December 11, 2015

Dear Fish Families:

Here is a glimpse into our week in the fish class:

Readers' Workshop: We have continued our work with reading superpowers this week. The children are working on checking that the first letter of a word matches the letter of the word they are reading. They also learned about picture power (using the picture to help figure out a word). The last power we learned about this week was 'sight word power' where we see our kindergarten sight words in a book and read them in a snap. 

Writers' Workshop: The children are having lots of success with list books again this week! We began talking about fancier list books. I read many examples of list books with a twist (I like..... I like.... I like.... But I don't like.....) and modeled some books of my own. The children are beginning to stretch themselves as writers and attempt this type of book. We also learned about see saw list books which follow an ABAB type of pattern. (I go to the park. I play on the slide. I go to the pool. I swim. I go to gymnastics. I do the balance beam). 

Math Workshop: This week we practiced ten frame quick looks using the QuickImages app on the iPads. We began working with teen numbers. The children sequences numeral cards and played Monster Squeeze using "tricky teens" and built teen numbers using ten rods & extras. Ask your fish why we call them tricky teen numbers. We also built hexagons using other shapes (K.G.6 Compose shapes using other shapes). 
 

Visual Arts: The children are making gingerbread "cookie" using playdough and art supplies. Our classroom smells yummy! We also have been painting and decorating gingerbread kids and houses to go along with our gingerbread theme. 

Song of the Week: The Gingerbread Man by Jack Hartman


Stories We Read: Snowman, Eating Out, Gingerbread Friends, The Gingerbread Boy,
The Gingerbread Cowboy
Donation Requests: hand sanitizer, soft tissues, foam hand soap

Up- coming Events:

• Gingerbread decorating party- Tuesday, December 22nd at 2:00 *more info to follow
• Fish class wears pjs to school- 12/23
• December Break- 12/24-1/3

• Word of the Week-the

• Phonics- ch

Thanks,

Kristen

December 4, 2015

Hello Fish Families:

We read with our buddies this week! I put some pictures on FLICKR.

Here is a glimpse into our week in the fish class:

Readers' Workshop: Your readers have begun using SUPERPOWERS to read predictable books with strong picture support. The first superpower they learned to use is pointer power. Children tap under each word as they are reading. We spent a few days practicing this skill, especially words that have lots of letters in them or more than one syllable. Our readers aren't tricked by longer words! They still only tap once. 

Writers' Workshop: This week we began writing list books. The children are experiencing lots of success with this type of writing. Many of them are completing one or more books a writing block. Some of the list books written include;  I See..., I Like...., I Love..., I Play...

Math Workshop: During our math time we have been working with attribute blocks. We sorted blocks by many different attributes, describing and explaining the sorting rule. The children also matched the attribute blocks by feel. This made them focus in on the number of sides and corners, as well as the thickness when matching. Ask your fish if this activity was tricky for them. We revisited graphing by making a Favorite Color Graph. 

Visual Arts: The children made beautiful winter trees and snow people for our bulletin board. The loved using clear glitter as snow!

Stories We Read: Many versions of The Gingerbread Man, and The Gingerbread Baby

Up- coming Events:

• Gingerbread decorating party- Tuesday, December 22nd at 2:00 *more info to follow
• Fish class wears pjs to school- 12/23
• December Break- 12/24-1/3

• Word of the Week-am

• Phonics- sh

Have a great weekend.

Kristen

November 13, 2015

Hi Everyone!

Here is a glimpse into our week in the fish class:

Readers' Workshop: This week's reading focus has been on reading more and more of our familiar storybooks. The children are being encouraged to use the exact language of the books, especially the parts that repeat. We used many versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to practice this. 

Writers' Workshop: This week we worked on how writers can bring their stories to life by using speech bubbles to show characters talking. We read a few of Mo Willems' pigeon books as models for this. Even small words like hi, wow, or bye will make a story more interesting. 

