In Writer’s Workshop, the class has started to learn about writing 3-page stories. Room #7 worked together to create a story about our trip to Smolak Farms! To begin our writing experience, we wrote a one-page story – We went to Smolak Farms! But, after a discussion about how authors use more than one page to tell their stories, the class and I decided it was time to stretch our stories over several pages. This was accomplished by the boys and girls verbally telling the story, with my guidance, and then stretching out their verbalizations over 3 pages.
Page One: We got on a bus and drove to Smolak Farms. When we got there, we went on a hay ride.
Page Two: Next, we ate a snack in the barn and then went pumpkin picking.
Page Three: After that, we ate lunch on the picnic tables, saw animals, and played on the structure! Finally, we took the bus home. It was so much fun!
I modeled touching each page as we verbally told the story so that the cherubs could gain practice first tactically, picturing it in their minds, and then actually writing the story. This is difficult work! I’m impressed with how many students are experimenting with this tricky skill! We will continue creating 3-page stories to increase their ability in storytelling – using details and breaking the story apart into a beginning, middle, and end! Try telling stories together at home for fun!
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. To help with this work, we read the story, The Hungry Thing. Ask your kiddo what it’s about!
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.
- Shape Puzzle Books – Using various paper puzzle pieces in a book format, the children counted how many Unifex cubes could fit on each. Next, they recorded that number inside their books. Great job practicing your counting skills, Kindergarteners!
- 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!
- Build a City – 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. They compared the 2 towers by laying them next to each other and comparing which one was more or less and by how many using their buddy line strategy!
- Fill the Cup – In this partner game, the mathematicians picked a cup they wanted to work with: big or medium. Next, taking turns, each cherub rolled a die and filled the cup with that many cubes. The partners continued until one of the cups was filled up to the top! Next, each person connected his/her cubes to make two individual trains. Finally, after lining the trains up, side by side, the partners used buddy lines to determine which train was longer and by how much! Terrific job, boys and girls!
- The Counting Jar – What a fun, new station! The students counted how many Halloween sponges there were in the jar and then duplicated that number with a different material. Lastly, they wrote different ways to represent that number on our Counting Jar board. It was amazing to see all the various ways they chose to record the number (e.g., with shapes, tallies, numbers, and more!)
- Let’s Count! - At this center, every cherub took a bag with 24 (a different number from last week!) counters in it. They challenged themselves to count the manipulatives in different ways. They were asked to answer the overarching question: No matter how you position the counters, do you always get the same number??? The boys and girls learned through this work that it’s always a great idea to recount and check!!!
The kiddos are loving the leaf print workshop that we are doing during Learning Labs! The corresponding works of art are unique and colorful for fall!
I hope everyone is able to see the pictures from our successful Fall Parade on Thursday. The kids looked amazing and did a fantastic job performing their songs! They were very proud of themselves and so was I J!