Week of February 15, 2010

I hope you are all enjoying the February vacation thus far. It looks as if we are supposed to get some snow, but generally the week is going to be warm. Let's keep our fingers crossed for decent weather!

The students worked on several new concepts in reading and math this week. In math, the students practiced one-to-one correspondence with multi-sensory counts. For example, I clapped my hands or stomped my feet a certain number of times. The students had to listen carefully, count the claps or stomps, and write the correct number on their white boards. The students had a great time with this activity because it is always an exciting time when we get to use our white boards. Also, the students used a new manipulative this week. They used attribute blocks, which are plastic shapes (circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, and hexagons). The blocks come in different sizes, colors, and thickness. We practiced sorting these blocks as a whole group and in small groups. The students then had to share how their group sorted the blocks. Also, we played a new math game called, "What's My Rule?" I went "fishing" by tapping children on the head that had a certain attribute. Initially, I made the attribute very obvious. For example, I picked children wearing the same color shirt or pants. After several rounds, I made the attribute less obvious. For example, I picked children with the same eye color. Last, we practiced reading two-digit numbers.

Practicing our sorting skills with attribute blocks

In reading, we continue to practice our sight words during our class meeting and during workstations. We finish our class meeting by reading a special announcement. After I read the announcement, I invite children to come to the easel to find sight words that I've used in the message. Also, the students practiced building the sight words and reading them at the overhead workstation. We also practiced reading our sight words during our phonics lesson. In addition to reading the sight words, we practiced recognizing word features. For example, I placed in, it, and is on the right-hand side of the pocket chart. The students had to determine the feature that was the same in all three words. After it was identified, we read the words together. Identifying word features will help the students as they are reading books independently because they can use a word that is already known to determine an unknown word.

In writing we continued writing in our journals this week. Also, we practiced writing the letter "z." We practiced the letter first using a technique known as "wet, dry, try." I wrote the letter on a little slate, the student then traced the letter with a wet sponge. Next, the student traced the letter with a dry sponge. Last, the student traced the letter with chalk. The following day we practiced writing the letter in our workbook.

Week of February 8, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a great time celebrating on Friday. I think it is safe to say that we all slept well Friday night after a party filled with games, crafts, and treats. I want to thank all of the parents for bringing in goodies and supplies. The students and I truly appreciate all of your support.

Before we could have our fantastic parties on Friday we had plenty of work to do throughout the week.

In reading, we continue to work on matching words to their initial consonants. The students are really getting good at this skill. We played Initial Sound Bingo. The students truly love playing Bingo! We also practiced our sight words by building the words with magnetic letters in the ABC/Word Study workstation. Also, the students had to find the sight words that I used in the class message each day. The students really like this because they get to use "Handy Hand" (a hand-shaped pointer) to point to the sight word. We also incorporated writing into reading this week by writing about our reading. I read a story to the class and the children had to draw and label a picture detailing a connection they had to the story. These pictures are displayed proudly in our classroom.

In math the students continued practicing their addition skills by playing, "Roll and Record" with two dice. Each child had a chance to roll the dice. We colored in corresponding blocks on our graph paper for each number that was rolled. Also, the students began to practice their subtraction skills this week. I told them number stories, and the students had to remove the correct number of chips to determine what was left. This is a tricky concept for the students, but they did a great job!

"Roll and Record" with two dice

Pictures of workstations:

Finding sight words in a Valentine's Day poem at the Overhead workstation

Playing "Memory" at the Games and Puzzles workstation

Building sight words at the ABC/Word Study workstation

Finding "R" words in our classroom at the Writing workstation

Week of February 1, 2010

It was another busy week in Room 1. The students and I learned a lot of new things!

In math we learned how to add and what the addition symbol looks like. I said several number stories, and the students had to re-create the story using counters. For example, I said, "I had five seashells and found two more, how many seashells do I have?" The students put five counters on the left side of a popsicle stick and two counters on the other side. Then they remove the popsicle stick and count the total number of counters. The students did a remarkable job with this lesson. Also, the students practiced pattern making with pattern blocks. In addition to practicing patterns, the students practiced their shape recognition skills. We also used a new math tool this week, which was a pattern block template. This is a stencil with a variety of shapes (trapezoid, hexagon, rhombus, triangle, circle, and square. The students created designs using these templates.

In reading, we learned about a comprehension strategy, making connections. When making a connection with a given text, you use your schema (background knowledge) to connect with the story and gain a stronger understanding of what is being read. To practice making connections, we read "What Mommies Do Best" and "What Daddies Do Best" by Laura Numeroff. Also, we continued practicing our sight words.

In writing we continued to write in our journals. The students seem to truly enjoy this time in our day. As we write in our journals, we practice creating simple sentences, using letter sounds to spell words, and create pictures to support our writing.

Our phonics lesson for the week focused on using the beginning letter sounds in words to identify what letter the word starts with. We practiced sorting pictures in a pocket chart using the beginning letter sound. After practicing this on Wednesday and Thursday, the students tried a picture sort on their own. The students were very successful with this task.