Math Workshop: The fish mathematicians are getting really good at representing a number many different ways.  They used dot patterns, ten frames showing a number, pictures of fingers, sets of objects, tallies, the number symbol, etc. Their work is on display in our classroom. This work helps the children understand conservation of number (K.CC.4b). We played a number spinning game and sequenced number cards. 

Literacy Centers: We continue to plug along with our word sorts. I will be sending home a new activity we tried this week where the children drew pictures for their sorts. It was an extension of our Words Their Way work and provided the children a chance to label their pictures (connecting the word work to writing). We have learned how to correctly form all uppercase letters. We will continue practicing this learning, but we are also moving on to lowercase letters next week. Way to go fish!

Stories We Read: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, The Leaves are Falling One by One, Something Good

Up- coming Events:

• Early Release- Wednesday, 11/18 *Parent Teacher Conferences 

• Dress up as 'what you want to be when you grow up' day- Wednesday, 11/18

• Wear clothing from an institution of higher learning- Friday, 11/20

• Thanksgiving Break- 11/25-11/27
• Book Fair Shopping- Monday, 11/30 from 10:10-10:30
• Gingerbread decorating party- Tuesday, December 22nd at 2:00 *more info to follow

• Word of the Week-is

• Phonics- u

• Handwriting- c & o

Take care,

Kristen

November 9, 2015

Hi Fish Families!

It was wonderful to meet with so many of you last Thursday and I look forward to next week's conferences as well. 

Here is a glimpse into our learning last week:

Readers' Workshop: We have focused on using exact character words, especially when the story repeats (ie. Silly Sally went to town.). We are reminding readers to stop and think about what they are reading. They are still trying to add a pinch of themselves to their books. Lastly, we talked about how pages in stories connect/go together. We can use words like One day, next, then, finally to tell/read a story.

Writers' Workshop: We are reminding your young writers that it is important to make time to write words. They are stretching words to write all the sounds they hear. They are beginning to ask each other questions about their stories to help edit/add more details. Most importantly, they are excited to write and have so many stories to tell!

Math Workshop: Last week, we spent a lot of time practicing number writing (K.CC.3). We sang songs, wrote numbers in the air and practiced in our handwriting journals. The children found and sorted objects in our classroom by longer and shorter. 

Visual Arts: The children made fall owls to decorate our hall. We are working on lots of turkey art projects, too. 

Stories We Read:  Leaves, I Went Walking, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves, Leaf Jumpers, Mrs. Wishy Washy

Up- coming Events:

• No School- 11/11 Veterans' Day

• 11/18 *Parent Teacher Conferences 

• Dress up as what you want to be when you grow up day- Wednesday, 11/18

• Wear clothing from an institution of higher learning- Friday, 11/20

• Thanksgiving Break- 11/25-11/27

• Word of the Week-I

• Phonics- l and r

• Handwriting-X, Y, and Z

Wish List: 

• foaming hand soap 
• small paper plates

Fondly,

Kristen

November 1, 2015

Hi!

I hope everyone had a great time trick-or-treating and enjoyed the "extra hour" of sleep we gained last night. Thank you for all the donations that came in this week! The children enjoyed their Halloween celebration thanks to your generosity. 

Social Studies: We continued our safety unit of study by having a visit from Officer Mike. He talked with the kindergarten students about trick-or-treat safety, showed them all the parts of his uniform and took them out to his police vehicle to check it out. 

Readers' Workshop:  This week, we focused on sounding like a teacher when we read our learn-about-the-world (non-fiction) books. These books have something to teach us so, when we read them, we want to sound like we know things (like an expert would). We moved on to familiar storybooks during reading time. Readers are using the pictures and their knowledge of stories to read old favorites. They know how to look at the pictures, remember the story, and read!

Writers' Workshop:  We celebrated our first published writing piece with the otter class this week. The children read their writing pieces to their friends next door. They were so proud of their work and excited to share it with peers. Now we are working on storytelling. Writers get ideas from storytelling. We have been practicing this since September during morning meeting share time. The children have been talking about story ideas with partners and planning the stories across pages. The students are writing in booklets for this unit. 

