Week in Review--All about the 5 Senses!

Reading:

-We started TWO sight words this week-- “with, my”.

-The CAFÉ strategy we worked on this week was the strategy “Compare and Contrast Within and Between Texts”.

One way readers understand new ideas in text is by thinking about how things are alike or different.  This understanding deepens their comprehension.  Comparing and contrasting text assists the reader by engaging them in critical thinking.  Comparing involves highlighting similarities and differences.  Contrasting focuses only on differences.  Exposure to various texts along with discussion is the best way to use this strategy to improve comprehension.

How can you help your child with this strategy at home?

1.     When comparing two items discuss likenesses and differences of what is being compared.  Begin comparing two people or places and then move on to comparing the characters or settings in a story.

2.     Look for clue words in text or use these words when comparing texts.

·         Comparing words

o    Clue words: like, as

o    Simile – than, as

·         Contrasting words

o    Clue words: but, unlike

3.     When reading to your child, model this strategy by thinking out loud.  This may sound something like, “This story is a lot like _____ because _____.  I noticed _____ and ____ are very similar.  I also noticed a few differences.  Some things that were not the same are_____.”

4.     After reading two different stories, discuss the following:

·         How are these stories the same?  How are they different?

·         Compare the characters in each story.

·         How might you compare these stories?

Math:

-This week we learned all about the 3D shapes! We learned the cube, cylinder, sphere and cone. We sang a song that went along with those shapes, talked about what makes a shape 3D and thought of objects we see every day that are each of the shapes.
 

 

-We began talking about addition sentences this week with the numbers 1 and 2. To practice this we first began by creating number bonds with each of the numbers using cubes. We wrote in the numbers bonds the different ways to make the number 1 or 2 and then rewrote those ways into an addition sentence. We talked about the vocabulary terms associated with an addition sentence too! The plus sign and the equals sign are both very important signs when it comes to writing an addition sentence.

Writing:

 

-We practiced writing books this week. The main focus when writing books is to stay on the same topic. When the class is writing a book they are to first think of their story, map it out across the three pages and be sure to stay on the same topic. For example, if they are writing about playing at the park they should not change in the middle of the book to writing about their favorite candy they got from trick or treating. If they want to write about trick or treating, they should save that idea for the next book they will write. We focused on having a Beginning, Middle and an End when writing. We started a class book about going to recess and talked about what we do first, second and last. We also focused on the WHO in the story, the WHAT and the WHERE. This also helps the students keep focused in on how they are forming their sentences and writing down all the information needed.


Content:

This week was all about the 5 senses! Seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting! We read several books, watched videos, created a book and even tested our each of our five senses with popcorn AND a marshmallow! We learned why each of the senses is important, helps us every day and about people who might not have one or more of the senses and what they do to help overcome that obstacle.

Other:

We had special guests from Purdue University this week visit our school to talk to us about the importance of making smart choices, working hard in school and striving to achieve our goals!

Weekly Poem--My Eyes Can See

Our Week in Review...Goodbye October--Hello November!

Math:

-This week we practiced sorting objects by shape. We placed several shapes on the board (all the same color) and sorted them by each of the shapes we have learned—rectangle, square, circle, triangle and hexagon.

-We also continued practicing counting to 50 with several videos, songs, patterns and movement!

Reading:

-We started TWO sight words this week-- “come, me”.

-The CAFÉ strategy we worked on this week was the strategy “Blend Letter Sounds”.

Beginning readers often learn their sounds in isolation. The leap from knowing letter sounds to reading words can sometimes be daunting. Taking the isolated sounds and blending them together can be a first step to becoming a reader for most children.

How can you help your child with this strategy at home?

 1. As you are blending letters together, have your child listen to words they already know that the word they are blending sounds like.

 2. Have your child say each letter sound in the word (using the Zoo Phonics motions if needed) and then blend the letters together fast and move your arms in a circular motion while you blend them together.

3. Have your child imagine holding a rubber band (or actually hold a rubber band if you have one) and have them stretch the rubber band out while saying each sound. When the rubber band goes back together, have your child say the word quickly back together.

