Week of December 13, 2010

We had another busy week, and we learned so much!

• Math: We learned a new math game called, "Top-It." This is played like the card game, "War." Two cards are flipped, and the person with the largest card keeps both cards. The person with the most cards at the end of the game wins. We also worked with Pattern-Block Templates, which are stencils with the shapes: trapezoid, hexagon, circle, triangle, and square. We made patterns on sentence strips with the templates. We also learned about the addition symbol and practiced some basic addition problems with teddy bear counters.
• Handwriting: We learned the letter Z and reviewed the "Frog Jump Capitals."

• Phonics and Word Study: We practiced tracing, building, and writing several high frequency words.
• Reader's and Writer's Workshop: Unfortunately this week these two areas were not covered because we had Officer Norcross come to visit on Thursday. Instead we did extra work with our high frequency words and enjoyed reading several Christmas stories.
• Social Studies: We had Officer Norcross visit our room to talk about 911, "stranger danger," and what to do if you get lost. We also learned about needs and wants. We read a story that described needs and wants and gave examples. Then we sorted pictures on a T-Chart.

(Our visit with Officer Norcross)

ABC/Word Study Workstation - the students matched letters to pictures that start with the same letter

Writing Workstation - the students wrote letters to Santa Claus

Week of December 6, 2010

The holiday cheer is growing and growing! We have Twinkles, the library elf on a shelf, visiting our classroom for the next two weeks. The children are very excited to see where he is each day as they arrive to school.

This week we learned:

• Math: We learned how to count by 10s. This is very easy for the children because we have been counting by 10s since the 10th day of school as we count each day that we have been in school. The students can count to 100 by 10s! We played the "Teen Frame" game. We This game helps us to practice counting to 20 using one-to-one correspondence. We also learned how to use a number line to add and subtract.

• Reader's Workshop: We compared "The Mitten" by Jon Ayelsworth and "The Hat" by Jan Brett. We looked at the similarities in the characters and the plot.
• Writer's Workshop: We continue to practice using our Alphabet Linking Chart to write the sounds that we hear in words.

• Phonics and Word Study: We learned that you can connect the sound you hear at the beginning of a word to look for that word. To do this we matched pictures and words by listening to the sounds in the words.

• Handwriting: We learned how to write X and Y.
• Social Studies: We learned about mail carriers and practiced memorizing our address.

Library Workstation - the students get to read books quietly

Writing Workstation - the students completed gingerbread man books

ABC/Word Study Workstation - the students had to find rhyming word pairs

Pocket Chart Workstation - the students were building words from "The Gingerbread Man"

Week of November 29, 2010

The holiday buzz is in the air! The students have started their countdowns to Christmas, and most have an elf visiting their homes that returned from the North Pole! Despite the excitement, we are still hard at work. We learned:

• Math: We completed a follow-up lesson on probability by using red cubes and blue cubes. The students had to determine if they would pick a red cube, could pick a red cube, or it would be impossible to pick a red cube when ten red cubes were placed in a box. The activity was repeated with all blue cubes. Then the red cubes and blue cubes were placed in the box together. The students then needed to identify that you could pick a red cube or a blue cube. The students also completed a follow-up lesson using the pan balance. The students had to compare the weight of teddy bear counters and playdough. We also completed a graph of our favorite colors.
• Phonics and Word Study: We are continuing to work on beginning consonants and sounds. The principles for this week's lesson are: 1) "You can hear the sound at the beginning of a word." 2) "You can match letters and sounds at the beginning of a word." To practice these principles, we matched pictures and letters by listening to the sound at the beginning of a word.
• Reader's Workshop: We read two versions of "The Gingerbread Man." After we read each story, we created a list of the characters. We compared the differences and similarities between the two stories.
• Writer's Workshop: We learned how to use our Alphabet Linking Chart to help spell words that we are trying to write. The students listened to the sound at the beginning of the word that they tried to write, then said the pictures on the Alphabet Linking Chart until they said the name of a picture that had the same sound as the word they tried to write.
• Handwriting: The students learned how to write W and X.
• Social Studies: We learned about a doctor and the tools that a doctor needs. We made books that show a variety of these tools.

Week of November 22, 2010

I want to wish everyone a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday!

