Owls, Pumpkins, Bats, Oh My!

We finished our Owl books, and they look adorable on the bulletin board.  We also learned about bats and are starting to learn about pumpkins.

We have been counting to ten and writing numerals to ten.  The last part of the topic got to be a little tricky.  We were finding all the ways to make numbers up to ten.  We are doing it in an organized way to make a pattern.

In Readers Workshop we have been learning how to do some partner centers.  We added Reading Response Journals to write about our books, Super Sentence Center to build and read sentences, and Act It Out to act out stories.  

Progress Reports go home on Friday, there will be no new blog post!

Our special Halloween snack will be on Monday at 1:15.  All are welcome to attend.

We Are Readers Celebration!

Thank you to those who were able to attend our Reading Celebration on Friday.  We enjoyed modeling how we do a reading lesson and independent reading.  One of our main goals for this unit was for all the kindergarteners to see themselves as readers.  Looking at books and telling the stories is how we start reading.  Now many of us are able to recognize some words and use a pattern to read a story.  Some can even read most of the words.  We will continue to develop our reading super powers!

We have begun writing words in our Drawing and Writing books.  We have a slogan, "If you can say a word, you can write a word!"  We practiced saying the word slowly and writing the sounds we hear.  In order to create independent and creative writers, we encourage students to do their best job with the sounds and not ask for help or if the word is right.  As we begin to learn more spelling patterns, our spelling will improve.  At this point, just encourage your child to try his or her best and have him or her read it to you.

In math, we are learning to recognize and write the numbers 6-10.  We are marking objects as we count so that we don't forget any or count any twice.  The whole class is doing a great job counting with one to one correspondence.  We are working on forming the numbers correctly.

In Fundations, we have added the letters s and d.  We are practicing the sight words I, see, a, is, the, like, and can.

  

We finished our book about owls.  We have been reading both fiction and nonfiction books about bats, including Stellaluna.  We read the book a few times so that we remembered lots of details.  At the end of the week we watched a video adaptation of the book.  We watched it with the closed captioning on and the kindergarteners were so excited to find words they know!  Then we wrote about similarities and differences in the book and movie.  They had some really great ideas!

We will be having a special Halloween snack on Monday, October 30 at 1:15.  We don't dress up, but we do invite our parents in to have a little party.  We are looking for volunteers to provide the refreshments.  We would like a sweet treat like cupcakes, cookies or brownies, juice boxes, cheese and crackers, and a fruit or veggie tray.  If you are able to send in a snack, please send me an email.  

Owls and More!

We have been learning about owls this week.  We learned words like oviparous, parliament, and nocturnal.  We are creating our own books about owls with fabulous illustrations.

We started writing in our new Drawing and Writing books.  We are learning that illustrators can show feelings and places in their drawings.  I am amazed at the details students are showing in their stories.  Next week, we will start adding words to our stories.

We will finish our first reading unit, We Are Readers, next Friday.  We would like to invite one guest per child to school to observe a focus lesson and read with your kindergartener in his or her reading spot.  They will be bringing home an invitation for you this weekend with all the details.

Thank you for helping your child get a new old favorite this week by reading Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus.  It is a fun story to read over and over again.  Reading the same story again and again, helps students in so many areas-comprehension, stamina, storytelling, concepts of print, and just plain old enjoyment!

We have introduced the following sight words:  I, a, is, the, like, and see.  We are practicing sight words with center activities, whole class games, and by reading and looking for the words in books.  You can help at home by playing games like Go Fish or memory by writing the words on index cards.  You can put the words on post it notes around the house.  When you read to your child, stop when you get to a popcorn word and have your child read it.  We also added the letters a and g to our daily practice.

  

In math, we finished up our topic Comparing Numbers 0 to 5.  We continue to practice writing our numbers correctly and fluently.  We are also using the vocabulary greater than, less than, and equal to.  We have two strategies for comparing numbers.  We can match the objects up to see if there is a group that doesn't have enough or has extras.  We can also count the objects.  The number that is less will be first when you count.  You can practice this skill at dinner.  Do you have a greater number of carrots or chicken nuggets?  Which is group has less, parents or children?  Make sure you follow up with how do you know?  What strategy did you use?

Information went home this week about the food drive and the Yankee Candle fundraiser.  Also, a book order was sent home and that is due on October 13.  

Enjoy your holiday weekend-no school on Monday!

Here are some books we have read this week: