This Week in Kindergarten (March 27-30)

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

• Using manipulatives to represent numbers
• Modeling and solving comparison stories with counters
• Counting and comparing numbers in groups 
• Dividing a group of objects in half
• Using the basic language of probability to describe predictions (flipping a coin and recording results)

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

• Noticing when there is a tricky part, searching the page and the book and thinking about what strategy to use to help figure it out.
• Making sure we check our words in reading and fix them when they don't make sense, sound right or look right
• Adding more details and more information to our "All About" books, such as labels and lists.

Next month in writing we will be working on writing poetry and songs.  We will read and listen to lots of poems.  We will begin by looking closely at objects and use our senses as we write poems and songs. 

Dividing groups of objects in half

Exploring probability with coins

Getting excited about our coin flip results!

Our April reading unit focuses on getting to know the characters in our books and talking about them with others.  We will work on the skills of inference and synthesis through personal connections.

Thank You Kindergarten Parents

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you who came to school for conferences over the last two weeks.  It is such a joy to share the growth and progress the students are making in school!  If questions/concerns come up between now and the end of the year, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I also wanted to take a minute to thank all of our classroom volunteers.  You are wonderful!!! Our volunteers help by prepping materials for lessons, reading one-on-one with students, and helping with Writer's Workshop.

Kindergarten Writing Update

This month we have been working on writing “All-About” books.  This unit began with reading many nonfiction texts on a variety of topics.  We read about animals, vehicles, the human body (bones, muscles, the five senses), and so much more. We had many whole class conversations about what the authors were trying to teach us. We also discussed how these nonfiction texts were set up. 

We then made lists of things we know a lot about: people we know all about (people in our lives and famous people), places we go (to eat, to play, to shop), things that we do (at home, at school and outdoors). Students worked with partners to plan out their books, saying everything they know about a topic and then began to write, write, write.  Students will take their books home at the end of the month. 

Our next unit, beginning in April will be “Authors as Mentors” where students will be invited to try out some of the cool things some of our favorite authors do in their books.  We will write like real, published authors!  

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!

On March 2, 2012 we celebrated Dr. Suess's birthday at Williams-Cone.  Many community members came in to read to us.  Thank you to Jon Hiltz for reading: "SkippyJon  Jones" and "A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee" to our class!!!  We made 'Cat in the Hat' hats and had a special snack of 'Green Eggs and Ham'.  We read many Dr. Suess books during the week.  Many students are realizing they can read these books!!!