Weekly News (Dec. 8-19)

The last two weeks before break have been great! We have been busy learning and are excited for our winter vacation!

Math
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.

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. We completed a graphing activity as well that the children absolutely loved and played a game of "Roll and Record" too!

Jolly Phonics
HOORAY! We did it! We learned the last of our Jolly Phonics sounds! The students have now been introduced to all 42 sounds. 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. We will continue to review and practice our sounds. Keep up the great work!

Literacy/Social Studies
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 over the last couple of weeks including: The Sourdough Man (an Alaskan version of the Gingerbread Man), Gingerbread Cowboy, Cajun Cornbread Boy, Gingerbread Baby, and Gingerbread Friends.  With each new book we read, we continued to discuss the similarities and differences between the main characters and the setting of each story as well as the major events and the refrain in each story.  They loved this unit!!

The children learned the sight word "have" 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!

In celebration of our gingerbread literature study, Mrs. Schmidt and I transformed the kindergarten hallway into a Gingerbread Wonderland!  The children were so surprised to see the hallway decorated with the gumdrops and candy swirls they made. 

We even made our own gingerbread boys and girls, and we learned "The Gingerbread Song" too, which follows the tune of Jingle Bells. You can hear it in action below!

All About Me
We loved learning all about Danny this week! He is an avid hockey player and enjoys playing games like Memory. He likes watching movies and playing with his Skylanders. He also loves to color and spend time with his family!

A big thank you to Danny's mom for coming in to read a story. Stick Man was a big hit!

Art Appreciation

The class really enjoyed the art lesson presented by Callie's mom this week. The students learned all about the painting The Fifer by French artist Edouard Manet.

Thank you for reading!

Wishing you all a wonderful winter vacation and a

Happy New Year!

Weekly News (Dec. 1-5)

The children have done a great job jumping back into our daily routines after the long Thanksgiving break, and our December is off to a GREAT 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.  Thank you for encouraging them to use their calendars at home! 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 practiced sequencing the numbers from 0-20 and made a set of number cards that they will use next week to play a new math game called Top-It. This game is similar to the card game "War."  The children were also able to use our pattern block templates to create their own gingerbread houses. They did a great job using a variety of shapes to add detail to their houses. What a creative group we have!!

Jolly Phonics
This week the children learned the first two sounds in our final Jolly Phonics book including the sounds:

/qu/ as in "queen"

/ou/ as in "house"

Gingerbread Literature Unit
This is one of my favorite times of year in kindergarten. We have begun a literature unit where we will compare several different versions of the familiar story The Gingerbread Man. This unit provides us with a great opportunity to engage in some close reading exercises. This week we read The Gingerbread Man by Karen Schmidt and The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst.  After reading both stories, we compared the characters, the setting, and the major events in each story.  We also talked about the differences in the main chorus from each book, 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!  

Making our own "gumdrops" to add to our class gingerbread house.

Making swirl candies for our gingerbread house too!

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."  

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!

Geoboard Creations

Computer Center

Reading from our book bins

Creating our own Gingerbread Bears
after listening to the story in the listening center!

Writing Center

All About Me

We had a great time learning about Callie and all of her favorite things this week! We learned that Callie is very creative, and she loves to paint and color. She also enjoys doing ballet and playing with Lego Friends. Some of her favorite foods are strawberries, Goldfish, and apple juice. Callie lovers her dog, and she enjoys spending time with her family!

A special guest came in to read Zoomer. It was a hit and a perfect read aloud for this time of year!

Weekly News (Nov. 17-21)

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 created a class graph of our favorite Thanksgiving day foods from the following choices: mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and turkey of course! We counted the number of votes for each choice and analyzed our results. We learned that the same number of students liked mashed potatoes and turkey. Pumpkin pie was the clear winner, and Mrs. Riesing was the only one who liked stuffing!! We also practiced our counting skills this week. We counted by 1's and 10's and played a game on the whiteboard to put our counts of 10 in order from 10 to 100. We revisited the concept of our "ten frame" this week by talking more about a "teen frame." We used the interactive white board to help use add two numbers with totals beyond 10. The children are doing a great job recognizing our teen numbers as "ten plus some more." The children also worked more closely with the numbers 11 and 12 in their teen number packets!

Jolly Phonics

We are cruising right along with our Jolly Phonics sounds. We finished learning the sounds for Book #6, and we will begin our final book when we return from Thanksgiving break. This week we learned some of our "H Brothers!"

