Telling and Writing StoriesWe have been sharing stories about us since the start of school. Each day we have a chance to share a quick piece of news during our Headline News Circle. We share things like, "I had soccer practice last night and we got rained on." or "I went to the park with my friend and we pushed each other on the swings." We have learned a lot about each other through this routine at the start of our day. During Writing Workshop time we are also sharing stories about ourselves. We have been turning the stories we have been telling out loud into books. It is so important at this age for children to be telling and hearing stories told aloud. At home it would be helpful for your child to be hearing you tell stories and having them tell you a story. For example, if you went to the pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin you and child could retell the story together. You could prompt them by going back and thinking what happened first, then next and so on. This will support them here at school as we tell and write stories from their lives. Word Wall and Reading NotebookThis year we will be using a white binder that we will fill with poems and easy to read short books. These white binders that we call our "Reading Notebooks" will be used regularly and added to throughout the year. We will use them during reading time at the beginning of our day and during reading workshop. We have already added a few favorite poems and songs like "Zero the Hero", "Big Black Buy," and "To the Bus." These songs, poems and stories will also helps us think about and look at the high frequency words we will learn to read and write through kindergarten. Along with our "Reading Notebooks" that help us think about high frequency words we will also be using a word wall in our room that we can go to and pull words off to help us when we are writing. We will refer to these words as "popcorn words" or words we need to know in a "snap"because these are words we just need to know. We can't try to stretch them out, we just need to know them quickly and right away. We will work on these words and add to our word wall through the whole year. Racing BearsThis week we learned a new game called "Racing bears." This a game that can be played by ourselves or with a partner. There are four bears at the bottom of the game board that have to move ten spots to capture a button at the top of the game board. This game helps us to think about subitizing the dots on a dice, counting spot to move the bear closer to capturing the button, and also how a whole number can be split into parts. For example, if I rolled a 6 and I only need to move two spots to capture a button, then I will have to move another bear four more spots to complete my turn.
Living vs. Non-LivingOver the last week we have spent time reading, discussing, and wondering about what things in our world are living vs. non-living. We realized that there are five questions we can ask ourselves to help us identify what makes something living. "Does it move all by itself?, Does it breathe?, Does it need food and water to survive?, Does it reproduce? Does it grow and change?" Through answering these questions we began to realize what things in our world are actually living. We also realized that there are some things, like seeds, in our world that have the potential to be living, but are not always alive. The Zoo Came to Visit GREGlacier Ridge raised over $3,000.00 through the Tiger Trot for tiger conservation. The Columbus Zoo wanted to thank us by bringing some animals for us to learn about. Thank you for your support! Visit to the Glacier Ridge Metro ParkWe had a wonderful visit to Glacier Ridge Metro Park. Miss Chrissy helped us learn about the gifts of trees and how seeds travel from place to place. We also spent time observing many different nuts, seeds and berries that mice, deer, birds, bears and squirrels eat. Park Ranger Neil and Ms. Sarah took us on a nature walk on the red oak trail and we discovered so many neat things! We found an old hornets nest, buck antlers, snake skin, spiders, old tree stomps, mushrooms, leaves and nuts! It was fun observing the forest in the fall!
Comparing Our NamesThe students enjoyed looking closely at each others names this week. We built name sticks, using snap cubes, to show the length of our name. We compared our name to our friends' names and recorded our findings on a paper. We shared what we learned about our name as it compared to others' name. We figured out who had the least amount of letters in their name in the class and who had the most.
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AuthorWe are thrilled to be in Kindergarten working, playing and learning alongside your child. Check the blog to see what we have been up to in Kindergarten! Archives
December 2016
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