font-family: 'Shadows Into Light Two', cursive;/ Life in Kindergarten: April 2016

Monday, April 11, 2016

A Big Thank You!

I would like to thank you all again for the wonderful baby shower surprise!  Adam and I are so grateful for your generosity.  I will cherish that memory. 


Last week during Reading Workshop we:

  • learned about quotation marks and the ellipsis.
  • reviewed that readers use many strategies and think of the whole book when trying to read an unknown word.
  • reviewed that readers ask questions as they read and then look for answers.

Last week during Writing Workshop we:

  • started our opinion writing unit.  We learned what an opinion is and wrote an opinion about our favorite colors.
  • learned that opinions are personal, and different people can have a different opinion.
  • learned to support our opinions with reasons.
  • wrote opinions about a book.


  • wrote opinions about 2 different things, telling which one we like better and why.
  • made tissue paper butterflies with Mrs. Morris.  






Last week during Math we:

  • practiced combinations of ten with a spring flower project.



  • played Dice Subtraction to practice subtraction facts.
  • practiced exchanging ten ones for one ten.
  • played a new game, Car Race, to help us practice decomposing numbers.







We also started a new Science unit last week: Pebbles, Sand and Silt.  We learned that a rock is a solid earth material, and children had the opportunity to look closely at three different types of rocks. We will continue this unit for the next several weeks.







Have a wonderful week!
Katie

Friday, April 1, 2016

This Week in Kindergarten

This week during Reading Workshop we:

  • learned that readers have a purpose when they reread a book.  It might be to work on a tricky part, improve our fluency, or think more about the characters (to name a few).
  • learned that readers can choral read with their buddy (read the same text together at the same time) to improve their fluency.
  • reviewed that readers use Eagle Eye (study the pictures) to help them figure out tricky words and learn more about what is happening in a story.
  • reviewed that readers check-for-understanding during and after reading a book.
This week during Word Work we:
  • sorted words by the short and long u sounds.
  • learned about -ed at the end of a word and the three different sounds it can make.
This week during Writing Workshop we finished our all-about unit.  We:
  • added bold words.
  • learned to add our bold words to a glossary then write a definition for those words.

  • learned to use tools around the classroom (like the word wall) to help us spell words.
  • spent time talking about how to make our illustrations look realistic and helpful for our readers.
This week during Math we:
  • created and solved our own number stories for a class book.  The children enjoyed this activity, and some children started writing number stories at the writing station during our literacy stations!

  • played Dice Addition to improve our addition fluency. 





  • played a mystery block game during which I described different attributes of a block and the children had to identify the block I was describing.
  • reviewed the characteristics of 3-D objects then played a mystery game.  Children reached into a bag, felt the 3-D object, and used what they have learned about 3-D object characteristics to help them identify the mystery object.  I was impressed with their ability to identify and name the object without having seen it.
  • learned about counting as a way to measure and compare lengths of time.
We had a great week of learning!  I hope you all have a nice weekend.
Katie