It has been so great being able to meet with each of you and chat about your child’s successes! Thank you for your time and efforts in continuing to support our Kindergarten family! Room #7 is full of busy bees! The kiddos have been hard at work; keep reading to see some of the highlights!
As it is a new month, the kids created gorgeous, one-of-a-kind self-portraits using oil pastels. As usual, they concentrated on including all the features of their faces into their pictures. Many even included extra details by adding intricate and festive designs to their shirts. Come on by Room #7 to sneak a peek at the cherubs’ handiwork!
During Writer’s Workshop last 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!
During Math this week, we continued our stations from last week because of all the interruptions (e.g., conferences!). The kids are rocking their teen numbers!
- Build a Staircase (to 9!) - This week, this fan favorite got even trickier!! Not only did the kiddos use number dice to increase their number recognition but also had to build the staircase to 9! They had to choose which dice to use (1-6 or 4-9) dependent on what they needed in their staircase. Working with a partner, the boys and girls of Room #7 took turns rolling a die. They then stacked cubes together to represent that number. Once the partners finished building their staircases (1-9), they took turns rolling the die to disassemble them!!
- Guess that Number! – We are beginning to talk about one more and one less. At this center, I laid down a number card. Students then had to think what number comes next! It was a great way to go over teen numbers as well as one more!
- Teen Puzzles – The kiddos concentrated on putting together a variety of puzzles. On the bottom of each puzzle were the numbers 11-19. This station had the students recognizing those numerals and putting them in consecutive order! The pictures also helped them to check their sequencing!
- 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!
- iPad – Friends of 10! – The mathematicians were beyond excited to start using our iPads this week
- 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!
- 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!
I hope everyone is able to see the pictures from our successful Fall Parade last Friday. The kids looked amazing and did a fantastic job performing their songs! They were very proud of themselves and so was I :)
We had a very busy and fun week! Enjoy your weekends!