This week the students learned:

• Math: We played number games on Monday to practice sequencing numbers, one-to-one correspondence, and number identification (for the tricky teens, which are 10-20). On Wednesday we learned about probability by reading "Wacky Wednesday" by Dr. Seuss. We reviewed several pictures in the story to determine if the events were likely to happen, possible, or impossible.


• Reader's Workshop: We learned how to sequence a story, which helps with learning to summarize the important events. To practice this skill, we read "Rosie's Walk" by Pat Hutchins. The students then put pictures from the story in order and numbered them.


• Writer's Workshop: We are beginning to learn about journaling. We practiced by writing about the things we do during the school day in a whole group setting. With a little more practice the students will soon get their own journals to write in.


• Handwriting: We learned how to write 6 and continued to practice V.


• Phonics/Word Study: We practiced writing the initial and final sounds for pictures (bat, dog, cat, car, and bug, just to name a few). The principles of the lesson are:

1. "You can say a word slowly to hear the sounds."
2. "You can hear the sounds at the beginning, middle, or end of the word."
3. "You can write the letters for the sounds you can hear."

Handwriting Workstation - the students practiced H, R, and 4

Writing Workstation - the students had to build Thanksgiving words with magnetic letters

Art Creation Workstation - the students practiced their lacing skills by lacing a turkey

ABC/Word Study Workstation - the students had to find the capital letter and lowercase letter pairs that matched

Week of November 15, 2010

Despite having a long weekend, the students came back to school this week ready to learn. Boy, did we learn a lot!

• Math: We played the Monster Squeeze Game. This game allowed the students to focus on the concepts of bigger than and smaller than. The students also learned how to measure objects with a nonstandard unit. We used linking cubes to measure a variety of items, which included a glue stick, a marker, a pencil, and a mini-pencil sharpener. Lastly, the students practiced their addition skills. To do this, I placed a small number of bear counters on the carpet. We counted the bears aloud, then I placed the bears in a box. Then I said, "How many bears do I have if I add _____ bears?" The students determined the number, and a student counted the bears to confirm the answer.
• Phonics and Word Study: We learned how to listen to the initial sound in a word to determine the letter. We also learned that you can sort words by listening to the initial sound. We sorted pictures into two columns, words that started with m (by focusing on the sound) and words that did not start with the letter m.
• Reader's Workshop: We learned about the setting of a story. To practice this skill we read, "A Clean House for Mole and Mouse." We also learned that every fiction story has a problem and a solution. To practice this skill we read, "The Little Red Hen."
• Writer's Workshop: We started stretching the sounds in words, so we can hear the initial sounds and final sounds. We practiced this on Tuesday by drawing pictures of our favorite Thanksgiving foods. We labeled the pictures. On Thursday the students wrote about a topic of their choice and labeled their pictures.
• Handwriting: We continued to practice the letter U. We also learned the letter V.

• Social Studies: The students learned about police officers through a nonfiction story that described the tools a police officer uses (radio, hand cuffs, a police dog), how a police officer helps (directing traffic, ticketing people that speed, etc.), and who a police officer helps. We also acted a finger poem out.

Poetry workstation - the students had to illustrate the finger play, "The Five Little Squirrels"

Handwriting workstation - the students had to trace their first name, last name, and their phone numbers

ABC/Word Study workstation - the students had to label Thanksgiving foods with the correct label

Math workstation - the students played math games on www.educationcity.com

Games and Puzzles workstation - the students had to match pictures that rhyme

Week of November 8, 2010

I really enjoyed speaking with all of the parents at Parent-Teacher conferences. I hope the students are enjoying their long weekend.

Despite have a short school week, we still learned several new things. We learned the following:

• Math: On Monday, the students learned how to use a pan balance. We compared different amounts of teddy bear counters and counting chips to determine the items that weighed more and less. The students also had an opportunity to use the ban balance at math workstation. On Wednesday, we played Domino Concentration. This game allows the students to practice counting with one-to-one correspondence. Additionally, this game allows students to learn that numbers can be represented many ways. For example, there are two dominoes that represent the number 3. One domino has three dots on one half and the other half is blank. Another domino to represent the number 3 has one dot on one half and two dots on the other half.
• Phonics/Word Study: We learned that words have syllables and you can count how many syllables it has. We sorted pictures on a pocket chart by clapping the syllables in the words. We sorted words with one, two, and three syllable words. We also counted the syllables in our names.
• Reader's Workshop: We learned that good readers notice the spaces between words. We read, "Humpty Dumpty." We counted the number of spaces in this nursery rhyme.
• Writer's Workshop: We continue to draw pictures based on a given topic, and we are labeling the items in the picture. When we label the pictures we focus on hearing initial and final sounds in the word. Our topic to write about this week was things that make us happy.
• Handwriting: We learned how to write the letter U and the number 5.
• Social Studies: We read a story about Thanksgiving and talked about the things we are thankful for. We also drew a picture of something we are thankful for and glued it to the belly of our adorable turkeys that we made.

