Busy, Busy

It's been a busy last few days!  Big thanks to Dana for coming and teaching us about Hanukkah and how to play the dreidel game.  We have been reading lots of Gingerbread Man books.  Today we read The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers and The Gingerbread Cowboy.  These books are not only fun but also get at many elements of a story: parts that repeat, characters, setting (Gingerbread Cowboy takes place in the desert).  Ms. Beth and Ms. K also made a cardboard Gingerbread House in the library which makes for a cozy reading nook. This afternoon we had some fun making Cinnamon Applesauce ornaments.  In Math we continue to talk about shapes.  We learned that a rectangle is a shape with four straight sides and four corners.  Kindergarten was surprised to learn that a square is a special kind of rectangle that has four equal sides.

Winter has arrived!

We had fun playing in all of the snow this morning.  Our poem this week is Mittens:

            Mittens 

Red mittens, blue mittens 

Mittens for cold weather. 

Wool mittens, knit mittens 

Fingers all together. 

Green mittens, orange mittens, 

Yellow mittens too.  

Furry mittens, soft mittens 

Which ones are for you?

We also read the book The Gingerbread Man and we talked about how folktales have been told orally over the years and then written down.  The Gingerbread Man is one example of a book that has been retold in many different ways.  We will be reading different versions and discussing what is the same and different.  

In Math today we began our second math module on flat (2-D) and solid (3-D) shapes.  Today we looked at a square and cylinder and without naming the shapes, students explained what they noticed: "one looks like a circle that has been stretched out, one is tall one is flat, one has points, one has four edges."  It was an excellent conversation rich with math language. 

Happy Monday!

It was a snowy and chilly start to the week!  This morning we had our first lockdown drill.  Our School Resource Officer, Officer Difranco came and explained what a lockdown is and how to practice.  We chose our "safe corner" and did an excellent job being still in quiet during the drill.  After practicing a lockdown we wrote our first lowercase letter: c.

We have been talking a lot about being kind to one another.  Today I read the book The Kindness Quilt and we also watched the story Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal.  We talked about the difference between a squeal (a kid sized problem like someone sticking a tongue out or cutting in line) versus a "big deal" (someone is in danger, hurt or unsafe).

Sight Word Search

This week we began talking about sight words - words reader and writers see and use a lot!  This morning we used "magic" (highlighter) tape to find "is" and "the" in our Morning Message.  We practiced writing uppercase A and students noticed we only have 2 uppercase letters left!    Mrs. Guilmette visited for Guidance and talked more about how to not be a bystander if you see someone being bullied.

Students finished their Alphabet illustrations and we worked together to put the illustrations in ABC order.  I read the book When it Starts to Snow and learned more about where animals go when it starts to snow in this fun rhyming book.

This afternoon we finished up talking about one more and introduced two new stations - one more bingo and a cube tower building game where students had to make towers that were one less and one more than the number rolled on a dice.  Tomorrow we will talk more about one less as this continues to be a tricky topic.

Happy Monday

I cannot believe that December is already here.  This morning we highlighted the sight word the in our Morning Message and used the sights words  I go to the to make a sentence: I go to the park.  We discussed how a sentence is made up of words that have spaces in between and end with a period.  Kindergarten is excited to try out writing sentences and are encouraged that "if you can say it, you can spell it!"

Today we continued talking about what animals do as the weather gets colder.  I read the book Not a Buzz to be Found: Insects in Winter  by Linda Glaser.  Students made lots of connections to the woods and we will be doing some searching under logs for insects keeping warm as winter approaches.

In Math we continue to discuss the number that is one more.  We listened to and played along to the one more number song.