Room #7 is transitioning from structured opinion pieces to persuasive writing. The kiddos learned about persuasive writing this week and what it means to “convince” someone of something. We chatted about how to identify a problem, reflect on it, and come up with ideas to persuade others to help fix that problem. The boys and girls realized that they do not have to wish their problems away; they can write them away. This week, the Kindergarteners wrote about problems and issues that occur at Hastings School and some ways to fix them! What great thinking!
Math stations over the next few weeks will center mostly on addition and subtraction! The boys and girls are cementing their knowledge of these two tricky operations! Additionally, our Math stations for the past two weeks have focused on the concepts of more and less, how many more, and we’ve been practicing the skill of changing numbers (e.g., how many do you have to add to go from 5 to 8?).
- Clear the Board – As we continue to work with addition, students partnered together at this fun and engrossing game. Each student received a game board and 10 cubes. They placed their cubes on numbers that they thought they would roll. Next, the kids took turns rolling two dice. When the dice were added together and if the kids had cubes on that number, they could remove them. The first person to “clear the board” won!
- Race to 10 – This is another game that gives the kiddos practice in telling the difference between the plus and minus signs and performing the corresponding operation. Each player started with an empty working-space paper. First, he/she rolled a die to determine how many counters to put on the paper. Secondly, he/she spun the spinner to determine whether to add or to subtract. Lastly, he/she rolled the die again to see how many counters to add or subtract. The kiddos did a really fabulous job with this multi-step center!
- Dr. Seuss Addition Mats: 1 Fish, 2 Fish – Using animal manipulatives, Room #7 mathematicians created various addition number sentences!
- Which is Longer? – Working with a variety of materials, kiddos compared them to see which was longer. They had to really focus to make certain everything lined up so that their answers were accurate!
- iPad – subtraction or addition game! – This week, the cherubs were able to pick which skill they wanted to practice! Having that choice gave them extra ownership, and they were really able to hone in on either operation!
- 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!
- Two Color Grab Bag - Students picked a bag, took out a handful of cubes, and sorted them according to color. After counting each color cube, they decided which was more and which was less. Finally, they figured out how many more and less!
The kiddos are learning to solve new words by making connections to words they already know. In class, we’ve been changing the first letter or letters of a word to form a new word, such as cat to bat. This understanding is helping the children take words apart as they read and spell as they write. Challenge your kiddos to do this at home as well by practicing with the word families we’ve already reviewed in class (-at and -ay). Have some fun with it!
In a workshop this week, we colored in thinking caps from the Mo Willems’ book, Amanda and Her Alligator. Next, students worked independently on writing a sentence that exhibited the following skill: when you change the first letter of a word, you can make it into a new word. Using our –at and –ay family knowledge, the kiddos chose what word family they wanted to use and then changed their first –at or –ay word into another! Check out our back bulletin board to see their results!
This month’s self-portraits are fantastic! Students used a mixture of yarn and string, paint, construction paper, colored pencils and the art of collage to create one-of-a-kind masterpieces! Stop by to see their works of art if you can!
Have you ever heard the expression: “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb!” (Let’s hope!). Room #7 students talked about this expression and then created a corresponding art project for their calendars! Every day, the leader will determine if it’s a lion or a lamb day and then will place the corresponding picture on our March graph! I wonder which animal will “win”!
Have a fabulous weekend!