Weekly News (Jan. 16-19)

Just wanted to share a few highlights from the week!

Math
This week we focused on the numbers 10-12 and learned how to use a "double ten-frame" to show numbers beyond 10. We also practiced writing these numbers and counting collections of 10, 11, or 12 objects. We continued to reinforce the concepts of one more and one less, and the students also worked together to sequence the numbers 0-12 while trying to figure out which "mystery number" was missing!

Reading Workshop

This week we began our third unit of our Schoolwide literacy program, which focuses on the genre of nonfiction. Throughout this unit, the children's natural curiosity about the world around them will prompt students to ask questions and learn about a variety of topics. 

During our first lesson, we previewed all of our mentor texts and learned that nonfiction books teach us about real topics such as: people, sports, animals, events, holidays, transportation, and many other topics. We read a nonfiction book about soccer and filled out a graphic organizer to help us identify what we think we know about soccer as well as what we want to know. Then we confirmed some of our ideas and cleared up some of our misconceptions as we read through the book. 

While reading How Bees Make Honey, we learned about different text features that authors of nonfiction use to help organize information so that's it's easy for us to understand. After learning about these different features, the students then picked a nonfiction book and found one feature to share with the class!

We found the Table of Contents!

We found labels!

We found captions!

 

We found fun facts!

We found headings!

We found the glossary!

All About Me

This week the morning class loved learning all about Austin! We learned that Austin loves pizza, and his favorite sport is baseball, especially the Chicago White Sox! His favorite colors are red and blue, and he likes playing with his racecars and monster trucks. Austin also likes zombies and doing Tae Kwon Do, and he enjoys spending time with his family!

A big thank you to Austin's mom and brother for coming in to read a book
from one of our favorite authors--Mo Willems!!

The afternoon class loved learning all about Morgan this week too. We learned that Morgan is a big Bulls fan, and she LOVES Pig the Pug books because they are so funny! Morgan also likes playing with her Cupcake Princess Dolls and her Build-a-Bear friends. She also enjoys spending time with her dog and her family! 

A big thank you to Morgan's mom for coming in to read. She even brought
two special guests with her--Grammie and Grampie!

LMC

Our kindergarteners were busy coding again this week in the LMC! After listening to the story Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, the students worked together to program our Bee-Bots as they practiced sequencing the events of the story. So much fun to see them in action!

Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!

Weekly News (Jan. 8-12)

Happy New Year! 

What a great start to 2018! Take a peek to see what we've been up to our first week back after break.

Math
This week we began Chapter 6, which focuses on numbers up through 20. Students will practice identifying, writing, and counting up to 20. Having a firm understanding of the numbers 0-20 will help students learn how to count to 100 and understand number patterns. Students will also be introduced to the concept of a "ten-frame" to help them "see" what numbers look like and to help them build a strong number sense.

Ten Frame

Comparing Numbers

Comparing Numbers

Literacy
Reading Workshop
This week we revisited the book I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems and learned that good readers are curious and they ask a lot of questions as they read or listen to a story. We learned that good readers look for "clues" or text signals to help us read with expression. We also learned that good readers make personal connections while reading to better understand the characters' feelings and the events in the story. Making connections also makes a story more exciting and fun to read!

Look what I found--a speech bubble!

Look what I found--italics and an exclamation point!

Writing Workshop
 I loved hearing about all of the students' winter break adventures as they worked on their winter vacation writing during writing workshop time.

We also worked on setting some goals for the new year. Students thought about what they wanted to accomplish this year and set three goals--one goal for a book they would like to read, a personal goal, and a new food they would like to try. So many great goals for 2018!

Guided Reading
This week I have been assessing students one-on-one to determine each student's current guided reading level. The information gathered from these assessments will help me as I begin to meet with students in guided reading groups.

All About Me
This week the morning class loved learning all about Cooper! We learned that he is a big sports fan, and he loves the Packers! He also loves to play the drums and he is a fan of Star Wars. Cooper also enjoys playing with Legos, doing hip hop, and spending time with his family!

A big thank you to Cooper's Mom and his sister for coming in to read!

The afternoon class loved learning all about Zach this week too! We learned that Zach enjoys building with his Legos, and he is a big fan of Ninjago. Zach also likes to play with his car collection, and he loves playing games on his Nintendo Switch! Zach is also a great swimmer, and he enjoys spending time with his family, especially when they go on vacation!

Thank you to Zach's mom for coming in to read
one of our favorite authors!

Science
Next week we will begin our new science unit "Pushes and Pulls." During this unit, the students will examine motion closely by observing how their bodies move and by inventing ways to make other things move. They will explore the role that pushes and pulls play in changing motion--starting, speeding up, slowing down, stopping, and changing direction.

Social Studies
This week we learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and read a story called The Crayon Box That Talked about a box of crayons that is not getting along because the colors do not like each other. In the end, the crayons realize that when they work together and appreciate each other's differences, they can make a beautiful picture!

LMC
The students did a GREAT job in the LMC this week researching and taking notes while learning about the season of winter on Pebble Go.

Hope everyone is staying warm!

Looking forward to another great week in kindergarten!