The Shape of Things

Last Friday at our Martin Luther King assembly, Mr. Phelan read the book All are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold.  Our 5th grade book buddies were inspired by this and presented us with a beautiful banner based on the book.  5th grade worked hard to draw themselves with their book buddy.  The banner is on display in the hall outside of our classroom.

Today I read the book The Shape of Things and we began creating our own Shape of Things book following the pattern of the text.  Some Kindergarten ideas:

A circle is just a circle until you add arms, legs and a body and it becomes a human.

A circle is just a circle until you add some lines and seats and it becomes a ferris wheel.

A rectangle is just a rectangle until you add gas, windows, wheels and doors and it becomes a school bus.

A circle is just a circle until you add a stick and it becomes a lollipop.

A rectangle is just a rectangle until you add a triangle, rockets boosters and a window and it becomes a rocket ship.  

Be on the lookout for our completed illustrations!

Word, Letter or Sentence?

This morning we talked about the difference between a letter and a word.  Students were given a sticky note and wrote one letter.  We said letters make sounds and words are made when you put letters together.  We also realized that when you put letters together it doesn't always make a word.  It needs to make sense.  Tomorrow we will put words together to make a sentence.  

During Math today students worked with rubber bands and geo-boards to create different shapes or used triangles, trapezoids and parallelograms to fill a hexagon.   

This afternoon I read The Emperor's Egg and we learned about Emperor Penguins. 

Pierre the Penguin

We were happy to get outside and play in the snow this morning.  We had a mystery reader (thanks!), some snack, practiced writing the letters S and A and played a bit inside.  This afternoon we read the true story about a Penguin named Pierre who was in need of a little help.  It was great to watch this news clip and see Pierre and Pam in "real life."

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King

This morning we began the day with explore, practiced writing uppercase Q and G and talked about Dr. Martin Luther King. Last Friday I showed this video from Kid President and this morning I read Martin's Big Words we talked about the importance of using our words to solve problems, showing love and welcoming all people.

I also read the book Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies.  We learned some amazing facts about blue whales:

• the blue whale is the biggest animal that has ever lived on earth 
• a blue whale can weigh as much as 25 elephants or 115 giraffes!
• blue whales visit polar oceans during the summer and migrate closer to the equator during the winter 
• blue whales eat krill 
• blue whales do not have teeth they have baleen plates that are long and bendy 

During Math we took another look at 3-D shapes and talked about how we can sort them into groups based on their attributes, or what we see when we look at them.  Some ways we sorted them are by shapes that roll, shapes with circle faces, shapes with square faces and shapes with curvy lines. 

  

Snow Bear, Ice Bear

We have been talking about where animals go in winter specifically animals that call Vermont home.  Yesterday, we moved on to thinking about different parts of the globe and took a look at the arctic and antarctic regions, or the north and south pole.  Many kindergarteners were surprised to learn that polar bears and penguins do not live in the same region.  Polar bears call the arctic home while penguins call the antarctic and elsewhere in the southern hemisphere home. 

Yesterday we also took a look at solid or 3-D shapes and students were challenged to figure out which 3-D shapes roll and which do not.  We listened to a song about 3-D shapes.

Today I read the book Ice Bear: In the Steps of the Polar Bear by Nicola Davies.  We learned A LOT about polar bears.  Some facts we learned are:

• one polar bear is bigger than two lions 
• polar bears can be 10 feet long 
• polar bears can weigh as much as 10 men
• polar bears are not actually white their hair is made up of hollow tubes 
• under their hair polar bears skin is black

Happy Tuesday!

It  was a fun and busy Tuesday!  We were able to get out in the woods this morning for the first time in a while and noticed that the ground was pretty frozen and snowy.  After we came back students worked on illustrating where animal go in winter.  Yesterday during Math I read a book about positional words (on top, beside, next to, left, right, etc.) and today we played Simon Says using shapes and positional words.  Students worked together with a partner to find a shape when given a clue such as:

"Simon says hold up a shape that has four corners. Simon says hold up a shape that has no straight sides. Simon says hold up a shape that has one more than five sides. Hold up a shape that has four sides that are exactly the same."  It was a fun activity!

