Life in Kindergarten: From Caterpillar to Chrysalis

We have had a very busy couple of weeks here in kindergarten. The children have been so excited about our butterfly unit. So far, we have watched caterpillars grow and then build their chrysalises. The children are patiently awaiting the arrival of butterflies. Hopefully, the butterflies can wait to emerge until we are back on Monday. I know the children would love to see this in action! Once the butterflies have a couple days to dry their wings, our class will go outside and release them to nature.

During Reading Workshop, we have continued working on telling stories from the pictures and retelling familiar stories. I also taught the children that they can read words in a book, and the children had the opportunity to try this out with simple shared books and poems. The children all have their own book baskets that they read from daily (most days right now). Next week, I will introduce them to buddy reading. They are really looking forward to this!

During Writing Workshop, we have been learning to write personal narratives. The children have learned that when they want to write a word, they can say the word slowly (we use our hands to model stretching out the words) then write a letter for each sound they hear. In addition to stretching out words, I taught the children to stretch out a story. Instead of telling the whole story on one page, writers can stretch out their stories across multiple pages.

During Math we:

have spent time reviewing numbers and their values. To enrich this experience, I used a tool called Cuisenaire Rods to model showing different ways to make a number (for example, 3 + 2 = 5 and 4 + 1 = 5).
played a couple of card games with our quick-look dot cards. I taught the children Memory and Top-It. With Top-It, the children practice comparing numbers.
looked at shapes and described different characteristics we noticed.
learned about repeating patterns and growing patterns.
started our math stations! Most days, children will go to one math station. Right now, I circulate the room during station time while children are still learning about this routine and expectations. Eventually, one of the stations will be to work with me. During this time, I will be able to differentiate math instruction to meet the needs of learners.