We have started something new in Room #7 – Growth Mindset! Last week, we talked about the mind and what a mindset is. The kiddos learned that when we make mistakes, our minds grow! In this manner, making mistakes is a wonderful thing! We can learn from them and thus our mind grows and stretches. This week, we read the book Walk On! A Guide to Taking the First Step by Maria Frazee. This is an amazing story that we will use multiple times this year to address different challenges. In this book, a child is learning how to take his first steps. In our lesson, the students began to think about their mindset and how we reflect on not only everyday occurrences but also unexpected obstacles. In the book, every time the baby tries to walk again after falling down, he is using a growth mindset. We talked about what would have happened if the baby had had a fixed mindset and gave up trying to walk because it was hard. The boys and girls and I ended our discussion thinking about how a growth mindset helps us learn and makes our brain stronger! I highly suggest taking this book out of the library; it is a fun, engaging, and entertaining story to read!
Math stations this week were all about more and less, counting on, and a little bit of addition! The cherubs are doing such an excellent job with all this difficult work!
- Grab and Count; One More/One Less: A new tricky station! At this center, the boys and girls grabbed a handful of a specific material (we used jewels, beads, foam shapes, etc.). Next, they counted their material and wrote that number down. Finally, their last two steps were to figure out what one less number was and one more number was from the first number they counted! Not only did the cherubs practice their counting and writing skills but also had to concentrate their efforts on remembering what the numbers were before and after! This can be difficult work! Way to go, Kindergartners!
- Nearby Numbers – A new, tricky station! Using various game boards, students placed the missing teen numbers in their grid to complete the “number line”. They are really getting good at counting on and then, thinking of one less!
- Counting on Cup – An oldie, but goodie! 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. The mathematicians of Room #7 did a much better job with this station this week, figuring out how many counters there were in all. They just needed a little extra practice!
- 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!
- Monster Squeeze – A fan fav! During the game, the kiddos chose either a level where they felt they needed practice or one that challenged them. This 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!
- Teens on the Ten Frame – more practice breaking apart their teen numbers! After representing a teen number on two ten frames, the students filled out a sentence showing that the teen number was 1 group of ten plus ______ more (e.g., 12 is one group of ten and 2 more). This is great practice!
As Room #7 learns how to read, we’re listening to the ending sounds in words and connecting them to letters. The children are learning about last letters in words as they listen for, say, and recognize the consonant sounds at the end of words and attach the sounds to these letters. They are understanding that
• Some words sound the same at the end.
• You can connect words that sound the same at the end.
Moreover, as they read during Reader’s Workshop, the students are learning how to problem-solve unknown words by paying attention to BOTH the beginning and ending sounds, and if they match the word they said aloud.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!