Kindergarten had an amazing time at the Caps for Sale show! Thank you to those who were able to volunteer!
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 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!
- 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!
- 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.
- Addition Crossout – With a partner, a cherub rolled two dice. He/she then added those two dice together (counting on!) and crossed out that particular number on his/her sheet. The partners went back and forth until all the numbers were crossed out. The partner who crossed out the final number 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!
- Up and Down the Ladder (an oldie, but a goodie!) – At this small group game, the cherubs took turns rolling a pair of dice. The roll on each die determined the number of Room #7 kids to put on the bunk bed. For example, if a 5 and a 2 were rolled, the players took the pictures of seven kiddos and placed five of them on the top bunk and two of them on the bottom bunk. Next, Player Two picked an Up and Down the Ladder game card and everyone rearranged the seven children’s pictures on the bunk bed according to the card’s instructions. For example, if the card said “1 Up the Ladder,” the kids moved one kid picture from the bottom and placed it on the top. Using dry erase boards, each player recorded the corresponding number sentences! The kids really enjoyed rearranging their pictures on the bunk beds to play the game!
- 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!
Room #7 has officially begun our chick unit! The kids couldn’t be more excited. On Monday, after reading the book Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones by Ruth Heller, the class discussed a new vocabulary word: oviparous! This fun word to say means to hatch from an egg. Then the class did a sort of various animals and insects to decide which were oviparous and which were not. This conversation segued into which creatures are mammals AND how one can tell what a mammal is. Ask your child to tell you which animals are mammals and which are oviparous! You’ll be surprised by their answers.
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 enable them to 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!
Our current writing unit is all about persuasive writing – noticing problems and coming up with solutions to solve those issues. The cherubs worked diligently to identify problems they see around Hastings, including Room #7! This week, the writers thought about why these are problems. They realized that it is important to include the why in their writing so that readers can understand the necessity and importance of solving these problems. Lastly, the boys and girls dug deep to name at least two different solutions! What hard work! Next, Room #7 writers will decide how they want to convey their messages: through letters, signs, songs, etc.! I can’t wait to see what they come up with!
Have a wonderful weekend!