Weekly News (Dec. 16-20)

Happy 1st day of winter!  I hope everyone's vacation is off to a terrific start!

All About Me
We were very excited to have our first few students share their "Me Boxes" over the last couple of weeks!

We loved learning about Sandra last week when she brought in her "Me Box."  We learned that she loves her family and enjoys playing Barbies with her sister.  She is also a very healthy eater who loves tomatoes and cucumbers!

Natalie loves to play games and write stories, and she enjoys going on trips with her family.  She shared photos from her most recent trip to Disney World, which the class loved.  Natalie also loves spending time with her aunt and cuddling with her cat!

As you can see, Rique LOVES soccer!  He also enjoys playing with cars and building with Legos.  He loves spending time with his Mom and Dad, and he is proud of his faith!

Edward, who also loves to play soccer, is an amazing big brother and an adventurous eater!  He loves spending time with his family and building with Legos.  He is a big Bears fan and loves Veggie Tales!

Math
The children did a fantastic job using our pattern block templates to create their very own gingerbread house creations this week.  They were so creative with their designs!  The children also made a "Candy Counting" book to add to their book collections at home.  They loved coloring and reading the rhyming story.

Jolly Phonics
We took a break from learning new sounds in Jolly Phonics this week and spent some time reviewing all the sounds we have already learned.  We will finish our final book when we return from break!

Literacy
The children loved our gingerbread stories this week--Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends.  Both stories were written by Jan Brett, an amazing author and illustrator, and were unique variations from the original story of the Gingerbread Man.  We made some comparisons between both stories, and the children were so excited to see that the Gingerbread Baby was the main character in the story Gingerbread Friends!  The children also enjoyed the books Stick Man and The Nutcracker during read aloud this week.  The children brought home a new sight word book to add to their collections this week as well as a copy of our December Song.  We loved singing it one last time!

Centers
The children were busy working in all of gingerbread-themed centers this week!

Click here to hear the Gingerbread Song Center in action!

Gingerbread Bump Dice Game

Roll-a-Gingerbread Man

Gingerbread Baby at the Listening Center

Reading about the Gingerbread Man on starfall.com

Have a WONDERFUL winter vacation!  

See you all in 2014!

Weekly News (Dec. 9-13)

Math
This week in math the students learned about ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc,) and practiced putting a series of objects in order as they completed a Kwanzaa themed worksheet.  We also completed several "gingerbread math" activities.  We used pennies to cover an outline of gingerbread man and counted the number of pennies to see how many would fit.  It was a great way to introduce the children to the concept of area and review our counting skills.

Gingerbread Area

We also did some measuring using large and small gingerbread men to measure several different objects in our classroom.  We completed a graphing activity as well that the children absolutely loved and played a game of "Roll and Record" too!

Gingerbread Spin and Graph

Roll and Record

Jolly Phonics
This week we finished learning the last sounds from Book #6.  We will finish the last book when we return from winter vacation.  These are the sound we learned this week:

sh as in "sheep"
th as in "the" and "thin"

As the children continue to learn new sounds, it is important to keep reviewing all the sounds we have learned.  Many of the children are already using some of the double letter sounds we have learned in their writing and recognizing these sounds while reading.  Keep up the great work!

Literacy and Social Studies
The children learned the sight word "have" this week and brought home a new sight word book that focused on ending sounds.  Please add this book to your child's plastic baggie and keep reading those books at home too!

We read a book about Kwanzaa and completed a sequencing activity that showed how a family celebrating Kwanzaa might prepare their table for the holiday.  During Writer's Workshop, we wrote about some of our favorite holiday traditions at this time of year.  The children did a great job with their writing!

Gingerbread Unit
I loved seeing how excited the children were to find out what new gingerbread story we were going to read each day.  We read several versions this week including: The Sourdough Man (an Alaskan version of the Gingerbread Man), Gingerbread Cowboy, Cajun Cornbread Boy, and Gingerbread Pirates.  With each new book we read, we continue to discuss the similarities and differences between the main characters and the setting of each story as well as the major events in each story.  They are loving this unit!!

Art Appreciation
The afternoon class enjoyed an Art Appreciation lesson about Joan Miro, a Spanish surrealist artist.

Centers
Check out this week's centers below!

"Sticks and Strings" Sight Word Practice

The Gingerbread Man at the Listening Center

Lego Center

Using Pattern Templates

Top-It

Weekly News (Dec. 2-6)

Wow! What a great week in kindergarten!  December is off to a fabulous start.

