This week the kids were introduced to Habit #3: Put First Things First. They began to understand that Habit #3 is all about doing the things they have to do before doing the things they want to do. Work first, then play! In the book, "The 7 Habits of Happy Kids" by Sean Covey, we read the story, Pokey and the Spelling Test. In this story, we learned how awful it can feel when you procrastinate and put things off, like when Pokey crammed the night before the test.
Sensory Table: Corn
Mrs. Dinelli (Pre-K teacher) surprised the Kindergarten kids with a huge bag of corn cobs! The corn cobs are providing the children with endless exploratory play and learning about fall. The children are working hard to remove every last kernel from the cobs of corn! They are enjoying touching, feeling, plucking, and picking. The kids even used tweezers and magnifying glasses to get an even closer look at the kernels.
Math: Counting Collections
At the beginning of the week, the students counted collections and practiced keeping track of which objects have been counted. Keeping track of which objects have been counted helps students count accurately and ensure they count all the objects and do not count each object more than once. The students were provided with 5-frames to help them count accurately and organize their collections. The collections were created from classroom objects such as legos, connecting cubes, pom poms, buttons, etc.
Math: Connecting Cube Sculptures
To begin the lesson, the students were given a handful of connecting cubes. They were asked to first count their collection, and then use all of their connecting cubes to create whatever they would like. After a few minutes, they shared with their math partner what they made and told them how many cubes they used without recounting their collection. Then, the partners discussed some things that were the same about what they each made. For example, one group created a mining tank and a plane. They discovered that they both made vehicles! Another group made a magnet and a bridge and they discovered that both of their creations were the same shape! Another group made three different sculptures and they discovered that they each used a brown connecting cube!
Fundations: "s" and "d"
The children are continuing their hard work on learning proper letter formation. This week we learned two new letters - s and d. These letters are "plane line round letters." That means they start on the plane line!
Centers:
During centers, the teachers each had their own small group working on reading and writing while the other students worked independently on their own center activities. Center activities included fivezi, CVC stamp and write, a math puzzle, journals, reading groups, and a literacy memory game.
Journals: "What do you like to do in the fall?"
During journals, the students are instructed to draw a picture to match their response and to write a complete sentence starting with, "In fall I like to...." The kids must use at least 5 colors in their picture and while writing they are practicing using finger spaces between words and sounding out the words slowly to hear all the sounds. We are teaching the students that writers don't ask how something is spelled - they must sound it out the best they can! Phonetic spelling ("inventive spelling") is more important than spelling all the words correctly. Phonetic spelling builds a sense of confidence, pride, and control over the learning process and allows students to express themselves creatively through writing without worrying about the spelling of unfamiliar words. When you practice writing and spelling at home, let your child sound out the word and write down what they hear. Resist the urge to correct their spelling!
Reader's Workshop: Pointer Power
The students were taught that "super readers" use their reading superpowers! The first reading superpower the children were taught was "pointer power." The children practiced using their pointer power by looking at the words carefully, pointing under each word as they read. Some students are sounding out letters and some students are reading at a quicker fluency. No matter what reading level students are they are encouraged to use pointer power!
STEM Challenge: Flying Bats
This week the students were challenged to create a bat and to make it fly! They were given the following materials - black cardstock, scissors, tape, a straw, and string. First, the children cut a bat out of cardstock. Then they needed to figure out how to make it fly with the remaining materials. With a bit of teacher guidance, they figured out they needed to tape the straw on the bat and pull the string through the straw. We then taped the string to something tall and then lifted the string higher and lower to see what would happen. As the STEM challenge continued we added various alternatives to see if we could make the bat fly faster!
PE:
Art:
Music:
Library:
Reminders:
-Our Field Trip is Friday, October 22nd.
-We will be using pumpkins next week during centers. We will also be decorating pumpkins the week after. Please bring a pumpkin for your child - any size!
-There are many more photos (and videos) on our Roycemore Kindergarten Facebook Group - it is private - please ask to join!
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