November 30-December 4

Welcome back! 

I hope that everyone enjoyed time with family, friends, or just relaxing over break. 

Remember to keep sending warm outdoor gear for recess times! 

A December homework calendar was sent home today. Here is a copy.

Upcoming events:

• December 1st: Kaukauna Christmas Parade
• Families are welcome to ride on or walk with the New Directions float. Join us at parade position 27 at 809 Wisconsin Avenue by 5:50 pm. All children must be accompanied by a parent.
• December 3rd: Wear your Packer gear
• December 10th: Family Night 5:30-7:00
• December 15th: Half Day 

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: Super Readers are taking off with their reading super powers! Readers are working so hard to point to each word on the page (pointer power), use their sight words (snap word power), and look at the first letter of a word to figure out the word (sound power). We will learn about pattern power (using the patterns in the book to help us read the words) and persistence power (readers don't give up, they try another power!) You can use all of these powers when reading at home with your child. 

• Beginning this week, students will be bringing home a book baggie each night. These book baggies will have 2 books at your child's reading level. Ask your student what he/she is working on when reading (pointing, using pictures, and using beginning sounds are a few examples). Read the books with the student when you are able or ask them to spend time with the books each night. Please send the book bag back to school every day so we can exchange the books!

Writing: Writers will use a checklist to help make their writing the best it can be. After working on making sure we have all the parts of a true story, we will make sure the words on the page make our writing easy to read! We will talk about vowels and using the word wall to help us write. Students will learn that each word they write has a vowel in it. Encourage your child to transfer these skills into their writing at home! 

Math:

We will be wrapping up unit 2 this week. Students will complete the Math Expressions assessment after finishing up the following centers:

• Students will create their own number lines with digits, dot representations, and +1 equations. 
• Mathematicians will work with shapes using geoboards.
• We will use chips and a ‘break apart stick’ to find the partners of a number. Then, they will write the equation that matches.2
• Students will practice number identification and number order with a partner. After lining up the dotted number tiles, partner 1 will secretly remove two of the tiles. Partner 2 will need to figure out which tiles are missing.

Word Study: We will start new sorts this week! The new words are come, look, like, my, & to. Remember to keep searching for those sight words in books, on cereal boxes, or anywhere you can find them!  

Here is an ongoing list of our sight words: http://kindergartenroom82.blogspot.com/p/our-sight-words.html

Science: Scientists will investigate birds and feathers this week. We will rub vegetable oil on our skin to replicate how oil on feathers keep birds warm and dry. We will explore different kinds of feathers too! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for the opportunity to work with these bright and enthusiastic kindergartners! 

I was especially thankful and proud when they welcomed a Kindergarten visitor into our classroom for math today. They were kind, giving, and eager to help out. 

Here are some of the things they are thankful for:

In science, we learned that some animals have fur and blubber to keep them warm in the cold water. We wondered if blubber would keep us warm too. We used a 'blubber glove' to test it out! 

Have a joy- and food-filled Thanksgiving!

Pictures from the week!

The Kindergarteners LOVE the songs they learn in music. We are thankful for the opportunity to learn songs from a great teacher. Here is their latest favorite!

 Click the link below:

Turkey Tango Song

Here are just a few pictures from the week:

Kindergartners have been learning about fur, mammals, and camouflage. We learned that prey use camouflage to hide from predators. 

We bundled up to play predator prey. These prey found a good place to hide from the predator!

Happy Thanksgiving K families and friends! 

November 16-20

By the end of the week, it will feel like fall! 

Please pack appropriate gear for students to head outside for recessJ

Thank you for coming to conferences last week. I am so proud of the kindergarten work so far! This week, we will continue to grow by starting new units in writing and reading. 

Upcoming events:

November 16^th: Half day—11:30 Dismissal

November 17^th: Family Yoga Night

November 18^th: Square 1 Art orders due

November 25^th ,26^th, and 27^th: NO SCHOOL

December 1st: Kaukauna Christmas Parade

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: This week is the beginning of our most EXCITING reading unit yet: Super Readers! Students will learn that readers are like super heroes because they can use super reader powers. After getting their very own book bins, which contain books at the student’s reading level, they will learn about their super powers! For example, Super Readers can use pointer power to point at each word while reading a book.

Writing: The writers will begin to work on true stories this week. In Kindergarten, we work on oral storytelling and transferring those stories to paper.  We will think about writing stories that people are excited to read. Then, we will make sure they can read them by adding drawing and making our sentences easy to read by using spaces and many letter sounds.

Math:

We will continue to work heavily on adding and subtracting as it is a new and sometimes difficult concept! Students will begin to explore partner numbers using a break apart stick.

• Students will illustrate a poem book that teaches about the +1 pattern in numbers 1-10.
• Mathematicians will illustrate a poem book that teaches about the -1 pattern in numbers 1-10.
• We will learn more about adding and subtracting using manipulatives and a ‘break apart stick’. For instance, seeing 00 l 000 as 2+3=5.
• Students will practice more adding and subtracting with a dice game and number line.

Word Study: We will start new sorts this week! Students are working hard to find their sight words in their new reading books. 

Here is an ongoing list of our sight words: http://kindergartenroom82.blogspot.com/p/our-sight-words.html

Science: Scientists will investigate mammals and fur. Our read aloud books and discussions will focus on camouflage, mammals, fur, and fur that is used as protection. Did you know that a porcupine quill is actually a modified hair? We will look at fur under a magnifying glass, create animals using stamps and rubbing plates, and play a camouflage game.

