Monday, September 29, 2014

Sharing Days

We are ready to start sharing! Each morning during Morning Meeting, 2 or 3 children will have a chance to share. This is a wonderful opportunity for the class to learn more about each child. The sharing rule is no toys. They can tell about an experience, bring in something or a picture. Some ideas of great sharing items are: a sunflower from a child's garden, a feather found outside, a special picture of a family member, a sea shell from a trip, a map, etc.
If your child is really stuck on bringing in a toy, maybe they could bring in a photo of it.
If your child does not want to share, it's okay! I'll encourage them to share as the year goes on, but we can ease into it.
Here are the sharing days;

Monday- Sadie and Q
Tuesday- Johnny and Robin
Wednesday- Wren, Jesse and Cora
Thursday- Miles and Marley
Friday- Arie and Venah

Friday, September 26, 2014

Colorful chameleons

We read 
And designed our own chameleons! These will hang by the cubby hooks, so check them out!
 

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Alphabet song

Today I introduced a new group game called "Don't Say Z!" to the class. In order to play this game and not get out, you need to know the alphabet song. I discovered that many students do not know the alphabet song! This would be a great thing to practice at home, in the car, bath, etc since knowing this song is really important to know well. When you are singing it, chanting it, clapping it, stomping it, however you are practicing it, please make sure to slow down and clearly pronounce the L, M, N, O, P section of the song.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Which bug will win?

A new math workplace has been introduced! It's called which bug will win and the kids are so excited each time they play to see if the spider or ladybug will win. 

Handwriting

We have started handwriting groups. I usually meet with 3 or 4 students at a time . We work in our handwriting books, use chalk boards, wooden pieces and many other hands on materials. This week I've started to teach the children how to write their names 'the kindergarten way' (with only one capital letter). They are so enthusiastic about this even though it is hard work and takes a lot of concentration. You can help your child by:
-checking their grip. They should pinch their pencil without bringing their thumb over the other fingers
- making sure they start all letters at the top! Many students have learned to form letters incorrectly and learning the correct way can be frustrating.
- being excited about their new skills

If you have any questions about how letters should be formed, see me!

Leo Lionni

We have started an author study of Lio Lionni.  As we are launching our own Writer's Workshop, it's empowering and exciting for the students to study what 'real' authors do in their work. He has written many fabulous books that students love. These books also have great artwork that lends itself to great projects!
On Friday we read Swimmy and talked about the setting of the story. Then we transformed our bulletin board into a scene from Swimmy. (Please excuse the sideways and upside down pictures, the blog program wouldn't let me rotate them!)



On Thursday we read Frederick and made adorable mice modeled after Lio Lionni's mice. Hopefully these are the only mice that visit our classroom this year!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Stretching out sounds

So exciting! What an amazing day in kindergarten!! I've shared with you that I love teaching writing. I'm really enjoying implementing the Lucy Calkins writing curriculum with this class. But Wednesday was the most exciting day. I taught kids how to label their writing with words, stretching out the sounds in each word like holding a rubberband. The kids took off writing and labeling with so much enthusiasm!
Students use alphabet strips to see how to form letters. So exciting!

Final quilt

We talked a lot about shapes and patterns while putting this quilt together. Ask your child about patterns they see!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Quilt squares

Our lesson in math today started with a book called The Patchwork Quilt. Then we made our own quilt squares using yellow and purple paper. It was amazing to see the children so focused and working so hard to assemble the squares. Stay tuned to see the full quilt!

Bus evacuation

Today, as a school, we practiced the bus evacuation drill. The big kids were helpful with the kindergarteners. A great thing to practice! Ask your child about bus rules and why it's important to sit down before you jump out of the back of the bus.

Designs and creations

Math workplaces are moving right along! The students are really enjoying exploring the materials. Here are some photos they wanted me to share:


Monday, September 15, 2014

Home Folders

Today I'm sending home folders with each student. I've been finding notes and work stuffed in the bottom of some backpacks, so I thought the folders would be helpful for transporting important papers. I'll only send them home when there is something that needs to come home to you. Please try to put them back in backpacks tonight so I can collect them in the morning. They are not super durable folders, but they probably will only be coming home once a week or so.
Let me know if this system isn't working!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Letter sounds so far

Over the past two weeks we have been working hard to learn 5 new letter sounds and key words. We have been focusing on 'snipping' the sound so that we don't add a /u/ sound on the end. It's called co-articulating and it's a bad habit that makes hearing the actual sound the letter makes tricky. You may notice people saying "tuh" for the sound that t makes, when actually it makes a quick /t/ sound. Ask your child about how to 'snip the sound'.  If you have any questions, I'm happy to talk to you more about this.

We have learned these letters, key words and sounds:

Tt Top /t/
Bb Bat /b/
Ff  Fun /f/
Mm Man /m/
Nn Nut /n/


Monday, September 8, 2014

Lexia

Today we began using the iPad app Lexia Core 5. Students took a quick assessment and the program automatically places them where their skills are. Students will be doing Lexia almost daily at school, but there is a home piece as well. I'm sending home a letter about this today.
Lianne , our tech coordinator, came in to teach students about the iPads.

Here they are, hard at work! It was so quiet!

Friday, September 5, 2014

Apple experiment

Yesterday we started an apple experiment! We put a piece of apple  in jars filled with oil, air, vinegar and water. We made predictions of what we think will happen and made observations and sketches of what the apples looked like. We will keep checking on the apples to see what happens!

Library

Happy Friday! Ellen, our beloved librarian, has asked if we could temporarily move our library time to Friday. So until ski season we will have library at 12:30 on Friday!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Math workplaces

Our math program, Bridges, uses a lot of fun, hands on 'workplaces' to practice skills. Today we began with the first 3 workplaces! Children get to pick which stations they want to go to. 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Apple Picking

We are so excited! On Friday the 12th we will head to Happy Valley Apple Orchard to pick apples! We will be studying apples for the next two weeks. We need as many parent volunteers as possible. We plan to leave school at 11:30, right after lunch. Let me know if you would like to attend!

Fine motor stations

To get us used to working in stations, today I set up find motor stations where students were working with play dough or beads. We had a lot of fun!

Mat Man

The very beginning of our handwriting program has us explore 'Mat Man'. There's a jazzy song to help us remember his body parts too. This tool for learning how to draw a person is remarkable! Wait until you see your child's illustration!