Week of May 21, 2010

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend in honor of Memorial Day.

Tuesday is Field Day, so please remember to have your child wear sneakers and dress appropriately for the weather. Also, the t-shirt money is due Wednesday June 2, so that I can place the order. Also, please try to R.S.V.P. for the Kindergarten Celebration by June 4, so that I can continue with preparations for our special day.

We worked diligently this week preparing for the Kindergarten Celebration. The students and I are very excited!

We learned several new concepts in Math. First, the students learned a new game that allows them to practice addition and subtraction skills. The student rolls a cube that is labeled with 0, +1, +2, +3, -1, and -2. The student then places the corresponding number of chips on his/her gameboard. The students also practiced representing numbers with popsicle sticks. For this lesson, we focused on tens and ones. For example, if a student were to represent the number 23 with popsicle sticks, he/she would have to create two bundles of ten and have 3 single sticks. We also learned about ordering numbers from least to greatest.

In reading workshop, we practiced asking questions before, during, and after reading. To practice this skill, we read, "Dandelions," by Eve Bunting. This concludes our work with questioning, and we will now start to learn about inferring. In phonics and word study, we learned about subject-verb agreement by adding s to some words, so the sentence makes sense. For example, I put the following sentence on the pocket chart: "I run to the store." The I changed the sentence to, "She run to the store." Then we talked about how we can add -s to "run" so the sentence makes sense.

In writing, we worked on a Kindergarten Memory Book, so the students will have a keepsake for the end of the school year. In handwriting, we learned the lowercase letters y and j.

Workstations:

Math workstation: Playing the game addition/subtraction game learned during Monday's math lesson

Handwriting workstation: Practicing letters we've learned previously

Writing workstation: Writing about a game we like to play

Pocket Chart workstation: Sorting pictures that have the short o and short e sounds

Week of May 17, 2010

The students had a very exciting week because they met the P.E. teacher and some of the fourth grade students. The fourth grade students excitedly shared their P.E. time with the kindergarten students on Tuesday. They practiced Field Day games, so the kindergartners will know what to do when they participate in Field Day on June 1. I think it is safe to say that they truly enjoyed themselves. The students also had an opportunity to get fingerprinted by the local police department as a part of the "Safe Kids" program. The students thought this was very exciting.

In math, the students learned how to play, "Dice Addition." This game requires two dice. The first player rolls the dice and adds the total amount of dots. The second player does the same. The person with the highest sum gets the point. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins. We also learned about the ones and tens in place value by bundling craft sticks. Ten sticks is one bundle. We've been practicing this skill informally throughout the year as we count the number of days we are in school. We also started number scrolls, which are number grids. The goal is for the students to reach 100. I've included a picture of a number scroll below.

In reading, we read, "The Stranger" by Chris Van Allsburg as we practiced "thick" questions. Thick questions require the students to think deeply about the story. We preface every "thick" question with, "I am wondering..." Unfortunately, we were only able to have Reader's Workshop on Thursday this week because we had P.E., but it was worth it because the students had a great time.

In writing, we learned how to write a letter by looking at examples in, "Dear Mrs. LaRue Letters from Obediance School" by Mark Teague. The students then practiced by writing a letter to a friend in our class. The students learned how to write the lowercase l and k this week. We practiced with Wet, Dry, Try and in our workbooks. In phonics and word study, we learned that you can make some words plural by adding -s. We made an anchor chart together of words we commonly use in our writing.

Workstations:

Listening workstation: The students listened to, "A Trip to the Library."

Computer workstation: The students practiced math skills on www.educationcity.com.

ABC/Word Study workstation: The students played, "On the Trail," which focuses on recognizing the sound at the end of the word.

Writing Workstation: The students had to describe their families.

Week of May 10, 2010

I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend! The weather was so nice, and I hope that it is here to stay.

First, the children are having P.E. on Tuesday, so they can meet the P.E. teacher. Please send them in sneakers and "play" clothes. If the weather is nice, they will go outside for P.E.

On Friday, the children met the music teacher. They saw, "Rikki Tikki Tembo," which was performed by the first grade students to end their unit on China. The students truly enjoyed the show! It has inspired them for our Kindergarten celebration.

In math, the students learned about the quarter. We talked about the physical characteristics of the quarter, how much it is worth, and that four quarters are equal to one dollar. We also practiced some skills that we have been working on throughout the year. We continued to work on identify coins and their values in the math workstation by playing the "Money Cube" game. I labeled a cube with 1 cent, 5 cents, and 10 cents (using the cent symbol). The students roll the cube, and pick the coin to match the value that was identified. We also practiced dividing graham crackers into halves. We also practiced writing number stories. The students could choose if they would like to write an addition or subtraction number story. For example, if a student wanted to write the following number story: 1 + 1 = 2, he/she would draw one object, then another, and count them to find the answer. The story might be, "I had one cookie at snack. I was still hungry, so I had another cookie. I had two cookies for snack. If the student wanted to write the following number story: 3 - 2 = 1, he/she would draw three objects, cross two out, and count the object that is left. The story might be, "There were three birds sitting on a fence. Two birds flew away, and one was left."

In reading, we learned that good readers ask questions while they read because this helps them understand the story better. To practice this strategy we read, "Babushka's Doll" by Patricia Polacco. I modeled this strategy for the students on our initial reading. The following lesson, I introduced, "Thick and Thin" questions. For now, we are learning about "thin" questions, which can usually be answered with one or two words. Also, the answers can be found in the book. Our goal is to ask ourselves "thick" questions because this will help us develop a stronger understanding of the story. In phonics/word study, we learned that we can use parts of words to help us solve new words. I read the poem, "Go to Bed Early" to the students. I modeled this strategy for the first two lines of the poem. The students then had to highlight the word in the first line that could help them solve a word in the next line. The students quickly noticed that the two words rhymed! That was very exciting!

