We are learning all about weather! One of the best ways to learn about weather is to become a weather watcher! Today we went outside to do just that! We noticed what was in the sky, the temperature, the wind, and if there was any precipitation! We drew about what we learned.
Reading- We are working hard to memorize sight words to help us read books and write simple sentences. We are working on capital letter formation as well as reviewing lower case formation. This is a tricky skill for kindergarten and most kids need quite a bit more practice with letter formation so it becomes effortless and automatic. We read stories this week and practiced identifying story elements like characters, setting, problem and solution. We continued to play sound games to help us break apart and put sounds together which are essential skills for reading.
Writing- We worked on doing our very best writing. We are working on completing a piece of writing and making sure we draw, show who, what, and where, label, add details, write words and sentences, and color. We learned that it might take a few days to finish a piece of writing and writers reread and check their work before moving on to another story.
Math: We focused on teen numbers this week as well as combinations that make 10. We had fun making a class favorite colors graph as well as exploring how to use a calculator.
Science/ Social Studies- We enjoyed a Mystery Science video about the coldest place on Earth. We began our weather science unit and became weather explorers!
We enjoyed learning about Thanksgiving! We read some funny, silly, and inspiring Thanksgiving books. The Thankful Book taught us how to be thankful for something everyday. Duck for Turkey Day taught us that everyone can celebrate Thanksgiving in a special and unique way.
Thanksgiving is a tricky holiday to teach about because of it’s historical context. There is a lot of mythology around the history of “the first Thanksgiving” that is untrue and disrespectful to Native Americans. Here is an article that adults can read to learn a little more about this The class talked only briefly about this history because it is pretty gruesome and pretty violent. We did not dwell on that but it is important for kids to know that Native Americans had been living in North American for thousands of years before Europeans decided they wanted the continent for themselves. It is also important for students to know that Native Americans still live in the United States!
Instead of dwelling on the history, we spend a little time learning about Native American history on this interesting website. Here is a link to another article written for teachers you may find helpful if you are interested in socially responsible ways to teach your child about Thanksgiving or if you would like more information for yourself.
We also enjoyed a Cherokee story of gratitude!
Funnest day ever! We made hats and alphabet necklaces! We had alphabet play time and made letters from play do, colored alphabet pictures, did alphabet sticker art, did alphabet puzzles, played with alphabet magnets, scooped letters from a sensory tub and made letters in salt. We sang alphabet sounds and read an alphabet book. Then we made our letters in shaving cream and also made a huge mess! Omg! We ended our celebration with letter sticks (cheese sticks) and played with our food to make letters! Yikes! What a great day! I’m so proud of the kids and all the work they have put in to learn the whole alphabet!
Reading- We reviewed letter names, sounds, and formation of all 26 letters. We will continue practicing the letters to build fluency. We want the kids to know each letter name, sound and formation so it is automatic and effortless, which will help them be successful with reading and writing skills. We learned a strategy for reading and writing words called “tapping”. See the letter packet in the folder this week for more information. We learned the sight word “go” this week. We continued to play sound games to help us break apart and put sounds together which are essential skills for reading.
Writing- We continued to write true stories/personal narratives. We worked on using the sight words we know to help us form a sentence!
Math: We played more fun number games this week like “roll and record” and “monster squeeze” to help us continue to build our understanding of each number and practice writing each number.
Science/ Social Studies- We enjoyed a Mystery Science video about what those red things on turkeys are. We celebrated veterans and heroes! Our cool tool was about Success Ready skills. We decided based on our votes that the kindergarten service learning project this year will be helping pets!
We had amazing Heroes’ Day! We honored our veterans and celebrated our heroes! We enjoyed a special video (on the school website) singing, and a visit from Miss Missouri! We heard second graders read their essays about. What makes America a unique place to live!
In the classroom the kids read books with their heroes, played math games, and shared our writing. It was great to see so many special adults visit our classroom. You made it such a special day for the kids!
Reading- We focused on the name, sound, and formation of z and qu this week. We learn q with the letter u because most English words have qu rather than q by itself. These are the last 2 letters in the alphabet! We are celebrating learning all 26 next week with an Alphabet Party! We are practicing the sight words we, the, a, and I. We continued to play sound games to help us break apart and put sounds together which are essential skills for reading.
Writing- We continued to write true stories/personal narratives. We are working on getting beginning and ending sounds in the labels and words we write. We also really focused on neatness and slowing down to do our best work.
Math: We played some fun math games with numbers this week like number spin and guess the missing number.
Science/ Social Studies- We enjoyed a Mystery Science video about why people don’t eat ostrich eggs. We began reading about Fall holidays like Day of the Dead. We will read about several more in the coming week.
Here are the little cuties having fun during indoor recess! We try to be as active as we can!
Have you ever noticed your child having a tendency to need to vent to you about frustrations in their day? Maybe right after school, or snuggled up before bedtime? I just read this great article from A Cup of Jo that describes this as “the soft landing”. Home is the place many children feel most comfortable and that can be why they sometimes are grumpy after a long day, even a day which was mostly fun.
The article goes on to explain how parents can help their child. Enjoy!
Reading- We focused on the name, sound, and formation of x and y this week. We are practicing the sight words we, the, a, and I. We continued to play sound games to help us break apart and put sounds together which are essential skills for reading.
Writing- We learned about using paper with a picture spot and a line for a sentence. We are working on getting beginning and ending sounds in the labels and words we write.
Math: We continued working on number formation. We also worked on representing numbers in different ways. We practiced position words like on, behind, beside, in front of, and between. We also compared the length of objects around the room and described them as longer or shorter than our reference object.
Science/ Social Studies- We enjoyed a Mystery Science video about constellations. We learned what plants and animals need and how they change the environment to get what they need. We also read about community helpers. Our cool tool this week was about the Pledge of Allegiance and Veterans’ Day!