Highlights From Our Classroom

We are continuing to work hard and have fun in K-1!  The students are doing a great job with our classroom routines and activities.  Here are a few highlights of the different activities we have been working on during the two past weeks.

Jolly Phonics

We have learned the first 6 Jolly Phonics sounds.  We have learned:

/a/ as in apple

/s/ as in snake

/t/ as in tennis

/i/ as in ink

/p/ as in pig

/n/ as in note

The students are doing a great job remembering the sounds and actions for these!  I am so proud of the work they are doing in their Jolly Phonics notebooks, so thank you for your help with this at home.  

Reading Workshop

We have start our first unit, which is our Launch unit.  In this unit, the students are learning about what readers do.  We started by talking about how readers listen, share, and read.  The students were able to demonstrate this during our reading of Wild About Books, a fun story about a bookmobile that travels into a zoo to share books with the animals.  During our read aloud lessons, the kindergarteners were also able to practice their turn-and-talks with a partner.  They did such a good job and had great ideas to share!

                                           

Writing Workshop

The authors of K-1 are doing a great job with our four steps of writing:  Think, Draw, Label, Write. This week, they have been writing about what they like to do with their families.  I am so proud of the details in the drawings!  The students are also working so hard on labeling and writing with the sounds that they hear.

Math

During math, we are using a variety of manipulatives to explore different mathematical concepts.  We have used different lengths of paper strips to explore measurement.  I loved hearing the students using the words shorter, longer, and equal to compare their strips to their partners.  

We also used our pattern blocks to explore different attributes like color, size, and shape.  The kindergarteners especially enjoyed using their blocks together to create different objects!

We made our first graph this week!  Each student counted and graphed the letters in their first name. It was so fun to look at the results at the end and see which names had the greatest and least number of letters, as well as what names had an equal number of letters.

We ended our week in math by practicing our numbers 0-9 and sorting a group of buttons into different categories such as color, shape, and number of holes.  The kindergarteners had a great time using our whiteboard and Mimio to put the buttons where they belong.  

LMC

During our LMC time this week, the students had a chance to use the laptops to help practice the tricky skill of clicking and dragging.  It was exciting to see the tree from Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom and have to put the letters where they belong!

Kindergarten Fun!

One of the highlights of our days has to be recess!  The children love getting outside and playing with their friends during this beautiful weather we have been having.  

Have a great weekend!

Our First Week

What a fun and busy week we have had in kindergarten!  We have learned many new classroom routines, met new friends, and listened to great stories.  I have had so much fun getting to know each of the students and I know this is going to be a great year!  Read on to see what we have been up to in K-1!

Throughout the week, we read many stories that starred Chester the raccoon.  Our week began with the book, The Kissing Hand.  In this book, Chester is nervous about starting school.  His mother kisses the palm of his hand and tells him that whenever he feels lonely and needs a little loving from home, he just needs to press his hand to his cheek and think about his mom.

After reading the story, we found a clue that Chester had left for us.  He left many clues (and tracks!) around the school that took us to different rooms around Dryden.  When we returned to the classroom, we found special hearts that Chester had left for us.  Each student put their heart into their supply box as a reminder of the special people waiting for them at home.  The students also had a chance to make their own kissing hand, which they brought home earlier this week.  

 We read several other Chester books this week.  Chester's adventures in these stories helped us learn about being a good friend, as well as the importance of being brave and trying new things.

 


The students also had a chance to work on a few Chester-themed centers.  These centers allowed the children to practice matching upper and lowercase letters, counting and matching numbers, playing roll and cover to help with number recognition, and playing a fun game of memory.

A favorite activity from our week was definitely our time in the play centers.  The children were so excited to explore some of the different areas of our classroom, while getting to know their classmates and practicing those important skills of sharing, working together, and taking turns.  

Enjoy this beautiful 3 day weekend!  I look forward to seeing all of the students back on Tuesday!