Highlights From Our Classroom

Fall is in the air!  As we change the calendar to October, the students are continuing to do amazing things in kindergarten!

Reading Workshop

During our Reading Workshop the past two weeks, the students have been doing a great job listening, sharing, and discussing the stories and poems we have read.  

While reading the book, But Excuse Me, That is My Book, the kindergarteners had a chance to get to know themselves better as readers.  They were able to talk about what types of books they like and even what they don’t like.  Then, they had a chance to look at different books and choose one they would like to read.  Thank you so much for returning those surveys about the type of books your child likes to read.  Those will help when it becomes time for us to choose books for our book bins during our independent reading time.  

We also had the chance to really observe the different illustrations in the poem, “Catch the Moon” and see how the pictures can help us figure out new words.  

In another lesson, we learned that books can be fiction or nonfiction.  We made a chart that highlighted the different features of both types of books.   

The students also learned how important it is for readers to know their sight words while reading, so those words can be read quickly.  While reading, we learned about the different punctuation marks that readers may see in text and what each mark means.  We listened and practiced, while paying special attention to how our voices may change depending on what punctuation mark we encounter.  

Writing Workshop

The kindergarten authors are doing a fantastic job during Writing Workshop.  Each student has a green writing folder where they keep their writing.  We spent some time labeling our folders with red and green stickers to help us organize our work into writing that is finished (red side) and writing that is still being worked on (green side).   

The students also learned a new saying:  “When we think we are done, we have only just begun.” This helps the kindergarten authors remember to look closely at their writing to see if they can add any other details to their drawing, labels, and/or writing.

As the students have become more comfortable with this writing process, it has been so exciting to see them share their work with each other!

Math

We have been busy during math time!  We have had so much fun learning many different mathematical concepts.

The students explored the concepts of volume and capacity using containers of different sizes and shapes.  What great conversations they had as they predicted which one would hold the most and then tested those predictions.

We also spent time learning about different types of patterns.  The students enjoyed having a chance to paint their own pattern!

We had our first introduction to money this past week as the students had an opportunity to closely observe the different coins. They did a great job working together to sort the coins based on the similarities and differences that they discovered.

We had a chance to practice the concept of measurement again as the students hunted for objects in the classroom that were shorter and taller than they are.  

Jolly Phonics

We have learned another 6 sounds during Jolly Phonics.  The following sounds have been added to your child's ring that is in their blue book bags.  It is important that these rings, as well as the sight word books and cards, are returned to the blue book bags, as we add to them each week.

The sounds that have been added are:

/c/ /k/ as in cat and kick

/e/ as in egg

/h/ as in hot

/r/ as in rabbit

/m/ as in meal

/d/ as in drum

Each Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we spend time listening to a short story introducing that day’s sound.  Then, we learn a song that practices that sound.  Afterwards, we may a class chart where the students share words that begin with that day’s sound.  Students then work on a coloring page practicing that sound and have a chance to begin on their Jolly Phonics notebook.  I am so pleased to see that students are beginning to try to add more sounds to their labels in their notebooks.  At this point of the year, it is perfectly fine if the students are only able to write the first letter of their label.  Please don’t feel as if you need to help them spell the entire word.  We are looking to see what they can do independently with our new sounds.  

Name Centers

The students had a chance to explore several different centers that helped them work on the letters of the alphabet, as well as their names.   

Working on an ABC puzzle

Name Puzzles

Name Puzzles

Name Puzzles

Using magnetic letters to spell names

Using letters to spell our names

Practicing spelling the names of our friends

Sorting uppercase and lowercase letters

LMC

The students have loved heading to the computer lab each Thursday.  They are learning how to use the laptops and have been practicing their click and drag skills with a shape sort.  

Me Bag

We have started our Me Bag schedule and have loved getting to know a couple of our classmates!  We learned that Abby loves puppies and was recently a flower girl in a wedding!  A big thank you to Abby's mom for coming and reading the incredibly funny book, Dragons Love Tacos!

We also got to know our friend, Maddy!  Maddy loves purses, cooking, and Frozen!  We loved having Maddy's mom join us and read the crowd favorite, The Night Before Kindergarten!