Thank you to everyone who was able to attend Curriculum Night on Thursday! It was so wonderful to see you all and be able to discuss more fully your children’s days. In addition, I still have volunteer sign-up sheets (Diversity Book Bag, In-class Volunteering, Big Backyard) if anyone is interested in adding your John Hancocks. Lastly, if families are able to contribute certain consumables that the class uses every day, please take note of the tree full of apples outside the classroom that lists what is needed. Thank you.
We have a class filled with literacy enthusiasts! The boys and girls not only are constantly finding Alphafriends and circle words in the books we read but also are doing an extraordinary job writing them! As a class, we have been creating books to which everyone has contributed a page. It’s quite awesome to see the students referencing our Word Wall and Alphabet to help them with their writing. With teacher support, they are listening to the sounds various letters make and are identifying them in their writing! Holy moly! They also drew detailed pictures, making sure to include a background and utilizing realistic colors!
Math:
· Play Dough Ten Frames – We work a lot with 10 frames in Kindergarten! They are an excellent way for the students to gain number sense as they continually practice identifying what a 5, 7, 9 or even a 12 looks like on a 10 frame (or two!). At this center, students used Play Dough balls to represent the number on each ten frame. Superb fine motor practice too!
· Grow and Shrink on Ten Frames – In a small group, a teacher asked the students to show a certain number on our ten frame manipulatives. Next, the teacher told the students to either add (grow) or subtract (shrink) to a new number. The students then discussed how many they had to add or take away to obtain that number, and they pointed out the different configurations that made the same number.
· Build a Staircase – Working independently, the boys and girls of Room #7 rolled a die. They then stacked cubes together to represent that number. Once they finished building their staircases (1-6), each kiddo rolled the die again to disassemble them! As a class, we chatted about how, as mathematician, they should leave room for the correct number tower when putting their staircases in order!
· Great Dice Race - This independent activity required students to roll dice and trace the number their dice had landed on. The students continued rolling and tracing until a particular number won!
· Grab Bag Counting – Given a bag of cubes, the students grabbed a handful. They then counted how many they acquired and finally, wrote down the corresponding number!
· 1-10 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!
Well, parents, on Monday, Room #7 accomplished their very first day of Read to Self! As a class, we made a list of everything readers should do during this time. Kiddos had a lot of great ideas: stay in one spot and read the whole time, read quietly, take care of the books, and focus! I introduced a new word that helps encapsulate the cherubs’ work in this area – STAMINA! We discussed how over time, they will build up their stamina in reading to themselves! Everyone did a great job reading their books in the three different ways – read the words, read the pictures, and retell the story. We started with 3 minutes and they are all excited to go for even longer!
The cherubs have also been looking at the specific shapes of the letters of the alphabet and connecting a name and sound to each. Together, we’ve been exploring the letters in each child’s name, noting how the letters are always in the same order for that name. Alphabet charts and manipulating letters in each other’s names are helping to cement this concept!
In class, the boys and girls continue to notice letter features. We’ve been paying close attention to distinguishing the characteristics of each letter by noticing their parts. For example, the children are learning that some letters have short sticks, such as n and u, and others have long sticks, such as h and d. As a class, we did a letter sort and they did great comparing and noticing the differences between the letters. Try it at home too!
On Friday, Mrs. Grubbs read the book, Whole Body Listening Larry at School, to the class. One of our class rules is: We keep our brains in the group. This story helped the kids to understand how to listen not only with their ears but also with their whole body! This engaging story was a fun tool to teach the kiddos the very abstract skills of listening and attending.
Important Notes:
· Field Trip: On Friday, October 17th, all 3 Kindergarten classes will be visiting Smolak Farms. Please keep those permission slips and checks coming! If you haven’t returned them yet, please do so by Monday so that we can get the wheels turning for this trip. Thank you very much for your cooperation!
· Please remember to send in Library books on Friday so that your child can pick out a new book! Thank you!