In writing, we continued to practice narrative writing. I rolled a picture cube for the students, and they had to write about the picture that was identified. Before the students could write their story, they had to draw a picture. It is easier for students to write if they have a picture to use as a prompt. In addition to practice narrative writing, the students practiced using a capital letter at the beginning of the sentences and periods at the end. We also learned two lowercase letters this week, which were i and e. The language for i is: "down and dot." The language for e is: "hit the ball, run the bases, stop."

Workstations:

Writing Workstation

Listening Workstation

Pocket Chart Workstation

Handwriting Workstation

Overhead Workstation

Library Workstation

Week of May 3, 2010

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and Mother's Day! It is much deserved!

The students had two exciting events take place this week. First, they met Ms. Austin, the art teacher, on Wednesday. They had a great time painting, "Upside Down Flowers,"which prevented them from getting too messy. The students painted their flowers upside down, and when their pictures were complete they turned their papers. The flowers were no longer upside down! Second, the students participated in the used book sale. The students had a great time spending their quarters!

Despite these two exciting events, the students worked very hard in the classroom. We learned several new concepts in math. First, we learned about dividing objects in half, and the students know this means that the two parts must be equal in size. The students are going to continue working with dividing things in half next week. We also played a game called, "Read My Mind," which required the students to guess the attribute block that I was thinking of by asking, "yes or no" questions. The students also practiced skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's on the calculators. Lastly, the students learned that you can represent a pattern with symbols. For example, if the pattern was touch your head, clap your hands, touch your head, clap your hands, etc., you could draw the following: l l x l l x...

In reading, we practiced using the three questions that good readers ask themselves when they get stuck on a word: 1) "does this makes sense?" 2) "does this sound right" 3) "does this look right?" We also practiced looking at pictures to help us figure out a tricky word. We practiced this in a whole group with the story, "A Clean House for Mole and Mouse." In guided reading, we also continued to practice our sight words and letter sounds.

In phonics and word study, we continued practicing the concept of changing the first letter of a word to make a new word. To do this we read, "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. Without showing the pages to the student, I would say the first word on the page, the students would then have to tell me other words that we could spell by changing the first letter of the word. After we brainstormed a list of several words, I would show the pictures to the students and read the rest of the page.

In writing, we wrote in our journals, so we could practice using a capital letter, spacing between our words, and a period at the end of the sentence. The students shared their journal entries with the class at the end of writing. We also made Mother's Day cards. The students worked very hard on these and wanted to make sure the cards were perfect. In handwriting, we learned how to write the lowercase g and u. The language for a lowercase g is as follows: "magic c, up like a helicopter, back down, turn." The language for a lowercase u is as follows: "down, travel, back up."

I have to apologize for not posting any pictures. Our week was so busy that taking pictures slipped my mind. I will try to post more pictures next week to make up for the lack of pictures this week.

Week of April 19, 2010

I hope everyone has enjoyed the break. I took some time to visit my family and friends with Lilly and Mr. Keane. Needless to say, I've enjoyed the time off and apologize for not posting the blog sooner.

First, I have a housekeeping note. I received most of the report cards, however, I am still waiting on a few. If you could sign the report card and return it as soon as possible, I would greatly appreciate it.

Despite the excitement of the approaching break, the students really worked hard to stay focused and understand the new concepts that we learned.

In math, we practiced making exchanges with coins. Each student had about 20 to 25 pennies, and they had to request an exchange or a trade for a nickel or a dime. After we practiced exchanging coins, we looked at the different combinations we could make with pennies and nickels to have the equivalent of a dime. The students and I worked on counting by 2's. We counted our feet by 2's. In addition, we brainstormed a list of all the things we could count by 2's. Their ideas include eyes, hands, arms, elbows, and knees. We also worked with comparison number stories. To practice this, each student had a mini dry-erase board and a marker. I would tell them a story, and they would have to draw dots to represent the story. For example, I said, "Ana invited six friends to her birthday party. She had seven invitations. Does she have too few or too many invitations? How many extras does she have?"

The students draw six dots first. Then they draw seven dots (making sure to line the seven dots up with the six dots).

Then they cross out the dots to determine if there are any invitation left over, and if so, how many.

In reading, we continue to practice our letter sounds, rhyming words, and our sight words. We learned that readers ask themselves three questions when the come to a word that they don't know. These three questions are: 1) Does this word make sense?, 2) Does this word sound right?, and 3) Does this word look right? These questions can be asked by the reader after they have attempted to determine what the tricky word might be. To model these questions for the students, I read "Frederick" by Leo Lionni. In word study, we continued to practice making new words by changing the first letter of the word. We used the word, "it" as our base word. Other words that we made include: fit, sit, hit, kit, bit, and lit.

In writing we learned how to write a narrative story. I had a story cube with the words: princess, dragon, flower, birthday, castle, and singing. The cube was rolled, and as a class we determined how the word would influence our story. After our stories were complete, the students created an illustration to accompany the story. I am going to type the stories and hang the pictures in the hallway because the students did such a great job! We also practiced writing a lowercase a and a lowercase d.

In science, we cleaned the playground for Earth Day. The students were very excited to help clean-up in support of Earth Day. We also talked about all of the things we can do to help keep the planet clean and healthy.

In social studies, the students completed a T-Chart that categorized items that are needs and wants. The students completed this task individually and demonstrated that they have a strong understanding of needs and wants.

Workstations:

Handwriting workstation

Pocket Chart workstation

Writing workstation

Overhead workstation