Pictures for the week of November 23, 2009

We are enjoying a great book in the Listening workstation.

We received two brand-new computers this week.

The computers have touch screens and developmentally-appropriate

keyboards and mice. The students are truly enjoying them!

We are using "Paint" on our brand-new computers.

Next week the students will begin to use the keyboards and mice.

We are enjoying some great books in

Library workstation.

We are playing "Turkey Memory" with numerals 11-20

in the Math workstation.

We are practicing our letter formation in the

Handwriting workstation.

Weekly Review

This week was a short week, but we continued to work hard. We learned a new concept in Phonics, which focused on hearing, saying, and clapping syllables in words. The students quickly understood this concept, and I was pleased. To reinforce this skill at home, I challenged the students to find items around the house, say the name of the item, and determine how many syllables were in that word. The Thanksgiving feast is a good place to start when looking for items to count syllables. We also worked on matching pictures that have the same initial sound in our ABC/Word Study workstation. You can find clip art pictures, print them, cut them apart, and play the game using the same format as "Memory," which is also known as "Concentration." We also worked on building and writing Thanksgiving words in the Pocket Chart and Writing workstations. Also, we continued to practice our journal writing skills by writing a journal message at the end of each day.

In math, we played oral counting games and practiced pencil strokes in preparation for continued practice with writing numbers. The oral counting games were a big hit with the children. The first game is very similar to "Follow the Leader." To play, the students and I sat in a circle on the carpet, did an action (such as clap our hands, tap our heads, wiggle our fingers, etc.), and counted as we did the action. I started counting and it moved around the circle. When a student said the magic number, he/she changed the action that we did. The other game required that we all stand up in a circle. We counted (a student started and the count continued around the circle) and when a student said the magic number, he/she had to sit down. The last person standing won the game. The pencil strokes that were practiced included a circle, a cloud, vertical lines, horizontal lines, and figure eights. In handwriting, we practiced the number 3. In Math workstation, the students played "Turkey Memory" using numerals 11-20. The children had to match turkeys with numerals 11-20 to turkeys with dots (11-20). The student with the most matches won.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from this week. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Pictures for the week of November 16, 2009

We start our letters at the top.

Build those pumpkin words!

Nothing like a good book!

Feed those hungry squirrels! We are starting to work with numbers 11-20.

Handwriting - Working on the number 2

Shape Collages

Weekly Review

Throughout the week, the students and I worked on a variety of skills. For math, we focused on shape recognition, positional words, and patterns. To practice our shape recognition skills, we discussed the properties of a rectangle, square, triangle, and circle. To incorporate this lesson into our workstations, the students went on a shape scavenger hunt in magazines to create shape collages for each shape previously mentioned. To work on our understanding of positional words, I had the students put a pattern block in a specific place, which they noticed was similar to the game, "Simon Says." For example, I said, "put the pattern block on top of your head," "put the pattern block behind your back," and "put the pattern block next to your foot," just to name a few. Also, we read "Rosie's Walk" by Pat Hutchins. To continue our work with patterns, the students and I went on a pattern hunt around our school. The students did a great job finding patterns within our school. As they noticed the patterns, I photographed them, so we can make a pattern book for our classroom library. For reading and writing, the students and I discussed the characteristics of a sentence, which include starting a sentence with a capital letter and ending with a period. We also practiced reading sentences from left to right. The students and I worked collaboratively to create sentences describing things we do in Kindergarten. After writing them, I cut the sentences apart into words. The students helped me put each sentence together again in the correct order. Also, we started writing a class journal entry at the end of each day. This helps to solidify the writing lessons that we did throughout the week, but also prepares them to start writing their own journal entries in just a few weeks. For handwriting, we focused on properly writing the numbers one and two. I hope you enjoy the following pictures from this week's activities.

Weekly Review

First, I sent a book order home today. Please do not feel obligated to purchase from this order, but if you do decide to make a purchase it is due by November 23, 2009. I've added this order to the online ordering system available through Scholastic, so you can submit the order online or send the paper form with payment back to school.

This week was a short week, but filled with fun activities. For math, we did more work with patterns and sorting. We practiced making and completing patterns with pattern blocks. We also sorted chips using numbered egg cartons. The students truly enjoyed this activity because they had a chance to pretend they were the teacher. For reading, we continued working on rhyming words and letter sounds. One activity that we completed was a rhyming word scavenger hunt. I listed a word on the easel, read it to the students, then listed several words that rhymed and words that did not rhyme. I called students to the easel to select a word that rhymed. We practiced sounding out the word to determine what the circled word was. For writing, we looked at the structure of a sentence, which includes starting with a capital letter, how many words were in the sentence, and that it can end with a period.
The students were also actively engaged in workstations this week. The workstations focused on letter sound recognition, number recognition, and counting with one-to-one correspondence. For ABC/Word Study, the students had to sort picture cards into two piles (a B pile and an M pile) using the beginning letter sounds for the pictures. For Math, the students had to recognize the number on an apple flash card and count the correct number of "seeds" for that apple. The students also practiced writing pumpkin words, building pumpkin words, and letter formation.
I will have pictures posted next week. Enjoy your weekend!

