Friday, November 13, 2015

Weekly News (Nov. 9-13)

The days keep flying by in Kindergarten! Here is what we have been up to this week!




Getting ready for Thanksgiving!


Math
This week we introduced the concept of a number story. We used our interactive whiteboard to create our own number stories such as, "Ryan saw 2 green leaves on the tree and Maggie saw 3 orange leaves on the tree. How many leaves did they see in all?"  Then we wrote a number sentence (or a number model) to match our story, 2 + 3 = 5.



The children also learned about symmetry this week by looking at many different examples of symmetrical shapes. We learned that objects have symmetry when they are the same on both sides. We also learned that objects can have up and down (vertical) symmetry, side to side (horizontal) symmetry, or multiple lines of symmetry like the examples below. 
Click on the picture below to play a symmetry sorting game.




The children have also been learning how to login to their Everyday Math online accounts. Student passwords and login information will be sent home at parent-teacher conferences so students can access math games and other resources at home as well.





Jolly Phonics
This week we finished Book #4 in Jolly Phonics and learned several more double letter sounds. Thank you so much for all your support at home reviewing the sounds we have learned. 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! We learned the following sounds this week:

/oa/ as in goat
/ie/ as in tie
/ee/ as in feet
/or/ as in corn






Literacy
Reading Workshop
We read another familiar fairy tale this week, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and learned how to identify the problem and solution in a fictional story. We learned that the main character or characters in a story often face trouble or have a problem to solve. By paying close attention to these problems and how the characters solve them, we can learn how to solve similar problems in real life. We also learned that the main characters are usually introduced at the beginning of the story and that traditional tales often have a villain or bad guy. We also spent some time comparing and contrasting Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Billy Goats Gruff using a Venn diagram similar to the one below. 


Using Mo Willem's book I Broke My Trunk! as a mentor text, the children learned how to infer characters' feelings and traits by thinking about what's happening in the story, studying the characters' facial and body language, and listening to what the characters say and think. Authors use feeling words like the one below to help us better understand how a character feels.



Writing Workshop
After learning about informational writing and sharing our teaching books with our 5th grade buddies last week, we shifted our focus this week to learning how to write stories. Using our Halloween parade and party as a shared experience, I modeled for students how we can retell the events of something that happened in our lives using the words first, then, and last. After modeling for students how to tell a story, the children practiced telling their own stories to a buddy during turn-and-talk time and are now working on recording their ideas in writing. Many children are writing about our Halloween celebration, but we also have children telling stories about other events such as a trip to the zoo, going to the pool, visiting a museum, and having fun at school. They are doing an amazing job!

All About Me
This week we had a great time learning all about Matthew! We learned that Matthew is an avid Minecraft player. He enjoys playing Minecraft on his X-box, and he loves researching new ways to build things. Matthew also enjoys playing with his Transformers collection, and he is learning how to shoot a bow and arrow. Matthew also likes Batman, especially his Clayface action figure, and he loves spending time with his family! 



Centers
The students did a great job during centers this week as I met with students one-on-one to work on writing. In centers this week, the children listened to a Thanksgiving inspired story called The Very First Thanksgiving and spent some time in our writing center. 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 and one-to-one matching 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! 

Domino Parking Lot: Counting and Matching Numbers


Listening Center: The Very First Thanksgiving


Roll-a-Turkey


Kitchen Time


Writing Center
Veterans Day Celebration
We were so lucky to celebrate Veterans Day with an all school assembly and two special guest speakers who talked about their experiences serving in the United States Navy. What an amazing experience for us all!





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