Monday, February 9th

HALFY BIRTHDAY TO...REESE!!

Math:

Today in math we worked on finding the number that is one more.  We had to pick a number, build the number that is one more and write it on our math talk cards.  This is a great introduction to this unit of addition and subtraction.

Writer's Workshop:  This week our focus is a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence and a period at the end.  We continue to remember to use spaces, use our brave spelling, neat handwriting and having our pictures match our words.

WE HAD PHY ED TODAY!

Phonics/Language Arts:  Today we learned about the ed family.  We brainstormed ed words and played a dice game where we had to roll the dice and trace the word under that column. Before we could trace we had to sound out the words and read it.  We had a lot of fun with this!

Reading:  Today we started our summarizing unit.  We will be talking about what it means to write or say a summary and how you choose the most important points.  We will be using posters, books and interactive slides to help us get this skill down.

Library:  Today was library day!

100the day of School and Valentine's Day

Reminder:  The 100th day of school will NOW be on Wednesday, February 11th due to the freezing rain/snow day!  Your child MAY dress up as they are 100 years old.  This is not mandatory just an option if they want to join in the fun.  We will be doing activities revolved around the number 100.


Valentine's Day:  Our party will be on Friday, February 13th in the afternoon.  You may bring treats/valentines for each child.  A letter was sent home in the Wednesday envelope with the children's names.

IMPORTANT:  Please send in a shoe box size decorated box for your child's valentines.  Please send these in when they are finished.  If you need supplies please let me know.  The kids seem really excited to be making these!

February 2-6th

Groundhog's Day:  We celebrated by making predictions whether or not he would see his shadow.  We did a writing activity and made Groundhog's day hats.

Math: In math on Monday we took an "assessment" to see how well the kids were learning and understanding the concept of whole/part.  They also were able to show me the written numbers 0-15. I was very proud of how well they did.  I did find out that many still struggled with finding the second part when given one of the parts.  We decided to spend a few more days mastering that concept.  You will see a few extra practice sheets coming home for homework on Tuesday and Thursday relating to that concept.  Tuesday in math was our iPad math day.  We really enjoy getting the time to play splash math.  The great thing about that website is that I can see reports as to how they are doing and what areas are either easy or hard for them. On Friday we played a "what's missing number game using our number cards.  One child would close their eyes while the other would take out 1-2 numbers and the partner had to figure out what was missing.

Phonics/Language Arts:  Last week we learned the ad and en word families.  We created our little books and were able to brainstorm many words in each family.  We also learned to spell the color words brown and black.  This completes our color word work and we will be moving on to number words starting with zero.  We also did our "word work" as a whole group each Friday.  We have word mats and magnet letters and we use those letters to create words.  We also had a few "challenge" words.  They LOVE this time!

Reading:  This week we also practiced all week and performed our reader's theatre.  Here are a few pictures, enjoy!  Our goal with doing these reader's theaters is to work on fluency and expression.  There are repeated sentences to help with fluency and various punctuation to help the students remember how to change their voice.  They are doing such a great job and really enjoy doing these!!

Snap word games:  We learned a few new snap word games this week.  The first was ZAP!  Snap words are written on sticks and then they take turns picking a stick and if they know the word they can keep it but if they do not know it they have to put it back.  If they choose a ZAP! they must put all sticks back in the cup.  They really enjoyed this one!  We also learned the "beach ball" game.  Snap words are written on a beach ball and they stand in a circle and call out the name of a friend to toss the ball to.  The child catching the ball must say a word that is near one of their thumbs.  This was another fun game!  We also learned the game "who stole the cookie from the cookie jar, snap word version."  They take turns picking "Stealing" a cookie from the jar but have to say the name of the word that is written on the cookie.  Great games to help master those tricky words!

Technology:  Today we got to visit a new "room" in the keystone kid keys game.  We were able to make music while pressing the correct key.  This was a lot of fun!

National Bubble Gum Day!

On Thursday, February 5th your child may bring 50 cents and their own bubble gum to chew through out the day.  Gum will be out during recess, lunch and specials.  Your child does NOT have to participate but they are able to if you choose.  Let me know if you have questions.  Thanks!

Friday, January 30th

Guest Reader:  Today Reese and her mom read a story!  Thanks so much!

Math: Today in math I gave the students the whole number and one of the parts and they worked with the partner to figure out the other part. This concept was  little trickier but with lots of practice story problems we got it!  Way to go kindergartners!!

Calendar time:  Enjoy a couple pics from calendar time.  We do calendar every day.  The students have their own calendar binders to fill in and follow along with the board.  This month the new skills were finding a number that is one more and one less.  We also play a game called "snowman squeeze." The helper picks out a number and the others guess a number and the helper tells us if that number is too big or too little.  By doing this we end up squeezing the snowmen to get the right number.

Technology: Today we went to a new door in our "keystone" game.  We had to find and type the correct letter that the picture started with.  We did such a great job!

Writer's Workshop:  We had some time to write in our journals today, remembering to use spaces, our brave spelling and making sure our words match the pictures!

WE HAD PHY ED TODAY!!

Phonics/Language Arts: Today we used our work mats to make and build CVC and word family words.  This was our first day of using these mats with our magnet letters as a whole group and we did great!  We earned quite a few marbles for being such great listeners!  Way to go!

Science:  Today we learned about Mr. Germ and his germ family.  We talked about how germs can make us sick and where they like to hang out.  We sang a song called "5 Nasty Germs" and helped get rid of the germs by throwing invisible soap balls at them!  We talked about and practiced how to wash our hands.  The new thing many students learned is to use the paper towl to shut off the water and use it to open the door handle.  We then had some time to create our own "how to" wash our hands chart.