The kindergarteners loved learning about nonfiction text features by reading about polar bears. We used our new knowledge to do some neat activities, and I heard, "This is the best day ever!" several times. We learned how big a polar bear paw is. We learned that a polar bear has black skin and clear fur that reflects light and looks white. Next week we will be writing about what we learned.
In math, we finished up our subtraction unit. Next, we will be solving addition and subtraction word problems. We will have to decide which operation to use for each situation. You can help your child by telling addition and subtraction stories and have them tell you if you need to add or subtract. For example: There are 3 cows on the left side of the road and 2 on the right. How many cows are there in all?. For a subtraction story, you could say, "There are 6 blue jays in the tree. 2 fly away. How many are left?"
In Fundations, we have practiced forming every uppercase and lowercase letter. We will continue to practice to create muscle memory for forming the letters. We are also working on tapping out the sounds and blending them to read a cvc word.
In Readers Workshop, we continue to talk about nonfiction books. We are currently comparing and contrasting Polar Bear books and the information we learned from each. In Writers Workshop, we are adding text features like diagrams, labels, warnings, and suggestions to our How To books.
We have taken the iReady diagnostic assessment on the computer. Now we will schedule time for students to have personalized lessons based on the assessment.
I have also finished the Benchmark Assessment Systems. I have learned a lot about what your child can do in reading and what they will work on next. As always, the best way for you to help is to read with your child every night-both listening to and reading to your child. Talk about the books and what happened, connections made, and thinking about why the author wrote the text.
In the next week, I will send home a list of kindergarteners so that your child can make Valentines for the class. This is a great way to practice letter formation, capital and lowercase letters.