Math
The children were excited to bring home their December calendars this week.  I was so happy to hear from several families at conferences how useful the calendar is at home.  The children are always sharing with me how many more days until it's someone's birthday in their family or the number of days until another special event.  Counting ahead on a calendar is a great skill for the children.  This week we practiced moving forward and backward on the number line to solve number stories that reinforce addition and subtraction concepts.  The children also learned a new math game this week called Top-It, which is a game similar to the card game "War."  Using our set of number cards from 0-20, the children sat side by side, flipped their top card, and compared the two numbers to see who had the higher number.  The one with the higher number added both cards to their stack.  Directions for this game will be coming home this week so you can play at home!

Jolly Phonics
This week the children learned the first three sounds in Book #6.  Next week we will finish the sounds for Book #6, which will leave us with Book #7 to finish!  These are the sounds we learned this week:

Yy as in "yogurt"
Xx as in "box"
Ch as in "chocolate"--yum!

Gingerbread Literature Unit
This is one of my favorite times of year in kindergarten.  The children have been loving our literature unit comparing several different versions of the familiar story The Gingerbread Man.  This week we read the Jim Aylesworth's retelling of the original Gingerbread Man story, and then we read The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst.  After reading both stories, we compared the characters, the setting, and the major events in both stories.  We also talked about the differences in the main chorus of both books, which the children loved reading along with me.  They did a fabulous job with their comparisons, and they can't wait to hear other gingerbread stories next week!  

In celebration of our gingerbread literature study, Mrs. Schellinger and I transformed the kindergarten hallway into a Gingerbread Wonderland!  The children were so surprised Friday to see the hallway decorated with the gumdrops and candy swirls they made earlier in the week.  We ended the week learning "The Gingerbread Song" to the tune of Jingle Bells and painting our own gingerbread boys and girls! 

Literacy and Social Studies
The children learned the sight word "to" this week and brought home a new sight word book to add to their growing collection of books.  We also began a mini unit featuring different December holidays.  We began the week reading a nonfiction book about Hanukkah and completed a worksheet to sequence the order in which the candles are lit on a menorah.  We also read a cute story titled Sammy Spider's First Hanukkah about a spider who watches a family celebrate the eight nights of Hanukkah, and wishes he too could spin his own dreidel.  After listening to the story, the children then completed a worksheet that required them to find words that began with the same sound as the word "menorah."  
We also enjoyed the book Too Many Tamales and completed an activity that reinforced listening for the ending sounds in words.  

Thinking Lesson
The children have been enjoying "Thinking Lessons" from Mrs. Schwarz, our Advanced Learning Facilitator.  This week the children played a thinking game that reinforced the concept of attributes.  The children would choose a shape from a basket and name all of its attributes--size, color, thickness, and shape.  The children enjoy Mrs. Schwarz's lessons once each week!

Centers
The children worked well in centers this week while I worked with students in guided reading groups. Check out this week's centers below!

Sight word reading and writing practice using iPads

Geoboard shape designs

Writing Center

Kitchen

Gingerbread Bear at the Listening Center

Weekly News (Nov. 18-22)

I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that we are already one third of the way through our kindergarten year.  My how time is flying by!  It's amazing to see how much the children have grown in such a short time.  I am so proud of all they have already accomplished! 

Math
This week in math we completed our teen number books.  The children have been doing a great job understanding the concept of the teens as "ten plus some more."  The final number in our counting book was 20, which led us into a great discussion of counting by 10's.  Our goal for the end of the year will be to count by 10's up to 120.  Based on some of the activities and games we played this week to practice counting by 10's, I can see the children are well on their way to accomplishing this goal!  The children also made turkey books this week titled "Five Little Turkeys" that helped them practice both their reading and counting backward skills.  They LOVED making these books!

Jolly Phonics
We spent some time reviewing all of the Jolly Phonics sounds that we have learned thus far.  We will begin learning the sounds from Book #6 when the students return from Thanksgiving break.  The students also enjoyed a Jolly Phonics video that helped the children learn about word families and rhyming words such as: hop, top, and pop.

Literacy
This week the children brought home a new sight word book to add to their plastic baggies.  We highlighted our newest sight word, go, and practiced reading with good expression while looking at the punctuation marks.  We also practiced our handwriting while we learned how to write the letters Xx and Qq.  The students also wrote acrostic name poems this week like the one below.  They did an unbelievable job stretching out the words for their poems and drawing portraits of themselves to go with their poems.  They are on display in the hallway outside our classroom.

Kind
Active
Tennis
Eggs

The children also brought home their November Song sheets to add to their "Poetry and Song" folders. Click here to listen to the afternoon class singing it one last time!

Close Reading Lesson
With the moon at its fullest last weekend, it provided us with a great opportunity to read Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes.  We talked about Kevin Henkes and how he writes and illustrates his stories, which led us into a great discussion about how the words and pictures in a book work together to tell the story.  The children did an amazing job talking about Kitten and discussing with a partner some of the events that happened.  We also had a great conversation about how sometimes a character in a story does something, which causes something else to happen---a beginning introduction to the concept of "cause and effect."  I was amazed at the level of the students' engagement with the text and their ideas and responses as we discussed the story.  It was great to see!

