In Math, we are delving into measurement, equivalency, and number models. The boys and girls of Room #7 have been working hard to really challenge themselves and do their very best!
· Dr. Seuss (1 More/1 Less) – Using a three dice, students rolled and counted to see how many dots they had in all. After recording that number, they then had to determine what was one more and one less than that number. Challenge! Some students used 2 double dice! Holy moly!
· Guess My Number – At this center, I described a number (e.g., this number is 2 less than 14), and the kiddos wrote the corresponding number on white boards.
· Attribute Spinner Game – We have been talking a lot about attribute blocks over the last two weeks in Room #7. There are so many attributes (or characteristics) by which one can sort: color, shape, size, thickness, number of sides, etc. Using 2 different spinners, one for shape and this week, one for size, students spun and then had to find the corresponding shape. This is a great way for kiddos to use their math vocabulary and practice identifying the various attributes!
· Dozen Domino Dilemma – A fun, new game! This partner game gets the kiddos comparing numbers to determine which is greater, less than, or equal! Each partner was assigned a title: Dominos less than 6 and dominos greater than 6. Each person then chose a domino and determined who should get it. First person to accumulate a dozen dominos won!
· Snap It! – Working with numbers six to twelve, students made trains of cubes. They then “snap” their trains at various places. Putting part of their trains in front of them and placing the other part behind them, students worked to figure out how many were hidden. In this manner, students are learning to describe a number by its parts. For those tricky high numbers, students used invisible buddy lines as a strategy to determine the hidden number. Fabulous work, cherubs!
· Opposite Top-it – The fan favorite game, Top-it, has changed its stripes! This week, instead of having the greater number win the round, now, the least number was the winner! The kiddos enjoyed the new trickiness of the game!
· Combo Toss – This game provides a visual display of the number combinations that make up each sum from 1 to 10. With a partner, a cherub rolled 2 number cubes and built two stacks of cubes to match the numbers rolled. He/she then placed the two stacks in a column of the game board according to the sum of the numbers rolled.
Next Monday, all three Kindergarten classes will receive eggs for our Egg to Chick unit. In order to prepare for this, on Wednesday, I introduced the different parts of the incubator and explained why each one is important to the development of the chicken embryo. The cherubs were fascinated and enjoyed illustrating the incubator in their Chick journals! They cannot wait for the eggs to arrive!
The kiddos are learning to separate and identify a number of sounds in words, and they are beginning to connect initial sounds and letters from one word to another. This is going to help the children figure out words sound by sound as they read. It will also help them keep track of their reading of a whole text like a story book.
Together, we’ve been snipping out one sound and replacing it with another, which helps the class use knowledge of one word to write or read another. Here’s a game that’s easy, and the children love playing it and learn a lot from it.
• You say a word and ask your child to change the first sound. So if you say mop your child might say hop, stop, pop, drop.
• Again, this is a game that can be played anywhere, anytime – try it in the car, at the park, while taking a walk. Say it – and play it!
Room #7 continues to learn to recognize common word patterns. This recognition helps the children learn about writing words and to solve new words as they read. As the children break down words into patterns or parts, they can easily hear the break between the first part of a word and the rest of the word, such as h-and, b-and. The pattern we’ve been studying is the –and ending in words. How many words can you make with your cherub? Have a gr-and time!
On Wednesday, the Kindergartners in Room #7 were introduced to maps. In the book, Me on the Map, the readers got a playful introduction to maps and they learned how easy it is to find the places they know and love. It helped the cherubs to discover their special place on the map! In order to illustrate this sometimes tricky concept, we have begun creating a flip book moving from small circles to very large, starting with the kids on the map moving to their town, state, country, and finally planet. In this manner, the boys and girls obtained a real visual idea of their small, but important (!), place on the map!
In Writing, we have been working on persuasive writing. Last week, the kiddos did a magnificent job writing to the Bus Driver and persuading him with all sorts of reasons to let the Pigeon drive the bus. Some reasons include: bribery with money, being the Bus Driver’s best friend, giving him delicious cookies, having the day off, being careful, or the chance for him to go to the park. The boys and girls really wowed me with their creativity in their reasoning. This week, Kindergarten is transitioning to real world “problems,” or things in the kids’ home or school life they wish they could change. On Monday, we brainstormed a whole list of “problems” they wanted to fix and then on Tuesday, everyone began their letters! Thank you for your continued help and support of our activities by sending in envelopes and stamps so that the boys and girls could actually mail their letters! Everyone got really into this fun, imaginative project. What a great way to end our opinion/persuasive writing unit! Next up, how-to stories!