It's been a wacky week! I hope everyone enjoyed the snow days! It's been a full week despite having 2 days off!
For the next two weeks, many of our Math stations are centered on 100th Day. This is a big deal for the Kindergarteners, and they are eager to visit each station.
· Noodle Necklaces – The students made their very own necklaces using 100 noodles. This was a multi-step process where the kiddos counted out 10 noodles of one color. In order to ensure they had the correct amount, they used 10 frames. Next, they strung these noodles, adding additional groups of 10 colored noodles to make multi-colored necklaces! They went all the way to 100. Wowza! Super practice to improve finger dexterity too!
· Comparing Numbers #2 – At this station, students practiced using the greater than, less than, or equal to signs to compare various numbers. The kiddos loved seeing those “alligators” eat greater numbers!
· Towers, Towers, Towers – This activity provides an opportunity for the children to see number relationships while they practice counting. Given prepared towers, students figured out how many cubes were in each tower by using invisible buddy lines and the knowledge they already have. For example, if they knew that one tower had ten cubes in it, they could then figure out that the other one that had one less cube had a total of nine! Room #7 is full of math detectives!
· Addition Crossout – With a partner, a cherub rolled two dice. He/she then added those two dice together (counting on!) and crossed out that particular number on their sheet. The partners went back and forth until all the numbers were crossed out. The partner who crossed out the final number won!
· iPad – Park Math – Addition! – For this new game, the students practiced their addition skills by adding two groups of ducks together!
· Snowman Addition –Given a snowman sheet, students rolled dice for a starting number. Students then put that many buttons on their snowman. After they recorded their beginning number, the kiddos rolled again. They recorded that number and added that many buttons onto their snowman. Finally, they counted how many buttons they had in all and wrote that number. What a fun way to practice addition!
Over the last two weeks, during Learning Labs, the boys and girls were hard at work on their 100th Day Smarter Crowns! For the 100th Day, students created beautiful, one-of-a-kind crowns with 100 items on them to match their 100th Day necklaces and vests. Each crown contains 10 multi-colored strips of paper on which students put 10 “things” (bingo dobbers, buttons, stamps, tissue paper, sequins, googly eyes, hole-punched dots, etc.). This was a definite fan favorite! The crowns look amazing, and the kids can’t wait to wear them!
We started a new unit in Writing this week – opinion and persuasive writing! We have been talking a lot about opinions – what they are and the importance of giving a reason to support that opinion. To begin this unit, the kiddos practiced first by orally expressing their opinion and supportive reason. This week, they began writing their opinion. Have your child practice different opinions with you at home! What’s your favorite color? Food? Season? Game? Book? TV show? Stuffed animal? And why? The list goes on and on! Next up, we will transition to persuasive writing. Stay tuned for more!
The children and I have been working on saying and hearing the middle sounds in words. This is helping the class develop an understanding of how words are put together. The long vowel sounds, which sound like their letter names (a, e, i, o, u), are the easiest to hear. First, we listened to the sounds without looking at the letters, and, later we began to compare words and connect sounds with letters.
Our class is also working on matching beginning sounds in words to initial letters. By recognizing letter sounds and identifying the letters, the children are learning to distinguish between words. In our lesson, the children worked with Three-Way-Sort Sheets with letters in the tops of the columns. They worked with partners to match pictures to the beginning letter. For example, under the Pp, the children placed pictures of a pig, piano, and pillow. They loved showing off their skills!
Keep those 100th Day vests coming! I would be happy to store them in the classroom until February 2nd! In addition, please encourage your children to bring in 5 cans! Thank you so much for all of your support! Have a wonderful and restful weekend.