Week of April 11

This week we learned a lot!

In Reader's Workshop we talked about Author's Craft in literary (fictional) texts.  We reviewed bold words, ellipses, speech bubbles, and repeated words or sentences.  Authors use these features to tell the reader how to change expression.  Next, we will look at different fonts and sound words.  Encourage your child to find these features in your reading at home.

In Math, we have been working on composing (building) and decomposing (taking apart) numbers. The students had a lot of fun building number bracelets.  We used the number bracelets to find all the ways to make 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.  When students are able to tell how to build a number or take apart a number, they build their number sense for working with bigger numbers.  The more practice they get with numbers to ten, the easier place value will be next year in first grade.

We reviewed nouns.  We made a chart of nouns as a class, and then used farm books to find more nouns.  We will be looking at verbs next week.

As we are reading more and more challenging books, we are coming across words with long vowels. We are learning the spellings for long vowel sounds.  This week we practiced with a.  We know that if a word has a magic e at the end, the a will be long.  We also know that ai and ay make the long a sound.

Just a reminder that there will be no kindergarten on May 16 due to Kindergarten Orientation.  I can't believe it has already been a year since I first met your children!

Week of April 4

We continue to be busy in kindergarten!  We have some important dates coming up.

April 11-Book Orders are Due

April 18-Progress Reports Go Home

April 28-May 2-Vacation

May 15-Early Release Day

May 16-NO SCHOOL FOR KINDERGARTEN!!!

This week we enjoyed some special events for Read Across America week.  We had an author, David Ira Rottenberg,  come and share his book Gwendolyn The Graceful Pig.  It was the story of Omar and Gwendolyn learning ballet.  Omar used his ballet skills to become a better football player.  On Friday, Steve Blunt and Marty Kelly came and shared their songs and stories.  Some of the tunes are catchy and you might here them at home this weekend.

We are continuing to work on solving addition and subtraction word problems and number sentences.  We are talking about the strategies you can use to solve problems:  draw a picture, use a number line, use a number bond, use a ten frame, use a number line, or use your fingers.

In Reader's Workshop, we compared and contrasted the information we found in two different books about flamingos. 

At home, you can extend our learning.  You can encourage your child to tell a number story (word problem) about things you see.  It could be a coloring page, a walk, or dinner.  Here are some examples:  There are two hens in the pen.  There are 2 more hens by the pond.  How many hens are there?  I have 5 chicken nuggets on my plate.  I ate 3.  How many are left?  

You could make a trip to the library and pick out a nonfiction book to read together.  Before reading it, make a list of all the things you know about the topic.  After reading, add your new learning to the list.

Have a great weekend!