-We read the story Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Watch the video below with your child and discuss the main character, Spookley just like we did in class!

Writing:

-We finished our first unit of study in our writing curriculum and started our second unit! At the beginning and end of each unit the class is given a pre and post-test. We then gather as a kindergarten teaching team and score these writings using a common writing rubric. The goal is to see the students improve by several points throughout the unit from the pre-test to the post-test.

-We also completed a Halloween writing about our favorite part of Halloween! Some of the favorite parts were the candy, dressing up in costumes, carving jack-o-lanterns and of course the candy again and again and again J.

Other:

Goodbye October…Hello November! We had a wonderful short 4 day week learning about pumpkins, labeling the parts of a pumpkin, painting pumpkins, carving and discussing the inside of a pumpkin and reading lots and lots of books about Halloween!

Ripping paper to make our own pumpkins of differents shapes, sizes and colors!

Painting pumpkins!

 Painting pumpkins!

Carving our class pumpkin!



Exploring the outside AND inside of our pumpkin and writing words to describe it!

Exploring the inside of our pumpkin with a partner!

Poem of the Week--I Am Me!

Weekly Poem

Grandparents Day 2013-2014

Week in Review!

We had a very busy, but short week here in room 26! It was so great to meet and see with all of you to discuss your child’s progress. A theme across the board is practicing sight words and numbers, over & over! An extra 5 minutes of practice at home with these skills will help your child continue forward with our second nine weeks skills.

READING:

-Our sight word this week was the word “am”.

-For morning work this week, we started practicing writing missing sight words in sentences. After the students worked on it individually, we came together and circled and wrote sight words on the ENO board using the same paper!

-The CAFÉ strategy we worked on this week was the strategy

“Retell Beginning, Middle and End”.

Summarizing a story is often used to retell, but is challenging for many kindergarten students. If it does pose a challenge, many times it is because students are trying to retell the whole story with great detail and don’t know how to cut it down to the most critical elements. This is when we step in with more modeling either with the whole group, in small groups, or one on one, depending on the number of students who need the strategy.

How can you help your child with this strategy at home?

1. When reading with your child, focus on three main parts of the story. What happened first in the story, in the middle and how did the story end. Try to not let your child get carried away with retelling fine details of the story if they are not pertinent to the outcome of the story.

2. Break it down into 3-4 pages in the story. Help your child flip to only those pages to help retell in order beginning, middle and end.

3. Before reading a familiar story, ask your child to retell it to you using the beginning, middle and end. Then read through the story and point out the parts where the story changes from the beginning to the middle to the end!

-Students have also started to use RAZ-KIDS in our classroom as an option during Read to Self. We take turns going through number order. One student each round gets to listen to stories and answer questions on the quizzes at the end during their Read to Self round for that day.

WRITING:

 

-We had a lot of fun this week in writing! We looked through our journals and picked a favorite piece that we had written so far this year to publish on our “GREAT WRITING” wall. Each student then shared his/her piece in our special “Authors and Illustrators” chair before putting it up on display in the classroom for all to see!

-The class also helped me revise my own writing on Wednesday. I had written a story about when our class went on a leaf hunt. I misspelled a few of our sight words and wrote the incorrect beginning, middle and ending sounds on a few words and the class helped me reread my writing and “fix” my errors! We talked about how they too can go back and reread their writing to make sure sight words and unknown words have all the letters needed in them!

 

 

Math:

-We continued to practice our “Number of the Day”. The class is getting really good at this! We write the number, the number word, tally marks, draw a picture, draw the dice, a number bond and a number line!

-We also started to practice showing different ways to make a number using our number stories and number bracelets. This choice is in our “Number Work” option for Daily 5 Math and if chosen, the student sits in front of our number stories and creates different ways to make numbers using the bracelets! They then repeat the way they showed the number on the bracelet for extra practice. It is quite the hit J.

 

 

CONTENT:

 

-We had an exciting week learning about the season fall and what happens to the leaves on the trees. We went on a leaf hunt, did leaf rubbings, created our very own “leaf man” after reading a story written by Lois Ehlert named Leaf Man and painted tissue paper leaves that are on display in our classroom!