/ch/ as in "choo-choo"

/sh/ as in "ship"

/th/ as in "this" or "thing"

We have been reviewing all of our Jolly Phonics sounds each week, and the children are becoming more and more confident applying their sounds to their writing. It is so exciting to see!!

Literacy

The children enjoyed listening to several Thanksgiving related stories this week including: The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving, Bear Says Thanks, and 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving. We also enjoyed reading several Thanksgiving poems and even created our own acrostic poems that highlighted many of the things we are thankful for. The students added a new sight word book to their book bags and brought home a copy of our November song for their green poetry folders. Click on the link below to hear us singing it one more time!

The children have also been busy with their writing the last couple of weeks! We have been writing about our favorite Thanksgiving foods, what we are thankful for, and what we like to do in the fall. Looking forward to sharing some of your child's writing with you at conferences!!

Centers

The students did a great job during centers this week as I met with groups for guided reading!

Roll-a-Turkey

Sequencing Numbers

Writing Center

Listening Center

Sight Word Center

All About Me
We loved learning all about Scot this week! He did a great job presenting his "Me Box," and we had a  great time learning all about his favorite things. We learned that Scot is a big fan of Legos. He loves catching bugs, and he loves dinosaurs. Some of his favorite foods are peppers and watermelon. He likes Transformers, and loves spending time with his family!

A special visit from Scot's Mom to read I'm Dirty!  A new class favorite!

Loved seeing the "Buddy Bench" in action during recess this week!

PJ Day with our Furry Friends!

Happy Thanksgiving from K-2!

Weekly News (Nov. 10-14)

Can't believe it's already snowing! My children took full advantage of the first snowfall this weekend!

Take a peek to see what we have been up to this week!

Math

This week in math we reviewed how to use a pan balance and talked about the terms balanced, equal, heavier, and lighter. We also introduced the concept of probability. We talked about what it means when things are sure or certain to happen and talked about the terms possible and impossible. We learned a new game this week called the Train Game, which reinforced making complements of 10.

Pan Balance Review

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

/y/ as in "yogurt"

/w/ as in "wind"

Please note that there are two different sounds for "oo."  

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 writing this week as they wrote several Thanksgiving themed pieces. We learned a new poem this week called The Turkey and reviewed the concept of rhyming words and learned about the ending -ing. The children also brought home new guided reading books this week too!

Centers
In centers this week, the children listened to a Thanksgiving inspired story called The Very First Thanksgiving and used the iPads to play math and literacy BINGO games.  They also worked with our new sight word "go" and used pattern blocks to reinforce their patterning skills. They also played a game called "Domino Parking Lot," which required the students to count all of the dots on our domino "cars" and park them in the the appropriate parking spots.  This activity not only provided an opportunity for students to practice their counting skills, it also provided them with foundational practice for understanding addition and math facts.  Using the dominos with different combinations of dots, the students were able to see that different combinations can have the same total.  For example, a domino with 6 dots and 1 dot could be parked in the same spot with a domino that had 5 dots and 2 dots.  For a simple game, there was lots of learning going on!  

All About Me

This week we loved learning all about Harin and his favorite things! We learned that Harin enjoys playing with Legos and his toy cars. He is a big fan of Ironman and Batman. Harin enjoys swimming and Tae Kwon Do, and he loves spending time with his family!

Art Appreciation Lesson--Learning about the Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa Creations!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Weekly News (Nov. 3-7)

Can you believe it's November already?! The time is flying by in kindergarten. I am really looking forward to meeting with all of you for parent-teacher conferences soon. I spent some time meeting with the students one-on-one this week for some assessing, and it's amazing to see how much the children have grown in such a short time!

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 an interactive game on the whiteboard.  The children did a great job with this activity, especially with those teens numbers! We continue to reinforce the concept that the teen numbers are made up of a ten "plus some more." 

The students also spent some time in the LMC learning how to access the Everyday Mathematics Online game website. There are several games that the students will have access to at school and home. A card with login information will be sent home at conferences!

The November calendar went home last week as well.  Please find a spot at home to display the calendar and have your child trace the number for each day.  There are many ways you can use the calendar with your child at home including:

• review the days of the week
• find the first and last days of the month
• find the number ___
• find the number that is 1 more than ___
• find the number that is 1 less than ___
• find and read all of the teen numbers
• find the counts by 10
• find the counts by 5

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

/w/ as in "wind"
/ng/ as in "sing"
/v/ as in "van"

Thank you so much for all your support at home reviewing our Jolly Phonics sounds. The extra time practicing really pays off when the children are learning to read and write.  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, National Geographic: Bats, and Fantastic Bats.  After 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.  The students also wrote facts they learned about bats, and they used their letter-sound knowledge to label a picture of a bat. 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. 