Gobble!  Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving to All

from the Students in K-2 and K-4

Weekly News (Nov. 11-15)

Even though it was a short week, it was a busy one!  Please pardon the abbreviated blog post this week.  I have been keeping busy working on progress reports and preparing for parent-teacher conferences.  I am looking forward to meeting with all of you!

Math

Counting by 10's up to 100.

Jolly Phonics
This week we learned the following sounds:
Vv as in "van"
oo as in "book"
oo as in "moon"

Please note that there are two different sounds for "oo."  The children also enjoyed watching a Jolly Phonics that reviewed all of the sounds the children learned in Book #5.

Literacy
The children enjoyed listening to several stories this week related to fall and Thanksgiving.  They also learned the sight word "go" and brought home a new sight word book that highlighted three different types of punctuation--a period, a question mark, and an exclamation point.  The children continued to practice their handwriting this week and did Writer's Workshop.  They also learned about acrostic poems and wrote their own acrostic poems for the the word THANKFUL.

Centers

Franklin's Thanksgiving

Roll-a-Turkey

Graphing fall foods

Practicing our teamwork and collaboration skills

Pattern blocks, counting, and cooperation

Thanks for reading!

Weekly News (Nov. 4-8)

Math
We used the interactive white board this week to solve addition and subtraction number stories similar to the one below.  We used the words "more" and "less" to help us understand the concepts of adding and subtracting. 

The students also practiced sequencing the numbers from 0-20 using a set of number cards that they had to put in order.  The children did a great job with this activity, especially with those teens numbers! In our number book this week, we learned about the numbers 14 and 15.  We continue to reinforce the concept that the teen numbers are made up of a ten "plus some more."  The children also learned a new game this week called the "Train Game."  In this game, the children roll a die and count out that number of cubes.  They attach the cubes in a line to form a train, then they figure out how many more cubes they need to make a group of ten.  They roll again and add more cubes to their train, figuring out each time how many more cubes they need to make a ten.

Click the link below to play a variation of the Train Game that involves adding and subtracting train cars.

http://media.emgames.com/emgames/demosite/playdemo.html?activity=M1A041&activitytype=dcr

Jolly Phonics
We began Book #5 in Jolly Phonics this week.  The children learned the sounds and motions for the following letters:

Zz as in "zoo"
Ww as in "wind"
ng as in "sing"

Thank you so much for all your support at home with our Jolly Phonics notebooks.  Please keep practicing the sounds we have learned.  The extra time practicing really pays off when the children are reading and writing.  The short vowels and double letter sounds are trickier and could use some extra practice!

Literacy
This week we introduced the sight word "see."  We highlighted the new word in our sight word books and brought them home earlier in the week.  Please add this book to your child's plastic baggie.  We read several books with a bat theme this week including: Stellaluna, Bats Around the Clock, and Fantastic Bats.  Before reading our bat books, we completed a graphic organizer together as a class that listed our ideas about what bats can do, what bats have, and what bats are.  Later in the week we added new ideas that we learned and modified some of our original thinking about bats.  Take a peek at some of our thinking below!

The children were also able to watch the movie version of Stellaluna, which made for some great conversation as we made comparisons between the book and the movie.  The afternoon class also welcomed a guest reader this week.  Kelsey's dad read Bear's Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson, which the children loved!  I know Karma Wilson's books will become some of our class favorites after we do an author study on her series of Bear books later this year.  The children also enjoyed a beautifully illustrated book called Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns in recognition of the Islamic New Year.

The children were busy with their handwriting this week as well, as they learned how to write the letters Jj, Pp, and Rr.  Our goal is to be finished learning all the letters by Thanksgiving break!

Social Studies
The children also learned about the upcoming Veteran's Day holiday on Monday.  We talked about what it means to be a veteran, and we made cards that will be delivered to veterans in honor of their service.

The children began learning about Thanksgiving during centers this week while listening to a nonfiction book about Thanksgiving.  They also strengthened their fine motor skills by creating a turkey craft project this week.  Our new turkeys have really brightened up our room!

Centers
While the children were working in centers this week, I was meeting with students in their small guided reading groups.  I was also able to do some assessing this week for report cards.  I was assessing the students in the following areas: identification of upper and lowercase letters, letter sounds, sight words, number recognition up to 31, shapes, counting up to 100 by 1's and 120 by 10's, counting a collection of objects, and pattern recognition.  The students worked in the following centers this week.

Playing Monster Squeeze on the iPads

Sound blending and reading on the computers

Listening to a nonfiction book about Thanksgiving

Working as a team to assemble a puzzle

Hunting for sight words

And finally...showing our Dolphin Pride!

Have a great weekend!