Playing color/shape bingo with candy corn markers.
We paraded in our costumes at the nursing home. Here we are waiting for the bus back to school.
Party snack time!
October 29, 2010
Happy Halloween!
Playing color/shape bingo with candy corn markers.
We paraded in our costumes at the nursing home. Here we are waiting for the bus back to school.
Party snack time!
Math project decorates for Halloween
The K-A Kids are learning about numbers using tens and ones. They created Halloween chains using 10 orange chains and and then black chains depending on the number they received.
Newsletter 10/29
READING Theme – Colors All Around
Our new alphafriend is Reggie Rooster and he helps us remember the sound for r. We especially like his jazzy song.
We used many big books and read alouds this week for our reading work. Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? was reread this week. We practiced reading the color words and worked on matching the character card with the color word and naming word of the animal. We used the small books titled The Pumpkin and Look at Me to build reading fluency. These books use a patterned text. What great readers we have! They are learning to use the pictures and beginning sounds to help figure words out.
MATH
Addition and subtraction number stories were introduced. The children used concrete material to represent and solve addition and subtraction stories. We were learning to distinguish between joining and take-away stories.
What could be better than reviewing colors and shapes by playing Color & Shape Bingo? We reviewed number names 10 – 20 by playing the Teen Swat game. Those flyswatters become pretty accurate when swatting the number called for. It’s amazing that learning can be such fun!
Symmetry was introduced this week. We did a fold-and-cut symmetrical shape paper. We explored whether our bodies and faces are symmetrical.
Estimating was introduced. It is important to be able to estimate or determine about how many objects there are sometimes. An estimate is a “smart guess” and we are practicing that skill.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
Pumpkins and Halloween were the focus of the week. We weighed and measured a pumpkin and learned all about the life cycle from seed to pumpkin. They each used “kindergarten writing” to tell what they would do with a pumpkin. How many seeds does the pumpkin have? As we cleaned out the pumpkin we put the seeds in groups of 10 and then counted by 10’s. Ask your child how many seeds we counted!
Pam Holz was back in our classroom this week and talked to us about bats. She has a wealth of information and we always learn a lot from her.
Our new alphafriend is Reggie Rooster and he helps us remember the sound for r. We especially like his jazzy song.
We used many big books and read alouds this week for our reading work. Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? was reread this week. We practiced reading the color words and worked on matching the character card with the color word and naming word of the animal. We used the small books titled The Pumpkin and Look at Me to build reading fluency. These books use a patterned text. What great readers we have! They are learning to use the pictures and beginning sounds to help figure words out.
MATH
Addition and subtraction number stories were introduced. The children used concrete material to represent and solve addition and subtraction stories. We were learning to distinguish between joining and take-away stories.
What could be better than reviewing colors and shapes by playing Color & Shape Bingo? We reviewed number names 10 – 20 by playing the Teen Swat game. Those flyswatters become pretty accurate when swatting the number called for. It’s amazing that learning can be such fun!
Symmetry was introduced this week. We did a fold-and-cut symmetrical shape paper. We explored whether our bodies and faces are symmetrical.
Estimating was introduced. It is important to be able to estimate or determine about how many objects there are sometimes. An estimate is a “smart guess” and we are practicing that skill.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
Pumpkins and Halloween were the focus of the week. We weighed and measured a pumpkin and learned all about the life cycle from seed to pumpkin. They each used “kindergarten writing” to tell what they would do with a pumpkin. How many seeds does the pumpkin have? As we cleaned out the pumpkin we put the seeds in groups of 10 and then counted by 10’s. Ask your child how many seeds we counted!
Pam Holz was back in our classroom this week and talked to us about bats. She has a wealth of information and we always learn a lot from her.
October 25, 2010
Tie Dyed Shirts on Display!
Weeks ago we did an all school project of tie-dying shirts. Last week everyone in school wore their shirt to school. What a fun sight! Here we are in our shirts.