Math Workshop: The children have been graphing and recording this week. They also used ten frames to explore number pairs that add to 10 (K.OA.4). 

Visual Arts: We painted ghosts, made bead bracelets and corn creatures. We played with playdough using Halloween cookie cutters and made place mats for you to enjoy at home.

Some Books We Read: Huggles Can Juggle, There Was An Old Witch, There Was An Old Monster

Up-Coming Events:

• Early Releases- 11/5 & 11/18 *Parent Teacher Conferences 
• No School- 11/6 *Teacher Workshop
• No School- 11/11 *Veterans' Day
• Thanksgiving Break- 11/25-11/27
• Word of the Week-so
• Phonics- m and n
• Handwriting-V and W

Kristen

October 23, 2015

Hi Fish Families!

I put our fire safety pictures on our blog. They can be found under the FLICKR tab at the top of our home page. 

Readers' Workshop:  The children have been practicing using familiar books to do a quick retell using linking phrases like 'and then' to put all the pages together.  They used small Post It notes to put "pinches of themselves" into their books. This fosters making connections and thinking about what a reader is reading. The fish children are marking pages they like and telling their reading partner why they like it. They are also making connections to other books, songs, and life in general. I am proud of the thinking and talking they are doing with books.

Writers' Workshop:  Our big focus this week was how writers ask and answer questions to add more to their writing. Most of this work was done in partnerships. The children asked each other 'who,when, what, why, where and how' questions to help make our pieces the best they can be. We are also stretching out words to write the sounds we hear. 

Literacy Centers: We wrote a class book inspired by the book Yuck Soup. We worked on the sight word see this week. The children loved searching for the letters s,e,e in our texture table and building the word. We used the app LetterSchool and various other activities to practice the correct formation of the letters H and K.
Math Workshop: We finished Unit #2! I am in the middle of assessing the children and will be sending home the information next week. This week, we spent a lot of time acting out and representing number stories using drawings, manipulatives and our fingers. We are solving oral equations using addition and subtraction (K.OA.2). We had a chance to play lots of games reviewing 1-1 correspondence when counting, showing '1 more' and representing numbers with dots on a ten frame.

Visual Arts: We made sparkling bats and did a monster draw along. The children made Sparky the fire dog, too. 

Social Studies:  Mrs. Griffith showed a video and taught the children about personal body safety. Some key points made were:

• You own your body
• If someone tries to touch you in a spot that would be covered by your bathing suit you should yell no, get away, and tell an adult
• Secrets that make you feel uncomfortable aren't good secrets and you should tell an adult right away

Some Books We Read: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?, Silly Sally, and Go Away, Big Green Monster!

Up-Coming Events:

• Halloween Celebration- 10/30
• Early Releases- 11/5 & 11/18 *Parent Teacher Conferences 
• No School- 11/6 *Teacher Workshop
• No School- 11/11 *Veterans' Day
• Thanksgiving Break- 11/25-11/27
• Word of the Week-an
• Phonics- o
• Handwriting- L and U

Fondly,

Kristen

October 16, 2015

Dear Fish Families:

We had a wonderful time at the Music Hall earlier this week. A huge "THANK YOU" to our parent chaperones. We couldn't have done it without you. 

Today was fire safety day for the kindergarten and first grade students! We visited many stations learning about fire equipment and safety. Please ask your "fish" to tell you one thing they liked and one thing they learned today. A big thank you to our Stratham and neighboring volunteer firefighters!

Next week, Mr. Fosher will be reviewing bus safety with the children and Mrs. Griffith, our school guidance counselor, will do personal (body) safety with them. She will be sharing a video and talking with the children at 9:00 on Thursday, 10/22. Anyone who wishes to join us for Mrs. Griffith's lesson is more than welcome to. 

