Weekly News (Nov. 2-6)

Gobble, Gobble! Happy November! It's been an amazing week in kindergarten. Here is what we've been up to in K-2!

Math
This week in math we spent a lot of time learning about those "tricky teen" numbers from 11-19.  We practiced sequencing the teen numbers and counting out each number.  We also talked about how each teen number is "10 plus some more."  

Click on the picture below to play a game that reinforces teen numbers.
(Be sure to select numbers from 10-20 to practice the teens!)

We also introduced the concept of estimating, and we talked about how we can use information we know to make a "thoughtful guess."  We put 10 objects into one container and filled a second container with either more or less objects.  Then we estimated how many objects might be in the second container by comparing it to the container with 10.  The children did a GREAT job with this activity!

Jolly Phonics

This week we began learning the Jolly Phonics sounds from Book #4.  The children learned their first long vowel sound, long a, and they did a great job finding examples of these sounds. We talked about how sometimes two letters work together as buddies to make one sound. Below are all the sounds we learned this week.

ai as "train"

Jj as in "jiggle"

Click on the links below to practice these sounds.

Literacy
Reading Workshop
This week we began our new unit that focuses on fiction books. We learned that authors of fiction write stories that are made up from their imaginations. They write books to entertain us or to teach us an important lesson. We also learned that there are two types of fiction stories:

Realistic Fiction: stories that could happen in real life

and

Fantasy: stories that are imaginary or make-believe and can't happen in real life

Using the book Could Be Worse by James Stevenson, we practiced distinguishing realistic fiction from fantasy by noticing the details in the story and asking ourselves, "Could this really happen?"  

We also learned how to retell the events of a story using a familiar fairytale--Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The class did a great job sequencing the events and using the words first, next, then, after that, and last to retell the story.

Writing Workshop and 5th Grade Buddies
The class did a terrific job sharing their books with their 5th grade buddies. We can't wait for them to visit again! Next week we will focus on writing narrative pieces during Writing Workshop.

All About Me
The class loved learning all about Ian this week! We learned that Ian loves to play sports, especially soccer. He also does Tae Kwon Do, and he is very proud of his well-deserved trophies! Ian also loves to spend time with his family, and one of his favorite places to go is Dave and Busters. Ian is also an avid reader and loves books, especially the Pete the Cat series!

Art Appreciation
A big thank you to Jeanie's dad for a TERRIFIC art lesson. The children learned all about the paintings inside the Lascaux Caves in France. The children even had a chance to go in their own caves to create their own drawings!

Indoor Recess