Author Visit

The highlight of our week was a visit from author, John Coy.  He talked to us about the process of writing a book.  He emphasized that he writes OVER and OVER and OVER again until it is published.  It was great to see samples of a rough draft, editor's copy, and the book in print.  He read us several of his picture books and gave us a few parts to help read.

Check out his website at http://www.johncoy.com/

In reading we introduced plurals by adding an 's' or 'es'.  See if your child remembers the rule!  We talked about the signs of spring and read many non-fiction books.  Hard to believe with all this snow that it is officially SPRING.

In math, we continued to practice teen numbers, addition and subtraction stories, and writing to 100.  Mrs. Conzemius came to help us use the IPad minis and the app Educreations.  Each student had their own Ipad to create (draw and tell) an addition or subtraction story.  Check out a few below.

Grayson's subtraction story

Brinkley's addition story

 

Emelia's subtraction story

Aidan's addition story

Please help your child complete the family project with the USA map.  Next week we will begin our study of Minnesota and its symbols.  We will also briefly talk about maps.

 

ROY G. BIV

This week we spent time learning about the colors of the rainbow.  We learned about a little man named Roy G. Biv to help us.  These color words are also our new star words.  We wrote a color poem.  Take a look at some samples.

Check out this video clip on Roy G. Biv!

 

We read two books about leprechauns and compared them.  They were Clever Tom and the Leprechaun and Field of Buttercups.  We practiced retelling the story elements using the 5-finger retell.  Ask your child to tell you either story.  We completed this literature study by using a Venn diagram to compare the two.  Take a look.

 

In math, we began Unit 5.  We are continuing to practice teen numbers, addition and subtraction stories, and partners of 10.  There have been several notes about different ways to talk about and show teen numbers.  We are not only recognizing them but using terms like 1 ten and 3 ones equals 13.  We also practice saying 13 is 10+3. 

This week our March family projects came back to school.  They look great!  Here are a few examples of what makes us LUCKY.

 

Pete the Cat

This week in reading we focused on the book Pete the Cat I Love my White Shoes.  We made a class book using our favorite part, practiced inferring or predicting, and made a "Pete the Cat" color book.

In centers we have been working on writing CVC words, writing sentences in our journals, reading fluency and comprehension, sight words, switching sounds to make new words, beginning and ending sounds, and blending.

We had a special guest, Nirmala Rajasekar, on Tuesday.  She is an Indian Saraswati veena player in the Carnatic music style. She is a world-renowned performer and a teacher of Carnatic Music as well. The press has often described her as a "Carnatic Ambassador" because she has introduced Carnatic Music to many other art forms of the world. She feels that "...music is the universal language of the world..." and that it must be shared.

Here is a youtube clip of some of her music.

 

In math we practiced partners of numbers, addition, vertical and horizontal graphs, and shapes.  We will take the unit test next week.

  

Report cards came home on Friday.  Please let me know if you have any questions regarding components and/or skills.

Dental Health

This week our focus was on dental health.  We had a dental hygenist, Carmen, come to read us a few stories and show us how to brush and floss.  We talked about the importance of our teeth-to help us smile, chew, and talk.  We talked about healthy food choices for our teeth.  Our dramatic play area turned into the dental health station.  We read lots of books, both fiction and non-fiction.

 

We also talked about opposites.  We read The Foot Book and completed an activity with a partner.  We also played "Opposites Concentration".

 

 

 

 

 

In math, we practiced subtraction and one less.  We talked about graphs and made a vertical graph.  We analyzed the data by telling which had more and fewer.





President's Day

This week we spent some time learning about the importance of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We read informational text books about each of their lives.  We made a craft for each.

 

 

We also talked briefly about the job of the president.  Do you think I could handle the job?

We have been continuing to READ, READ, READ for "I Love to Read" month.  We made our goal of 1200 minutes over the long weekend!  We had our ice cream treat on Friday.  We also had a special guest from WILD Country 99.9 come read to us this week.  Jerry Mac, DJ, read Interrupting Chicken.

In math, we had more practice with shapes and patterns (hexagon and trapezoid), addition stories, teen numbers, and writing to 50. 

Visitor Day

Valentine's Day was a BIG hit!  Thanks to all the parents and family members that came to join in the fun.  I'm sure the kids loved showing off all their "skills" in reading and math.  Take a look at some of the pictures below of the many activities we had to offer.

 

Blending real and nonsense words

Spinning for ending sounds

Measuring hearts using candy

 Matching CVC words and pictures to mend broken hearts

 

Vowel Owls-Listening for the middle sounds

 

"Bee" my valentine addition using whiteboards

Reading a sight word book-"We Like School"

 

And of course we spent some time opening valentines from all our classmates.  THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to my budding chocolate addiction.  ;)

 

 

MLK and Penguins

This week in math we continued to practice 5 groups in numbers to 10, teen numbers and writing to 20.  We played a hot cocoa "missing number" game with teen numbers.  Take a look at some of the pictures.

We also began to practice two skills that will be tested for the next progress report.  Students need to count back from 20 and recognize a trapezoid and hexagon.  We are practicing these everyday during our calendar.  Please help your child practice at home too!
In language arts and writing, we read about Martin Luther King, Jr. and discussed his dream.  We made a cute craft and wrote a sentence describing his dream.

 

We began to learn about penguins.  Before we read any non-fiction books we made a list of things we already "know" about penguins.  We came up with a few questions for "what" we wanted to learn.  The next day we filled in the last column of what we have "learned" so far.  Take a look at our K-W-L chart. 

K	W	L
·waddle ·swim 25 mph ·eat fish ·slide on their tummy ·huddle to stay warm ·lay eggs ·black and white	·How do they take care of eggs? ·waterproof?	·dive very deep ·enemies-shark, killer whale, sea lion, seal ·yellow crest (hair) ·leap out of the water 6 ft. ·different sizes ·blubber keeps them warm ·are birds with feathers ·cannot fly

We also made a penguin craft.  They are hanging in our kindergarten hallway!

 

We watched a short YouTube video to help us answer our question about "How penguins care for their young?"  Check it out!

 

 Last but not least....we learned about a new strategy when partner reading.  We call this "Read to Someone".  When reading with a partner, it is important to:  1) sit EEKK (elbow to elbow, knee to knee), 2) the listener should be following along while the reader reads, 3) both partners should be respectful.  We also learned how to help a friend if they get stuck on a word.  We should ask them if they want help (tell them the word) or time (igure it out on their own). We practiced "Read to Someone" while reading a sight word book with two ew star words-little and big.  Take a look!