As mentioned earlier, because of all the snow days and shorter days, we are playing catch up in Math! On Monday and Tuesday, we continued the stations from last week. On Wednesday and Friday, we worked on the following:
- Chicken Little Tessellation – To go along with our chick unit, we read the book, Chicken Little. Using Pattern Blocks, students made this loveable chicken and then counted how many of each block were needed. Lastly, they counted the total.
- Comparing Lengths – Using different-sized string and cubes, students measured the various sizes of 2 pieces of string. Next, they compared the two sizes and wrote which was greater than, less than or equal to!
- How Many Eggs? – At this station, the boys and girls picked a number they wanted to work with (between 8 and 15). The recording sheet prompted the children to figure out how many white eggs he/she would have if a certain number were brown. So, for example, if I picked the number 9, and the question said: There are 4 brown eggs, I would need to illustrate those eggs to determine how many white eggs I had! Critical thinking!
- Hide-it – Using between 8 and 12 cubes, a teacher hid some and left some out. Then, the mathematicians had to figure out the number that was hidden based on the number of cubes they saw. Last, they wrote the corresponding number sentence!
- iPad – you pick! Students got to choose what game they wanted to play from the ones we have already learned. What fun and great extra practice!
- Dot – Addition – a new fun game! This center is all about discovering different ways to make numbers! Given various gameboards and Dot Addition Cards, students were required to find cards that combined to make one of the numbers on their gameboards. Next, the players recorded the corresponding number sentences. First one to fill the gameboard won!
We have started a new unit in Reader’s Workshop entitled: Avid readers! After learning what the new word meant, our readers came up with many ways one can be an avid reader: having stacks of books in waiting, reading in various places, never stopping, and really paying attention to the details. We also added that avid readers sometimes feel the way their characters feel. The boys and girls started marking pages in their books where they recognized a feeling. Keep it up, avid readers!
The Kindergartners in Room #7 produced the most magnificent self-portraits this month. We went a different route for the month of April! To celebrate all the reading that we have been enjoying, the kiddos created self-portraits that show themselves reading their favorite book! This was a multi-step process that required much planning on their part. The results are nothing short of adorable, fun, and totally original. Pop on in to see your cherub's work of art!
Additionally, the cherubs are learning to solve new words by making connections to words they already know. In class, we’ve been changing the last letter or letters of a word to form a new word, such as: in to if. This understanding is helping the children take words apart as they read and spell as they write. You can do this at home too! Ask your child to change the last letter of a word to form a new word. Here are some examples, but feel free to use words that work for your family: cup, hat, cat, bed, bag, bus, pig, pen, pet, hug. Challenge your kiddo and ask your child to read the word pairs to you!
Have a wonderful weekend!