Ending August and Beginning September!

We have been busy learners these last few weeks! 

In Math, we finished up our 2D and 3D shape unit. We compared 2D and 3D shapes. 

We built 2D shapes using marshmallows and toothpicks. 

We had our first STEM challenge and group activity where students had to work together to complete a task. Students were challenged to build a house/structure that would stand up by itself. The boys and girls were SO engaged in this activity. They discussed the number of sides and vertices they needed. They talked about what 3D shapes they would need. I really wish I could have videoed each group! They had great conversations! 

We created shape pictures. We also had to count how many of each shape we used. They are hanging outside of our room so stop by and take a peek! 

In Reading, we MET our Read to Self goal of 15 minutes!!!!! We are now reading pros! 

Each week we learn about new letters. We have also discussed which letters are consonants and which letters are vowels. I introduced students to the Vowel Bat song. You can click HERE to see it on YouTube! 

We focused on retelling stories with pictures. We read and retold many classic stories. These students are retelling The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They loved this activity and said it was so much fun! 

These students are coloring and cutting out characters and settings to retell The Three Little Pigs.

We sang The Three Little Pigs song by Eric Litwin and used our pictures to sing/retell the story.

In Social Studies, we finished up our unit on community helpers. One day we were bakers and we made brownies! Students helped to read the recipe and mix the ingredients together. The boys and girls LOVED this! The next day we ate them for snack.

 

  

We began learning about goods and services that community helpers provide. Students discussed goods and services and defined those vocabulary words. We talked about the community helpers that would provide these. We also talked about where we would find goods and services. Students chose a place in our community to create and then sort into provides goods or provides services

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Back to School!

The beginning of the year is such a busy and fun time in Kindergarten. Our class is getting to know each other and learning the rules and routines at Bethlehem and in our classroom! 

 

We are working to build our reading and writing stamina. We know that to be good readers and writers we have to practice! We are up to 9 minutes! We learned that we can read a book 3 ways. 

1. Read the pictures.

2. Read and track the words.

3. Retell the story in our own words.

We have focused on 4 letters a week and have practiced identifying the letter and the sound it makes. We also have practiced how to write each letter.

We also worked with the poem- I Clap My Hands and the sight word 'I'. Check out how well we did!

We are working with shapes in August. We have learned about 2D (flat) and 3D (solid) shapes! 2D shapes include circle, square, triangle, rectangle, hexagon. 3D shapes include sphere, cube, cylinder, and cone. 

Our favorite activity so far was sorting, naming, and eating 3D shapes! Thank you to the parents who sent in the items for this!! 

We have also been learning about community helpers! We have had a police officer and firefighter visit! We loved hearing them tell us about their jobs and they even brought us goodies!

New beginnings and remembering

Today I have been working on prepping some new things for the 2015-2016 school year. As excited as I am to have a new crop of Kindergarten loves, it makes me sad to think about my 2014-2015 group. I had to watch our end of the year video again. I am truly going to miss these sweeties! I can't wait to see all of the great things this group of kids does!

Organizing my Classroom Library

One of the hardest things to organize in my classroom has been my classroom library. Well, thanks to Washi Tape I have finally figured out the perfect system that works for me! 

I purchased black baskets from the Dollar General to organize my books. 

                                   

Once organized, I labeled each basket and placed a piece of Washi Tape on the label. Each basket has a different color or design of Washi Tape. Each book in the basket then gets the same Washi Tape put on the spine and folded around the side. 

When students are shopping for books they can easily see where they need to return books. One of my first lessons is how to find the tape on the baskets and the books and how to match them up to re-shelve their books.

Daily 5 in Kindergarten

During our Daily 5 time we have 3 mini lessons and 3 work sessions. Students choose from Read to Self, Work on Writing, Word Work, or Listen to Reading.   Here are some examples of students doing these activities!

While they are working I pull strategy groups and work with students on specific skills or I am meeting with students 1-1 to listen to reading or assess. 

Fall fun!

October and November have been busy months for us in our Kindergarten classroom!! Here are some pictures of what we have done!

 

Counting with candy corn.

 

 

Counting to match a numeral.

 

Identifying beginning and ending sounds in words.

 

Learning about Christopher Columbus and making ships with poems.

 

 

We researched and learned about bats and then used the information we learned to write informational writings about them.

 

 

We used a bag on our hand to see what it must be like to have bat wings.

The bag is like the skin on the bats wings that is stretched over their tiny finger bones.

 

 

We began learning about word families.

 

 

We sequenced There Was Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat.

 

We read Monster themed books and practiced labeling a monster. We sounded out the words together as a class then labeled another monster by ourselves. We had to stretch the words out like rubberbands and write down the sounds we heard.

 

We researched and learned about spiders. We used the information we learned to write an informational book about spiders.

 

 

 

We read The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything and sequenced it.

 

We must the pieces of the story together just like the pieces did at the end of the story to create a scarecrow!

 

 

We have a new story problem to solve each week!