Leader in Me:
This week we introduced Habit #2 – Begin with the End in Mind. Habit #2 is “the habit of having a plan.” In the second story from the book, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, students learned about Goob the Bear in a story called “Goob and the Bug-Collecting Kit.” Goob passes a toy store, sees a bug-collecting kit, decides he has to have it, and makes a plan to earn the $4 it costs to buy the kit. He then spends his time putting his plan into action with the help of his buddy, Jumper Rabbit. They set up a lemonade stand, split the $20 profit, and each makes choices about how they will spend their money. Goob makes smart choices with his money and is able to buy the bug-collecting kit plus additional items. Jumper makes impulsive choices and finds that his money “just kind of disappeared.” In the end, Goob helps his buddy figure out that he needed to plan ahead, to begin with the end in mind, in order to get what he really wanted. After reading the story we had a discussion and talked about different examples. For young children, a good example is that of a jigsaw puzzle. Before doing a puzzle, they look at the cover of the box.
Fundations:
In Fundations, the children continued to practice writing "sky line" and "plane line" letters by participating in class skywriting activities, writing on their writing tablets, and drilling sounds with Echo the Owl. Not only have they been doing an excellent job remembering all of our letter-keyword-sound cards, but they also played an important role in helping me "act out" the story titled "Echo Finds Dinner." Instead of reading the words, I acted out the story using Echo. The children retold this familiar story in their own words based on the motions made by Echo. Believe it or not, the version they told was better than the original!
Math:
At the beginning of the week, the children explored various math tools, including, pattern blocks, two-colored counters, 5-Frames, and geoblocks. Later in the week, the children were introduced to stage 2 of the connecting cubes and pattern blocks centers. In these centers, students use connecting cubes to make objects pictured on cards, and pattern blocks to fill in simple puzzles.
Reader's Workshop: Fiction vs. Nonfiction
This week during reader's workshop the children were taught that there are lots of different kinds of books. There are storybooks (fiction) and "learn about the world books" (nonfiction). During the mini-lesson, the children were taught how to read a nonfiction book. Then the child had the opportunity to pick out a nonfiction book and tried their best to look, think, read and learn!
Mystery Bag STEM Design Challenge:
This mystery bag STEM design challenge was an absolute hit! In this design activity, the kids were given a bag of mystery materials (an assortment of recyclables and other random items) and then challenged to create a toy character using only the items in their bag. It was so exciting to see all the cool ideas the students came up with, and the kids loved sharing their creations with each other.
Journals - "I like..."
The children are starting to understand the process of journal writing. During journals, the kids are presented with a prompt and are instructed to draw a picture and write a corresponding response. The kids are learning to add details and lots of color to their pictures! They are also instructed to use a pencil when writing and to write a sentence with the first letter uppercase and the rest lowercase. They are also taught to use finger spaces between words and to end the sentence with a punctuation mark. The kids are working on sounding out the words - phonemic spelling. Phonemic spelling is a system of spelling in which each letter represents one spoken sound. We teach the kids that writers don't ask how something is spelled - they must try their best to sound it out! This is a fluid process and takes lots of practice.
Art:
In art, the children created pinch pots using clay!
PE:
The kids had a blast learning new games this week - Builders & Breakers, Messy Backyard, Soccer, and Lion's Den.
French:
Continuing our work on fruit and colors!
Music:
The kids enjoy singing and dancing to Fuzzy Buzzy Bumble Bee and playing instruments while marching in a circle!
Library:
Recess:
Free Choice:
This week the kids loved using the kinetic sand and exploring the water in the sensory table! Sensory play has so many benefits. Sensory play encourages the development of motor skills, supports language development, and encourages 'scientific thinking' and problem-solving while they play, create, investigate, and explore! During Free Choice the kids also enjoyed playing one of our new games - Shelby's Snack Shack. This game promotes visual lessons in number recognition, counting, and beginning adding and subtracting while exercising fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The children are also learning how to be a "good loser." It's really difficult for some children to lose, especially those with a low frustration tolerance. Our goal in class is to always play by the rules and to encourage the kids to use coping skills and promote resilience when things don't go their way. At the end of the game, no matter who the winner is, we encourage all the kids to say, "Good game!" or "Rematch!?"
Monster Money:
The kids are working hard on earning Monster Money! When the kids are witnessed making a great choice, being a leader, and going above and beyond, they are rewarded with Monster Money. Every Friday the kids get to go shopping at the Monster Store! The Monster Store has bins filled with different toys and each bin is priced differently. The kids can decide to buy something or save their money for something they really want (Habit #2). This program teaches the kids responsibility for their actions and simple math skills.
Reminders:
-If you haven't yet changed out your child's extra clothes in their cubby to seasonally appropriate attire (long sleeve shirts, pants), please do so next Friday at pickup or pack them in your child's backpack and let us know, we will change them out for you. Please make sure your child has a sweatshirt/sweater in their backpack daily or one to stay at school. Our classroom gets cold and often the kids need an extra warm layer.
-We have confirmed our field trip to The Grove on October 22nd. The children will go on a hayride and nature walk, along with seeing animals and having a picnic lunch (do not order school lunch this day, you will need to pack a brown bag lunch). If you would like to chaperone we will need one parent or guardian to accompany us. More details to come!
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