We’ve been listening to rhymes in our classroom. Your child may have mentioned the songs we’ve been singing and the poetry we’ve been reciting together. They’ve been enjoying rhymes and songs, which have helped the cherubs listen to the sounds of language, especially rhyming words. And, as they notice rhyming words, they begin to learn how words work, such as: Some words have end parts that sound alike – they rhyme. Hearing these sounds helps the children realize that words are made up of sounds and assists them in distinguishing individual sounds so they understand that letters and sounds are related.
We’re having fun with songs and poems, and the children can hear the rhymes. In fact, sometimes they can even predict what the rhyme will be. Eventually, they will hear individual sounds and will be able to connect them to letters.
This week, we talked A LOT about teen numbers, both how you form them as well as what they mean (e.g., 11 is 10 + 1). This will take a lot of practice, but once the skill is cemented, students will have a more solid number sense of what constitutes a number. It can often be tricky to remember which number comes first in the teens. In order to help the students recall how these numbers are formed, we listened to and sang a new song. Go to the following link to hear the fun rap! You can even sing it at home!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5aYi3lkho&safe=active
Afterwards, partners worked together to order numbers one through twenty, and they even noticed some patterns that popped up when seeing them in a line!
During Math this week, our stations focused on strengthening the kids’ one-to-one correspondence, counting to twelve (and higher as a challenge!), writing numerals, and identifying pattern blocks. There was a good mix of “oldies but goodies” as well as some new stations.
- Spin and Sort Pattern Blocks – Given a spinner with the following options: 3 sides, 4 sides, and 6 sides, the students sorted the shapes on their sorting mat. In this activity, everyone had to identify which shapes had that many sides. They also received continued practice naming the various shapes.
- One More Bingo – This Bingo-esque game required students to roll a die and then figure out what one more was than the number on their die. For example, if a student rolled a 6, one more is 7!
- Guess the Next Number – At this center, the children first lined up number cards from 1-15. Next, the kiddos closed their eyes, and I turned over various cards so that they could not see their numbers. When they opened their eyes, they used their knowledge of one more and one less to predict what the turned over cards were! Everyone did a magnificent job with this activity!
- Number Puzzles – The kiddos concentrated on putting together a variety of puzzles. On the bottom of each puzzle were the numbers 1-10. This station had the students working both to recognize those numerals and put them in consecutive order! The pictures also helped them to check their sequencing! This will be the last week with these puzzles as our cherubs are ready for a new challenge!
- Grab a Handful - Given a bag of cubes, the students grabbed a handful. They then counted how many they acquired and finally, wrote down the corresponding number! I put in more cubes this week so that the students received practice counting larger numbers!
- Shape Puzzles – Using various paper puzzle pieces, the children counted how many Unifex cubes could fit on each. They then “labeled” each shape with the corresponding number! Great job practicing your counting skills, Kindergarteners!
- Build a City – An oldie, but a goodie! This partner activity had students building towers depending on the roll of the die. When their game was over, they had built a “city” of skyscraper towers! This week, the cherubs had an extra challenge. They connected all their towers, counted and decided which one had more cubes and which had less. If students had trouble counting that high, they compared the 2 towers by standing them up next to each other and comparing which one was more or less and by how many!
Because of our trip to Smolak Farms, the Kindergartners are engaging in some Pumpkin Math! On Monday, the boys and girls worked hard to measure their pumpkins in different ways. Using cubes, they measured how tall their pumpkins were. After recording their numbers on their recording sheets, the mathematicians worked to compare and contrast their measuring cube trains with others at their table. Some kiddos even used buddy lines to figure out how many more or less cubes their pumpkins were! Later, as a class, the kids put their trains in order from smallest to largest! Great comparisons, friends! Additionally, using links, everyone measured the circumferences of their pumpkins. The cherubs were amazed at how different each one was. So fun!
During Writer’s Workshop this week, the boys and girls were introduced to a new writing tool – spaceman! We have been talking informally about the importance of spaces in between words and why they are necessary. This is a very difficult concept to grasp, especially when most students at this age are just beginning to understand that words are made up of multiple sounds. It is also a new experience for them to realize that several words make up a single sentence with spaces in between those words. In order to help the kiddos conceptualize and use spaces between the words, we worked on writing a story together using this fun and engaging new tool. Students were also informed that if they preferred, they could just use their fingers! Happy writing, boys and girls!
The kiddos are loving the leaf print workshop that we are doing in the afternoons! The corresponding works of art are unique and lovely for fall!
On Friday afternoon, the boys and girls went on their first Big Backyard walk to look for signs of fall. They were awesome scientists and found so
much: red maple leaves, brown oak leaves, berries, evergreen trees, and even some special discoveries – turkeys!! It was an eventful and fun afternoon. Thank you very much to all the volunteers who were able to come in and lead the walk. It is SO appreciated!
The boys and girls are also learning about how to read a room during Superflex. On Friday, we talked about how when you enter a room, there are certain things you need to notice and think about so that you are able to figure out how to join.
S: space – Where am I? What is this place?
T: time – What’s happening now? What happens next?
O: objects – What things do I have? What do I need? Why are these important objects:
P: people – Who is here? What are they doing? Notice face, body, mood, pace. Listen to words.
These four letters will help students to frame their next steps when entering a room mid-activity! We will be working on this over the next few weeks!
Have a wonderful weekend!