Life in Kindergarten: Off to a great start!

I have enjoyed getting to know the children over the past seven school days. With each day that passed, our classroom community grew a little stronger, and the children demonstrated a better understanding of the routines and expectations. I am looking forward to the year ahead with this amazing group of children!

Through this blog, I will communicate much of the teaching and learning that took place the week prior. Please check back often to stay up-to-date with what's going on in our classroom.

Your child will have Reading Workshop every day (except for the few rare occasions). Reading Workshop begins with a mini-lesson during which I model how to use a skill or strategy as a reader. The children then have the opportunity to read-to-self, and eventually to read with a buddy, too. We come back together at the end of Reading Workshop to bring closure to the lesson.

Last week during Reading Workshop we:

learned two different ways to read a book: by telling a story through the pictures, and by retelling a story we have heard before. After modeling how to do this, the children had time to practice on their own.
learned about stamina, and each day we added one more minute to the the time we read for. We are up to 8 minutes!
learned that readers look closely at, and tell about, every page in a book. If we skip pages, it is like fast forwarding through, and missing, parts of a movie.

Last week during Math we:

learned about length and measuring. The children each received a strip of paper, and they had to find the classmate who had the same length paper as they did. After finding a match, the children sat down with that person and asked get-to-know-you questions.
learned how to "tag-and-drag" as a strategy for counting a collection of objects. We also learned that the final number you say when counting a collection tells how many objects there are in all.
explored pattern blocks. The children were introduced to the names for each pattern block shape (rhombus, trapezoid, square, triangle, and hexagon).

created a birthday graph showing the birthdays of everyone in our class. We analyzed the data and discussed which months have the most and least birthdays.

Last week during Science, we began learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. The children shared their prior knowledge, I read aloud a nonfiction book, and I shared that we will have the opportunity to observe caterpillars as they change to chrysalises then to butterflies. The children looked closely at the caterpillars and drew their scientific observations.