We have reached 100 Days of School!!!
We had so much fun dressing up like we are 100 years old. The kids made and ate 100s day snacks discussing place value, wrote about what they will be doing when they are 100, and counted to 100 by ones, fives, and tens. Reading: Penguins - kids learned facts about penguins to answer questions: Can a penguin fly? Is a penguin a bird? Does a penguin have feathers? We read books about penguins and filled in the information we learned on a tree map. Kids used their tree map to write facts about penguins in preparation for research projects we will be doing in the spring. Kids learned how to separate facts from opinions when writing factual information. Theme: We read Cuddly Duddly and completed a story map. We watched a movie about penguins, huddled like penguins do to stay warm, observed how blubber keeps penguins warm, used vaseline to observe how the oil in penguin's feathers keep water out, and got to watch penguins on a live feed. We know a lot about penguins! Many letter books and paper books are being sent home today. Your child should be able to read all of these without help. Reading these daily would be good practice for reading fluently. Sight Words: Review of word lists A & B to reach our goal of 15 out of 17 kids mastering both lists. Several aren't quite there yet. Keep practicing. Handwriting/Word Work: Ss – forming letters on handwriting lines. We began word families with words that end with -it. Kids used -it words to fill in sentence blanks and complete "configuation station" which uses the number of letters in a word and their height to determine which word fits in the boxes. The words are always provided on their page to refer to. Word families help kids with changing the first letter of a word to make a different word as well as strengthening rhyming skills. We will work more with -ig next week. Writing: Kids listened to classmates' How-To pieces to be check if the writer was clear in giving step-by-step directions. We also added labels to our diagrams, arrows that help the reader understand better, and warnings about mistakes a reader may make such as "Be sure to wear hand mitts when removing a cake from the hot oven!" Math: We had lots of practice finding missing addends to equal 10. The hardest part is remembering that some of the items being counted are already pictured or accounted for. This is the mistake kids make when there are two pictures already provided, then they need to draw more to equal 10. Our topic 8 test was today. The most missed was 4. Three kids missed one. Ten kids aced the test. Community Time and Lead Time: We discussed goals and the power of "Yet". There are many things we can't do - yet, but we will. Habit 2 "Begin With the End in Mind" will help us think through how we are going to reach our goals. Important Events:
Reading: We read The Mitten and sequenced the story using pillow puppets and a huge mitten I knitted. It's pretty sad, but the kids loved it. We also read about Martin Luther King Jr and discussed "diversity". Kids learned that we are all built the same, but we have differences that make us who we are. We read "Red, A Crayon's Story" and discussed how the crayons were all valuable as individuals and as a group. The outside is not what matters - it is who we are on the inside. We discussed being goo to others and using our words rather than anger to help others understand how we feel.
Math: Kids practiced decomposing numbers 6-10. The unit test is next Friday. Writing: We continue to work on How-To books. Kids learned to add labels to their pictures that help the reader understand their directions better. Next week they will remember to use everything they know when writing and create a goal for themselves. We will use mentor texts to find places in our writing we can make better. Writers will also be sure to use the word "you" to read their readers personally. Word Work: The word family -it has been introduced. Kids will continue to use our word list to recognize spelling patterns and to be careful to be sure a word is the one they read by looking at all of the sounds in the word. High Frequency Words: they, have, and using our word wall to spell high frequency words correctly. The kids are using Quiet Cubes (5 connecting cubes) to help them remember not to blurt out or to talk when quiet is expected. Those who keep all 5 cubes throughout the day get a "Blurt Dessert" which can be a candy or other treat such as a tattoo, treasure-chest visit, free time on the Ipad, etc. I am excited to see this working the second day of use. (The first day was not as successful). Once a child has lost all 5 cubes, they start moving down on the behavior chart. We are also using this method as a class. The squares are drawn on the board. When the class is too loud or off task, I take away a letter/cube from the word "Quiet". For each letter missing, the class misses recess time, BUT the letter can be earned back. This worked wonders today. My fingers are crossed that the kids will continue to react well with this new accountability activity. Important Dates *Thursday, January 26th - The 100th day of school. Kindergarten kids get to dress as though they are 100 years old! I'm excited to see what they come up with. We will be making a 100 snack, counting and writing numbers to 100, seeing who can count to 100 by fives (not required, but fun), and writing about what we may be doing at the age of 100. If we have any snow days before the 26th, push our 100 Day celebration forward that many days.
