Come on out on Sunday, October 5th for the Harvest Run! You can walk or run it! The last day to register and get a T-shirt is September 30th. If you register after that date, you can still participate you just will not receive a shirt. This is a great event for the Hastings community. Hope to see you there :)!
Our Math stations over the next few weeks will focus on a variety of areas including counting, telling how many more, and sorting shapes! Read on to see what we did this week!
· Sorting Colors – The children picked a tub containing differing amounts of colored squares. They sorted the squares by color, counted how many of each there were, then labeled those squares with a number card.
· Dump Truck Numbers – Using a work mat with a large image of a dump truck with various numbers on it, the kiddos received practice with their 1:1 correspondence and counting skills, placing the correct amount on each mat.
· Roll a Tower – At this independent station, a cherub rolled a die, built a tower with enough cubes to match the number rolled, and then placed the tower on the game board in the corresponding column. The child kept rolling the die and building towers until an entire column was filled and a number had “won”! The boys and girls got so excited to see which number ended up winning!
· Grow and Shrink on Ten Frames – In a small group, a teacher asked the students to show a certain number on our ten frame manipulatives. Next, the teacher told the students to either add (grow) or subtract (shrink) to a new number. The students then discussed how many they had to add or take away to obtain that number, and they pointed out the different configurations that made the same number.
· Dot Bingo – At this station, students rolled a die to determine what number to focus on. Next, they put a marker on a representation of that number (e.g., picture of fingers, the numeral, the dots, OR what it looks like on a ten frame)! In this manner, the cherubs were able to notice that one can represent numbers in a variety of ways! First one with five in a row won!
· Sorting Shapes - Using a variety of different sized triangles, rectangles, squares, and circles, the boys and girls worked hard to sort them on their shape mats!
Room #7 is trucking along in Writer’s Workshop! The boys and girls are learning how to revise! As a class, we discussed how writers are never finished with their first draft and how they continually go back to add more information, whether that be to the pictures, writing, and/or labels. The kiddos learned a great saying to help them with this endeavor: “When you think you’re done, you’ve only just begun!” As we work together, it’s amazing to hear ideas and suggestions they give one another to encourage more revision! In Writing, the cherubs are also focusing on becoming independent during this working time.
We are investigating the idea of sentences. In class, the children are learning that sentences are made up of words that, when put together, make sense to the reader. The children are also learning that we say one word for each word we see in writing. Knowing this will help them as they read sentences in books and write their own sentences. We have been practicing this concept whole group, and the kiddos are beginning to get it!
We are building stamina in Room #7! This week, the boys and girls challenged themselves to get up to 6 minutes of independent Read to Self time. They are eager to fill up our Stamina chart and are using their strategies to do so. They are diligently working to remember that during our Reader’s Workshop time, they read the whole time quietly (in the 3 different ways – read the pictures, read the words, or read the story); they stay in one spot, and they think! It’s difficult work and they are so proud when they are successful! Ask them to show you how they read in class! Let’s keep it up, Kindergarteners! Next week, the kiddos will be able to pick their own spots in the room where they want to read so they will have even more choice and, thus, will be more accountable for their reading!
Some Miscellaneous Notes:
*Fieldtrip to Smolak Farm: October 17th.
*Please remember to send in Library books on Friday so that your child can pick out a new book! Thank you!
*Thank you all for the generous classroom donations! They are much appreciated.
Have a great weekend, families!