Pictures of the week's workstations:

Week of January 25, 2010

This week was an exciting week for the students and me as I returned from my maternity leave. We were all very happy to see one another. The children were expecting Baby Lilly to join me, but were surprised when I explained that she was at daycare. On this note, I have to say a quick thank you to Ms. Conley for stepping in to take care of things while I was gone. She did a great job!

This week we covered a lot of things. We worked on a variety of math topics and reading skills. For math, we learned a game called, "Get on the Train," which helps the students count to 20. To play the game, the students roll a cube that is numbered 1, 2, 3. For each turn the students take the number of cubes that is shown on the cube. The first student to get 20 cubes wins the game. The students and I also played a similar game called, "The Teen Frame." The students used a spinner to determine how many chips they could put on their game board. The student with the larger number of chips wins. With this game the students practiced comparing numbers between 10 and 20. We also used a jumbo number line to practice addition skills. The students would stand on a number, and I would ask them to take a certain number of steps. Before they could do this, the student had to predict where he/she would land. Also, I would ask them to start on a number and move to a certain number. In this instance, the student would have to predict how many steps he/she would have to take. The students had a great time walking on the jumbo number line. We also learned how to count by 10's and make a bar graph of our favorite colors.

In reading we focused on how learning our color words. This was a two part activity. First the students had to identify the word by using a colored card as a clue. This allows them to identify a word using a visual clue, which is an important reading strategy. When reading a text, the students can use the picture to help decode an unknown word. Second, the students had to check to make sure they selected the correct word. To do this, they check letter by letter. For example, if a child selected the word blue to match their initial selection of the word blue with a blue rectangle under the word, they would check letter by letter (b, b, l, l, u, u, e, e). If all of the letters match, then they know they've selected the correct match. If a letter does not match, then they know they have to choose another card. If a student is reading a text and comes to a word he/she doesn't know, he/she can use this strategy by saying, "does the first letter of the word I said match the first letter of the word on the page?" The students did a wonderful job with this! In addition to practicing these strategies, the students also reviewed the sight words that were sent home this week. The five words of the week are:

• a
• I
• to
• on
• it

For writing, the students received their very own journals. They have been doing a great job with their writing skills. I am pleased with the students' progress. They are also very proud of themselves.

Below, you will find pictures of our weekly workstations.

Beginning Sounds Bingo

Blocks and Legos

Filling in the missing blanks at the Overhead workstation

Pictures for the week of November 30, 2009

Wow! What a book!

We finished typing in Microsoft Word,

so we could be creative with Paint.

"What coin did you roll? I rolled a penny."

We are playing "Rhyming Word Memory."

The students had to find mittens with pairs of rhyming words.

We are tracing the letters, K, H, L, and B.

We always start our letters at the top.

Weekly Review for the week of November 30, 2009

First, the students and I would like to welcome Ms. Conley to our class. The students and I are thrilled that she will be filling in for me while I am on maternity leave taking care of "Baby Lilly." The students spent some time with Ms. Conley on Thursday and today. The students have accepted Ms. Conley into our classroom as if she has been a permanent fixture.

In addition to spending time with Ms. Conley, the students and I worked on several concepts. In math, the students and I worked on coin recognition, counting the "teen" numbers, and the term, "digit." To practice our coin recognition skills, the students and I played a game that included a cube labeled with the pictures representing the front and back of a penny, nickel, and dime. When the students rolled a certain picture, they had to place that coin in their "piggy bank" (four sections of an egg carton labeled with a Q, D, N, and P). We also talked about the term digit and that numbers are made using digits. Last, we did several activities that allowed us to work with the "teen" numbers. First, we talked about the characteristics of the "teen" numbers such as they all start with a one, they have two digits, and they all have the word "teen" in their names. We played counting games that involved the "teen" numbers. Each child was given a number card with a "teen" number on it. I called a number, and that student had to do an activity the specified amount of times based on the number card he/she had. For example, if a student had the number card, "14" he/she would have to jump up and down fourteen times while the rest of the class counted. We also talked about making the "teen" numbers by starting with ten and adding the needed number to make the "teen" number. For example, if we wanted to make the number 15, we would start with ten and add five more. We worked with partners to make the "teen" numbers and made them on number lines.

For reading and writing, we continued practicing skills pertaining to syllables. The students used a two-way sort sheet to sort two- and three-syllable words into the appropriate column. We also continued journaling about each school day, and focused on hearing the initial sounds in words. For example, when I wrote the word, "math" in our journal entry I asked the students, "what letter does math start with?" as I said the word slowly. We also talked about starting each letter with a capital letter and ending our sentences with periods. As we read our journal entry, we practiced our concepts of print. This includes starting on the left and reading to the right as we point to each word. We are also making a class big book with a page dedicated to each student. Each day a student is interviewed so we can learn his/her age, favorite color, and favorite food. When completing this activity, we also focus on hearing initial sounds in words, punctuation, and concepts of print. Through these activities the students are learning to spell some common words, such as number words and color words.

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.