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!
