See Think Wonder

We are learning lots in kindergarten!  This week revolved around pumpkins.  We learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin – from seed, to sprout, to vine, to blossom to small green pumpkin, to large orange pumpkin, to jack-o-lantern.  The purpose of this learning was more than just the science concept.  I use the idea of life cycles to teach sequencing to children.  Learning about the order of things is essential when retelling stories and ordering events.  It also helps the children as they learn how writers organize their stories to make sense: telling a beginning, middle, and ending to a story.

Writing Workshop

 

We are working on adding details to our illustrations and labeling our illustrations.  We are working on “stretching out” the word and recording the sounds we hear.  

We have also been working on our drawing skills.  Our lessons help the kindergartners identify lines and shapes so they can accurately draw pictures that represent their thinking during Writing Workshop.

 

Reading Workshop

 

We read many books.  We loved The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything.  We especially liked retelling this story with our flannel board pieces.   We loved singing to the book, Big Pumpkin.  We also had a lot of fun acting out the 5 Little Pumpkins poem with props.  Retelling is an important part of reading comprehension!

 

 

 

 

Math

We played a new math game called “Monster Squeeze.”    It reinforces number relationships and number recognition.   The children have to guess what the mystery number is while using math vocabulary, such as greater than, less than, more than, & fewer.   The children continue guessing the number by using those terms until the monsters squeeze the mystery number.

 We continued to play Top It during Math Workshop.  Top It helps us learn and/or practice our teen numbers.  It also reinforces number relationships.  It is played like the game of War with the numbers 0-20.

 

 

 

 

Science

On Wednesday we went on a nature hunt.  We discovered all the beautiful fall colors around Hill.  We began our study of trees by doing a visible thinking routine called, SEE, THINK, WONDER.   Visible thinking routines promote:

·         Deeper understanding of content

·         Greater motivation for learning

·         Engaged thinkers and learners

 

Please join us in our tree and leaf study by taking your child for “autumn” walks in your neighborhood to observe trees and to compare how they are alike and how they are different. As you discover different kinds of leaves, collect a few of each kind.  Encourage children to use their senses to observe the many fall colors, to smell the leaves, to feel the texture of the leaves and to listen to the crunching sound when they walk through dry leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a spooooky week in kindergarten!

Science 

 It was a spoooooky week in kindergarten!  This week we began learning about the creepy and crawly creatures associated with Halloween.  We started with bats.  I introduced CER (claim, Evidence, Reasoning) this week.  CER provides opportunities for student to process their experiences and communicate their findings through scientific explanations. 

·         Claims are accurate and specific statements:  Bats are different than birds.

·         Evidence is all of the scientific data that supports the claim: 

o    Bats are mammals.

o    Bats are nocturnal

o    Bats hang upside down.

o    Bats are born alive.

·         Reasoning is the explanation that connects your claim to the evidence that supports it.

 

Initially in kindergarten, we provide the scaffolding needed to ensure their responses are thorough and well supported. 

 

 

 

Art/Fine Motor  

The kindergarten artists have been hard at work decorating our centrum.  We marble painted spider webs, made spiders out of our handprints and created black bats to practice our scissor skills.  We also practiced symmetry by making symmetrical bats.  We painted a bat wing on one half of a piece of paper and transferred it to the other half.

Writing Workshop

Our budding authors are now working on our next unit called, Launching Small Moments. This unit builds on the skills and enthusiasm from the oral language unit while introducing students to the world of written language.  When writing or drawing about a small moment, children learn to take the everyday events of their lives and make them into a story. Some students are writing/drawing on a single page.  Some are moving into multiple page booklets.  My goal is to make sure that students can keep themselves engaged as writers!

 

Reading Workshop

In Making Meaning (our reading comprehension program), we are learning routines for “Turn & Talk.”  This is where kindergartners learn to share their opinions about the book and practice their comprehension strategies with a peer.  We are learning what to do when we are the speaker and listener.

We also discussed the differences in a Reader’s interest as well as learning how to handle our classroom books correctly. 

  

 

Math

We graphed our favorite Jack-o-lantern face.  Then we analyzed our data.  The mad face had the least amount of votes.  The happy face had the most.  I encourage you to continue to use the words most, least and equal with your kindergartner.  When counting money, toys, or cars on the road, questions of most and least are good to keep in mind.