Reading Buddies with Second Grade
The K-A Kids have teamed up with 2B on Fridays to read with each other. We call this time "Reading Buddies." This fall the second graders are reading to the kindergartners, but later in the school year we will also read to them. We love this time together every Friday.
October 22, 2010
Math game - Swat the Teens!
The math objective this week was to introduce and provide practice with counting and recognizing teen numbers. I invented a game we call "Swat the Teens!" Two teams line up and the first of each team holds a special flyswatter. I call out a number and they each quickly try to swat it. Such fun!
Newsletter 10/22
READING Theme – Colors All Around
Our new alphafriend this week was Mimi Mouse for the letter/sound of m. The new “popcorn” word (sight word) – see. It is amazing how many sentences we can make and read with just the two sight words: I, see.
The big books were interesting ones – In the Big Blue Sea and What Do You Do, Norbert Wu? Along with pictures of the photographer in diving gear, these books showed close-up photographs of many colorful tropical fish. As we read the book we learned to make predictions about what color we thought would be next and we learned about what a photographer does.
MATH
We practiced counting and recognizing teen numbers. Reading and writing the teen numbers can cause special problems for many children. Teaching children to hear the 4 in 14, the 6 in 16, for example helps with some of the numbers. However, children must still memorize 11, 12, 13, and 15. We practiced using numbers in our envelopes, playing games such as “tricky teens” and the “flyswatter” game where we swat the teens. We decorated our room with Halloween chains using the teens in math: 10 orange chain links and ____more.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
We explored the four seasons this week. We learned how the seasons bring changes in clothing, activities, and in nature.
Pam Holz, Wash. Co. Naturalist, was here this week for a lesson on owls! We learned a lot about owls. They are nocturnal birds and they are hatched from eggs. We learned how their wings and talons work, and she brought a stuffed, real owl.
We enjoyed purple and green days this week. We discovered that those colors can be made from mixing two other colors together. Finger painting to get a new color was a good “messy” project!
In science the students made their own plywood and particleboard. The workbench is a popular center as students get to hammer nails into a big tree log. We will hammer wood pieces together. If you have access to smaller pieces of wood that we could use, please send them to school.
Our new alphafriend this week was Mimi Mouse for the letter/sound of m. The new “popcorn” word (sight word) – see. It is amazing how many sentences we can make and read with just the two sight words: I, see.
The big books were interesting ones – In the Big Blue Sea and What Do You Do, Norbert Wu? Along with pictures of the photographer in diving gear, these books showed close-up photographs of many colorful tropical fish. As we read the book we learned to make predictions about what color we thought would be next and we learned about what a photographer does.
MATH
We practiced counting and recognizing teen numbers. Reading and writing the teen numbers can cause special problems for many children. Teaching children to hear the 4 in 14, the 6 in 16, for example helps with some of the numbers. However, children must still memorize 11, 12, 13, and 15. We practiced using numbers in our envelopes, playing games such as “tricky teens” and the “flyswatter” game where we swat the teens. We decorated our room with Halloween chains using the teens in math: 10 orange chain links and ____more.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
We explored the four seasons this week. We learned how the seasons bring changes in clothing, activities, and in nature.
Pam Holz, Wash. Co. Naturalist, was here this week for a lesson on owls! We learned a lot about owls. They are nocturnal birds and they are hatched from eggs. We learned how their wings and talons work, and she brought a stuffed, real owl.
We enjoyed purple and green days this week. We discovered that those colors can be made from mixing two other colors together. Finger painting to get a new color was a good “messy” project!
In science the students made their own plywood and particleboard. The workbench is a popular center as students get to hammer nails into a big tree log. We will hammer wood pieces together. If you have access to smaller pieces of wood that we could use, please send them to school.
