Mrs. Duval's Kindergarten Blog: October 2015

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Kindergarten Writers and Scientists

This week we turned into writers!! I LOVE the writing process in kindergarten. Our writing at this point of the year is made up of the high frequency words that we are learning and inventive spelling. In kindergarten, we write words the way that they sound...which is perfectly okay! We practice stretching out the words to hear as many sounds as we can in each word. At the beginning of the year, teachers rotate around the classroom and help students to stretch out the words that they need to sound out. Soon, their confidence as writers will grow and they will begin to stretch and sound words out on their own. This week we wrote every morning and you can already see a difference! We discussed the difference between words and letters, why we need to use spaces between words and using an ending mark like a period. This week each kindergartner began writing their own "I See" book. Check out these examples of kindergarten writing in October...

I see ghosts.

I see Batman.

I see pumpkins.

We are so lucky that Mrs. Maynard is kind enough to come and read to us in kindergarten. For many students it was fun to see a familiar face from the town library. For other students it was a great introduction to meet our town librarian, Mrs. Maynard. Mrs. Maynard will be back to read again next month. Usually in January we take a trip to the town library to get our very own library card...always one of the highlights of kindergarten.

Mrs. Maynard reads in kindergarten.

We had a beautiful afternoon to go outside and observe some of the signs of Fall. Our class really enjoyed exploring in the woods which makes me think they will love snowshoeing this winter! Each kindergartner kept track of what they found using a scavenger hunt checklist. It was a perfect afternoon!

Ready to begin...

Parker and Tristan work together.

There were many signs of Fall in the woods and on the playground.

There was also plenty of silliness.

Some of the hardest things to spot on the checklist were birds.
We had to wait patiently and quietly to see one.

Everyone loved being outside.

More silliness. Who doesn't love kindergarten??

We enjoyed our time working with our artist in residence, Ms Lizz. She taught us about the art of mosaics. We all worked on the mosaics by placing pieces of glass to help create a picture. We tried to get the pieces of glass to fit together. It was just like a puzzle! The art for the murals were created by older students. The murals will be on display soon.

Ms. Lizz gives us the final directions before working on the mural.

We worked on the mural in small groups while the
rest of the class worked on the rug.

We looked for pieces of glass that fit together like
a puzzle.

Max and Makayla work as a team.

Amelia and Kameron work to fill the background
with pieces of glass.

We've been having a ton of fun growing as a community. I look forward to meeting with all of you during parent conferences. I will send home a reminder for your conference time this week.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Fall Fun

It's hard believe we just finished our sixth week of school! As part of the Responsive Classroom approach to teaching, the first six weeks of school are spent laying the groundwork for a year that is productive and full of learning. The thought is that by slowing down and taking the time to build a strong foundation in the first six weeks of school, the class will be able to move through the school year with increased motivation, cooperation, responsibility and self-control. It certainly feels like the sixth week of school in our classroom. There is already a strong sense of community where students and teachers respect each other. Many new friendships have formed and everyone has a clear understanding of the classroom expectations.

In math, we've been busy learning proper number formation. We've just completed Chapter 1 in our Math In Focus program which concentrates on numbers to 5 and the concepts, same and different. We will begin Chapter 2 this week and we will learn about numbers to 10. We are using poems to help us remember how to form each number. We will send them home soon...be sure to ask your kindergartner about them. Keep practicing counting at home too!

Anthony and Beckett count out blocks together at a math center.

Owen demonstrates counting too.

Mrs. Jones, our district's numeracy specialist, also visited our
classroom this week.

We worked on counting out objects and
adding and taking away objects.

There was lots to do on the first day of Fall. We began the day by reviewing the sight words I and see. We wrote this sentence on a sentence strips: I see leaves. We broke the sentence apart by carefully cutting the spaces between words. Each kindergartner got a chance to hold a word as the class tried to put the words of the sentence in the right order. We made a lot of silly sentences and had lots of laughs as we tried to put ourselves in the correct order. After we practiced a few times, everyone got their own sentences to cut apart and build again. We glued the sentences on to the colorful trees we made.

Eloise, Joab and Kameron work to build their sentences and cut out
the trees we made to celebrate Fall.

In literacy, we continue to work hard in our Fundations program. We have been introduced to the letters and sounds of t, b, f, m, n. This week we will learn about vowels and their important job when we are introduced to i and u. We are also learning tons about books and how they work. Kindergartners made their own I See A Rainbow book to keep in their book boxes and practice reading on their own.

Makayla and Tyler work on their I See A Rainbow Books.

Jack and Oliver get ready to buddy read once their books are complete.

Book Buddy bags were sent home Friday. Please practice reading the books sent home
with your child for a night or two and then return them to school. Your child will practice reading
new books at school and will then get to take those home too. Practicing reading at home
is an important part of your child's literacy development. Some students have letters in their bags
to practice saying the name of the letter and the sound that it makes.

One of the highlights of the past two weeks has been visiting the computer lab. Once a week, usually Fridays, we will work on a project in the lab. Over the last two weeks we have introduced Kid Pix. Students learned how to log in, open the applications folder found on the dock and find Kid Pix. Everyone used the program to draw an apple and type their name in a text box. We learned how to use the shift key when typing our name and how to print our picture. Next week we will write sentences on these pages and turn them into a book. It was very tricky using the mouse!! Most students were used to working on an iPad or a laptop without a mouse. Next week, we will continue to practice using the mouse, the proper way to hold it and where to click when using it.