We are scientists!

Reading and science excitement!

What an exciting week in Kindergarten!

We are LOVING our new science unit! Yesterday, we spent time looking at our skin with magnifying glasses. We also put our fingerprints on paper and used the magnifying glasses to look closely. These scientists realized that taking notes was an important part of observing.

Readers celebrated the end of our second unit this week! We watched videos of each student reading his/her favorite storybook. Readers also acted out the book using puppets for their friends. We definitely had lots of growth to celebrate! 

November 9-13

Hello everyone! 

Portfolio conferences are this week! I can’t wait to share the amazing work we are doing in Kindergarten! We will be celebrating the end of units in Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop. We definitely have lots of growth to celebrate!

Upcoming events

•         November 10^th and 12^th: Conferences
•          November 16^th: Half day—11:30 Dismissal
•          November 17^th: Family Yoga Night
•          November 18^th: Square 1 Art orders due
•     November 25^th, 26^th, and 27^th: NO SCHOOL
•          December 1st: Kaukauna Christmas Parade

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: Readers will create puppets and setting for their favorite story book. We will practice acting out the story and celebrate by presenting for our peers. Then, we will watch the videos of each child reading his/her favorite storybook. It is so exciting to see the growth these readers have made! Toward the end of the week, we will start to prepare for our next unit which involves using the classroom library to bookshop for our individualized book bins.

Writing: I cannot wait to share your child’s writing with you at conferences. They have come so far! Students will be editing their scientific writing this week in preparation for our celebration on Friday. Writers will even use a checklist to ensure that they have done everything they can to make their writing great.

Math:

•    Using a Math Expressions activity page, students will practice identifying and then building shapes using pipe cleaners and straws. After, they will use geoboards on the Ipads to build more shapes.
•  Each student will have a five frame with all five spaces filled. They will roll a 0-5 dice. They will cross out the number they rolled and write the subtraction equation that matches.  
• Students will choose a prewritten equation. They will show the subtraction problem using chips and write the equation.
•  Mathematicians will play “Garbage” This is a card game that focuses on number order. Grab a deck of cards (without the jacks, queens, and kings) and ask your child to teach you how to play at home!  

Word Study: As you read with your child at home, start to focus on the beginning letter sounds as well as sight words on the page.

The new sight words this week are see, in, you, big, & little.

Here is an ongoing list of our sight words: http://kindergartenroom82.blogspot.com/p/our-sight-words.html

Science: Our very first science unit starts this week! The unit is called Fur, Feathers, Skin, and Scales. We will begin our inquiry with questions like

•         What are the different body coverings that animals have? 
•          Why do animals have different body coverings?
•          What covers you?
•          How do you take care of your skin?

We will begin to explore these questions through books, videos, and class discussions.

School Study Map

After creating the different rooms and offices of our school with partners, we put them together to make a map. The map is almost as long as our rug! 

We are using the school helpers we made to act out school scenarios during free choice. The school helpers are taped to glue sticks that can stand on the cardboard.

Writing outside!

It is so nice that we can still go outside in just sweatshirts in November! 

As we begin to wrap up our Writing Like Scientists unit, the students headed outside to think about questions they have about fall and nature. Some of the questions they had were:

• Why do leaves change colors but the grass stays green?
• Why do leaves change colors in the fall?
• Why are some leaves piled up by the corner of the building and some are not?
• What color do most leaves change?
• How could a huge branch fall out of a tree?

These scientists are really thinking! 

November 2, 2015

Happy November!

What a great way to end October! We had great time and great weather on our field trip and meeting our 3^rd grade buddies was fun during the Fall Celebration. Here are a few pictures from Friday!

Upcoming events

•      November 10^th and 12^th: Conferences
•      November 16^th: Half day—11:30 Dismissal
•      November 17^th: Family Yoga Night
•      November 25^th, 26^th, and 27^th: NO SCHOOL
• 
  

What’s happening in Kindergarten this week?

Reading: The readers have been working hard to read, write post its, and share ideas about books with their partners. Now, we are going to start to act out our books! We will act out our old favorites, focusing on the exact words in the books and the character feelings. Acting out the stories is a great way to build comprehension skills!

Writing: We have been talking about the different kinds of books authors use to teach readers: pattern books, topic books, questions books, etc. It was so great to see that the students are really transferring what we talk about on the rug to their independent writing time!!

Math:

●     We will create a mat that shows numbers 1-10. We will talk about patterns we see, five groups, and more!

●     Students will build numbers using chips. They will decide if the numbers they build are equal or unequal.

●     We will tell math story using pictures from the Math Expressions book.

     ●   Students will work on position words by creating a book about above, below, next to, etc.

Word Study: We will start our sorts this week! These individualized sorts will fit the specific spelling needs of each student. The sorts focus on skills like beginning sounds, short vowels, and digraphs.

Here is an ongoing list of our sight words: http://kindergartenroom82.blogspot.com/p/our-sight-words.html

Social Studies: We will wrap up our School Study unit this week! We have learned so much about our school helpers. The last project we will do is create a school map. We will design pictures that show the different parts of our school in teams. We will take a tour of the school and build a map using the pieces we created.