I was out of school for the first time this week. The children were GREAT for their "guest teacher". They were well behaved and helpful. They should be proud of themselves!

Here is a glimpse into our week:

Readers' Workshop:  This week we continued to practice individual and partnership reading. The children are working on carefully reading books cover to cover, not rushing to be done. I modeled how when we carefully re-read a book we notice/learn new things we may have missed the first time. 

Literacy Centers:  We began Words Their Way(spelling) this week. We did a whole class rhyming concept sort. We did this to introduce sorts and to establish routines with a concept most children are familiar with. Beginning next week, the students will be in small groups based on their individual assessments. Some of the sorting cards will be coming home each week for extra practice and to give you an idea of what spelling skill your child is working on. 

Writers' Workshop:  This week we focused on encouraging your writers to add to their work. One way students added to their pieces was by adding more color to their drawings. Others labeled their drawings with initial sounds. I taught them that adding a cover to their books was another way to add on to their work. We are beginning to make sure all of the pages in a book go together (are about one topic). This is a tough concept for young writers and will be revisited often this year.

Math:   Your mathematicians worked with ten frames this week. They used counters to represent numbers in at least 2 different ways (K.OA.3 Decomposes numbers in more than one way). We have been working on counting groups of objects that are lined up and scattered. There was a class discussion about how it is harder to count when objects are scattered. The children showed some useful ways to re-count the objects in an organized way.

Visual Arts:  The children used basic shapes to paint witches this week. They used cray pas to add details. They also "took a line for a walk" and colored in all the geometric shapes that resulted. Both of these creations are on display in our hallway.

App of the Week:  Can You Make 10?

Song of the Week:  Countdown from 20 song

Some books we read:  Yuck Soup, Ten Little Fish, Dishy Washy, Ms. Bindergarten Stays Home From Kindergarten 

Up-Coming Events:

• Personal Safety- 10/22 at 9:00
• Halloween Celebration- 10/30
• Early Releases- 11/5 & 11/18 *Parent Teacher Conferences
• No School- 11/6 *Teacher Workshop
• No School- 11/11 *Veterans' Day
• Thanksgiving Break- 11/25-11/27
• Word of the Week-see
• Phonics- a
• Handwriting- H and K 

Wish List:

• wax paper

Enjoy the beautiful foliage this weekend.
Kristen

October 9, 2015

Hi Fish Families!

WE FILLED THE FISH JAR! The children voted to have a "chew bubble gum in school" day on Tuesday. I will provide the sugarless bubblegum. Please let me know, via email, if you DON'T want your child participating.

October is safety month. We are practicing safety drills and learning about our community helpers through various non-fiction books. Our first school-wide lock down drill was success. I was amazed at how quiet our class was. 

Here is a glimpse into our week:

Readers' Workshop: Our current unit is entitled We Are Readers.  The children have practiced reading the world (environmental print in our school) and books that help us learn about the world. This week we have practiced reading independently (privately) and with a partner. Please ask your child about how they sit when reading with a partner and where the book should be. Today, our lesson focused on reading a book from cover to cover, without skipping any pages. We used post-it notes to mark a "Wow" page and shared with the class what made it a special page in the book. 

Writers' Workshop: This fish class loves to write! This week the children learned how to add onto a piece of writing. They can either tape on another page to make it a scroll, or they can turn one page into a booklet by stapling on additional pages. The children love to use our staplers to create booklets! We are focusing on labeling our pictures by stretching out words and writing the sounds we hear.

Math Workshop: The children made a class circle collage today. They are circle experts! We played a pocket problem math game this week where items were placed in a pocket and more were added or removed. The children then counted the items. (Common Core standard K.OA.1 Represent addition concretely or verbally. Represent subtraction concretely or verbally.)  The concepts of of "one more" and "one less" were introduced during math this week. This is the successor function (K.CC.4).  Introduction to sorting was our final math focus this week. We learned the fancy math word, attributes, and practiced sorting various ways. 

