Weekly News (Dec. 18-22)

It was definitely a fun and busy week in kindergarten. Take a peek at a few of the highlights below, and be sure to check out this week's photos!

Cardboard Challenge
The children did such an amazing job working together in teams to design and create gingerbread houses for Dryden's cardboard challenge. On Tuesday, the children had the opportunity to talk about their gingerbread houses with other students, and they also got to walk around and see some of the other students' creations. Check out the slideshows and photos below!

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Holiday Carols

We also enjoyed having Mr. Deptula and the 5th graders come in to do sing some holiday carols!

Winter Wonderland

A huge thank you to the PTA and all of the parents who volunteered for Winter Wonderland. The children had fun playing BINGO and making cards for patients at Northwest Community Hospital.

Art Appreciation

The morning class also enjoyed an art appreciation lesson presented by Mrs. Davis. We learned about the Lascaux Cave paintings of France. We also learned about the different materials that were used long ago to make paint, and the students even had a chance to create their own cave paintings!

I cannot thank you all enough for the thoughtful cards and gifts! It is truly a blessing to work with your children each day, and it's exciting to see how much they've grown this year. I can't wait to see them again in 2018! I hope you all have a fun and relaxing winter break. See you soon!

Weekly News (Dec. 11-15)

Such an exciting week in kindergarten! Our kindergarten engineers did an amazing job working on their gingerbread houses. We can't wait to put them on display next week!

Math
This week we reviewed the concepts of same and different while we read the story The Ugly Duckling. We also reviewed the concepts of one more and one less and introduced the concept of fewer. Identifying how many fewer objects there were when comparing two sets of objects was difficult, but we used a variety of math manipulatives and played several games this week to reinforce these concepts.

Jolly Phonics
This week we learned two more double-letter sounds--oi and ue. We will learn our final two sounds next week!

Literacy
Reading Workshop
We continued our Gingerbread Unit this week and compared two more versions of the Gingerbread Man. This week we read The Gingerbread Cowboy and The Cajun Cornbread Boy. It was exciting to listen to the students as they talked with their partners about the similarities and differences between all the stories we've read. They're looking forward to The Gingerbread Baby next week!

Writing Workshop
This week during writing workshop time, the students wrote about what they would do if their gingerbread cookie jumped out of the oven. They practiced using their Jolly Phonics sounds as they worked to share their ideas. Some cookies had the same fate as the gingerbread man, but other cookies managed to escape! Such creative ideas the students had!

Science and Engineering
The students have been doing a great job working on their gingerbread house for Dryden's Cardboard Challenge. Not only have the students been working on their planning and design skills, they have also been learning how to share their ideas and how to compromise! Take a peek at a couple of groups in action below. More photos to come next week!!

All About Me
The morning class loved learning all about Charlotte this week. We learned that Charlotte loves Mickey Mouse, and she would love to go to Disney some day. She also enjoys coloring and her favorite color is yellow. Charlotte likes to swim and spend time at the beach. She also loves spending time with her family!

Thank you to Charlotte's mom for reading a class favorite!

The afternoon class loved learning all about Nate this week. We learned that Nate is a big Lego and Star Wars fan. He also loves the color red, and Christmas is his favorite holiday. Nate enjoys playing with his action figures and spending time with his family and playing with his twin brother Jason!

Thank you to Nate's mom for coming in to read too!

Click HERE to see a few more pictures from this week. 

More photos to come next week too!

Thanks for reading!

Weekly News (Dec. 4-8)

What an exciting week in kindergarten! The kindergarten hallway was transformed into a gingerbread wonderland. Such fun to listen to all the ooh's and ahh's!

Math
This week in math, we reviewed counting and using one-to-one matching when counting collections of objects. We also worked to pair number names with numerals and worked as a class to create a number line. We also learned how to use our fingers and toes to help us with our counting and how to use the number to identify quantities that are one more or one less.

Jolly Phonics
We started our last set of sounds this week, and by winter break we will have learned all 42 sounds. This week we learned these sounds:

qu as in "queen"
ou as in "shout"

Literacy
Reading Workshop
This week we started our Gingerbread Unit, which will provide an opportunity for the children to practice using the strategies we have been learning during reading workshop time. We will be comparing several versions of the Gingerbread Man, and we will use a graphic organizer to help us compare the different story elements we have been learning about which include identifying the main character, the setting, the problem, and the solution. So far we have read and compared the following two stories, which the children LOVED!

Writing Workshop
The children continue to grow as writers! This week they practiced stretching out sounds as they worked to label the different parts of a gingerbread man.

All About Me
This week the morning class loved learning all about Danny and some of his favorite things! We learned that Danny loves learning about animals, especially giraffes, sharks, and dolphins. He also loves building with Magna-Tiles, and his favorite color is red. He is a big fan of stuffed animals, and he loves spending time with his brother Gabriel and his new baby brother Jake!

