Last weeks!

Happy Birthday to NyAyla!

Happy Summer Birthday's to Russell, RayLeigh, Weldon, and Jayden!!

Here are a few pictures from our Runge field trip.  Thank you again to all of the parents who volunteered there time to chaperon! I could not have done it without you!!

The past two weeks we have started an ocean unit.  Each day we learn about a different ocean animal.  We read books and watch videos to learn about where the animal lives, what it eats, about it's body, and about it's life cycle.  We make a different animal craft each day, we write a fact about the animal in our non-fiction book and write a riddle about the animal.  The kids have had so much fun leaning about ocean animals!

I introduced subtraction.  We learned that subtraction is taking away, so you start out with the big number and get a smaller number (unless you are subtracting 0).  We started the subtraction unit with bowling.  We start each set with 10 pins and (hopefully) knock some down.  We take that number away and count how many are left.  We also read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons and made our own Pete who lost some buttons then we wrote a number sentence.  We practiced taking away using our fingers and wrote number sentence as well.

Have a great summer!!

May 6th

Happy Birthday Nolan!

Social Skills

We have been working on being Peaceful, Resoponsible, and Respectful Learners.  We are talking about what that looks like in all settings, the classroom, the hallway, bathroom, cafe, recess, and specials.  We are practicing using peaceful voices in our classroom by singing different nursery rhymes at different voice levels.  We practice being responsible and respectful by discussing how to problem solve with friends and when they need an adult to help.  We are talking every day about how important it is to be a learner at school!

Reading

We have been working on using things we have learned in non-fiction books to tell about a subject.  We have practiced picking out non-fiction books to read if we wanted to learn about a certain subject and using the text features such as headings and table of contents to help us find information we are looking for.  

At literacy stations we have been:

Writing- the kids can label, list, write a card, story or book

Star- the kids have been working on writing no excuse words (which we will be taking the assessment on next week) and playing a game with rhyming words.  

Computer- the kids are able to choose an addition app to practice addition facts to 20, pebblego.com to listen to non-fiction books, or Dr.Seuss books

Math- in math station we are practicing counting on by completing addition problems

SMARTboard- the kids can choose to play a fishing adding game, practicing letter formation on handwriting lines, or no excuse word practice.  

Poetry- our fluency poems have been Maytime Magic, On the Move, and What the Robin Told.  We try to find word wall words and secret stories in them

Word Work- The kids have been working on spelling consonant-vowel- consonant words

Story Telling- sock puppets is a super fun app that the kids have been using to create their own stories with their partner.  They must come up with a setting, characters, plot and then be able to communicate their story verbally.  There is a free version as well that does not offer all of the perks of the paid version, but it is still very enjoyable app.  

Writing

We have been continuing opinion writing. Last week your kiddo should have brought home all of  their opinion writing from April.  We have been focusing on telling our opinion first (not just the story) then telling why.  We are continuing to check our mechanics using the check list.  Next week we will take the final writing assessment! Your children have grown so much as writers and I am so very proud of their hard work!!

Math

We have been playing different addition games at math stations for the past 3 weeks.  The games vary in style but all focus on practicing addition facts.  We have  been practicing counting on to get a sum, finding the missing addends (__+__=12 and the kids choose from a couple of numbers), +0,1, 2 quickly counting up, and doubles (4+4, 7+7, etc.). The kids have really enjoyed playing the games and I must say that they cooperate really well together and problem solve quickly so that they can continue playing.  

Science

We have been learning about Force and Motion.  We learned that a force is something that moves an object- a push or a pull.  We also discovered that the farther a ball moves the more force there was to move it.  We built different size ramps to see if that made a difference in how far a ball moved.  We used different size balls and different weight balls changed the force it took a ball to move and we built our own ramps to try and get the most force to move our ball.  

Health

Last week on Friday all of the kindergarten classes participated in a Health Hop.  Each class went to the other kindergarten classrooms and learned about a different health topic. They learned about our heart, our bones, dental health, nutrition, and germs.  The kids had a lot of fun going into other classrooms and learning from other kindergarten teachers!

April 15th

We have been working hard at breakfast to eat quietly and focus on ourselves. Teachers are passing out positive praise tickets to those who are following breakfast expectations. Our class already earned a free iPad time celebration for doing so well! 

Reading

In poetry we practiced our fluency poems Kites are Flying and Cloud.  We added are to the word wall.  The kids also got to practice spelling CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words!

At the math station the kiddos are practicing addition.  We rolled 2 dice and recorded the numbers then added them together to get the sum. The kids also practiced counting on by finding the sum to addition sentences.  

In the word work station the kiddos have been focused on spelling No Excuse Words.  

At storytelling the kids are using the puppet pals app to create their own story. They must come up with the who, what, and where together. Then they can record their skit and play it back to hear themselves.


 

Kids can label, list, write a card, story or book at the writing station.

The kids are playing a math app, math ninja, where they have to solve addition problems by counting on to progress to the next level. 

Writing

At writing we are working on opinion pieces.  We know to draw our picture, write our opinion, and tell why. The kids are working hard to use neat handwriting as well. 

Math

We have been playing many fun addition games focused on counting on.  We played a simple +0,1,2 game where the kids rolled a number dice and a +0,1,2 dice to quickly count on. We played collect 10 where the kids used primary number cards in a 3x3grid and found sums of 10. They could use 2 cards or more if needed. For example, they could collect 10 by 3+7 or 3+4+3. We also played part whole bingo. The kids rolled 2 dice and added them. Then made a tower of that many.  The kiddos then had to use that tower to fill in missing towers on their bingo board.  This game really encourages fluent math thinking because if we rolled a 6 and 2 to get 8 the kids could put it on open towers of 4 and 4 or 5 and 3, etc. 

March 25th

Happy Birthday to Ryder and David!

Reading 

Last week and this week in shared reading we have been working on how to read non-fiction books.  We have learned about special features in non-fiction books like headings, charts, and table of contents.  We have also looked at how illustrations help us learn more information.  

In Literacy Stations:

At word work the kids made a pot o' gold last week and worked on no excuse words this week.  

At math the kids made a pot o' gold addition book and this week they played an addition game, where they rolled 2 dice and added them up, then colored in the sum on a picture.  

At star last week, we made a leprechaun puppet and this week they made a bunny puppet.  We are also working on no excuse words and consonant vowel consonant (CVC) words.  

At poetry the kids added I want to catch a Leprechaun and What the robin told to their poetry notebooks.  We also played a matching beginning sound game.  

At writing the kids can write a story, card, list, or label.  

At storytelling we read It Looked Like Spilt Milk and the kiddos made their own cloud into something.  Then filled in the sentence, "It looked like a ___ but it wasn't a ___."  

At computer we continued to read Dr. Seuss books.  

Writing 

We have been working very hard these past 2 weeks to make our writing readable.  We are working on using a checklist of things good writers do to make their writing readable.  We are practicing using the checklist everyday together by looking at different kindergarten writing.  We are also turning in all finished work with a checklist and going back and revising our work if it needs it.

Math 

We are continuing to learn about addition by playing addition games.  We played towers of 10 and double compare.  Both of these games reinforce the counting on strategy to solving addition problems.  We find the bigger number and count on the little number.  

Science 

Making rain in the classroom!

What a great week to learn all about weather (I feel like we have had all kinds this week).  The kids come in every day and tell me how the weather has changed!  We have learned that the sun heats up the earth and everything on it, how clouds, wind, and rain are made (the water cycle), severe weather, and talked about our favorite kind of weather.