As we continue to work with counting, shapes, and teen numbers, the boys and girls are becoming more comfortable and more importantly, more confident within our Math workshops. It is always amazing to see the progress they are making as every day passes!
- Counting on Cup - In this game, one person turned over the top number card and put that number of counters in the cup. Next, he/she rolled the die (+1, +1, +2, +2) and placed that many counters next to the cup. Finally, he/she decided how many counters there were in all and filled in the record sheet.
- Nearby Teen Numbers – Using various game boards, students placed the missing teen numbers in their grid to complete the “number line”.
- Monster Squeeze - The cherubs were beyond excited to finally try out iPads! During the game, they chose either a level where they felt they needed practice or one that challenged them. This fan favorite independent game required students to guess a number. The computer then replied either: “My number is greater than that” OR “My number is less than that.” Children continued guessing numbers until the correct number had been determined or “squeezed” between the monster’s two long arms!
- Roll and Color Teen Numbers – This week, the mathematicians of Room #7 rolled a giant die with the teen numbers 15-20 (represented in 10-frame form). Next, they found that specific number on their activity sheet and colored it in!
- Tricky Teens – At this center, students spun a teen spinner and then put a marker on the corresponding number on their BINGO-esque board! 5 in a row won! Kiddos had to be careful and look for numbers that began with a 1! It got tricky!
- Shrinking Number Monster – Are you ready for a challenge, cherubs? This week, some students were completing this center without the counting aspect! Because many of the boys and girls are really understanding the concept of teen numbers and their sequence, we had to make the exercise trickier. The kiddos tried independently (and succeeded!) to figure out one less than the number they rolled! Way to go – this is hard work! If students still need to count, too, that’s perfectly all right as well! In two weeks, they will figure out one less AND one more!!!
During one of our whole group instruction times, the class began to learn about how teen numbers are constructed of tens and ones. We began this important work 2 weeks ago when I asked students to represent teen numbers using just their fingers. They quickly figured out that they need 2 sets of hands (2 cherubs) to represent those numbers. The students then practiced representing those double-digit numbers together and then writing the corresponding number sentence.
This can be a difficult concept to wrap one’s head around. This week, the boys and girls learned a fun song to help them remember:
The teen comes first,
The teen comes first,
I know why it works that way...
The group of ten comes first!!
We discussed how you can “break” a number into its group of tens and ones. For example, when one breaks the number 19, one represents it like this: 10 + 9. We practiced breaking numbers using dry erase boards and markers. The kids really enjoyed the work! There’s also a fun song that we listened to similar to our teen number song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uedvwH6Ay18
In literacy, we’ve been practicing saying words slowly and listening very carefully to hear each one of the sounds inside the word. For example, when we say dog very deliberately, we can hear three sounds, d-o-g. In class, we’ve been saying words slowly, and the children are listening for the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words. They’re learning that they can write the letters for the sounds they hear. Using the song, “Do the Word Stretch,” on the Jack Hartman CD, the kids are practicing this tricky skill and loving it!
At home, try playing “Listen for the Sounds” while driving or in the grocery store. For example:
- Give your child a clue about a word, such as “I’m thinking of a fruit that is yellow.”
- Your child guesses the word and tells what letter it starts with, such as “Banana. It starts with b.”
This week, Room #7 revisited the differences between Growth and Fixed Mindsets. It was awesome how they were able to explain the distinction between the two right away, without any review! The boys and girls are determined to have growth mindsets! To kick off the lesson, I introduced a word to them: YET. We watched the following video, and the kids were jamming away:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9WiuJPnNA
In this fun, move and groove song, the cherubs learned that through hard work and perseverance, they can achieve whatever they’d like to accomplish (e.g., dancing, adding, singing, etc.). After we discussed it, the students thought of one thing that they hoped to learn how to do, but can’t do YET. We talked about how it should be something they’d like to learn in the next year or so, not a skill like driving where that’s years away. Each student thought of something and then got to work. We will make a class book to showcase all the things the Kindergartners will accomplish with their growth mindset!
We are in our Super Readers unit in Reader’s Workshop, and the kids are pumped! So far, they have discovered that they have both pointer power and reread power when they are reading their books. Using their Pointer Power Popsicle People, they learned to tap each word only once, even if it’s a longer word. They also discovered, that sometimes this is tricky work, and if they get an “uh-oh” feeling, they activate their reread power and try again. Keep it up, super readers!
Have a restful and fun weekend!