Happy National Hot Chocolate Day!

I did not plan it but read that it is actually National Hot Chocolate Day which was perfect for our Cat Card Celebration!  This morning we read our last Ezra Jack Keats book, Over in the Meadow.  We then voted on what our favorite Ezra Jack Keats book is and 12 students said A Letter to Amy.  During explore today many students chose to draw on big paper.  This afternoon we had our first Mystery Read of 2018 and enjoyed a warm hot chocolate!

 

Did you know...?

Did you know that a Green Anaconda can be 20 feet long!?  We learned this in a silly song and students made a connection to our work on measurement.  We broke out some measuring tapes and were shocked to see how long 20 feet actually is!

I have been working on completing literacy assessments and part of this is assessing students knowledge of sight words.  At out word work station, students will now have their own individual list of sight words to practice building and writing kept on a ring.  We will keep adding 5 sight words at a time as students learn them.

In math we also practiced counting by 10's to 100.  In measuring with cubes students reported it was tricky when they were measuring something very long.  A suggestion was counting by 10's as it is quicker than counting by 1's.  I love all of the connections they make!

Brrr...

We thought it was cold at recess this morning but then we learned about the arctic and antarctic regions later this morning.  The coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was minus 129F!  We have been reading Mr. Popper's Penguins and students were curious to find out more information about what it is really like in Antarctica. 

This morning we practiced writing lower case l and also worked on creating a list of words from the word family -an.  I read another Ezra Jack Keats book Dreams where the main character was different.  It was not Peter but a boy named Roberto who we had not "met" yet.  We have a few more Ezra Jack Keats books to read this week before starting a non-fiction unit. 

This morning Mrs. Guilmette visited for Guidance this morning and talked about appreciating our unique skin tones and how people get their skin tone.  After we practiced writing sight words in shaving cream.  It was messy but fun and engaging!

This afternoon we did a measurement activity.  Each student was given an item and we worked to line them up from shortest to longest.  It took a few tries but eventually we were successful!

At the end of the day we visited Ms. Beth's dog Liesel in the library.  Some students were thinking of writing books about Liesel and we had the opportunity to ask some questions and learn more about Liesel.

We're Back!

I apologize for the hiatus but the classroom is finally back to "normal" after the flood.  Last Friday students got their new writing folders and have been busy writing books on things that they know and love.  Today I read the book My Dog Rosie and we discussed how authors and illustrators write books on one topic (Rosie was on every page and looked mostly the same) and the words and pictures makes.  Writers also take risks and don't ask "how do you spell...?" but rather if "you can say it, you can spell it!" saying words slowly and writing the sounds that they hear.

We started our third math unit on measurement.  Today we thought about what we think when we hear the word measure or measurement.  I showed this video from Sid the Science Kid to think about how and what we can use to measure objects:

We discussed the importance of using words like: taller than, shorter than, the same length, heavier or lighter instead of bigger and smaller.  

3-D shapes that I know...

Today we took a look at 3-D shapes in math: a cube, cylinder, sphere, and a cone.  We did some exploring and learned that a cylinder and a sphere will roll and a cone and a cube will slide.  Some students predicted the cone would roll but when we tried it just spun around in a circle.  We determined that this was because the top is smaller than the bottom.  I played this fun (and catchy) 3-D shapes song and then at stations students worked on large posters to draw real life objects that are 2-D and 3-D shapes.

Authors and Illustrators at Work!

As we begin the New Year, we are focusing more on writing in Kindergarten.  Students will soon begin working on writing and illustrating their own multi-page booklets.  We start with 5 pages to get away from the idea that the first page is the beginning, second is the middle and third is the end.  Overtime students will learn how to add and remove pages.  To build independence we are working on the writing process all together through shared writing.  Last week we brainstormed a topic - something we ALL know a lot about.  We decided to title our book All About CP Smith.  Together we worked on writing the pages, making decisions about what made sense and then in groups of 2 or 3 students worked collaboratively to illustrate the pages, focusing on having the illustrations match the words.  Students are excited about this and asked to share at a Community Meeting.  I will be in touch about when we will be sharing this work!

Shapes!

We were thankful to get out to the woods this morning.  There was lots of exploration and noticing of animal tracks.  Students enjoyed following tracks and wondering what the animals may have been doing.  After the woods we ate snack and watched a short video about Ezra Jack Keats.  I read the first book Keats authored and illustrated The Snowy Day.  We also did a Mystery Science Lesson on Storms and talked about how to get ready for a BIG storm. 

This afternoon we continued talking more about shapes.  We played a game where students had to find a shape and then match it to the correct picture around the room.  During Math Stations students also used rectangles and triangles to create a rocketship as well as shape stickers to create pictures.  They really came out great!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2018!  I hope that everyone had a fun and restful winter break.  It was wonderful being back in the classroom today.  Ms. Beth and Ms. Kavanaugh from the library let us have their Gingerbread House as a reading nook.  We practiced setting a timer and having one student read at a time with a book and stuffed animal if they wish.  There was a lot of interest in reading in this special place so we practiced using a sign up sheet.

We also started an Ezra Jack Keats author study.  Students spent time looking at Ezra Jack Keats books and shared what the noticed some noticings were:

"Ezra Jack Keats does not use motion lines like Mo Willems instead he shows the characters picking up their feet to show them moving."

"The background looks really interesting.  There are dots on the pages and lots of details."

"Willie (the dog) is in a book I never read before!  Just like Whistle for Willie!"

"I know that this is Peter's Mom even though I never read this book before!"

We will be reading Ezra Jack Keats books over the next few weeks.