It’s been a busy week! The kids are constantly on the go and focused on all types of learning. Read on for some highlights!
We are moving along in our Daily Five learning! This week, a new component of the Daily Five was introduced – Work on Writing! When students are engaged at this center, they have a variety of choices for their writing activity from which to choose. Students can decide to continue working in their Writer’s Workshop folders or they can select from a myriad of other subjects. Here are some topics that we brainstormed:
– Write a list (shopping list, birthday present wishes, friends, animals, toys, etc.)
– Write a card
– Write a letter
– Write a story
– Work in your Writer’s Workshop folder
During each one of these brainstorming sessions, we discovered an endless list of topics! We also created an “I” chart where students named expected behaviors to demonstrate while at Work on Writing. The boys and girls are beyond excited to get started next week!
This week’s Math Stations –
· Make a Train Race – Working with a partner, kiddos took turns rolling a die and making a cube train. The first person who reached the number 15 won the race. In this manner, students not only practiced their counting skills but also were required to keep track of how many cubes they already had as well as figuring out how many more they needed in order to reach the specified length.
· Shrinking Number Monster (with a twist!) - Another favorite, students rolled dice to determine how many “eyes” belonged on their monster work board. They then took away one eye, recounted them, and this week, wrote the number that was one less! This was tricky work that required a lot of thought!
· Mix it Up! – This fun game could be played either with a partner or independently! Given a deck of number cards from 10-20, the students mixed up the cards and put them back in number order. It was really cool to watch them problem solve to make certain the numbers were in the correct positions. Additionally, the cherubs often sang parts of our teen number song to assist in this complicated endeavor!
· Find a Match –In this Memory-esque game, students looked under a tub and counted all the cubes. They then tried to find the tub with the matching quantity of cubes! The cherubs had a lot of fun with this game, and it was great counting and memory practice!
· Give and Take – At this station, Mrs. Bellaire hid a specific number of cubes under a tub. Then, she lifted the tub and either added a cube (or two!) or took one (or two!) away! Next, the boys and girls wrote the numeral that represented the number of cubes under the tub. Finally, they counted to see if they were correct!
· Spin and Write Teen Numbers – Using a spinner with all of our teen numbers represented in 10-frame form, the kiddos spun, then practiced writing that number on their board. They always had to remember: “Numbers in the teens start with a ONE!”
· Copy Cat - A class favorite! With a partner, the first person created a design using various pattern blocks. Then, the partner worked conscientiously to replicate the original creation! This act took a lot of concentration and attention to specific details!
As our class learns how to read, we’re listening to the beginning sounds in words and connecting them to letters. The children are learning about first letters in words as they listen for, say, and recognize the consonant sounds at the beginning of words, attaching the sounds to these letters. They are understanding that:
· Some words sound the same at the beginning.
· We can connect words that sound the same at the beginning.
You can do this at home too! Try playing a game that highlights the beginning sounds in words. You say to your cherub, “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking bananas.” Your child repeats this sentence and adds another word that starts the same: “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking bananas and a basket.” You can then say, “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking bananas, a basket, and bread.” And you keep going, thinking of as many beginning b sounds as you both can (or whichever Alphafriend you’d like!). Before long, it’s likely you’ll be laughing!
The boys and girls in Room #7 are working hard on their writing! As they conti nue to focus on first, telling their stories; second, planning them on their 3 page booklets; and third, writing and illustrating those stories, they are also thinking about including as many details as they possibly can! The goal is to have the reader feel as if he/she is right there in the author’s story. The class and I talked about how adding to one’s pictures and one’s words can really help with this endeavor! The kiddos agree that stories with lots of details are way more interesting and fun to read!
On Tuesday morning, the boys and girls went on their first Big Backyard walk to look for signs of fall. They were awesome scientists and found so
much: red maple leaves, brown oak leaves, berries, evergreen trees, and even some special discoveries – turkeys!! It was an eventful and fun morning. Thank you very much to all the volunteers who were able to come in and lead the walk. It is SO appreciated :)!
I hope many of you were able to come and enjoy the Halloween parade on Friday morning! Room #7 boys and girls were eager to show off their costumes and fall colors as well as sing their songs! They did an amazing job!
Have a stupendous weekend!