I hope everyone had a lovely snow day on Monday! My son, Gavin and I loved playing outside in the snow!
The cherubs are working hard in their new unit in Reader’s Workshop. As they progress as readers, many have noticed that the books are getting trickier! Noticing the pattern and what changes in the pattern helps them with those trickier, longer sentences. Additionally, our super readers are working hard to think about what makes sense. Asking themselves: Did that make sense? Does that look right? Does it sound right? They realize how important it is to ask these important questions to ensure comprehension! They are truly problem solvers!
We are continuing with Bunk Beds this week, a unit we started before break but because of interruptions, were unable to finish!
Kindergartners are taking a break from Math stations this week for a new unit entitled Bunk Beds! This unit begins with the story of a PJ party – a sleepover during which eight children play, moving up and down bunk beds, teasing and tricking the babysitter who imagines she is losing and then gaining children.
The unit introduces the arithmetic rack, or rekenrek, as a powerful model and tool, to help act out the story. The rekenrek is a calculating frame consisting of two rows of ten beads with two sets of five in each row. The five-structure of this apparatus supports the development of part-whole relations in early number sense. In this unit, the cherubs move the beads on the rekenrek to illustrate and develop an understanding that eight can be named in many ways, for example 7 + 1 = 5 + 3 = 4 + 4. The kiddos absolutely adored exploring with their very own individual (and smaller!) rekenreks. They did an extraordinary job showing the different combinations to eight and were able to explain adeptly that no matter what combination of numbers they used, it still equaled eight.
At the end of the week, the boys and girls of Room #7 made their very own bunk bed stories choosing a target number that was just right for them. They loved the creativity aspect of this project, obviously enjoying the mingling of Math and English Language Arts! We made another class book! Additionally, as their stories were read, we used the class-size rekenrek to model the changing arrangements. Next week, we will go back to station work, but stay tuned because this unit will continue!
In writing, we are starting our “how-to” writing unit! The kiddos became the teachers (and writers) as they learned about informational how-to texts. To begin the unit, I showed an exemplar story to the writers in our room on the topic of building a snowman. After reading it, the kiddos identified a variety of aspects included in the writing: tips, warnings, lots of details, labeled pictures, hooks, or getting the reader excited, and arrows.
Next, the class brainstormed a list of all the things they know how to do. The cherubs did a magnificent job coming up with a variety of topics! Last, they dove right in and started their own how-to stories. It was amazing to see how much excitement and eagerness the kids displayed, and they were totally motivated to start writing! They wanted to show all their expertise! Over the upcoming weeks, they will be immersed in a variety of mentor texts, and our list of what to incorporate in our books will continue to grow! How fun!