It’s been a busy week! The kids are constantly on the move and engaged in all types of learning. Read on for some highlights!
Math Centers:
· Mix It Up! – This fun game could be played either with a partner or independently! Given a deck of number cards from 10-20, the students mixed up the cards and put them back in number order. It was really cool to watch them problem solve to make certain the numbers were in the correct positions. Additionally, the cherubs often sang parts of our teen number song to assist in this tricky work!
· Build a Train Race – This week, Room #7 worked on reaching a new number, 17! Working with a partner, kiddos took turns rolling a die and making a cube train. The first person to reach 17 won the race. In this manner, students not only practiced their counting skills but also were required to keep track of how many cubes they already had as well as figuring out how many more they needed in order to reach the specified length. Shape Puzzles – Now that the boys and girls are becoming “teen experts”, they are practicing their counting with the big shape puzzles!
· Copy Cat – A class favorite! With a partner, the first person created a design using various pattern blocks. Then, the partner worked conscientiously to replicate the original creation! This act took a lot of concentration and attention to specific details!
· Grow and Shrink with Ten Frames – This activity appears to be just a simple counting game, but it is one that allows children to begin to see relationships between numbers. Using our 10 frame manipulatives, the cherubs represented a number and then had to choose to either “grow” or “shrink” their manipulatives to represent the new number. This station was even trickier this week because the numbers are getting greater! The kiddos are really developing their number sense with this station!
· Tricky Teens – At this independent center, students spun a teen spinner and then put a marker on the corresponding number on their BINGO-esque board! 5 in a row wins!
· Shrinking Number Monster – Another favorite, students rolled dice to determine how many “eyes” belonged on their monster work board. They then took away one eye, recounted them, and wrote the number that was one less!
· Shape Puzzles – Now that the boys and girls are becoming “teen experts”, they are practicing their counting with the big shape puzzles!
As our class learns how to read, we’re listening to the beginning sounds in words and connecting them to letters. The children are learning about first letters in words as they listen for, say, and recognize the consonant sounds at the beginning of words attach the sounds to these letters. They are understanding that:
· Some words sound the same at the beginning.
· We can connect words that sound the same at the beginning.
You can do this at home too! Try playing a game that highlights the beginning sounds in words. You say to your cherub, “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking bananas.” Your child repeats this sentence and adds another word that starts the same: “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking bananas and a basket.” You can then say, “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking a bananas, a basket, and bread.” You keep going, thinking of a many beginning b sounds as you both can (or whichever Alphafriend you’d like!). Before long, it’s likely you’ll be laughing!
We are almost ready to learn about our next Unthinkable! This week during Open Circle, I read the book It’s Mine! by Leo Lionni. This book is about three frogs that live in the same pond but are constantly bickering about what belongs to each of them. Each frog thinks only of itself and is so caught up in its own world and what it wants that it is clear Rock Brain has invaded each of their brains! The kids identified the various moments in the book where the three frogs had this Unthinkable, and they gave suggestions as to how they could change their thinking and be flexible (Superflex!). After the read aloud, I gave the students different real-life scenarios. They then had to decide whether or not I was describing a person that Rock Brain had invaded or if Superflex had prevailed! The kids loved this activity and were eager to do more!
The boys and girls in Room #7 are working hard on their writing! As they continue to work on first, telling their stories, second, planning them on their 3 page booklets, and third, writing and illustrating those stories, they are also thinking about including as many details as they possibly can! The goal is to have the reader feel as if he/she is right there in the author’s story. The class and I talked about how adding to one’s picture and one’s words can really help with this endeavor! The kiddos agree that stories with lots of details are way more interesting and fun to read!
Our Daily Five is up and running! As of right now, the kids are practicing three of the five parts: Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Word Work. This was the first week the students got to explore the various materials they can use while doing Word Work. Everyone did such an amazing job staying on task with each of the three components. The element of choice really engages the boys and girls; they are invested in their learning!
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!