Overhead workstation - the students had to complete an activity that required them to fill-in missing numbers in a number sequence. Once they finished this task, they can build with pattern blocks on the overhead.

Pocket Chart workstation - the students had to sort pictures using the initial sound of the word

ABC/Word Study workstation - the students had to sort pictures using initial sounds in the words.

Writing workstation - the students had to color the pages of a book about the fall.

Week of November 1, 2010

The students had another busy week learning many new things. We learned:

• Math: We learned about symmetry by using things in nature (leaf, acorn, butterfly, frog). We categorized a variety of objects by determining if the object had symmetry or did not have symmetry. We also practiced making patterns by creating pattern necklaces with beads. Lastly, we practiced our graphing skills by playing, "Roll and Record." Each student rolled a die, counted the dots, and then we colored in a square on our graph. After each student had a turn, we discussed the following: the number that was rolled the most, the number that was rolled the least, and any numbers that were rolled the same number of times.

• Reader's Workshop: We learned about different types of characters in stories (people and animals). We read, "Feathers for Lunch" as we practiced identifying characters in stories. We also learned that good readers notice rhyming words. We read, "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" and identified the rhyming words in the nursery rhyme.
• Writer's Workshop: We continue to practice writing sentences that relate to a picture. We also learned this week that you can just label a picture. For example, some students drew pictures of their pets. They wrote each pet's name under their pictures.
• Phonics/Word Study: We practiced matching rhyming words by sorting pictures on a pocket chart.
• Handwriting: We learned how to write K and L.
• Social Studies: We started our unit of study on Community Members. The first community member we are learning about is a fire fighter. We read, "Fire Fighters" by Dee Ready and completed a picture sort of safe and unsafe things for children to touch.

Handwriting workstation: the students formed capital letters by rolling big lines, little lines, big curves, and little curves made of playdough

Overhead Workstation: the students had to find the numbers 6, 7, 8, 9 in a number search. Once they were finished this, the students can make images with pattern blocks.

Poetry Workstation: the students had to illustrate a song about pumpkins.

Week of October 25, 2010

The students worked hard all week, and they had a ton of fun on Friday! What a perfect way to end the week.

We learned the following:

• Math: We learned our "tricky teens," which are the numbers 10-19, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We played counting games to help reinforce our counting skills. We also learned about estimation. Lastly, we learned basic addition and subtraction skills by telling number stories. For example, an addition number story would be, "Lisa and Debbie have pink shirts on, and Sara does too. How many friends are wearing pink shirts?" An example of a subtraction number story would be, "I had three chocolate chip cookies at snack. I only ate one. How many cookies do I have left?"
• Writing: We started Writer's Workshop this week. To begin, each day we talked about a question. To answer the question, the students had to use a complete sentence. For example, one question was, "What do you like to do when you get home from school?" On Thursday, we practiced writing a sentence in response to one of the questions that was discussed. The students first drew a picture about their topic. Then, they had to decide upon the sentence they would write. Next, they had to determine the number of words in the sentence and draw one line for every word. The students then had to use their knowledge of letter sounds in an effort to write the words in the sentence. The students also had to use a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and a period at the end of the sentence.
• Reading: We also started Reader's Workshop this week. Our first mini-lesson addressed how to properly treat the books in our classroom library. In addition, it addressed how to put the books away using the categorizing system. We also learned that we can look for a familiar letter at the beginning of a word to help us figure a word out if we don't know it.
• Phonics and Word Study: We continued practicing writing sentences and looking at the different components of a sentence. We also learned that there are spaces between the words in sentences. To begin putting spaces between words, we will use two fingers. As the year progresses we will narrow that amount of space to one finger.
• Handwriting: We learned the following letters: H and K.
• Science: We finished our unit on the five senses. We continued to play games during our class meeting that require us to use one sense. We also read "Seven Blind Mice" by Ed Young. This story uses colors to describe each mouse.

