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Saturday, October 21, 2017

Classroom News

October has been flying by! We have so much to share about our learning!

Reading Workshop

During Reading Workshop, we have been practicing turn and talk routines with our partners. We learned some sentence starters to help us begin discussing what we are reading- "I notice", "I think", and "I agree/disagree". Later, we learned how to use connecting words such as, "next", "then", and "finally" as we retell a story. Finally, when we read a book that we are excited about, we learned a few steps to effectively communicate, or "buzz about a book" to share our reading recommendations with friends.

                                        


We also practiced reading books and visualizing what's happening to help us understand the text. This routine is helpful for Kindergarten students as they are browsing self-selected books. Many times, they will become frustrated that they cannot read all of the words in the text, but with this exercise, we learned that we can read the pictures as well!





Math

As we work through our math unit, we continue to work extensively with numbers to 10. We have been comparing numbers and collections, and identifying differences and similarities.






Correct numeral formation has been a focus of both our Math and Handwriting Without Tears lessons. Some of the numbers are more difficult than others, but we are seeing steady improvement with continued practice! In the picture below, we are using our chalkboards to practice our "wet, dry, try" handwriting routines. Once we learn the number's correct formation, we practice on our board with a mini sponge (wet), then use a pom pom to trace it (dry), and finally the chalk to trace it again (try). This gives me the opportunity to circulate around the room and help with any difficulties in formation before we even pick up our pencils to practice in our books. We will use the same routines when we start working on correct letter formations as well.


Center Rotations

Center rotations have quickly become a favorite part of Kindergarten for many! Center rotations are different from play centers in that they are not free choice, but each table group gets the chance to do each activity once over the course of two weeks. These activities provide additional practice with fine motor, literacy, and math skills. This also allows me time to meet with individuals or small groups, while building the independence of these little learners! Below are photos of our K-3 friends enjoying the past two rounds of center rotations!













Whole Body Listening

Mrs. Rebsamen, our Speech/Language Pathologist, joined us recently to introduce our Kindergarteners to the concept of Whole Body Listening. We heard the story of Whole Body Listening Larry at School, and then worked together to match the part of Larry's body with the job it does to contribute to listening.




LMC

We have had fun spotting Celeste around the school, as we continue to read A Nest for Celeste! We also enjoyed using the app ChatterPix during LMC.




Career Dress up Day

I loved seeing all of these career cuties on this special spirit day!






All About Me Weeks

We loved learning more about Morgan! She shared with us her bunny, Princess Cinnamon, that she made at Build a Bear. We got to see a picture of her family on vacation in Florida, and one of her adorable dog as well! Next, she told us about the special shell she has that you can hear the ocean in, along with a sand dollar, and finally, her special pen from a friend. Morgan's mom also joined us to read, Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy!




Next, we learned more about our friend Sylus! He showed us a car his aunt gave to him that is very special to him. Next he introduced us to his panda bear, Binx, who he likes to take care of. We loved seeing pictures that Sylus chose of him with his dad and his little brother. Finally, he showed us his Rapunzel Barbie with super long hair that he got for Christmas! We were excited to have Sylus's dad join us to read the Halloween favorite, Scaredy Cat Splat!




October Behavior Board

Finally, this may just look like a pumpkin patch, but it represents a lot of hard work! Our class has been working together to earn a piece for our behavior board when the whole group is on task, participating nicely, showing excellence during routines, or receiving compliments from other teachers on their behavior in specials classes or in the hallway. Sometimes we have setbacks and lose a piece here or there, but we earn them back by making good choices! Once we fill our behavior board, we have a special reward that we vote on each time. This time around, we will have an extra recess on a day that we don't normally have recess. Great work, K-3!