Weekly News (April 21-25)

All About Me

The morning class loved learning about Gabriel this week. It was easy to see how excited he was to share his Me Box! We learned that Gabriel loves cars and motorcycles, and he enjoys doing Tae Kwon Do. He is a big fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He loves spending time with his family and cuddling up with his stuffed dog.

Julia did a great job sharing her Me Box this week too! The class loved learning about all of her favorite things. We learned that Julia is very artistic and loves painting and doing crafts. She enjoys playing with her Lego friends and snuggling up with her stuffed animals. She loves spending time with her family and visiting her grandparents!

Math

We started our week off with a math craft! Using a pipe cleaner and some beads, the children made counting loops. We placed 10 beads on each pipe cleaner and then closed the pipe cleaner to form a loop. The children practiced making "10's Buddies," as we have been calling them, on their loops. For example, they would slide 3 beads to the left of the loop and then 7 to the right side to help them learn that 3 and 7 make a 10. A note came home earlier in the week explaining how to use the loops at home as a learning tool. We also played a new game this week to reinforce the concept of place value called the "Ones, Tens, Hundreds" game. We also practiced our counting skills by counting the number of spots found on a group of ladybugs. It was great practice counting a large collection--there were 44 spots in all! The children were also introduced to telling time to the hour when we read the story The Very Grouch Ladybug. We will learn more about time next week using the ladybug clocks the students made for homework. The children have also been bringing home math fact flash cards to cut out and practice at home. Facts for +0 and +1 have already come home. According to the Common Core Standards, at the end of kindergarten, children should be able to fluently add numbers with sums up to 5. 

Literacy/Science

This week we began our newest theme for our Treasures reading program---Amazing Creatures. This week we focused on the amazing world of insects with a special focus on ladybugs! We learned about ladybugs and other insects this week during read aloud, and we even did some writing about what we would do if we caught a ladybug. The children had such creative and thoughtful ideas! The children also did some writing about their long weekend, and from what I read the children took full advantage of the beautiful weather we had last weekend! We also celebrated Earth Day this week with one of my favorite stories--The Lorax. We read a Time for Kids magazine about ways we can protect our Earth and did some writing about what we can do to help. We learned the sights words he and she, and the students brought home a new sight word book this week as well.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Weekly News (April 14-17)

All About Me

Curtis did a great job sharing his Me Box this week! The class loved his  soccer medal and thought his badge from Disneyland was really neat! We learned that Curtis is a big sports fan. He enjoys playing basketball, baseball, and soccer. He is a big fan of Star Wars and Skylanders. Curtis enjoys spending time with his family, and he loves his stuffed monkey!

The afternoon class loved learning about Xavier's favorite things this week! We learned that Xavier enjoys coloring and spending time with his family. He loved collecting shells and playing at the beach in Florida over spring vacation. He is a big fan of Skylanders, and he loves his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wallet. One of his favorite snacks is a peanut butter granola bar, and he likes spending time with his sister!

Math
This week in math the students learned a new game called the "Plus and Minus Game!" In this game the children practiced both their addition and subtraction skills, but the major focus of this game was to help the children learn what numbers make a ten, such as 4 and 6, 3 and 7, 2 and 8, etc. This is a game we will play again soon! We also practiced reading and writing 2-digit numbers by rolling 2 dice. For example, we rolled a 2 and a 4 and were able to make the numbers 24 and 42. They did a GREAT job with this game! This week the students also had their first introduction to a number scroll. In first grade, the students will be making their own number scrolls where they practice writing their numbers in order beginning with the number 1 and going up as high as they can go. I shared my daughter's number scroll from first grade that went from the number 1 all the way up to 1,970. The looks on the children's faces when we kept unrolling the scroll were priceless! Although the students won't be making their scrolls until first grade, we got a jump start by practicing how to write our numbers from 1 up to 110. They did an unbelievable job with this activity!

The Plus and Minus Game

The Plus and Minus Game

Literacy
The children added two new books to their at home collections this week--a new sight word book and a mini book about how flowers grow. We learned about sunflowers this week during our read aloud time and read a wonderful book about a boy who plants a circle of flowers in his garden to make a sunflower house for he and his friends to play in all sum mer called The Sunflower House. The kids loved this story and were so excited to make their own sunflowers using their handprints for petals. They are adorable! The children continue to strengthen their writing skills during Writer's Workshop and are growing by leaps and bounds! This week the students wrote about their weekend adventures, and they wrote expository pieces about how to plant a flower. They did some writing to sequence and retell a story about a duck who goes outside to play on a rainy day. They did a super job with this writing activity!

