Kinder News!: Classroom News (Jan. 7-18)

I was so excited to see all of my kinder friends after winter break, and I loved hearing about their fun adventures! I was pleased to see how quickly the students jumped back into our classroom routines and how excited they are to learn new things! Take a peek below to see what we have been up to these first two weeks of 2019!

Math
Our current math unit focuses on developing a strong number sense and confidence with numbers 0-20, with a specific emphasis on the "teen numbers." We reinforced the concept of a "ten-frame" and learned that our teen numbers are a "group of 10 plus some more." We continued to reinforce the concepts of one more and one less while the students played a game where they had to work together to sequence a set of numbers in order to figure out which "mystery number" was missing.

This set of ten frames represents the number 15.

Reading Workshop
Using the book I Broke My Trunk! by Mo Willems, the children learned how to infer characters' feeling and traits by thinking about what's happening in the story, studying the characters' facial expressions and body language, and listening to what the characters say and think. We also completed an activity on Seesaw where students had to match emotions with different characters' 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. In this story, the characters were very resourceful and made several attempts to solve their problem before finding a solution that would work. We learned some valuable lessons from this story as you can see from our story map below!

Guided Reading
The children absolutely LOVE meeting in guided reading groups each week, and they are doing a great job reading the books in their blue book bags. I can tell they are practicing at home! During our group time, we work on a variety of activities that match each group's reading level such as: reinforcing sight words, completing word work activities, and developing comprehension strategies. Please continue to check your child's blue book bag each night and encourage your child to read their books and practice the items in their bag regularly.

Identifying number of syllables

Writing Workshop
This week we started a new writing routine--weekend writing! After each weekend, the students will be able to draw and write about something they did over the weekend. We also began working on a different type of writing--making lists!

New Year Goals
To kick off the new year, students used the Seesaw app to draw and talk about some goals for the new year. Students chose a personal goal such as learning how to ride a bike or tie a shoe. They also picked a new food they wanted to try this year as well as a book they wanted to read or a topic they wanted to learn more about.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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 realized that when they work together and appreciate each other's differences, they can make a beautiful picture!

All About Me
We had a great time learning all about our "Me Bag" friends over the last two weeks. In the morning class, we loved learning all about Nathan's favorite things. We learned that Nathan is a big sports fan, and he loves playing baseball and watching the Cubs. He also enjoys Pete the Cat books, and he likes to play with Legos. Nathan also loves spending time with his family!

Thank you to Nathan's parents for reading one of his favorites to the class!

We also loved learning about Alex and his favorite things. We learned that Alex is a huge fan of Mario and The Jurassic Park movie series. He also likes Minecraft and watching the show Teen Titans Go! Alex loves spending time with his family, and he had an amazing time on a family trip to Disney!

Thanks to Alex's mom for reading One Bear Lost!

The morning class enjoyed learning all about Henry and his favorite things too! We learned that Henry is a HUGE fan of cars. He enjoys collecting toy cars, looking at real cars, and reading about cars in Road and Track magazine. Henry also likes to color and his favorite color is red. Henry enjoys swimming, and he loves spending time with his family and their dog Bondo!

Such great stories! Thank you Henry's parents for reading aloud to the class!

The afternoon class loved learning all about Kelsey. We learned that Kelsey enjoys playing soccer, and she loves to read. She is also very creative, and she loves to sing and act. Kelsey likes to do crafts, and she enjoys spending time with her family!

A big thank you to Kelsey's mom for coming in to read!

We also loved learning about Gretchen's favorite things in the afternoon class too. We learned that Gretchen loves doing gymnastics, and she enjoys reading. She loves to collect dolls, and one of her favorites is a Russian nesting doll. Gretchen also loves to draw and spend time with her family!