The afternoon class loved learning all about Danielle! We learned that Danielle loves spending time with her family, especially around the holidays, and she loves the color purple. She is a big fan of Sour Patch kids, and she enjoys swimming and painting her nails. She also likes plants, and snuggling up with her favorite monkey!

A big thank you to Kylie's sister for coming in to read!

LMC
During computer time in the LMC this week, the students learned about what it means to be a good digital citizen. Using the Nearpod app, the students learned that it's important to be safe, respectful, and responsible when using technology.

Gingerbread House Engineering
The children were eager to begin planning their gingerbread house designs for Dryden's Cardboard Challenge. Students worked together in small groups to think of items that a gingerbread boy or girl might need in a home, and then they created a plan for what their house will look like. Gingerbread house construction begins next week! Can't wait to see their designs come to life!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Click HERE to see a few more pictures from the week! 

Weekly News (Nov. 13-Nov. 30)

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving break! Take a peek below to see what we have been learning these last few weeks!

Math
During our measurement unit, students engaged in many hands-on experiences to help them develop an awareness of the concepts of length, size, and weight. Students were able to see and feel these differences, which helped them compare and order objects based on these attributes. Students also had opportunities to use some of their new "math words" as they explained their thinking to the class such as: bigger, smaller, shorter, taller, longer, lighter, and heavier.

This week we began our fourth unit in math. Our lessons this week focused on decomposing numbers through 5. Through several different hands-on experiences, students learned how numbers are composed of other numbers. In the picture below, for example, the students were working together to find different ways to show 4. (i.e.-- 4+0, 3+1, 2+2, 1+3, and 0+4)

Jolly Phonics
It's amazing to see how much progress the children have made learning their Jolly Phonics sounds. They are becoming more confident with their sounds during writing workshop time. We have one more set of sounds to learn before winter break, and then we will continue to review all 42 sounds. We learned the following sounds over the last few weeks:

Vv as in "van"
oo as in "book" and "moon"
Yy as in "yarn"
Xx as in "fox"
ch as in "chick"
sh as in "shoe"
th as in "three" and "then"

Click HERE to watch the video for the Letter V.

Click HERE to watch the video for the Letter Y.

Click HERE to watch the video for the Letter X.

Literacy
Reading Workshop
The children have been enjoying our fiction unit. We have been learning about the many strategies good readers use when reading stories, and we have been practicing these strategies during our independent reading time.

Identifying the problem

Using pictures to retell a story

Using the book I Broke My Trunk! by Mo Willems, the children also learned how to infer characters' feelings and traits by thinking about what's happing in the story; by studying the characters' facial expressions and body language; and listening to what the characters say and think.

Thinking about what a character says tells us about their feelings

Studying pictures closely to learn about a character's feelings

We also worked to create a story map after reading the book A Balloon for Isabel. As we listened closely to the story, we identified the characters and the setting as well as the problem the characters were trying to solve. We learned some valuable lessons from this story too as you can see from our story map below!

Writing Workshop
The students are gaining more confidence during writing workshop time as they work to match letters and sounds to communicate their ideas with others. They have been doing a great job following our workshop routines and using the steps below to help record their ideas on paper!

Science
We had a great discussion this week as we compared our fall weather graphs. Take a peek at our data and comments below!

Social Studies
We spent some time learning about the First Thanksgiving and did some writing about some of our favorite Thanksgiving foods. We also made Thankful turkeys in the LMC.

All About Me--Morning Class
The class loved learning all about Jessica! We learned that Jessica loves Hello Kitty, and she is a big fan of the movie Frozen. She also enjoys painting and collecting Shopkins, Hatchimals, and other small toys!

What a great book! Thank you to Jessica's mom
for coming in to read to our class!

The morning class also loved learning all about Sotiri and some of his favorite things. It was easy to see that Sotiri is an avid truck collector, and he especially loves firetrucks! He also enjoys playing with Transformers, and he is a big fan of Paw Patrol!

This week the class had a great time learning about Oliver and some of his favorite things too. We learned that Oliver LOVES animals. He enjoys seeing animals at the zoo, and he has a huge stuffed animal collection at home. He also loves drawing, spending time with his family, and Disney World!

What a great way to kick off our gingerbread fiction unit!
Thank you for such a fun story!

All About Me--Afternoon Class
The afternoon class loved learning about Nadya and her favorite things before Thanksgiving break. We learned that Nadya loves cats, and she enjoys collecting stuffed animals. She likes horses and dogs too. She likes to color, and her favorite color is orange. She also enjoys playing with fidget spinners!

A big thank you to Nadya's mom and sister for coming in to read!

This week the afternoon class enjoyed learning about Chelsea and her favorite things too. We learned that Chelsea's favorite color is purple, and she enjoys playing with her dolls and stuffed animals. She also likes swimming and doing gymnastics. Chelsea enjoys spending time with her family and celebrating Christmas together.

A class favorite! Thank you to Chelsea's mom and sister for coming in to read!

Thanks for reading!

I hope everyone has a great week!