Book of the Week:  The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone

Song of the Week:  The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Dr. Jean

Up-Coming Events:

• No School- 10/12
• Music Hall Field Trip- 10/14
• Picture Retake Day- 10/29
• Word of the Week- in
• Lively Letters- th & qu
• Handwriting- N & M

Wish List:

• Wax paper
• Rice for texture table

Have a great 3 day weekend!

Kristen

October 4, 2015

Dear Fish Families:

I wanted to let you know that the children tried IXL this week, but got frustrated using the iPad minis we have. I sent home the login information for you to use at home. This isn't required! 

Here is a glimpse into our week:

Literacy:  We worked on our third sight word this week. We used David Shannon's book  No, David! to do a lot of our work. We also wrote a class book inspired by his writing. The children learned the correct way to write D & P. We are focusing on starting our letters at the top when writing. The children sorted objects beginning with the letters f and v for a phonics activity.

Writers' Workshop:  We are writers in the fish class! We call our "club" THE FISH WRITING CLUB. Your authors have been busy teaching about things they know lots of about. We are seeing stories about families, vacations, recess, etc. Most children are drawing pictures and telling their stories, but we are encouraging them to label their pictures. You may have heard that "when a writer is done, s/he has just begun".  We can always revise or start a new piece. 

Math:  It's hard to believe we are already working on our 2nd math unit. This week we matched dot cards showing equal numbers of dots in different arrangements. This focuses on Common Core Standard K.CC.4B (understanding conservation of number). The children also played "Top It" (aka "war") with dot cards. We spent some time learning about the triangle. Some of the children were tricked when I turned a triangle upside down and asked if it was still a triangle. They now know that it is!  We searched for triangles in magazines and cut them out for a triangle collage. 

Visual Arts:  We painted pumpkins this week and began decorating our room for fall.

Song of the Week:  No, No, No, No (Literacy in Motion song to go along with No, David!)

Book of the Week:  Various David Shannon stories

Up-Coming Events:

• No School-10/12
• Music Hall Field Trip- 10/14
• Word of the Week-at
• Phonics- k & g
• Handwriting- B and R 

Wish List:

• Ziploc type sandwich bags
• Rice (an inexpensive kind for our texture table)

Fondly,
Kristen

September 25,2015

Dear Fish Families:

I have uploaded lots of pictures to FLICKR. There is a tab for it at the top of our blog homepage.

Here is a glimpse into our week:

Literacy:  Your children worked in the book Little Brother by Joy Cowley this week. This was our shared reading book of the week. It featured our sight word, he. We also stamped and traced our sight word of the week. We have been playing rhyming games during literacy center time.  The children worked in their handwriting journal for the first time today practicing F & E.

Math:  This week we did some "quick looks" at groups of dots. The children are working on looking at sets and telling how many dots they saw, but trying not to count them. They are composing and decomposing numbers by looking quickly at dots in different arrangements. This skill is called subitizing. I can tell that these kids have been playing lots of dice games! We also worked on using describing shapes. The children used important math language (ie: curvy, straight, line, corner, point, long, short, round, side, wide) to describe various shapes. We also have been patterning. There are 2 types of patterns we are working on. 

The first is growing.

The second is repeating. 

We have completed our first math unit!

STEM:  Mr. Gagnon had the children color a dot during their time in the maker space, They then made it 3D using an app. The dots were spinning and moving and the children are excited for you to know that the app is Quiver.

Visual Arts:  This week the children made apple sun catchers for our classroom windows. They used tissue paper and wax paper to create their apples. They look beautiful!

Song of the Week:  Pop See Ko 2.0 (GoNoodle.com)

Book of the Week:  Various Pete the Cat stories

Up-Coming Events:

• No School-10/12
• Music Hall Field Trip- 10/14
• Word of the Week-no
• Phonics- f & v
• Handwriting- D and P 

Wish List:

• Ziploc type sandwich bags
• Vis A Vis markers

Have a great weekend!
Kristen