Happy Halloween!

This week we took a break from Envisions Math and completed a pumpkin investigation.  We looked at our class pumpkin in different ways from counting to the ribs to measuring the height in linker cubes.  We ended by counting the seeds.  We put them in groups of ten (everyone helped) and then counted the groups.  There were 428 seeds!

During Readers Workshop, we used post-it notes with nonfiction or Read About The World books.  We used them to label pictures, write about what we know, and ask questions.  Asking questions was tricky for us.  Finally, we used the post-it notes to help us get ready to read the book.

We added the letters p and j to our Fundations program.  We can now read the word you.

Thanks for the donations for the Halloween party!  Have a fun and safe weekend!





Here are some books we read this week:


      

Pumpkins and Bats

Our Halloween party will be Friday, October 30 at 1:00.  Parents are welcome to attend.  We don't wear costumes at school.

The Spooky Fun Fest which is sponsored by the PTA will be held Friday, October 23.

Progress Reports go home Friday, October 23.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  I try to send home work and assessments regularly so that you can see your child's progress.  There will be a Parent Teacher Conference Day in December.  Report cards also go home in December.

We have been reading about pumpkins and bats this week. We have read fiction and nonfiction books.  We learned the word nocturnal.  We made pumpkins that show the life cycle of a pumpkin plant.  We read and colored a book about bats.  We will continue to learn more about pumpkins and bats next week.

We used LOTS of sticky notes in Readers Workshop this week.  One day, we marked pages that showed how a character is feeling.  Another day, we marked pages that showed what the character is doing.  Finally, we marked pages that showed where the story is taking place.  This was definitely tricky.  You can support your child by looking at the books you have at home and asking where the story is taking place.  We are learning that reviewing our sticky notes before we read, helps to get our brains ready to read.

We are comparing numbers in Math.  We compare by matching one group to the other and finding which group has extras or more.  We compare by counting and finding out which number comes before or after.  Some of us are ready to compare numbers by looking at the numerals.  We are practicing writing numerals correctly.

In Fundations, we added the letters e and r to the letters we practice daily.  We have also been trying to find tricks to help us remember b and d.  We added the word we to our popcorn words (words that are popping up in our reading and writing).

November 5 will be our 50th day of kindergarten.  We will be celebrating the day by dressing up like we are from the 1950s.  If you google the 50th day of school, you should see some images of kindergarteners dressed up.  Girls can cut a poodle out of felt and tack it on to a skirt.  Boys can wear jeans and white t-shirts with their hair slicked back.  We will read books written in the 50s and play with popular toys from the times too.  It is a fun day!