Week 4

WE HAD ANOTHER GREAT WEEK IN KINDERGARTEN! 

 FUNdations is a multi sensory, systematic phonics, spelling, and handwriting program that is designed to be used in tandem with literature-based reading instruction.  Fundations addresses all five areas of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics and word study, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension), plus spelling and handwriting, in an integrated approach.  

This pocket chart taught us how to read punctuation marks .?!
and make our reading sound like talking

Interactive morning message

Word Woman (Mrs. Cota) flew in to teach us a few new reading tricks.  We learned how to read the word am and discovered that knowing how to read this word helps us read other words like ham, Sam, bam, ram, slam, jam and clam.  We also worked on building oral and written sentences using the word am.  We noticed that all written sentences begin with an uppercase letter, have spacing between words, and end with a punctuation mark.  

We are learning how to track words from left to right, sweep down to the next line of print, use picture and letter clues, and make our reading sound like talking  

Book Basket Time
We are learning how to read independently and build our reading stamina

We learned that writers close their eyes and make pictures in their minds
before they put pictures and words on paper 

Mrs. Spellman
Our CCS literacy specialist visits on Thursdays
to support our youngest authors

We are so lucky to have an 8th grade friend visit our classroom
 on Thursdays during Writer's Workshop

Number Corner

We are learning how to talk math
  These posters help us remember how mathematicians take care of each other and get smatter together

We learned how to count to 100 by 10’s.  We had fun displaying small objects on ten frames and discovered that ten groups of ten make 100.  The children worked in small groups and rotated through workplaces, explored with math materials, worked with puzzles, counted objects, and sorted shapes by attributes.  

Explore Time

Fall is here! We are noticing early signs of fall such as leaves changing, chilly morning air, darker evenings, and fewer birds flying around the playground. We read a book about the change of seasons and predicted what the trees might look like in a few weeks.

Picnic snack after fall leaf walk

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Week 3

We had a very successful week in kindergarten! Your children are learning how to be attentive listeners, active learners, and collaborative workers. Our focus this week was on taking care of each other by allowing ample private reasoning time during whole group learning opportunities.  Specifically, we worked on not calling out when teachers or friends are sharing their thinking/work. We noticed that by allowing private reasoning time, more friends are involved in the work, and our classroom feels friendly and fair. 

You Skills

Mrs. Nelson taught us about Whole Body Listening so that we can be
attentive listeners at school



Math 

We are busy counting collections, naming and ordering numbers, and extending patterns. We are using five and ten frames and our math hands to support our understanding of numbers 1-10.  The children are also learning how to 'talk math' and support their ideas with evidence.  

Extending and recording AB, ABC, AAB, ABCD, and AABB patterns

Counting by 10's with pennies

Working with five frames to build our understanding of numbers 

Four Winds Science With Parent Volunteers

Puppet show about the ecosystem with a focus on leaves-eaters

Looking closely at leaves to see how different insects eat leaves 

Our first trip to the CCS outdoor classroom!

Looking for evidence of leaf-eaters

Munching on lettuce from our CCS garden

Writer's Workshop

The children are so excited about the opportunity to write and illustrate in Writer’s Workshop. 
The big ideas in Writer’s Workshop thus far are:

• Writers can use pictures and words to tell stories, share ideas, and to teach others
  
• Writers can reread and add to their work
  
• Writers can problem solve
  
• Writers can share their work
  
• Writers never waste precious writing time 

Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

Explore Time