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Monday, November 20, 2017

Classroom News

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I am so thankful for my sweet kindergarteners and their families. This group of kids is full of fun, excitement for learning, and caring for one another. They are truly a wonderful bunch! Thank you for sharing them with me. Here's what we've been up to recently:

Literacy

The kindergarten authors have been hard at work on writing and labeling with their Jolly Phonics sounds. During writing workshop time, we apply those sounds as we go through the writing process. Our first step is to think of an idea, then draw a picture, then label the picture, and finally, write about the picture. We also have been working on some special writing recently- we wrote about what we have for Thanksgiving dinner, and what we are thankful for in preparation for the upcoming holiday. We also used PebbleGo to research and write about the fall season!







We have also spent time studying words to learn about syllables. After learning what syllables are, we clapped syllables in words and sorted them by the number of syllables each word has.





During handwriting instruction, we have now completed all of the lessons on correct number formation, and are working on uppercase letters. 

During Reading Workshop, we have been learning about fiction books, and identifying the main characters, setting, and events of a story. Using the book Could be Worse, we sorted those characters, settings, and events of the story into two categories- realistic and fantasy. 

Next, we read the book Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall, and used the story elements to retell the story. The class did a wonderful job of talking with their partners to identify key events and retell the story including all of the important points! Next, we reread the story on another day, and learned about the additional information illustrations and dialogue in the text can give us about a character. We used that information to help us infer what kind of a character Goldilocks was. 

We also spent some time book shopping in our classroom library for more books to add to our individual book bins. We love this time that we spend reading our books and applying the strategies we've learned about during our whole group Reading Workshop lessons!


Math

We have just completed the unit on size, length, and weight comparison in math. During this unit, we focused on ordering objects by size, length, and weight, comparing sizes using words like bigger/smaller, shorter/longer, and heavier/lighter. We had a great time with many of the hands on activities to practice using this vocabulary in our math discussions.





Social Emotional Learning

We revisited the Zones of Regulation to talk a bit more in depth about the zones. First, we sorted incidents that could happen throughout our day that may move us from the green zone. We worked together to identify which zone we might end up in if that incident happened to us. Next, we identified strategies we could use to return to the green zone, ready to learn! One of the strategies we focused on was the Take a Break station. We can go to the Take a Break station if we are feeling we need a minute to remove ourselves from the task at hand and return in the green zone. At our take a break station, we have calming cards, a bean bag chair, sensory bottles, coloring supplies, fidgets, and play dough to help us. We are also learning how to appropriately use the Take a Break station without taking advantage of it! 




We also had a visit from a couple of 5th grade Kindness Ambassadors. They talked to us about ways we can be kind, or show random acts of kindness. There is now a kindness tree at Dryden where we can share ways that we have helped others!



Centers

During centers these past two weeks, we have enjoyed the listening center with the book The Runaway Pumpkin; building and recording patterns with unifix cubes; rolling, reading, and writing sight words; building letters with legos, and building towers in order from least to greatest using the numbers 1-10!








All About Me Weeks

We have loved learning more about our kindergarten friends! Jaslyn shared with us a special box that is important to her because it was her grandma's, a picture of her family, a dancing monkey and yo-yo  with her name on it that her dad brought her from Mexico, a walking dog, and a baby blanket of hers from when she was little. We were excited to have Jaclyn's mom and sister join us to read the sweet book, Rainbow Fish.



Next, we enjoyed learning about Nell! She shared with us her favorite Barbie Super Girl, and learned that she loves superheroes. She also showed us her favorite Belle dress that even comes with a pretty fan. We got to see a few pictures that are special to her- one of her family, one of her with her friend from preschool, one from a dance recital, and another with her dog, Cocoa, who is 8 years old. She also brought in a bear named Stuffy that her mom bought for her before she was born, and she loves how soft and cuddly he is! Nell's mom mesmerized us with the beautiful fairy tale, The Frog Prince


Henry Cole Visit

We had a blast with author Henry Cole! He taught us all about the process of writing, to never stop revising, and never give up on our dreams. He was such an entertaining speaker! We were thrilled to watch him drawing live!





As always, thanks for reading! I look forward to celebrating your child's progress with each of you at conferences, and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your families! 

