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