October 15, 2010
Newsletter 10/15
READING
We started a new theme in reading this week: “Colors All Around.” We read a big book, I Went Walking about a boy who starts out walking alone. One by one, different farm animals join in until the walk looks like a parade. We paid attention to the order of events in the story and used the words first, next, and last. We also are learning to retell the story by telling what happened at the beginning, tell the details of the story from the middle, and wrap it up with the ending. We read another big book, What Is Your Favorite Color? and made a graph showing our favorite color.
Our first alphafriend arrived this week – Sammy Seal. With each alphafriend we will practice the letter name (capital and lowercase), the sound that the letter makes, and practice it in handwriting time. Knowing the sound that each letter makes will help us to sound out words as we begin to read.
We were introduced to our first sight word – I. This school year we will get many sight words which we call “popcorn words” because they “pop” up often in our reading.
Colors days for red, yellow and blue were enjoyed by all!
MATH
Our math activities this week included: learning more about 7, 8, 9, and 10, making a number board using stickers to reinforce the meaning of numbers, and writing numbers correctly.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
To go along with the “Colors All Around” theme in reading, we started discussing the seasons and specifically our current season. We made many comparisons between the seasons, including clothing, out door activities, and weather. Fall provides many opportunities to look for colors. After a lovely fall walk around the neighborhood, we made a list of things that show us it is fall. We painted fall trees, used paper tearing to create colorful leaves for a tree, and learned to make leaf rubbings.
The field trip to Foster Woods was a fall highlight this week. We hunted for bugs, did nature rubbings, played hug a tree, and went on a scavenger hunt down the trail with Pam Holz the Washington County Naturalist.
We started a new theme in reading this week: “Colors All Around.” We read a big book, I Went Walking about a boy who starts out walking alone. One by one, different farm animals join in until the walk looks like a parade. We paid attention to the order of events in the story and used the words first, next, and last. We also are learning to retell the story by telling what happened at the beginning, tell the details of the story from the middle, and wrap it up with the ending. We read another big book, What Is Your Favorite Color? and made a graph showing our favorite color.
Our first alphafriend arrived this week – Sammy Seal. With each alphafriend we will practice the letter name (capital and lowercase), the sound that the letter makes, and practice it in handwriting time. Knowing the sound that each letter makes will help us to sound out words as we begin to read.
We were introduced to our first sight word – I. This school year we will get many sight words which we call “popcorn words” because they “pop” up often in our reading.
Colors days for red, yellow and blue were enjoyed by all!
MATH
Our math activities this week included: learning more about 7, 8, 9, and 10, making a number board using stickers to reinforce the meaning of numbers, and writing numbers correctly.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
To go along with the “Colors All Around” theme in reading, we started discussing the seasons and specifically our current season. We made many comparisons between the seasons, including clothing, out door activities, and weather. Fall provides many opportunities to look for colors. After a lovely fall walk around the neighborhood, we made a list of things that show us it is fall. We painted fall trees, used paper tearing to create colorful leaves for a tree, and learned to make leaf rubbings.
The field trip to Foster Woods was a fall highlight this week. We hunted for bugs, did nature rubbings, played hug a tree, and went on a scavenger hunt down the trail with Pam Holz the Washington County Naturalist.
October 14, 2010
Fall Trip to Foster Woods
The K-A Kids are off to Foster Woods.
We met the Washington County Naturalist, Pam Holz, at Foster Woods to explore fall.
Searching for insects!
Nature rubbings.
Hug a tree activity.
Scavenger hunt for fall things down the trail with Pam Holz.
Here we are!! The K-A Kids at Foster Woods
Notice that it was red day!
Volunteers for the afternoon - THANKS!
We met the Washington County Naturalist, Pam Holz, at Foster Woods to explore fall.
Searching for insects!
Nature rubbings.
Hug a tree activity.
Scavenger hunt for fall things down the trail with Pam Holz.
Here we are!! The K-A Kids at Foster Woods
Notice that it was red day!
Volunteers for the afternoon - THANKS!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)