Library Workstation

Writing Workstation - the students practiced writing sight words by tracing the sight words, then writing them on their own. Once they were done their worksheet, they practiced writing the words on a white board.

Handwriting Workstation - the students continue to practice their first name, last name, and phone number

Week of October 18, 2010

The students had another exciting week in Kindergarten! This is what we've learned:

• Math: The students learned about positional words (top, below, between, next to, around, over, and in front of, just to name a few) by completing an obstacle course in the classroom. They also found patterns in our classroom, such as the stripes on the American flag. We played oral counting games. For example, one game required that we all formed a circle on the carpet. A magic number was stated, and each person would say one number. The person that said the magic number had to sit down. This was repeated until one person remained standing. The students also played a coin matching game to help with coin recognition. Lastly, the students completed a number board, which allowed them to practice their counting skills while using one-to-one correspondence.
• Reading/Writing: We continue to practice our sight words. Also, we made a predictable chart about our favorite foods to further reinforce the skills that the students have been working on for the past several weeks. Next week we will start to implement those skills as the students will begin to do their own writing pieces.
• Handwriting: The students learned how to write M, H, and 4.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

• Phonics and Word Study: The students practiced their letter identification skills as we played games with the alphabet chart. For example, we sang the ABC song as I pointed to each letter. Also, we said the letters along with the pictures. It sounds like this, "a,a, apple, b, b, bear, etc."
• Science: we continue to learn about our five senses. We learned a song about the five senses that is sang to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell." We also played games that required the students to use only one sense, such as hearing or touch. One game is called, "Mystery Bag." I put one object in a bag, and the students had to feel the object to guess the item.

Writing workstation: the students are practicing some of their sight words

Handwriting workstation: the students are practicing their first name, last name, and phone numbers

Overhead workstation: the students had to find all of the L's in a fall poem, "Leaves are Falling Down"

Week of October 12, 2010

Despite only having a four day week, the students worked very hard to learn many new things.

Math: We compared our body heights to objects in the classroom to review the concept of taller and shorter. We also played a game, "Finger Count Fun" to practice counting using one-to-one correspondence. Lastly, we discussed the attributes of the following shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle by identifying the number of sides, the number of corners, and if the shape has straight or curvy lines.

(Body Height Comparisons)

Reading/Writing: We made a predictable chart about our favorite color apples. We continue to review the following concepts:

• one-to-one correspondence with one written word for every spoken word
• print directionality (top-to-bottom, left-to-right)
• sentence structure (capital letters start a sentence and punctuation)

Phonics/Word Study: This week's lesson focused on rhyming words. We learned the following song (to the tune of, "If You're Happy and You Know It")

Did you ever see a sheep in a jeep?

Did you ever see a sheep in a jeep?

No, I never, never, never

No, I never, never, never,

No, I never saw a sheep in a jeep.

This words sheep and jeep can be replaced with other rhyming words. For example, we used pig in a wig, bug in a rug, dog in a log, fox in a box, and mouse in a house. To reinforce the concept of rhyming we made a book. The skills learned while making the book also correspond to the skills learned in reading and writing. We also discussed that the picture should match the words on the page.

Handwriting: We learned a song to help us stretch the muscles in our fingers and hands before we start handwriting. We also learned how to write the number 3. We reviewed the letters that we have learned so far because we will be learning how to write a new group of letters next week.

Science: We started learning about the five senses. We are currently focusing on the sense of hearing. We played a game during our class meeting that required one student to listen to a group of three students say, "hello." The student had to correctly guess at least one student that said, "hello." We also completed an activity that required the students to listen to a clue about a noise heard in the kitchen. The students then had to correctly identify the source of the noise and complete a command such as color the object blue, circle the object with a red crayon, or color the object purple.

Math Workstation: "Roll, Count, Corral"

The students had to roll a die to determine how many cows they had to put in their corrals. The first person to corral all 15 of their cows wins.

Poetry Workstation: The students added a new poem to their poetry notebook, titled, "Pumpkin Patch." They also had to illustrate their page with an appropriate picture to match the poem.

Writing Workstation: The students illustrated a book that was titled, "Peek-a-boo Ghost."