Mrs. Duval's Kindergarten Blog: 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.