January 6th
We had a wonderful start to 2012! The children all returned from break well rested and ready to learn! Below is a few of the exciting things we did this week:
*This week we read *The Mitten* by Jan Brett. The children colored and cut the characters as well as a large mitten so that they can retell the story to you. Please be sure to ask your child about this wonderful story. In reading we read and colored a simpler version of the story. Ask your child to read the story to you, as well as make notice of the words we colored!
Your child should also be able to tell how how this version of the story is the same and different from Jan Brett's!
*We spent a lot of time this week talking about living and non living things. The children know what all living things need to survive! We made a picture chart of living and non living things to display in our classroom!
*In math we spent a lot of time talking about number partners through different games and activities. Today we made a chain of kids and found all the different ways to split the chain to find partners of 6. Be sure to ask your child what the partners of 6 are (0 and 6, 1 and 5, 2 and 4, etc.) We also practiced recording simple addition equations and solving
"What If" stories! You can practice what if stories with your child at home! Here is an example: There were 4 ducks in the pond. What if 2 more ducks came to swim? Answer: There would be six ducks at the pond! We practiced both addition and subtraction what if stories.
*Next week we will resume the Book in a Bag reading program. Next week you will also see math homework coming home once a week. The homework may be games, worksheets, or using IxL. While it is not mandatory to complete, it is great practice for your child as well as fun!
*Today we traveled to the high school to watch *Frog and Toad!* It was a wonderful musical and the children were a great audience. There will be additional shows Saturday night at 7pm, as well as Sunday at 2pm. While we were lucky enough to get in for free....there is a charge this weekend! I would highly recommend going again if your child is interested!
A typical day in kindergarten:
8:30-8:44: Arrival! Children order lunch, hand in folders, use restroom, etc.
8:55-9:15: Morning Meeting
9:15-10:15: Literacy Centers
10:15-10:30: Snack and Track
10:30-11:10: ESL(English as Second Language)
11:15-11:55: Specials (Monday:music, Tuesday: PE, Wednesday: library, Thursday: Sharing, Friday: Art)
12:03-12:33: Lunch
12:45-1:15: Recess
1:15-2:00: Math
2:00-2:45: Unit Activities
2:50: Go Home!
这段时间也叫rug time。小朋友们围成一个圆圈坐在地毯上，互相跟左右的小朋友打招呼，一定要加上名字，如good morning Erin。
打完招呼后，老师会问小朋友几个小问题，请大家回答，如周末干什么啦，有没有什么特别的事情跟大家分享等等。
接下来，一个小朋友会抱着一个湿纸巾盒走到老师旁边，从里面拿出一张写有三个提示的小纸条，逐一念给小朋友听，直到有人猜出盒子里是什么玩具为止。然后盒子再传给下一个小朋友带回家去准备。玩具是小朋友自己挑选的，提示也是小朋友自己想的。
然后，就是更新星期几。如果今天星期三，那么墙上贴的三句话是Yesterday was Monday. Today is Tuesday. Tomorrow will be Wednesday. 一个小朋友会走上前去，把Monday取下来，再从框子里拿出Thursday，把三句话变成Yesterday was Tuesday. Today is Wednesday. Tomorrow will be Thursday. 潜移默化的接触中，小朋友就认识了三种时态。
最后，老师会介绍接下来Literacy Centers 里的内容，并根据接下来的活动把孩子们分成三组，分开活动。时间到后三个小组互相轮换，直到3个活动都玩到为止。
What an exciting week! We arrived at school on Monday to discover that our friend Chilly has gone looking for his family in the woods! As I am sure you heard this a bit of a worry for us because Chilly is a PENGUIN!!! We searched the playground, but he was nowhere to be seen! We spent time this week with Ms. Roe, Mrs. Patrick, and Mrs. Mattivi learning about different animals that Chilly might meet on his journey. Be sure to ask your child what they learned about a hedgehog, rabbit, raccoon, and owl. Chilly is going to take us on an exciting adventure over the next month!
In Kidwriting we spent time talking about mechanics of writing! Namely capital and lower case letters and how they are used within writing. We will be focusing on this for a bit. We are also practicing vowel sounds both in centers and writing. We focus mainly on the short vowel sounds such as ant, egg, igloo, octopus, and umbrella. The children are very good at telling the sound, but applying them in reading and writing are tricky! I will be sending home some word cards to help you practice with your child! Soon we will be writing stories that will have a beginning, middle, and end!