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Classroom News

We've had so much excitement recently, with our Halloween festivities and the build up to author Henry Cole's visit to Dryden! First, I'll share highlights from our Halloween party with these adorable Kindergarteners in costume! We are so grateful for our fabulous volunteers for planning and putting on a fun party for our class. Mrs. Nuñez, Mrs. Pucilowski, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Piccioni, Mrs. Smith, and Mr. Tosch were so giving of their time and energy- thank you so much! Enjoy this slideshow of Halloween Party fun!


Halloween 2017 from Lauren Glaser on Vimeo.

All About Me Weeks


We have so enjoyed learning more about our friends! First, Ava shared with us a bear named Mr. Bear that she received when she was a baby, and sleeps with every night. Next was a beautiful photo of her family at her aunt's wedding, and a special craft she made for her mom for Valentine's Day. Finally, she shared a rose on a clip that she found that is very special to her, and her favorite Halloween book, The Haunted Ghoul Bus. Her mom joined us as our guest reader, and she read The Haunted Ghoul Bus!



Next, we learned more about our friend, Marko. He shared with us his prized collection of Pokémon cards that he likes to trade with his brother and friends. He also selected a glow stick from his birthday party at Pump It Up, and a Peppa Pig magazine. Then he shared a nice collection of pictures, including a picture of him with his electric guitar, a picture of his family vacationing in Serbia, and him snuggling with his sweet cat, Peggy. Next, he showed the class a picture of him from a Lego building contest that he won at the library, and a picture of him with his buddies at one of their soccer games. We also loved that his mom joined us to read the book, Sneezy the Snowman!





Reading Workshop

We have finished our launch unit of Reading Workshop, and have moved on to our next unit, focusing on fiction books. We spent some time learning how to discern between realistic fiction and fantasy selections. We also practiced book shopping for good fit books for our book bins. These readers loved selecting what they would read during independent reading time!



We learned that once we have our selections in our book bins, we can focus on our reading stamina. Reading stamina is when we are focused on our books for any length of time. We are working to build our stamina by reading for longer stretches of time. Reading does not always have to be reading the words, either! We talked about how reading also includes reading and talking about the pictures, and retelling books you've read or heard before.

Writing Workshop

Jolly Phonics has been our focus for our writing lessons to this point, but now that we have a stronger command of the sounds, we are starting to move forward with our Writing Workshop routines. Students have a writing folder that we will keep at school to build our writing portfolio, and keep our writing on hand so that we can go back and add to previous writing pieces during our workshop time. We have spent time in our word study and Jolly Phonics lessons learning about labels for illustrations in our writing, and how important those labels are for our readers, as well as to us as authors to help us develop our writing. Recently, we've practiced this skill by labeling the parts of a pumpkin. Students were working hard to say the word to themselves, stretching it out slowly, and recording the sounds they hear. I love watching how they think, as they place the letters that match the sounds on the paper. You can see in the example on the left below, how this student was very intentionally recording the ending sound of "stem", leaving a space for the beginning and middle sounds. They did a fabulous job!


Math

During math, we have been pairing sets of objects with numbers, and comparing sets of objects using one to one matching. This also lends itself nicely to work with one more or one less types of number stories. Our next focus will be on ordering objects by size, length, and weight.

LMC

Our first Kindergarten coding lesson of the year was a huge success! These Kindergarten coders were clapping with glee as they successfully programmed their Bee Bots to follow directional commands. The Bee Bots then donned Celeste the mouse costumes as we moved them to a special mat with a square grid. On the grid, students either found Celeste's friends, or Celeste's homes, and lead her to them, all the while avoiding her enemies on the board! The Kindergartners learned to press clear after each set of directions was given. If they were trying to move forward 2 spaces, then 3 spaces to the right, they would program each of those commands into the Bee Bot using the arrow buttons on it's back, then pushing the Go button. Their excitement was contagious as they watched their Bee Bots begin to move!












One Book, One School

We've loved finding Celeste around Dryden! I hear a few squeals of excitement when she's spotted, soon followed by, "Take her picture!!" We are so looking forward to Henry Cole's visit to Dryden tomorrow!