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

All About Me
We loved learning all about Lydia and her favorite things this week! We learned that Lydia's favorite color is pink, and she loves Hello Kitty. She enjoys doing puzzles and jumping rope. She also loves blowing up balloons. Her favorite foods are pancakes and mac-n-cheese, and she loves fruit, especially blueberries, bananas, apples, and oranges. Thank you for sharing Lydia!

The class loved listening to Rapunzel! Thank you for coming in to read!

Our first taste of Thanksgiving fun--making turkey wreaths!

Happy Halloween

Enjoying our first Art Appreciation lesson of the year.
Thank you for a great lesson!

Weekly News (Oct. 27-31)

What a fun and busy week we had in kindergarten! Take a peek at some of this week's highlights!

All About Me
The class loved learning about Nico this week! It was great to learn all about his family and some of his favorite things. We learned that Nico loves Spiderman, Legos, and playing on the iPad. He also is a big fan of pizza and shrimp. Yum! Nico loves playing basketball and baseball. He has a big toy car collection, and he loves spending time with his family! 

A big thank you to Nico's mom who came in to read a Halloween story.
What a perfect start to our special day!

Take a peek at our Halloween slideshow. It was fun to see all of the children dressed up. Their costumes were fabulous! A big thank you to all of the parents who provided treats and supplies for our party and to the parents who helped run a station. The kids had a great time! Thank you!

Weekly News (Oct. 20-24)

Now this is a perfect fall day! I hope everyone is doing something fun today. We're heading to the pumpkin patch!

Math
This week in math the students began working in their "Number Books." When working in our number books, we practice writing each number as well as the number word. We also worked to fill in a ten frame for each number and found each number on a number line. We introduced the concept of a "number bond" as well, which provides a visual way for the children to begin thinking about addition facts. See the sample number bond below.

We also played a new game called "Roll and Record" where the students rolled a die and then practiced writing the number. This game encourages students to automatically recognize the number of dots on each side of the die, and it's great for number writing practice too! This week we also introduced the concept of weight using a pan balance. We used the words lighter and heavier to help us understand the meaning of the word weight. We talked about what it means when the pans are equal or balanced. Next week the students will experiment with the pan balance using a variety of objects during center time.

Jolly Phonics
We continued to learn the sounds in Book #4 and spent some time reviewing all of the sounds we have learned. We learned two more long vowel sounds this week.

/oa/ as in "boat"
/ie/ as in "pie"

Literacy
This week the children worked to create a book called Where is Pumpkin?, which focused on helping the children learn positional words such as: under, behind, on, above, and in.  They did a great job making and reading these books.  Please encourage your child to read it over and over again.  It's a fun one to read! We also enjoyed several fall themed books this week including: Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf; A Leaf Can Be, The Scarecrow's Hat, and Pumpkin Town. After reading A Leaf Can Be, we brainstormed some of the information we have learned about leaves and completed a graphic organizer that helped us categorize what we know about leaves. We used these phrases, "Leaves can ____, Leaves have ____, and Leaves are ____" to help us organize our ideas. We also created our own scarecrows after reading Scarecrow's Hat, which was a great opportunity to review some of our shapes! The shapes that we focus on in kindergarten include: rectangle, square, triangle, circle, oval, and diamond. 

The children continue to do a great during our guided reading and center time. I can tell they have been practicing their sight words, sounds, and books at home. Thank you for your continued support!

Centers
Take a peek below at this week's centers.

Runaway Pumpkin at the Listening Center

Pattern Creations

Sight Word Center

Reading Center

Geoboard Creations

Science
The students were eager to bring home their "Leaf Field Guide" this weekend, so they could go for a fall walk and look for leaves. Using the leaf rubbings from our science center last week, we made a field guided that would help students recognize some of the leaves they see outside. We also took a closer look at the different types of trees that produce these beautiful leaves!

All About Me
We had a great time learning all about Charlie this week. We learned that Charlie loves fishing, and he is also an official Junior Ranger for Yellowstone National Park. Wow! He also likes Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, especially Leonardo! He loves spending time with his family and playing Legos with his brother Jack. The class also loved when Jack's grandma came in to read a story--If You Give a Mouse a Cupcake. What a treat, thank you!

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for reading!