Centers
Just a few snapshots of some of the centers the students worked in during guided reading group time this week!

Pattern Blocks

Reading Big Books

Lego Center

Weekly News (April 7-11)

Our first real taste of spring! We had some great weather this week. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

All About Me

Melvin did a great job sharing his Me Box this week! The class loved his Tae Kwon Do trophy and thought his dogs were super cute! We learned that Melvin loves his family and enjoys playing with his Skylanders and Legos, especially his Ninjago characters. The class also loved Melvin's box that he hand stamped with his Grandma!

Andrew did a great job sharing his Me Box this week too! It was easy to see that Andrew LOVES sports! He enjoys playing tennis, hockey, and baseball. Andrew is a big St. Louis Cardinals fan, and he loves playing with Legos. He is a big fan of the Lego Movie too. Doesn't he look just like Emmet?

Math

This week we continued to practice our counting skills. We have been practicing our counts by 1's, 5's, 10's and even 2's. Counting back by 1's from 25 is also a skill we've been working on. Keep practicing these skills at home or even in the car. It's one of the best times to squeeze in a little review and practice! We also used popsicle sticks to review place value. In our mystery bag, there were bundles of 10 sticks rubberbanded together as well as several unbundled sticks. We practiced counting by 10's first and then by 1's to see how many sticks we had altogether. 

Literacy

This week the students learned the sight words here and was, and they brought home a new sight word book to add to their collections. We continued our plant theme this week and read a big book about seeds and flowers and talked about dandelions, which many of the children referred to as "wish flowers." Using cotton balls for our "dandelion puffs," we made our own wish flowers and the children shared a wish. One of my favorite wishes from the week…."I wish for a hot tub and a mud room." Me too! The children also did some writing during Writer's Workshop this week and met in their guided reading groups.

Centers

The children rotated throughout several centers this week.

 

 

 

 

The students at Dryden were also treated to two fabulous assemblies this week. The first was an author visit from Andrea Beaty who taught the children about believing in yourself and your ideas. The second assembly was an exciting performance from the Chicago Boyz Acrobatics Team who helped the children learn about hard work and dedication as well as the importance of a good education.

Thanks for reading!

Weekly News (Mar. 31-April 4)

The children did a great job hopping right back into the swing of things this week after spring break!

All About Me

Emma LOVED sharing her Me Box with the morning class this week! Everyone loved her pictures of all of the Super Buddies and her snuggle bunny. We learned that Emma enjoys playing with her Littlest Pet Shop toys, watching My Little Ponies, and spending time with her family.

Tyler did a great job sharing his Me Box in the afternoon too. We learned that Tyler loves spending time with his dad and his brother on their 4-wheelers, and he loves taking care of his Furby. Tyler is a a big fan of Despicable Me,  he enjoys doing crafts, and he loves tow trucks!

 

Math 

This week the children reviewed tally marks when playing a coin flip game, and we introduced the concept of probability by talking about what our chances were for flipping either heads or tails. We also reviewed how to use a calendar and sent home our April calendars. We reviewed how to solve addition number stories and created some of our own stories, which will be made into a class book. We introduced the concept of fractions by talking about what the word "half" means. We tried dividing a graham cracker in half several different ways and learned that when dividing an object in half, both parts must be equal or the same size. The class loved reviewing 2D and 3D shapes this week as we created pyramids and cubes using toothpicks and marshmallows. They are excited to build even more creations during centers this week.

Literacy
The children were quite busy during Writer's Workshop this week. They wrote about their spring vacation, which I loved reading. It sounds like everyone had a great spring break! They also did some persuasive writing this week about seasons. They started their writing with, "The best season is _______" and then wrote about what makes that season special. We also introduced two new sight words this week---said and little--- and read a new sight word book. The children enjoyed several stories this week including stories read by Max's mom in the morning class! Our stories this week focused on the signs of spring, trees, and the weather. We read a new class favorite--Tap the Magic Tree, which is an interactive story about the seasons, and the children created a book to add to their collections called The Signs of Spring.

Talking about our spring vacation with a buddy.

Centers
This week the children had several options for center time. Here are a few of the options for the week!

Reading to a Buddy

Computer Time

Lego Building

The children brought home their March Song to add to their Poetry Folder.  Here is the afternoon class singing our March song one more time!