This Week in Kindergarten (October 3-6)

This Week in Literacy (some things we worked on):

Seven Guiding Principles of the Independent Reading Workshop within a Balanced Literacy Framework:

• Readers have time to read books independently every day.
• Readers select their own appropriate books.
• Readers take care of books.
• Readers respect each other's reading time and reading lives.
• Readers have daily opportunities to talk about their books in genuine ways.
• Readers don't just read the words but also understand the story.
• Readers' work in the independent reading workshop is replicable outside the classroom.            (Collins 2004, Growing Readers)      

All of the students are working on using story language and character's voices to retell familiar stories that we have read repeatedly in class.  All students are encouraged to be detectives and find words they know in print.  All students are encouraged to pay attention to the pictures and to print and use what they know about letters and sounds to read words.  Some students are using this information to read whole books at their just-right reading level.  Other students will be doing this soon, as they become ready.

• We learned the letter name, sound and correct formation of the "plane line round letters" g and o.  
• Our shared reading poem this week was "Colors of the Flag"  We focused on reading it fluently (with a talking voice), and reading the color words red, white blue and the.  It goes:

I stand with hand on heart.
My teacher stands up, too.
We look at the flag together.
It is red, white and blue.


In Writer's Workshop we focused on a procedure to write.  This includes: think, draw, label and write.  Students are encouraged to write a story from their own lives by thinking, "One day..."

This Week in Math (some things we worked on)

• Developing number sense by representing numbers in many different ways.
• Understanding that each consecutive number is one more than the last.
• Making patterns using our knowledge of pattern and how to draw simple shapes.
• Counting, beginning at many different numbers.
• Writing the numerals 0-8 correctly.
• Making numerals with play dough. 

Next week, on Friday it will be picture day.  Mrs. Rogers will be in for me on Friday.  Ms. Dutton, Mrs. Anderson (our literacy teacher leader) and I will be attending a workshop in Portland on teaching beginning writers.  I am very excited about this workshop and look forward to bringing what I learned back to the classroom.