Reminder

There is no school tomorrow, November 11, 2009 in observance of Veteran's Day. Also, parent-teacher conferences are on November 12, 2009. I look forward to seeing you then.

Homework

Tonight's homework is a snippet of the Handwriting Without Tears program. I will be sending these sheets home from time to time. The student should trace the first letter, then attempt to make the letter on his/her own in the gray block with the dot in the upper-left corner. The student should continue this process for the rest of the row.

Please have the students start their letters at the top. The language that is used to create the letter is at the top of the page. As you help your child, please be sure to use this language so that consistency is occurring, creating a strong home to school connection.

Pictures of Workstations and ABC Carnival

Weekly Review

This week we learned several new math and language arts concepts. For math, we practiced making patterns with sound, movement, and manipulatives. We used instruments to make patterns with sound, our bodies to make patterns with movement, and Unifix cubes to make patterns with colors. We also practiced sorting buttons and coins. The students were very creative in how they sorted the buttons and coins. Also, we played a number game called, "What Comes Next." To play this game, the students and I counted together using the numbers one through ten. I would stop counting and the selected student would have to say the number that came next. For language arts, we made a predictable chart describing what we are thankful for. I modeled for the students how to complete the sentence starter, "I am thankful for ..." Each student then had a turn to complete the sentence starter. Throughout the week, we practiced reading our chart. Also, we learned a song, "Did you ever see a ..." This song helped us practice identifying rhyming words because we inserted several pairs of rhyming words into the song. Additionally, we learned why words rhyme. The students and I identified the letters that were the same in both words and discussed how these letters created the same sounds, which makes the words rhyme. The song lyrics are listed below and it is sung to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it."

Did you ever see a ________ in a _________?

Did you ever see a ________ in a _________?

No, I never, never, never

No, I never, never, never

No, I never saw a ________ in a _________.

We sang the song with sheep in a jeep, a pig in a wig, and a fox in a box. I hope you enjoy singing this song with your student! Lastly, we talked about the letter X. The students and I created a list of words that start with X or end with X. I made a book for each student that has a labeled picture of a box, fox, and x-ray. The students are keeping these books in their book boxes and can read them during Library Workstation or after they have finished their snack.

We were busy working hard in our workstations too. We practiced matching capital and lowercase letters, practiced counting using one-to-one correspondence in regards to number identification, building apple words (helps with identifying one-to-one correspondence with letters and words), and practiced tracing our names and the letters F, E, D, P, M, N, K, and H.

The children truly enjoyed the ABC carnival! It was quite an exciting day for them on Friday.

Enjoy the pictures of our workstations and the ABC carnival!

ABC Carnival!

The students deservedly earned their ABC carnival for the Box Tops collection program in record time. The students were able to color in one letter for every five Box Tops that were brought in. Every morning we would count the Box Tops as a class, then determine how many letters we could color in on our alphabet chart. Within a few weeks, the students met their goal with your help. Each class brought in a total of 130 Box Tops for a combined total of 260 Box Tops.

The students and I are looking forward to the fun we will have tomorrow at our ABC carnival, which will take place in our classroom during our workstation time. I will be sure to post pictures of the students as they enjoy this special treat. Stay tuned for the pictures to come!

Thank you again for all of your support.

H1N1 Precautions

The H1N1 flu has been causing some concern, and I wanted to assure you that I am taking the necessary precautions to keep the students safe. I give the students a squirt of hand sanitizer before we have snack. Also, I monitor hand-washing after students have used the bathroom; and the use of hand sanitizer and/or hand washing after students blow noses, cough, and sneeze. In addition, I wipe the tables down with disinfecting wipes before the start of each class, after snack, and at the conclusion of each class. I spray all of the classroom materials, furniture, and equipment with disinfecting spray at the end of each school day. I will continue to follow the district's policy in regards to the H1N1 flu. If you need more information about H1N1, please review the letter that was sent home by the superintendent and visit the district's website.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I hope that you find this to be a useful resource as I intend to treat this as a weekly newsletter to keep you informed about any important upcoming dates and events that the Kindergartners will be participating in. Also, I am going to include information about daily activities that will be occurring in our classroom, so that you can see what your child is working on at school. Furthermore, I am going to post helpful websites, resources, educational game ideas, and song lyrics/poems that can be used to supplement what is being learned in the classroom.

I thank you for your continued support!