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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Classroom News

I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday weekend before we head into our final days of kindergarten! We have been so busy lately, and learning so much!
   
Our science and literacy lessons have intertwined nicely as we studied plants, animals, and people. We learned that plants, animals, and people all get what they need to survive from their environment. During Reading Workshop, we used nonfiction books on these topics to review text features that help us to understand the information the author is sharing. We then took that knowledge of nonfiction text to write a book about an animal of choice. These soon to be first graders chose an animal on PebbleGo.com, and used the Pebble Go site to research and take notes on their animals. Using this research, students organized their thoughts into a nonfiction book that we will finish up in the coming week, and share with our 5th grade buddies before taking the books home to share with families. They have much to be proud of- they have been working so hard!




   

During math, we have spent time writing number stories, creating 3-dimensional shapes with marshmallows and toothpicks, and learning about name collection boxes. In a name collection box, students brainstorm different ways to represent a number. For instance, if the name collection box is focusing on the number 10, we could write addition or subtraction sentences, draw 10 pennies, 2 nickels, or a dime, make ten tally marks, etc. We also practiced "What's My Rule?" function boxes, where students look for patterns in number relationships to determine what the function machine's "rule" was. If we put a 4 in the machine and a 6 comes out, an 8 in and a 10 comes out, and a 3 in and a 5 comes out, we can determine that the rule is "+2". We also made special bracelets to help us learn which combinations of numbers add up to 10. We introduced telling time to the hour, and learned about the hour and minute hands on a clock.






We've participated in a few special events recently, including the practice lunch to help us prepare for lunchroom routines in first grade.

The Kindergarten Musical was also a great success! These sweet faces were singing their hearts out during their adorable performance! It was so nice to see them bursting with pride as they performed for their families.




















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