Welcome back! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful vacation and a very happy New Year! It was so wonderful to see all of the cherubs’ smiling faces on Monday morning; they were full of great stories and excited to be back in school! It’s been a terrific week; here are some of the highlights!
A new month, a new self-portrait! For January, the boys and girls of Room #7 utilized a mixture of mediums to create their unique self-portraits. In order to obtain practice in the art of collage, the students worked on creating parts of themselves by using different colored construction paper as well as craypas to fill in the rest. They studied themselves in mirrors to see what different colors they could use to capture the real tone of their hair, eyes, and lips. This was a tricky project, but everyone worked carefully, and the results are magnificent!
The students of Room #7 were also hard at work on their January calendars. On Monday afternoon, we read Caralyn Buehner’s Snowmen at Night, and the kiddos loved brainstorming all the activities their snowmen could possibly do at night when everyone else is asleep! After our discussion, they created their very own “droopy” and “melting” snowmen using construction paper and crayons. Some of these snowmen certainly had a fabulous time when it was dark! Lastly, everyone wrote what their snowmen did at night to make them look so “tired” the next day!
We are back in the routine with Math in Room #7! This week, students worked diligently and did a fantastic job with measuring, adding and subtracting, and continuing to practice more and less!
· Fix-it Strips – At this center, students encountered a new and tricky concept of “changing numbers”. Independently, the kiddos received a fix-it strip. Using cubes, they built a tower that represented their first number. Next, they changed that tower to match the second number. I asked them to articulate what they did by telling me if they added or took away cubes and how many. The pictorial representations really enabled the students to visualize what they had to do. I was super impressed with how quickly the students caught onto this skill!
An example (without pictures):
9 --> 3 --> 6 --> 2 --> 4
· Race to Trace – At this independent station, students had a deck of ten frame cards. Each card represented a different number, from eleven – twenty-two. As the children turned over the cards, they had to find the numeral that matched that number and then they practiced writing it. Students received a lot of practice recognizing what various higher numbers looked like when represented on ten frames!
· T-Shirt Game – This partner activity required students to put either six or eight buttons on the t-shirt. Next, the first partner closed his/her eyes, while the other student took away a certain number of buttons. Then, the first partner opened his/her eyes and had to determine how many buttons were in his/her partner’s hand! Students used a variety of methods to arrive at the correct answer! The students took turns closing their eyes and recording the answers. They had a great time with this activity and are eager to play again!
· Breaking Down Teens - Room #7 has been focusing on learning and remembering how teens are made up of one group of ten and some ones. To help cement this tricky concept, the kids worked extremely hard on another Decomposing Number Book where they had to show how many groups of tens and ones were in each teen number. They did an awesome job!
· Bump! - A new addition partner game! Working with a friend, each student took 10 cubes of the same color (e.g.: Player 1 = green, Player 2 = blue). Next, Player 1 rolled the two dice and added them together. That player then put a cube on the circle with the matching sum. The game continued in this manner; however, if someone achieved a sum that was already marked, that player could “bump” the cube off the game board. Players could also “freeze” a number by rolling the same sum twice. Once a cherub used all ten cubes, the game was over! So much fun!
· iPad – a new game! - Addition! – For this new game, the students practiced their addition skills by adding two groups of ducks together!
· New Year’s Addition - At this station, students chose what type of die they wanted to use – a regular die or a double die (this clear die has another die inside it so that the result is a greater number). After choosing which die to use, the cherubs rolled, recorded, and added the sum together! Great addition practice!
This week, Room #7 tackled some very tricky sounds – the “h” brothers: “ch,” “th,” “sh,” and “wh” and the sounds they make. The class and I made an anchor chart to show the different ways our mouths look when making the specific sounds as well as brainstormed all the different words that belong in each category. During Word Work in Daily 5 as well as Morning Work, the kiddos practiced sorting various words and figuring out what brother each picture depicted. Ask your child to tell you all the sounds!
The boys and girls in Room #7 are concentrating on their writing! As they continue 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!
We have started discussing opinions in Room #7! At least once a week, our morning message will have something to do with an opinion. The cherubs are learning how to express an opinion and the reason(s) behind that opinion! It’s great to hear them use that lingo during the day as well!
On Friday, the Children's Museum came to Hastings school for a special presentation on magnets just for the Kindergarten classes! This awesome event was a great way to kick start our magnet unit! The kiddos absolutely loved
Enjoy your weekend! Stay warm!