In literacy this week we continued with our weather center. We added mini centers within our big experience that included writing a script with a focus on using sight words, spelling and creating weather words, reading weather themed books on Raz Kids, and using the clothes to dress as a season and then write about it. As a whole class, we wrote a weather report for the Sahara Desert. We then practiced reporting it with voice and excitement. 

The literacy concept we focused on this week was problem and solution. We related it back to The Lorax, and then read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and the students identified the problem and solution in that story as well. After reading, the students wrote and drew about what they would want it to rain! They were so creative and came up with things such as emojis, candy, puppies, and friends. 

This week we also started reading My Father's Dragon during snack time. We are reading about a chapter a day. We are practicing visualizing while reading (since there are no pictures) and drew the dragon that was described. We also will be applying all out concept skills such as character traits, retelling, and problem/solution.  

We also had our special Story Bus field trip in Monday! This is a bus run through the Kohl's Children's Museum that comes to schools free of charge. The students listened to "Little Red Hen" and then had time to explore and play in the bus. It was so fun! ​

On our silly morning Friday, we had a TON of surprise boxes delivered. It looked like a toy story exploded in our classroom :) The students had THE BEST time and played amazingly together. We also wrote birthday cards to a little boy who is sick. It was a great way to connect meaning to our writing. 

Next week we will be exploring living vs. non-living things, finishing up subtraction, and doing a special art project!

In math this week we practiced addition, handwriting, and introduced subtraction. On Monday we reviewed the correct way to write all of our numbers through Handwriting WIthout Tears, and wrote them on our tables with dry erase markers. We then practiced writing 1-30. We practiced adding the pips on the two sides of the dominoes, and introduced subtraction through bowling! Lastly, we compared addition and subtraction and talked about how in addition we are adding or staying the same, and with subtraction we will be taking away. ​

In math we continued practicing our addition skills. During centers some students played a "sum swamp" board game,  and we continued with our equation matching eggs game. We also worked as a whole group adding numbers together that are in picture form. For example, one card has 5 flowers on it, and the other has 3. Add them together and write the equation. We practiced explaining why and how we write equations. The students took a little addition assessment on Friday and ROCKED it! ​

The best part of our week was hands down our "surprise boxes". You may have heard your student talking about this. The district has ordered all kindergarten classes brand new toys and materials and they are being delivered almost daily. We are starting our day off by opening the boxes and getting to play with whatever is inside. It has been SO fun! We have gotten wooden blocks, a ramp kit, costumes, and a sand sifter. This has been a great opportunity to practice our collaboration and creativity skills. ​

We have been busy in Kinder this week and the week before break! 

In literacy, we have been reviewing ALL our jolly phonics sounds, doing new centers, and writing a ton! On Wednesday, we had Young Author's Day at Indian Trail. Toma the mime came and challenged all the classes to write our own story for him to act out in the afternoon assembly. Our class wrote a story about driving in the car, getting in an accident, and having to call the police. We loved seeing the stories the other class wrote and having Toma act out. He was hilarious. 
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Our new centers include Raz kids, a reading app, read to self, spelling magnetic sight words, blending puzzles (and writing the words), and practicing our addition facts by matching them on eggs. We also started preparing for our upcoming weather unit/exploration by talking about all the weather words we know! 

In math we have continued working on addition. Before break, we played domino memory with a partner, and also did a write the room with addition facts. This week, we did 2 tasks. The first, was our "shake and spill" game, this time with a sum of 10. This helped the students practice write their numbers, compose equations, and understand combinations of 10. We also did a task called "Little Bo Peep". I told the students that Little Bo Peep had a domino in her pocket, and that the sum was 5. We practiced making different domino combinations that equal 5. We we will do this again with 10. We will also continue to spend a little more time working on addition and understanding "part-part whole", and writing numbers before moving on the subtraction. ​

See you next week!