Reading Workshop
The students are continuing to do a great job during our nonfiction unit. They are beginning to learn about the different nonfiction text features, such as a table of contents, index, glossary, bold print, photographs, and captions.
The students were also introduced to biographies as we read the book, Me . . . Jane about the childhood of Dr. Jane Goodall. While reading this, we learned that nonfiction books do not always have to have photographs in order to be considered nonfiction. Literary nonfiction books can tell a true story while having illustrations, which we enjoyed while learning about Dr. Goodall!
Guided Reading
Hopefully, you saw the note in your child's Take Home Folder that we began guided reading groups this week. During guided reading group time, students are matched with books at their appropriate instructional level and we work on a variety of reading strategies and word work activities, depending on the needs of each group. After meeting with me, students place their book in their blue book bag to take home. The letter that was sent home gives many tips and ideas for ways to have students read this book at home. Please keep this book in the book bag, as this will help the students be ready when I call their group on any given day. When they meet with me for a new lesson, I will collect the old book and they will bring home a new book. Thank you so much for your support with this at home. I can't wait to see the students continue to grow as readers!
While I am meeting with students in small groups during our guided reading time, the students are working independently on a variety of literacy and math activities. Once they are finished, it is time for dessert! Each table has a special "dessert bin" that has a hands-on activity in it that focuses on literacy, math, fine motor skills, or creative thinking and/or building skills. These bins rotate frequently so each table has a chance to complete each activity.
Math
We have completed Chapter 6, which focused on numbers 0-20. I was quite impressed with the number sense development I saw throughout this chapter. Students are becoming more comfortable writing and comparing numbers, while also using vocabulary such as fewer, greater than, and less than. They are able to put numbers in the correct order and explain the reasoning behind it, which is wonderful to see!
We will begin Chapter 7: Solid and Flat Shapes on Monday. In this chapter, students will learn to recognize and name solid and flat shapes through the number of faces, corners, and edges, and if they have straight sides or curved outlines. Students will also learn to extend and create shape patterns. Knowing the basic properties of two and three-dimensional shapes is the first step to understanding geometry.
Although many of us weren't happy to see that the groundhog saw his shadow today, the students enjoyed playing a groundhog-themed math game called Race to 20.
Zones of Regulation
Our latest social and emotional learning lesson focused on the size of problems that students may encounter. We discussed that tiny and little problems are problems that only affect one or two people and can be ignored or solved quickly. Medium problems are problems that some people may share and can be solved in an hour to a couple of days. These problems may also require a grown-up to help. Big and huge problems are problems that many people share and they don't always have an easy, quick, or pleasant solution.
We then spent some time looking at examples of different problems and sorting them correctly, which resulted in some great conversations between the students. The most important lesson we learned is that the size of our reaction should match the size of our problem, which is sometimes tricky for kindergarteners. This common language that we are using will help make this skill easier for students to understand and apply. Last, we read the story, You Get What You Get. In this story, Melvin sometimes has trouble matching his reaction to the size of his problem.
Art Appreciation
We were thrilled to have Mrs. Pellum join us for another Art Appreciation lesson. We learned about the artist, Mary Cassatt. Through the paintings, "The Child's Bath" and "After the Bath", we learned how Mary Cassatt's paintings showed how people can take care of others and show that they love someone. Students then had a chance to draw a picture of how someone helps to take care of them. Some students even wrote a special message on their drawings to give to their loved ones as an early valentine!
Me Bags and Guest Readers
We loved learning about Camden and seeing him share his super special stuffed animal with us!
Camden's mom was our Guest Reader and shared the book, My Adventures with Cars, which even had Camden as one of the characters!
Andreas had a chance to share his Me Bag and share his special stuffed animal too!
We loved having Andreas's mom and brother join us for the fun Valentine's Day story, Love, Splat!
A Few Reminders
- Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. Hats and gloves should be brought to school each day, but especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays when we go to recess.
- The 100th Day of school will be on Friday, February 9. You should have received a letter and empty water bottle explaining the collection your child can bring to school. Please send these to school no later than Thursday, February 8.
- Our class Valentine's Day party will be held on Tuesday, February 14. If you need another copy of the letter that was sent home with information about passing out valentines, please let me know.
- Parent/Teacher conferences will be scheduled soon. If you have not yet filled out your conference preference form, please do so no later than Wednesday, February 7. The link to the form can be found here: PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE TIME PREFERENCE
Have a wonderful weekend!
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