It’s a short week, but the boys and girls of Room #7 are hard at work, as usual! Keep reading to stay abreast of all that we have accomplished!
Math:
· Tub Game – At this center, students received practice describing a number by its parts. This week, the kiddos worked with the number 10! This was a challenge, but a fun one, where they had to figure out how many cubes were underneath the tub! They then said the corresponding number sentence. For example, if I put 5 cubes under the tub, they had to discern how many more would equal ten. Lastly, they named the corresponding number sentence!
· Egg Weighing – With a partner, cherubs took turns weighing various plastic eggs with Unifix cubes. They then recorded their answers. Finally, they had to decide which color egg weighed the most and which weighed the least. Everyone LOVED this station!
· Subitizing Chicks – In this fun book, students were asked to subitize! Drawings of chicks were placed strategically on each page so that students were able to see groups. After they framed the groups with pipe cleaners, they then circled those groups and wrote a number sentence that reflected how they subitized. Challenging work but the Kindergarteners rose to the occasion!
· “I have, who has?” – At this small group game, students received ten frame cards that depicted a certain number. After reading the card, for example, “I have 19, who has 13?” the person with that card had to be ready to read! It kept the kiddos on their toes and with a lot of differentiation, the boys’ and girls’ brains were stretched!
· Fill the Hexagons – With what different shapes can you make a hexagon? At this center, everyone rolled shape dice to determine how to fill in their hexagons. This center really inspired the kids to think critically and carefully to see where they could fit each shape!
· Pattern Block Puzzles – The purpose of this station was to give the cherubs the opportunity to explore relationships of shapes and determine how many ways the shapes can be arranged in a particular space. Using pattern blocks, the boys and girls filled in a particular puzzle shape in several different ways and recorded the number of blocks used each time!
· Ones Ladders – At this center, the boys and girls picked an activity sheet that challenged them. Then, they filled in the missing “rungs” on the ladder with consecutive numbers! Each rung had different visible numbers, so the cherubs had to think very carefully to figure out which numeral came before and after!
We are getting closer and closer to our chick hatch! Every day, the kiddos learned more and more about how the chick develops inside that egg. On Wednesday, we had the privilege of inviting Karen McCarthy, head of Elementary Science for all of Lexington, to do an egg show for us. Ask your children what they learned!
The children are learning that all English words feature different combinations of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. As the class comes to understand this, they can analyze words and see how words are built. We’ve been focusing on the middle of words:
• We can hear and say the sound in the middle of the word.
• Some words sound the same in the middle.
• You can match words that sound the same in the middle.
To practice this skill, the boys and girls picked 4 words to really s—t—r—e—t—c—h out and illustrate! They said the words very slowly, listening carefully to the sounds, and thinking about what letters made those sounds. Then they wrote the corresponding word! Great job, everyone!
Room #7 is embarking on a new Social Studies unit - Community Helpers! On Monday, the class and I talked about the features that encompass a community, and we discussed all the communities in which we are a member (e.g., town, Hastings, Room #7, sports teams, family, etc.). Next up, the kiddos will brainstorm all the different community helper jobs that exist at Hastings! We will be doing a lot of great work on community helpers over the next few weeks, including a how-to story!
Please make sure to read the notice sent home on Monday about new school-wide hallway expectations. The cherubs are learning how to use appropriate voices in the classrooms and outside, as we travel through the hallways, and when they pack and unpack their belongings! This week, your children colored their very own voiceometer to help them remember and differentiate between their different voice volumes as well as when one should use each! Try it at home too!
Have a wonderful long weekend!