"The Biggest Snowman Ever"

One of my favorite winter stories to read to my Kindergarteners is The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll. This book is filled with themes about teamwork. After reading the story, we discussed why teamwork is important, how teamwork can help complete a job, and why working together is better than working by yourself. After our discussion, we were ready to begin our STEM challenge. As I introduced the challenge I stressed the importance of teamwork. The challenge was to build the tallest snowman using only paper and tape. Students had to think in different ways and were encouraged to work together to share ideas!

21-Day Kindness Challenge:

Write down one thing you love about yourself!

Fundations: Digraphs

Math: Make or Break Apart Numbers

The purpose of this activity is for students to learn stage 1 of the Make or Break Apart Numbers center. Students roll to get a number from 4–9. They find two groups of dots that can be put together to make that number. Students write an expression to represent the two parts that make the number.

Math: Red and Yellow Apples

The purpose of this activity was for students to make sense of "Both Addends Unknown" story problems. The focus of this activity is for students to show the two groups of apples, noticing that there is more than one possible solution to the story problem.

Morning Work & Phonics:

DEAR:

Library:

PE:

Music:

Art: The Rainbow Fish

Mystery Reader:

This week our mystery reader is Alannah's mom! Thank you for reading to us!

Reminders:

Friday's in-class pick-up time is at 3:30. Please try not to come any earlier as we have a guest reading a story to the kids. If you need to pick up your child earlier than 3:30 please let me know ahead of time. Thank you!

Sneezy the Snowman

Sneezy is cold, cold, cold! To warm up, he drinks cocoa, sits in a hot tub, stands near a warm fire–and melts! After reading the story, the students were given a writing prompt that encouraged them to write how their own snowman melted. Then they created their own melted snowman using a mixture of shaving cream and glue for the melted snow and a variety of materials for the snowman accessories.

Math: Pattern Block Design Addition

During this activity, the students were challenged to create a design using two different types of blocks at a time (example: green triangles and red squares). After they created their designs the kids were asked to identify the parts and total in the design. The students discussed their design with their table buddy and shared how many of each shape they used. The students recorded the expressions to represent the parts in their design.

Math: Decomposing Numbers

To decompose in math is to break down numbers into parts. During this lesson, the students practiced decomposing numbers using snap cubes towers. The students also practiced using expressions to represent their decompositions.

Fundations: Digraphs & Blends

A digraph is made up of two letters that work together to make one unique sound. This week we introduced "th" and "ch." The K kids are moving beyond CVC words and are working hard on writing longer words that include blends. A blend is two letters that come together but each makes its own sound. Gestures are a particularly powerful tool for triggering memory and recalling learned information so the kids practice "tapping it out." For example - a word like stop would have 4 taps, sprint would have 6 taps and shred would have 4 taps (one for sh, and one each for r, e, and d).

Sensory - Shaving Cream & Foam Blocks

Foam blocks and shaving cream towers are the perfect combinations of sensory play and STEM! You wouldn't believe how well the shaving cream stuck to the blocks and what a difference it made in keeping their creations together.

Leader in Me: Habit #7 - Sharpen the Saw

Sharpening the saw means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life - physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. As a class, we brainstormed different ways we can fill each "bucket" daily.

Journals: Polar Bears

The kids are working hard on developing their writing skills! As they continue to get better each week they require less teacher support. They are getting better at sounding out words and are remembering to use correct capitalization, finger spaces, and punctuation.

STEM: Polar Bear Dens

Mystery Reader:

This week our mystery reader was Jayden's mom. Thank you for reading to us!

Art: Rainbow Fish

Recess: Sledding & Spray Painting the Snow

Monster Store:

Student Teacher - Nikki Kim

Ms. Kim will be starting her student teaching practicum next week in the Kindergarten room. She will be spending the rest of the school year learning through a hands-on student teaching experience. She will observe, interact and teach the students! Student teaching is an extremely valuable experience and I am thrilled to be working with her and helping her grow as a teacher!

CTD:

Looking for something educational on Saturday mornings to keep your child engaged during these cold winter months? Roycemore's Junior Kindergarten teachers are teaching Saturday classes through Northwestern's Center for Talent Development. Ms. Massey is teaching "Business is Booming" and Mrs. DeSalle is teaching "Kid Chemists." If you are interested see the course descriptions below and CLICK HERE to register.

Winter, Polar Bears, and Kindness

This week in school we focused on getting back into routines and re-learning how to be in school. The kindergarten kids participated in many activities that focused on winter, polar bears, and kindness! We also spent quite a bit of time reviewing skills and concepts that were taught prior to the break. Let's take a look at some of the highlights from the week:

The 21-Day Kindness Challenge

Kindness matters! As part of Blankets of Hope, the kindergarten kids are participating in a 21-Day Kindness Challenge. We are empowering the students to create a culture of kindness. This week the students gave compliments to friends, told friends that they appreciate them, held the door open for someone, and wrote down things they are grateful for.

Polar Bears

Polar Bears are such fascinating animals! We began our thematic unit by completing a K-W-L Chart. We wrote down what we Know, what we Want to know, and what we Learned about polar bears.

Mystery Reader

This week we started our mystery reader program. This week we welcomed Wyatt's mom into the classroom. The kids were so surprised and had a great time listening to the story! Thank you for reading to us!

STEM Challenge: Make a Clothesline to Dry Mittens

To begin the challenge I told the kids I had a problem - I went outside for recess and my mittens got wet and I needed a place for them to dry. I asked them what ideas they had and together we brainstormed different ways to dry them. After our discussion, we agreed that we had to hang them to dry! (I'm surprised no one said to put them in the dryer!) Once the kids received their materials they got right to work!

Fundations: Letter Formation Review

PE: Pinball Soccer

French: Polar Animals

Art: Winter Mural

Library:

Recess: SNOW much fun!

We were able to get outside one day this week! The kids enjoyed sledding and playing in the snow! We go outside every day (temperatures above 20 degrees) and the kids spend at least 45 minutes at recess. Please make sure your child has proper winter gear including water-proof gloves. The cotton gloves get wet and cause hands to get cold very quickly.