In math we continue to explore number partners. We played toss the chips, counters in a cup, and sticks and tiles to help us see the relationship between partner sets. Thank you to those that played counters in a cup and returned the paper. Your child received a sticker!
January 20th
We had another super week here in kindergarten! As I am sure you heard we learned all about the desert! We conducted several experiments to understand a little bit better how animals adapt to life in the winter. Be sure to ask your child what happened to our "hedgehogs". One stayed in the sun all day, the other burrowed until night! Also be sure to ask how waving a wet and dry hand demonstrated the process of sweating! The children again spent time in Mrs. Mattivi's, Mrs. Patrick's, and Ms. Roe's class learning about desert animals. I hope they shared all their knowledge of bats, chameleons, camels, and snakes!
In math we continued to practice teen numbers. We are trying to recognize the numbers 11-19 as sets of 10 and 1, or 2, or 3, etc. We also spent some time recognizing the difference between these teen numbers and numbers such as 20, 30, 40, etc. These can be tricky because when said orally 13 and 30 sound almost identical!
Word Work:
Vowels, vowels, vowels, vowels! This week, as we continue our journey with vowels, we studied the short I sound. The children listened for short I at the beginning and middle of words and even practiced writing and reading simple words on their own using what they have learned! Right now, most of the children can easily identify these vowels sound when they see them in a story. We are still practicing being able to identify which sound we hear when we are writing our own stories!
Math:
Math was all about exploration this week! I introduced the children to a new kindergarten math tool, the balance. The students had a wonderful time using the balances during a free explore time in which they were able to compare any number of objects. Then we performed a few experiments in groups where we compared different items such as teddy bears, buttons, dinosaurs, and even frogs. Some of the children noticed the most interesting things! Finally, we selected various objects from a basket and then had to add cubes to the other side of the balance to make them equal. Some students had to use over 30 cubes to balance an object while others were able to reach a balance with only one cube!
Science:
This week we took a dive into the ocean. Although it was a shorter week, we were still able to switch classes each day. This week the children learned about jellyfish, seahorses, sea stars, and fish. We learned a lot of interesting facts about a lot of interesting animals! Did you know that jellyfish don’t hunt for their prey? When food swims into their tentacles, they eat it! The children also got to see a real piece of fan coral from the ocean. We water colored ocean scenes, made an ocean mobile, and read about a lot of neat animals! Some of our favorites were the octopus, the sea turtle, and of course, dolphins!
January 6th
We had a wonderful start to 2012! The children all returned from break well rested and ready to learn! Below is a few of the exciting things we did this week:
*This week we read *The Mitten* by Jan Brett. The children colored and cut the characters as well as a large mitten so that they can retell the story to you. Please be sure to ask your child about this wonderful story. In reading we read and colored a simpler version of the story. Ask your child to read the story to you, as well as make notice of the words we colored!
Your child should also be able to tell how how this version of the story is the same and different from Jan Brett's!
*We spent a lot of time this week talking about living and non living things. The children know what all living things need to survive! We made a picture chart of living and non living things to display in our classroom!
*In math we spent a lot of time talking about number partners through different games and activities. Today we made a chain of kids and found all the different ways to split the chain to find partners of 6. Be sure to ask your child what the partners of 6 are (0 and 6, 1 and 5, 2 and 4, etc.) We also practiced recording simple addition equations and solving
"What If" stories! You can practice what if stories with your child at home! Here is an example: There were 4 ducks in the pond. What if 2 more ducks came to swim? Answer: There would be six ducks at the pond! We practiced both addition and subtraction what if stories.
*Next week we will resume the Book in a Bag reading program. Next week you will also see math homework coming home once a week. The homework may be games, worksheets, or using IxL. While it is not mandatory to complete, it is great practice for your child as well as fun!
*Today we traveled to the high school to watch *Frog and Toad!* It was a wonderful musical and the children were a great audience. There will be additional shows Saturday night at 7pm, as well as Sunday at 2pm. While we were lucky enough to get in for free....there is a charge this weekend! I would highly recommend going again if your child is interested!