themselves. This month, I challenged the cherubs to remember all by themselves each of the different parts they needed to include! They were up to the challenge! Come check out the finished products if you get a chance!
To wrap up our community helper unit, the boys and girls in Room #7 shared all of their hard work with the class. Next, they delivered each of their books AND thank you letters to their specific community helper. They were so proud to show all of their amazing words and pictures with their grown-up!
The children are learning to solve new words by making connections to words they already know. In class, we’ve been changing the first or last letter or letters of a word to form a new word, such as “sat” to “cat” and “cat” to “can”. This understanding is helping the children use strategies that will help them become rapid word solvers as they read.
Additionally, Room #7 continues to learn to recognize common word patterns. This recognition helps the cherubs learn about writing words and to solve new words as they read. As the children break down words into patterns or parts, they can easily hear the break between the first part of a word and the rest of the word, such as t-ake, b-ake. The pattern we’ve been studying this week is the –ake ending in words. The boys and girls are learning that some words have a vowel and a silent e at the end, and that the vowel sound is usually the name of the vowel. These Kindergartners sure are word detectives!
Have a spring-filled weekend!