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
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