Please help me welcome Ms. Krispien! She is an excellent addition to Room #7 and is fitting right in! Head on over to the Teacher tab to find out more about her! And, if you see her, please introduce yourself!
With a new month comes a new self-portrait! For December, the students did a stellar job capturing their faces with colored pencils! They added awesome details to their portraits by including hair decorations, blending colors, and adding items from shirts they own! I loved seeing how different each picture is and noticing the improvements the children are making from month to month. Stop by to take a peek at your child’s beautiful work!
Room #7 has been talking about families! Before we even began, the class brainstormed a long list that included what they know about families: they love each other, play together, sometimes argue (but then make up!), they live together, etc. We have read a few stories so far, The Family Book, And Tango Makes Three, Who’s in a Family, Families are Different, and our list continues to grow. The cherubs are noticing similarities and differences among families, and our conversations are rich and full of information! Ask your kiddo what are some traits that make a family!
Math stations this week were all about measuring, more and less, and a little bit of addition! The cherubs are doing such an excellent job with all this difficult work!
- Exploring the Pan Balance – On Monday, I introduced the balance to the class. They loved predicting what items would be heavier than others and were amazed to see when 2 different items balanced each other out. During Math stations, the students explored the pan balance with a variety of materials (e.g.: dominoes, counters, pompoms, etc.) to see which was heavier, which was lighter, and how many more or less of a material it took to even the balance out. The kiddos loved this station!!
- iPad – Park Math – At this popular station, the boys and girls of Room #7 got to try out a new activity within Park Math! In the game, the students have to figure out how to balance a seesaw. On the seesaw are different amounts of cute mice. Through trial and error, the kids either added on or took away mice to balance the weight! What a great connection they were able to make to our pan balance as well!
- Count on 1 More – Independently, students turned over a number card and represented that number with buttons on their “work board”. They then counted out one more in their head and used counters to represent this number on their “work board”.
- Missing Teen Numbers - Let’s fill in those missing teen numbers! Given a starting and ending number, the cherubs filled in the missing numbers and paid extra attention to forming their numbers correctly!
- Dot Bingo (to 12) – At this newish station, students rolled two dice to determine on what number they needed to focus. This week, the numbers were greater, going all the way to 12! Next, they put a marker on a representation of that number (e.g., picture of fingers, the numeral, the dots, OR what it looks like on a ten frame)! In this manner, the cherubs were able to notice that one can represent numbers in a variety of ways! First one with five in a row won!
- 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!
- Grab and Count; One More/One Less: A new tricky station! At this center, the boys and girls grabbed a handful of a specific material (we used pompoms, counters, and foam shapes). Next, they counted their material and wrote that number down. Finally, their last two steps were to figure out what one less number was and one more number was from the first number they counted! Not only did the cherubs practice their counting and writing skills but also had to concentrate on what the numbers were before and after! This can be difficult work! Way to go, Kindergartners!
As Room #7 learns how to read, we’re listening to the ending sounds in words and connecting them to letters. The children are learning about last letters in words as they listen for, say, and recognize the consonant sounds at the end of words and attach the sounds to these letters. They are understanding that
• Some words sound the same at the end.
• You can connect words that sound the same at the end.
Moreover, as they read during Reader’s Workshop, the students are learning how to problem-solve unknown words by paying attention to BOTH the beginning and ending sounds, and if they match the word they said aloud.
During our Reader’s Workshop block the kids are practicing three different ways to read and work with words: Read to Self, Partner Reading, and Word Work. Last week the students got to explore the various materials they can use while doing Word Work and also brainstorm what’s expected while completing this important assignment. Everyone did such an amazing job staying on task with each of the components. The element of choice really engages the boys and girls; they are invested in their learning!
The boys and girls in Kindergarten worked extremely hard on their pattern books. It is just phenomenal to see how much growth they have made in such a short amount of time. I hope you were able to come in and check out all the different types of pattern books they have created: one pattern, a pattern with a twist, and seesaw patterns! It was fabulous to share their work with you!
Have a restful, relaxing, and lovely weekend!