Math
Before spring vacation, we finished Chapter 8 in math, which focused on numbers up to 100 and place value. We introduced the 100'S Chart, which is a great tool to help students see patterns and relationships in numbers. Students brought home their own laminated number charts with suggestions for how to use the chart at home. The suggested games and activities will help your child continue to develop a good number sense.
In our current unit, we are learning how to use our fingers to count up and back from 10, which is also helping us learn the number pairs that add up to 10. We also practiced identifying numbers that come before and after a given number and introduced the concept of ordinal numbers--1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Next week we will review the concepts of more and fewer and practice finding the difference between two numbers using cubes and counters.
We wrapped up our poetry unit this week. In our final lessons, we learned how good readers make connections while reading to better understand and enjoy poetry. We used the poems My Shadow and Bedtime to practice making text-to-text and text-to-self connections.
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Making a text-to-self connection to the poem My Shadow!
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We also practiced finding the "big" idea or the message of a poem. After reading the poem My Bed, we used the strategies shown below to hep us figure out the real meaning of the poem. We learned that the poem wasn't just about a boy pretending his bed was a racecar or a rocket ship. It was about being lost in our thoughts and using our imaginations to create dreams for ourselves and our lives.
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| Find the "big idea" |
We wrapped up our poetry unit by acting out some of our favorite poems. First we read through the poems, decided on actions for each line, and then we acted them out. Check out our videos below to see us in action!
Guided Reading
The children continue to grow as readers, and they were so excited to get new books for their blue book bags this week! During our guided reading sessions, we continue to work on decoding and comprehension strategies that match the needs of each group, and we continue to work on learning our sight words. While I am working with guided reading groups, the rest of the class is working on an independent activity at their table, which reviews some of the literacy and math skills we have been learning. When students finish their independent work, they can read from their book bins or choose from a variety of activities that reinforce math, literacy, and fine motor skills. They continue to do a great job building their stamina for independent work, which will help prepare them for first grade!
Writing Workshop
The class had a great time talking about what they did over spring vacation with their turn-and-talk partners, and they did a nice job writing about their spring break adventures too. We have been focusing on adding detail to our writing and remembering to leave spaces between words. The students have also been doing a great job working toward their individual writing goals. Keep up the great work kindergarten!
In addition to our spring vacation writing, the students also spent some time creating a "copycat"poem where we added our lines to an existing poem. Using the poem Raindrops, we came up with our own pairs of rhyming lines and added pictures to match!
LMC
In the LMC this week, the students listened to the story And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogiano. Then they used Pebble Go to learn more about the season of spring. They also drew a picture and added a caption of something new they learned.
In the LMC this week, the students listened to the story And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogiano. Then they used Pebble Go to learn more about the season of spring. They also drew a picture and added a caption of something new they learned.
A couple photos from before spring vacation too! Hope everyone has a great week!
Thanks for reading!
