Farewell, 2012!

We were very busy with holiday activities this week.  We spent a chunk of time preparing for our Gingerbread Baby play.  Didn't they do a great job with their performance?!  It took a great deal of team work to make this performance a success!

We wrapped up our reading and writing units on pattern books.  During Writing, the children worked to publish a book of their choice.

• On Monday, the children corrected any word wall words that were not spelled correctly.
• On Tuesday and Wednesday, the children read their book to an adult who typed it.
• The children will illustrate and share their stories when we get back from vacation.  Due to the many activities that were planned for the week, we did not have time to finish the books prior to vacation.

During Reading on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday,  a lot of our time was devoted to rehearsing our play.  Research shows that repeated readings of a text improve a reader's fluency.  Every time the children practiced their lines, their fluency improved.

On Thursday, we continued reading workshop as normal.  I retaught the children that readers get their minds ready to read by looking at the pictures and talking about what they think the book will be about.

On Friday, we read with our first grade reading buddies!

In Math this past week the children:

• Learned about the "pattern block template."  Children created pattern block designs and then recorded their designs by using the template.

• Practiced solving addition number stories and learned about the addition symbol.

• Made measurement Christmas trees.  The children cut out five strips of paper of varying lengths and stacked them from longest to shortest to create a Christmas tree.

 

• Made patterned wrapping paper for parent Christmas gifts!

We have had a very busy, productive first half of Kindergarten.  The new year will bring more new learning.  I look forward to 2013 and watching your children grow even more as learners and people.

Have a joyous, restful holiday season with your family!

Fondly,
Miss Dutremble