Weekly Theme: Winter Weather
Communication Arts: In reading, kids activated their schema about winter weather by sharing facts they know. We read books about winter and snow. It is planned for kids to learn about whether an item is a solid, liquid, or a gas, but a solid may keep us home. We read and sequenced The Snowy Day. These pictures are in backpacks. Please ask your child to retell the story to you. This is a task kids must be able to do to pass the reading test on Level C/4. We enjoyed the book "Snowmen at Night," drew and named our own snowmen, then created what ours would do at night. These are displayed in our hallway with a torn-paper snowman. Sight Words: they, have, review of Lists A and B to reach our goal of 17 out of 19 kids mastering Lists A, B, and C before spring break. If we reach this goal, we will have a Rock Star Party! Handwriting/Word Work: Qq, beginning letters at the top Writing: We started a new writing unit where kids will learn to write "How-to" books. We learned that how-to books teach us how to do something, tell us what we need, have steps that are numbered and in order. We can use transition words to help the reader follow directions. "Snap" words (high frequency words) make writing easier because we don't have to think about how to spell them. We used several student pieces to read through their directions to determine if they need to add more. Adding labels to pictures is a must to help the reader understand what they need to have to do the task. Math: This week we practiced decomposing and representing numbers to 5. We really hit what we do with a - sign versus a + sign. We also practiced solving problems without using pictures and explaining how we came to the answer. Kids are beginning to visualize the pictures in their heads to the point they can see the answer. We also discussed counting on and counting back. Next week we will be decomposing and representing numbers 8, 9, 10, solve word problems with unknown addends (5=__+__) which is really hard for kids, and finding the missing part of 10 (9+__=10). I am so proud that many of my kids do the homework page daily. These kids are understanding concepts well. Upcoming Events: *Progress reports are being sent home today due to the impending weather. Before break, I sent home all sheets that support the Progress Report. If you need more information concerning your child's progress, please refer to Mastery Connect to see assessments. Also being sent home are the portfolios I keep all year with various pieces of work and behavior calendars. These are yours in May, but please send it back next week after you have had time to look through it. *I have updated your child's reading level in Raz A-Z online. This is a terrific resource to help your child at home. It is free! You need to check in with your child during use of A-Z because they can simply click on items and never have read anything to progress. I will be sending the log in information again next week. *No school Monday - Teachers get to sit in meetings all day :) *I will be absent Tuesday for an appointment. Check out the "Pictures" page for ice cream party and Christmas party pictures!
Happy New Year! I hope today finds your family happy and full of love.
This is a recap of our last week and a half together before break. Our class Christmas party was terrific fun with many parents attending. The kids loved every minute. I will post pictures as soon as I can get my phone to cooperate. This was a fun way to enjoy our last day together before break. Thank you all for your help with party supplies and for the sweet gifts. Special thanks to Traci and Wynter for preparing our game and craft. Reading: We read The Polar Express and identified its story elements. The kids put together that the first thing the boy heard was the bells on Santa's sleigh, therefore they understood why he chose a bell from the reindeer harness. We watched the movie then compared and contrasted the book with the movie. During intermission kids enjoyed hot chocolate with marshmallows. Thank you to my families who were able to send hot chocolate, milk, and marsmallows. The kids got to unwrap their gifts from me. They wrote about the gift they would choose if allowed to choose the first gift of Christmas. We had some fun with "Reindeer Day". We learned facts about reindeer (which are real), colored a book about reindeer and made a cover, watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Writing: Students published narrative books and read to the class for our Writers Celebration. It was fun listening to students read their own books proudly. Those with a finished book they could read were allowed to chose from our treasure chest! Kids took the writing assessment to show how much they have grown in writing. These writing assessments were sent home the last week before break along with the rubric used for grading. We will have two more writing assessments before the end of the year. Use this rubric to help your child learn when possible. Many of these elements can be pointed out when reading before bedtime. Every child has grown in their writing abilities! I am excited to being our next unit writing "How-To" books. We will introduce the unit, take a formative assessment prompt, and then dive into writing. Handwriting: Be sure your child is beginning letters at the top and moving downward. Spacing between letters is stressed. Capital letters are only at the beginning of sentences and special names. Math: In math, we finished up our unit on subtraction. We learned that there are patterns in subtraction and practiced writing and solving subtraction equations. After break we will start a new unit. During that unit we will continue to work on addition and subtraction. Sight Words: We are still working on our class goals for mastery of High Frequency words. Our new goal will be that 16 out of 18 students know all words on lists A, B and C. Please practice a few times over break to strengthen. I will recheck in January. Kids will be setting our new goal with me and listing ways they can help us achieve it, as well as ways that I can help them. Be sure to send your child with a coat everyday. We will have outside recess if the windchill is above 25 degrees. Important Dates to Remember *Welcome Back Thursday, January 5, 2017 *December Book-It lists due for a Pizza Hut coupon *Hat Day Tuesday January 10th, bring a canned food item Beginning in January we will have Community Time in the cafeteria from 8:25-8:45. This is a time where we will be focusing on leadership and the Seven Habits, celebrating birthdays and accomplishments of students. Things to Work on at Home (Learning Targets)
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