Getting creative using math

Mathematicians got creative today in room 45.  They visualized an animal, real or made up and drew that animal.  Once they completed their drawing they had to explain to their partner how they used math and numbers in their planning and in their final product.  This fabulous drawing was a cow, unicorn, lion with four legs, one horn, four tails, ten spots, etc.  This was a fun way to wrap up our work on numbers 1-5.  Ask your chid about their animal.  Maybe make an animal drawing at home and share your thoughts about the number of body parts, fur design, etc. 

Adding Labels

This child labeled her flower.

This child labeled the type of truck: garbage truck . 

This writer labeled house, block, grass

This writer labeled books, shelf

This child labeled his stores to help the reader know where they could shop!

Donors Choose

Here is the link to our Donors Choose grant.  Thank you to all of you who have donated to get new reading materials in the hands of our students.  If you donate any amount up to $100.00 by midnight tonight, it will be matched if you use the promo code SPARK.  This organization is a 501(c)(3).  

Cheers to a world of possibilities through books.

What if you want to donate and it is after midnight tonight?  Your donation is still much appreciated and needed, thank you!  Our project will stay posted until the New Year in hopes of completing it and getting these new materials.

Partner Reading

What does partner reading look like in our classroom?  Readers sit knee knee elbow elbow, readers have eyes on the book, readers stay in one spot, readers read the whole time and readers talk about books.  They sustained effort for over 20 minutes, WOW!

Our first fire drill

Today was our first fire drill.  The students did amazing.  We reviewed why it is important to practice, why it is important to have a plan and why should we be silent during a fire drill.  These are great items to discuss at home too.  In October, we will be learning more about fire safety, stay tuned!

Small Motor Development

Students participate in a variety of activities to increase their small motor development which directly impacts their ability to hold a pencil and write.  What can you do at home?  Play Where is Thumpkin, like these brave ladies that lead our class in the song, play with legos, playdough, have small pencils for writing (golf pencils and broken crayons are great, they help with control), rip paper for crafts, and peel stickers for sticker books.  These muscles are often forgotten, but are essential in maintaining a successful hand grip in writing.

Learning about letters

Students are loving the new phonics program CKLA.  They practiced starting at the top and going down.  All letters start at the top and we are working on making this a habit for everyone.  When your child writes at home encourage them to start at the top with all letters and numbers!

Learning Independence

We are building independence in reading each day.  Today we brainstormed ideas to help every one have the opportunity to read.  I will be transferring these to a poster and placing it in the room for everyone in our community to use as a reminder.  Here is what the students came up with:  Readers can stay in one spot, readers keep their eyes on the book, readers read the whole time, readers use soft voices.  We will add to this list if necessary as we develop our independent reading skills.  

Our first library day

Today we had our first library day with Mrs. Kubesh.  The students loved learning the rules of the library and the many fun items the library has to offer.  We will be checking out books every time we go to the library (Tuesday and Friday).  Students can check out 2 books at a time.  Whenever students are done with them, send them back and we will send them back to the library and that way students will be ready to check out new ones on our library days.  

And it begins...Book Shopping

Monday we launched Book Shopping in our classroom.  Student explored books, found ones they were interested in and placed them in their OWN book box to use for independent reading.  The students LOVED having choice in their reading material as well as having their own book box to read from.  

We are practicing reading books 3 ways:  Read the pictures, read the words and retell the story.  You can read books these ways at home to help reinforce that readers read books a variety of ways. 

Author's chair

Today we started our "author's chair" where students had an opportunity to share their writing.  This is part of our closing during writing workshop and will develop into an extremely important component where students learn from each other and push each other to their next level of work as writers.  

Reading Buddies

Today we met with our 5th grade reading buddies for the 1st time.  This will be a weekly meeting, where students will share reading, writing and math games too.  Often times, this is a favorite of many of the students.

Reading Workshop Launch

Here is a sneak peak at our first official day in Reading Workshop.  The students loved exploring the book tubs on the table and sharing with their peers what they read.  We are practicing three ways to read:  Read the Pictures, Read the Words and Retell the Story.  We will be doing all three of these all year long in our classroom during this time.  Here is a video of this happening today.  

Writing Workshop

Today was the official start of our Writers Workshop time in the classroom.  Everyday we will take time to learn about the writing process, our craft as writers, as well as, phonics and phonemic awareness to help each learner develop into a writer.  Today our lesson focused on how writers write about things they know about or things that really happened. The students chose a topic and wrote for 20 minutes.  Many students drew pictures with details about their topics, some wrote beginning sounds in their pictures, and a few stretched words.  My goal today was to help students understand that where ever they are in this process of becoming a writer is a great place to be.  Many students shocked themselves with what they were able to do.  These pieces are coming home tonight for your child to share their success with you!  

Writers share what they know.  Today the students in our class shared their writing with their peers.  I was impressed with how many naturally complimented their partner about something specific they did!  

Jitter Juice

Yesterday we read First Day Jitters and learned what jitters are.  Ask your child to tell you about jitters, what they are and a time where they had the jitters. Mrs. Walter made a mistake yesterday and forget to get the "Jitter Juice" out at snack so we enjoyed out "jitter juice" today.  We did a class cheers to trying new things, even when they may be tough. We are a class community that supports each other and encourages each other to try new things.  Cheers to a great year in Kindergarten!

Go Noodle

Go Noodle is a fun website we use daily to help give our bodies a brain break.  Many activities require coordination in dance moves, balance, crossing the mid line of the body and concentration.  Today the children met Maximo. Check out Go Noodle for some fun indoor activity when your child needs a break at home.

The Kissing Hand

Today we read the Kissing Hand and practiced retiling the story.  The students worked with partners to sequence the story with events that happened in the beginning, middle and end of the story.  We made our own Kissing Hands to bring home and share the story with our families later in the week.  Be sure to ask your child to tell you this sweet story using the sequencing they created!  Tomorrow we will continue our exploration of retelling a story by making a character puppet to do the telling.  Watch those backpacks tomorrow for these great props.  What an opportunity to have your child read to you.  

***This month we will be exploring the three ways to read:  Read the pictures, read the words and retell the story.  Any of these ways are great reading practice for your child to help strengthen those early reading skills.  Many parents like to video these opportunities and share them with their child as they grow and develop as readers.  Using technology such as FaceTime or Skype are great ways to share these experiences with your extended family or friends (plus an additional opportunity for your child to practice the skill).

Math exploration

Students explored a variety of materials that we will be using in Math Workshop this year to learn about measurement, number sense, geometry and more.  Our first part of the year will be spent on numbers 1 through 5, writing the numbers and composing and decomposing them as well.