I also stopped into PE this afternoon as the students were excited to show me there work on the cargo net!

A Secret Kingdom Under the Snow...

It has been a cold last few days but we were happy to get outside for a little bit this afternoon.  Students played inside this morning and then Mrs. Guilmette visited for Guidance.  She read the book The Crayon Box that Talked.  Before reading the book she had students draw a picture with only one crayon which at first seemed like an odd direction.  She read the book and students learned about the importance of cooperating or working together.  The crayons were all arguing and drew alone and then realized that their pictures just didn't look right so they decided to work together to include all of the colors.  Students then drew a picture with as many colors as they wanted to.

After snack we practiced sounding out some CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words like mom, hit, it and set and practiced writing uppercase Z.  This afternoon with Mrs, Tourin's class I read the book Over and Under the Snow and we learned that many animals live in a "secret kingdom" under the snow during winter.  We learned that scientists call this secret kind the "subnivean zone!"  Maybe we will see signs of this secret kingdom in the woods tomorrow...

Eve's Yaya and one of our fabulous paras, Mrs. K, came to read with Eve's older brother on Friday!  Mrs. K read Where the Wild Things Are in Spanish and Finn read it in English! It was quite a treat. 

We got outside for a little bit this morning but it was quite windy on the playground!  After Music we watched this quick video about Owls, had snack and then worked on writing. 

Yesterday a new poem was introduced which is connected to our study on Winter Animals:

Winter Animals 

Winter is cold.           

There is snow in the sky. 

The squirrel gathers nuts. 

And the wild geese fly. 

The fluffy red fox

Has his fur to keep warm. 

The bear’s in her cave, 

Sleeping all through the storm. 

Our read aloud today was Is this Panama? A Migration Story by Jan Thornhill following the migration of a Wilson Warbler.  After reading The Big Snow on Tuesday, students wondered what animals migrate other than geese and butterflies.  We looked at google earth and mapped the path from the Arctic Circle to Panama.  Other than the Wilson Warbler we learned that humpback whales, caribou and some dragonflies migrate.  

How to Draw Books

This morning we reviewed the sound /z/, students continued working on their books and we talked about how books are on one topic.  In math we learned that a hexagon has six sides and six angles, where the lines meet.  It was a little tricky finding hexagons.  Our book this afternoon was The Big Snow and we discussed how geese fly south but many birds like sparrows, cardinals and crows stay during the snow and are able to find things like seeds and worms to eat. 

After PE and afternoon snack, I introduced "How to Draw" books and we talked about using these books to learn how to draw new things!  We have been talking about how we are "growing" artists and it's important to try and not give up. Students were excited to choose something new to draw and give it a try.

Chilly Monday

It was a chilly Monday which meant we were not able to get outside.  We played for a bit in the classroom this morning and then worked on writing the letters "v" and "w."  In Math I read a book about shapes, Windows, Wings and Grapes a Different Look at Shapes, and one student found shapes in their snacks!

Our book today was White Owl, Barn Owl by Nicola Davies some facts we learned about owls are that owls have hollow bones, eat their prey whole and have soft feathers which make them fly almost silently.  We joined Mrs. Tourin's class this afternoon and talked about changes in weather from autumn to fall.  She read the book Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter and some students chose to make snowmen. 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2019! It was wonderful to come back together as a community this morning and share what we did over break.  Students helped to fill in missing sounds in our Morning Message. After playing in the snow, having music class and snack we launched our next phase of writer's workshop!  Most of our time has been focused on drawing, adding labels and working on books all together.  Today all students began working on their own books which is very exciting!  We talked about how during Writer's Workshops students will first listen and learn, then find a good spot to work, write and draw the whole time and then finally 1 or 2 students will share what they were working on.  It was hard for students to stop today as they wanted to finish their books but we talked about how authors and illustrators keep coming back to their books over time.

This afternoon we read the January Chicken Soup with Rice Poem and students illustrated to match the words.

January

In January
it's so nice,
While slipping
on the sliding ice
To sip hot chicken soup
with rice.
Sipping once,
sipping twice
Sipping chicken soup
with rice.