Happy Merry Everything!

WOW--time flies when you're having fun! This week was filled with so many fun activities: holiday crafts, gingerbread houses, goal setting, gift-giving, festive pajamas, and yummy treats!

Gingerbread Houses

Decorating gingerbread houses is a fun holiday tradition! The kids had a blast engineering and decorating their own graham cracker gingerbread houses. The kids got creative and made chimneys, walkways, and even storage rooms! Thank you to all the families who brought in supplies for our party!

Blankets of Hope: A Movement of Kindness

Blankets of Hope is an educational nonprofit that helps students practice empathy and kindness in an impactful service-learning experience. The kids watched a video and participate in a kindness workshop that focused on empathy and homelessness. The students then discussed how people who experience homelessness probably feel. We ended the workshop by writing letters and then tying our letters to the blankets that will be delivered to a local homeless shelter. Click the link to learn more about Blankets of Hope: https://www.blanketsofhope.com/

Journals: New Year Goal Setting

Learning to set goals (and go after them) helps children gain independence and understand that they can exert control over their lives. When your child begins to decide what they want to accomplish, they're more likely to be motivated to complete things for their own satisfaction and learning, rather than for the satisfaction of others or for tangible rewards.

Leader in Me: Habit #5 Synergize

This was a great week to learn about Habit #5. Synergize is when two or more people work together to create a better solution. Working together is better!

Directed Drawing: Snow Friend

Run, Run as Fast as You Can...

...you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man! This week the Kindergarten kids enjoyed listening to many versions of the Gingerbread Man story. During morning meeting we compared and contrasted the stories, turning readers into thinkers! The kids learned how a Venn Diagram can help organize their thoughts and clearly see the similarities and differences between the stories.

STEM Challenge: Build a Bridge

The Gingerbread Man needs your help! Can you help the Gingerbread Man cross the river without getting eaten by the fox?!

Journals: The Gingerbread Man Can

As an extension to the Gingerbread Man stories, the class brainstormed different ways the Gingerbread Man could get away from the fox. The kids said the Gingerbread Man could: twirl, leap, climb, skate, sprint, cartwheel, flip, summersault, scoot, sled, march and crawl. Using the verb of their choice, the kids then wrote the sentence, "_____ , _____ as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!" Then they drew a picture to match.

Sensory Table: Miracle Snow

Leader in Me: Habit #5 - Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

This week the kids learned all about Habit #5. This one is probably one of the hardest for kids to understand and put into action - listen before you speak!

Fundations:

The kids have started learning proper letter formation for uppercase letters. We also started to introduce digraphs and practiced Magic E. During morning work the kids worked on reading and fixing sentences. They had to look for correct capitalization, spacing, punctuation, and spelling.

Math: Word Story Problems

This week the K-kids practiced solving word story problems. Word problems offer a way to practice close reading/listening, visualizing, interpreting, and analyzing. The students must read and/or listen closely to understand what information is important, and then solve it by drawing a picture and then writing the math equation.

Math: Make 10

Learning to make tens is one of the most important addition skills the students will learn in the early grades. Make 10 is a fun addition card game that helps reinforce number pairs that make tens (8+2, 5+5, etc). Learning these number pairs is a first step in thinking of numbers as groups of tens. Later on, when the students are learning 76+4, they will more likely see the hidden ten in 6+4 and use it to help them quickly solve the larger problem.

Centers:

PE: Football Unit

Music:

French:

Library:

Art: Directed Drawing - Pete the Cat

Monster Store:

Mystery Reader:

Are you interested in reading to our class? Click HERE to find out more!

Socially Distanced Smiles

It is such a treat when we get to see the Kindergarten student's beautiful smiles!

December Calendars:

Fundations: Magic e

Learning vowels can be very challenging for our young readers and writers because they make different sounds in different words. When reading, the students have to decide whether the vowel in the word makes it short or long sound. There are several ways to make a long vowel sound in words. One way is to add the Magic e at the end of a word. The Magic e usually changes the short vowel sound into a long vowel sound. Some examples of Magic e words include gate, cake, pine, dime, lane, kite, etc.

Here is the Magic e story that we taught in class: Magic e has magic powers! He flies over the consonant and when he comes to the vowel, he tapes the vowel on the head with his magic wand and shouts, "vowel, say your name!" Now, Magic e is so tired. He flies back to his spot. He has no more energy so he goes to sleep without saying a sound.

Phonics:

Our daily phonics lessons are such an incredibly important foundation component in our literacy instruction. Working with phonemes (the individual sounds in words) positively influences the students' performance and readiness to read and write.

Journals: In winter I like to...

Math: Addition & Subtraction

We started a new math unit this week. The unit goals include: solving addition and subtraction story problems, understanding addition as putting together and subtraction as taking from, representing, and solving Add To, Result Unknown, and Take From, finding the value of addition and subtraction, and relating addition and subtraction expressions to story problems.

Math: Domino Addition

Math: Addition War

STEM Challenge: Apple Jenga

DEAR:

Calm Classroom:

PE: Football Unit

Library:

Art: Watercolor Scenes & Colored Pencil Details

Recess:

Free Choice:

Play is an important part of a child's early development. Playing helps young children's brains to develop and for their language and skills to mature. Play teaches young children about communication, develops their motor skills, and helps with problem-solving.

Important Info:

-In the upcoming weeks the kids will need snow pants and snow boots for recess.

-Holiday party coming up! A signup sheet will be sent out next week.