Classroom News (Nov. 26-Dec. 7)

It's exciting to see how independent our kinder friends have become and how eager they are to learn! My favorite quote of the week---"Wow, I really love this learning stuff!" Take a peek at the "stuff" we've been learning over the last two weeks.

Gingerbread Unit

The students were thrilled to begin our "Gingerbread Unit!" The "ooohs" and "ahhhs" as the students saw our kindergarten hallway transformed into a gingerbread wonderland were priceless! Throughout this unit, we will be comparing different versions of the familiar fairy tale The Gingerbread Man. Students will be learning different features of fiction text, and we will also be integrating the gingerbread theme throughout our curriculum.

Math

In math, we are learning how to compose and decompose numbers. We learned that numbers can be composed of smaller numbers. We practiced this skill by working together to decompose the number 5.

We have also been learning more about ordering numbers and using number lines to think about numbers that are one more or one less than a given number as well as identifying larger and smaller numbers. We also learned that we can use our fingers and even our toes to help us show different numbers or to add numbers together!

The class also LOVES when we play this video. It's a great way to get a little exercise while practicing how to count to 100!

Reading

We began our reading workshop unit that focuses on fiction books. In this unit, we will learn 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

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

After listening to the story Could Be Worse, we practiced identifying elements of realistic fiction and fantasy.

We also started our Gingerbread Unit, which will provide an opportunity for students to practice using the strategies we are 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. So far we have read and compared two stories, which the class LOVED!

Writing 

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. The students also wrote about how they would decorate their very own gingerbread!

LMC

In the LMC, we listened to a winter themed story and then practiced our "drag and drop" skills in the computer lab as we worked to dress kids for a cold winter day.

We also listened to The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray, and then students had a chance to do several different gingerbread activities in the computer lab.

Decorating a gingerbread boy or girl and building a gingerbread house

Counting the gingerbread man's buttons

Putting numbers in order.

Listening to The Gingerbread Man

All About Me

The morning class loved learning all about Lydia. We learned that Lydia enjoys reading Biscuit books, and she loves coloring and doing crafts. Her favorite color is purple, and her favorite holiday is Christmas. Lydia also likes writing notes and spending time with her family!

A big thank you to Lydia's mom for sharing a fun winter read aloud

The morning class loved learning all about Ellia's favorite things too. We learned that Ellia is a fan of American Girl dolls, and she also loves collecting My Little Ponies and rubber duckies! Ellia likes all colors of the rainbow and enjoys spending time with her family and her cousins!

Thank you to Ellia's dad for making us laugh with an Amelia Bedelia story!

The afternoon class loved learning all about Clara! We learned that Clara LOVES wearing sequin flippy shirts, and she also loves her stuffed bear. Clara enjoys spending time outside on sunny days, and she likes to wear perfume too. Her favorite colors are red and blue. Clara also loves spending time with her family, especially her baby sister Delaney!

A big thank you to Clara's mom for coming to read too!

We also loved learning all about Isabella. We learned that Isabella's favorite color is purple, and she enjoys playing with her My Little Ponies. She is also a fan of Shimmer and Shine, and she likes to collect Beanie Boos. Isabella also loves spending time with her family, especially her brother!

Such a fun book from Isabella's mom--a scratch-and-sniff gingerbread story!

Thank you all for reading!

Hope you have a great week!

Classroom News (Nov. 5-16)

I hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving break! We had a busy two weeks learning and having fun in kindergarten...and enjoying the first snowfall too!

Math

Over the last two weeks we completed a short unit on measurement. During this unit, students engaged in many hands-on experiences that helped 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.

Which sweater is longer?

Which object is heavier?

Literacy

Jolly Phonics

The students continue to do a great job learning our double letter sounds and are working hard to apply these sounds during writing workshop time. We have learned the following letter pairs over the last two weeks, and we will learn our final two sounds when we return from Thanksgiving break. 

th as in "thin" or "this"

ou as in "out"

oi as in "boil"

ue as in "blue" or "barbecue"

Please continue to practice these sounds using the sound ring in your child's blue book bag. Strengthening students' grasp of letter sounds helps boost their confidence during both reading and writing tasks

Reading Workshop

We continue to learn about all the good things readers do to help us enjoy and learn from books. We learned about the different types of books in our classroom library; how to take care of our books; how to "read" punctuation marks; and how to talk about books with our classmates.

We learned that the books in our classroom library fall into two categories--FICTION and NONFICTION. The students learned about the different features of fiction and nonfiction texts, and then they worked to sort collections of books into two piles--fiction and nonfiction. It was exciting to listen in on the students' conversations when deciding which pile to place the books. "This one must be nonfiction because it's about real animals!"

The students also learned good book handling skills. We practiced holding our books with two hands while carefully looking through our book bins, turning the pages at the top right corner, and returning the books to our bins right side up with the covers facing forward. They take such pride in our classroom library, and they love adding books to their individual book bins!

We also learned that authors use special "marks" to help readers know how to read their work. Using the poem My Big Book, we practiced "reading" the punctuation marks to help us read with good expression. Then we searched for examples in our own books.

Finally, we spent some time learning how to retell a story using connecting words like once, next, then, after that, and finally. Then we practiced talking about our books with our partners.

Writing Workshop
Students wrote about a place they would like to visit as well as their favorite Thanksgiving foods. Students will bring home their first trimester writing samples when we return from break.

Veterans Day Celebration
Our Veterans Day Celebration is always such a special day at Dryden. It's a meaningful day for students, families, and especially our great veterans. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a special day!

LMC
During our tech time in the LMC, the students spent time using our Freckle math accounts. More information about Freckle will come home soon. Students also learned about germs and how to stay healthy at school. They completed a sorting activity on the laptops to identify ways to prevent and spread germs.

All About Me

We were excited to have two more students in each class share their "Me Bags!" In the morning class, we loved learning all about Ella and her favorite things. We learned that Ella's favorite color is blue, and she enjoys coloring and doing crafts. She also likes ballet, candy, and Star Wars. Ella collects Tsum Tsum toys and has a special Disney Tsum Tsum collection. She enjoys hanging out with her cousins, spending time with her family, and snuggling up with Winnie the Pooh.

An all time favorite! Thank you to Ella's mom
for coming in to read Corduroy!

The morning class also loved learning all about Emma. We learned that Emma likes unicorns and rainbows. She also likes coloring and building with her Lego blocks. Emma enjoys playing with her Disney characters, and she is hoping to be a veterinarian when she grows up. She also likes cats, playing in the snow, and swimming.

Thank you to Emma's mom for coming in to read
a book from one of our favorite authors--Mo Willems!

The afternoon class loved learning all about Ella. We learned that Ella loves Disney characters and playing with her My Little Ponies. She also likes collecting squishies, playing with her American Girl dolls, and eating cookies! She enjoys going to the beach to collect shells and spending time with her family too!

Thank you to Ella's family for coming in for
a fun read aloud--Sweet Dreams Jack Jack!

We loved learning all about Delaney too. We learned that Delaney enjoys The Magic Treehouse series of books, and she likes to paint and do crafts. She is a fan of Halloween, and she likes to collect lip balms. Delaney likes to collect LOL dolls and spend time with her family too! 

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!
See you soon!