Hi Kindergarten Families-
We have been so busy in Kindergarten! Here is a glimpse into what we have been learning...
Literacy
Our literacy time has included guided reading centers. This is a time where students are working in small groups on word work, writing, story comprehension, and phonological awareness. They also get the chance to meet with a teacher to work on reading or a certain skill. The students have been doing a great job working independently and cooperatively with their groups.
We have been so busy in Kindergarten! Here is a glimpse into what we have been learning...
Literacy
Our literacy time has included guided reading centers. This is a time where students are working in small groups on word work, writing, story comprehension, and phonological awareness. They also get the chance to meet with a teacher to work on reading or a certain skill. The students have been doing a great job working independently and cooperatively with their groups.
The past two weeks in literacy we have also started our Fairy Tales unit! Our first fairy tale is The Three Little Pigs. As a class, we read and watched multiple versions of the story and compared and contrasted them. The students also practiced “story mapping,” which is a comprehension strategy to assist children in learning the elements of a book or a story. The students worked in groups to retell our favorite version of The Three Little Pigs.
Please ask your child to retell the fairy tale that was created on his/her story map. These group maps were uploaded to Seesaw. This strategy provided conversation, collaboration, and active participation.
We incorporated a lot of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) into our learning these past two weeks. The students worked with a partner to build a house of straws, and then a house of sticks. We read the Three Little Pigs, An Architectural Tale, written by Steven Guarnaccia which provided an inspiration for our construction challenge as we assumed the role of architects. Our culminating activity encompassed an experiment which incorporated the elements of STEAM. Each child was given the opportunity to construct a house for his/her little pig. The house needed to be strong enough to withstand the “big bad wolf blow dryer” and not fall down
We incorporated a lot of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) into our learning these past two weeks. The students worked with a partner to build a house of straws, and then a house of sticks. We read the Three Little Pigs, An Architectural Tale, written by Steven Guarnaccia which provided an inspiration for our construction challenge as we assumed the role of architects. Our culminating activity encompassed an experiment which incorporated the elements of STEAM. Each child was given the opportunity to construct a house for his/her little pig. The house needed to be strong enough to withstand the “big bad wolf blow dryer” and not fall down
Math
In Math we have been following our Bridges Number Corner curriculum. The focus this month has included teen numbers, patterning, greater than/less than, pennies and nickels, and addition.
This is a great video to reinforce the concept of greater than and less than:
In Math we have been following our Bridges Number Corner curriculum. The focus this month has included teen numbers, patterning, greater than/less than, pennies and nickels, and addition.
This is a great video to reinforce the concept of greater than and less than:
We have been using a lot of different manipulatives to introduce the concept of addition including ten frames, unifix cubes, magnetic white boards, and our fingers. This allows the students to explore which way helps them understand the concept best.
Leprechaun Fun
Last but certainly not least, we had a visit from a leprechaun named Lucky this week! He caused all sorts of mischief in our classroom all week, including leaving gifts for us in Dr. Grable's office. On Thursday the students made traps out of makerspace materials to try and catch him! We were SHOCKED Friday morning when we realized the leprechaun had left footprints on all of our traps AND gold coins! He also made a big mess; leaving paint and green EVERYWHERE. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with some fun centers. The students made rainbows, played BINGO, played a shamrock shuffle game, and explored with water beads and gold coins in the sensory table. Thank you to Allison, Jamie, Rosi, and Jeanine for helping out.
Leprechaun Fun
Last but certainly not least, we had a visit from a leprechaun named Lucky this week! He caused all sorts of mischief in our classroom all week, including leaving gifts for us in Dr. Grable's office. On Thursday the students made traps out of makerspace materials to try and catch him! We were SHOCKED Friday morning when we realized the leprechaun had left footprints on all of our traps AND gold coins! He also made a big mess; leaving paint and green EVERYWHERE. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with some fun centers. The students made rainbows, played BINGO, played a shamrock shuffle game, and explored with water beads and gold coins in the sensory table. Thank you to Allison, Jamie, Rosi, and Jeanine for helping out.