Our "Deer" Children

We have been talking about forest animals and the tracks each animal makes.  Today, after the concert rehearsal, we let the kids have some choice time to get their energy out.  One child asked to make deer antlers.  Upon seeing his antlers, another few asked to make some.  Sure enough, by the time we had indoor recess, several students were making antlers and headbands.  Thankfully, we had some lovely fourth grade helpers to put the headbands together.

As we explore adding in math, the students have enjoyed playing "Dunk It Dominoes."  There are cups with numbers on them and the kids pick a domino, count the sum of the dots, and then "dunk" the domino in the appropriate cup.  We have been working on saying the equation, "2+4=6" and then writing the equation as well.

Farm Abby's Visit

We were able to share what we've been learning about plants with Farm Abby today.  She came over to plant pumpkin seeds with us.  As the kids finished planting, they were able to pick dandelions and make dandelion chains.  It was a nice way to end a day of concert rehearsals and NWEA testing.

REMEMBER:  There is no kindergarten Thursday and Friday next week (May 22 and 23).

Planting Spider Plants

We read another nonfiction book about plants today.  We learned that all plants need the sun to live.  The sun is combined with water and carbon dioxide in the leaf to make sugars and then oxygen is released to give us air to breathe.  All of our food was also connected back to the sun. After we compared several types of plants, including two types of spider plants we looked about several baby plants.  The kids had to select the parent plant the babies came from.  Once everyone found the parent spider plant we went outside to plant our "babies."  

Now I can't let an amazing opportunity to write be overlooked, so once all the baby plants were nestled in their new potted homes the kiddos all took a blank book and wrote about how to plant a spider plant.  This year of Writer's Workshop is paying off as the students use their bank of sight words and knowledge of information writing to create a wonderful book.

Watching It All Come Together

During our Reader's Workshop one of the students had an "Aha!" moment.  He excitedly related to us that he could read his story better today than he could yesterday.  The rereading we have been talking about hit home for him and you could feel the pride oozing out of him.

We used two dice to play an adding/subtracting game today.  The kids loved rolling the dice and then doing what the symbols ad numbers told them to do.  Everyone decided working with a buddy would be more fun, so they had to determine how to take turns and play together.

Finally, in Writer's Workshop, another student spontaneously began reading to another child sitting close by.  As we were sharing our work I asked her why she did that.  Her response was, "I wanted to see if what I wrote made sense."  Everything we have been working on this year in kindergarten is coming full circle.  Your children have learned to employ several strategies in reading, math, and writing. What a thrill it is to watch them take off!

Nature's Wonders

       Our literacy workshop began with another look at nonfiction books.  The kids took nonfiction books and used the pictures to figure out what was going on in the book.  As the students partnered up they went through a book about country animals and talked about what the pictures showed.  After looking through the pictures, the students read the book "Country Animals" using what they learned from the pictures to help them read the book.
       It was a beautiful day.  After a long cold winter the sun has found us again and flowers are blooming.  To celebrate the wonderful weather the kids took to the outdoors to write.  They drew what they saw, and then wrote about it.  Everyone found a spot to sit and enjoy some flowers. We saw our students describe the lovely flowers.  They came up to us excitedly to show the spaces they were using between their words.  Watching kindergarten kids write about nature is beautiful as well.

Informational Posters and Rotting Trees

We have had a great time the past few days looking at rotting logs and then making informational posters.  First, we went outside yesterday to look at some rotting logs to find some creatures that live in the logs.  We found spiders, ants, worms, and even a snail.

Then today we read a fiction book about trees, and talked about all the parts of a tree.  We went outside and checked out several types of trees. The children were then asked to make an informational drawing labeling the parts of a tree.  All of the students wrote wonderful labels and made non-fiction drawings of trees, meaning no suns had smiley faces.  The posters are hanging proudly in the windows for all to see.

Popsicle Sticks

We used popsicle sticks in both math and word work today.  First we used popsicle sticks for counting out bundles of ten and then wrapping elastics around the bundles.  That was a great fine motor activity as well as wonderful practice for  place value.

Then we built our sight words using popsicle sticks.  Everyone had different ways to make letters.  The kids were delighted to problem solve how to build the letters necessary to create words like; an, do, up, and, can, on and no.  We talked a great deal about how which letters come FIRST in each sight word.  Quite often kids get confused with "on" and "no", or they'll call "and", "Dan."  Try building words at home with your child, giving attention to the order of letters.  You could use noodles, yarn, sticks, silverware......  Give it a go, and see what you can create!

A "Dandy" Day

I could write to you all about the math assessments we are giving in kindergarten.  I could tell you we are taking the online NWEA assessments as well.  Or I could tell you how much your children enjoyed recess today.  Finding dandelions is a rite of passage in kindergarten.  Kids approach grown ups with carefully created bouquets of the ever present dandelion.  So, in this month of assessing, PLEASE, go outside with your wonderful child.  Watch them watch nature.  I promise, you'll smile.

Sharing Number Stories

We wrote number stories today.  First, I reviewed how the kids could come up with a story, draw it, and then write a number model to match what happened in the story.  We discussed the addition and equal symbols, and how important these symbols are in our number stories.  Then the kids went off to write their own.  We had stories about jelly beans, giraffes, and televisions.  The best part of this lesson was when the kids each took a turn to share their work.  Everyone helped each other with the symbols. As they shared their stories, we would check the numbers.  They were delighted to discover their stories were correct.

Writing Opinions

Today our kinders were putting the finishing touches on their favorite book papers.  They had to pick a favorite book and give two reasons for it being a favorite.  We have been discussing what makes a good reason.  For instance, some students like Pete the Cat  books because he doesn't get upset and he says "It's all good."

Everyone had fun with dice toss addition today.  They all found a comfy spot to work and then wrote number sentences to represent the dice they tossed. We also learned about quarters in math.  Help your child sort some coins tonight and find the quarters.  Check out the backs of the quarters and see how many different states you can find.

We had a visit from Red E. Fox as well.  He came in to give the class a certificate for learning about the 9-1-1 system.  Before vacation we learned how to call 9-1-1 and WHEN to call 9-1-1.  It's always a good thing to review at home as well.  The kids could use reminders about what their address is as well as their phone number.