 

We also played a new math game called “Give the Next Number.”   We sit in a circle and choose a number to start. Then we begin to count!   Each child gives the next number.  We practiced counting by ones and tens.  As the year progresses, we will play counting by 5’s, 2’s and backwards.

Our patterning skills are progressing!  Your kindergartner has been working on:

·         copying patterns that others have made

·         extending patterns that others have started

·         telling what is missing if part of a pattern is hidden

·         comparing and talking about patterns that arise from their daily experiences

·         Recognizing patterns in the environment - e.g. fence posts: short, tall, short, tall...

Kindergartners are also creating their own easy or complex patterns at various difficulty levels.

 

B is for Blocks and Bones!  We made block skeletons this week. I am always amazed at the kid’s creativity!  When we work with blocks we are …..

·         Learning how to share & cooperate

·         Increasing eye-hand coordination  

·         Strengthening our fingers (fine motor skills)

·         Problem solving & spatial relationships

·         Experimenting with gravity, balance, and geometry

·         Testing our ideas (cause & effect)

·         Using our imaginations to create structures

 

 

Hooray for Letter Vests!

We started using our letter vests this week. We will use them in a wide variety of ways to enhance alphabetic knowledge, phonics, and word wall words.   Ask your kindergartner what letter(s) they wore.

 

 

 

Thank you to Griffin’s dad in Ms. Hartley’s class.    We learned a lot about fire safety!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

We are learning lots and having fun!

Writing Workshop

Another busy week in kindergarten!  We are learning lots and having fun!

We are learning we are all writers!   We are writing our names beginning with a capital letter followed by lowercase letters.  This is a hard transition to make.  Lots of praise and practice needed!

 We are also writing pattern sentences together with our word wall words (I, see, a & like).

 Examples:           I see a dog.

                   I see a cat.

                   I like apples.

                    I like pizza.

A word wall is a wall on which to display words – but not just any words-truly important words.  Our first 20 word wall words make up about a third of all printed material.   The tricky part about our word wall words is that a majority don’t follow spelling or pronunciation rules.  Henceforth, they are hard words to read and write!  They have to be memorized and known by sight.  Good readers should be able to recognize and read them instantly.

To help us practice our word wall words we began working with our Word Work Centers. These are fun and engaging ways to practice the letters and words we are learning.  This week was mostly exploration to get use to working with different materials.  This week we used the following:

·        Dry Erase Boards

·        Sand Trays

·        Play doh

·        Shaving Cream

Reading Workshop

During Shared Reading the kids are participating in echo (they repeat after me) and choral (they read with me) reading.  They are reading big books, rhymes, songs and poems every day.  We are continuing to focusing on tracking print from left-to-right and top to bottom.     Below will always be the poem we have been reading together that week.  The kids love to use pointers and read them on large chart paper or pocket charts.  We look for capital and lowercase letters, rhyming words, punctuation marks, word wall words and sentence patterns.  

When we read together, we also learn that print goes from left to right and top to bottom.  We learn to read with expression and one-to-one correspondence.  The Kinder-Kids also practice the reading strategy of “pictures give us clues when we read.” 

We visited our 3^rd grade buddies in Miss Mulligan’s class to see Independent Reading Time in action!  We have been building our stamina and learning our Reading Workshop routines.

 

 

Math Workshop

We started our monthly math journals this week.  During Math Workshop I have been meeting with small groups of kindergartners and focusing on the specific math skills they need.  I am enjoying getting to know all my little mathematicians!

 

 

 Behind the Scenes!

We have been working hard “behind the scenes.”  One of the biggest parts of kindergarten is learning how to be a student.  We are working on…

1.     Walking in a line

2.     Transitioning from one activity to the next

3.    Waiting our turn.

4.    Unpacking and packing up independently when coming and going.

5.     Learning our daily routine

6.   Following our classroom rules:  Be Safe, Be Busy, Be Kind (We have especially been focusing on keeping our hands and feet to ourselves.)

 

Jog-a-thon

It was definitely the highlight of our week! The kindergartners had

a great time exercising!  It was wonderful to see the Hill Community coming together to raise money for our school!