Today we worked really hard to get most of our things done to prepare for fun friday. We did our morning calendar routine, and then jumped into language arts. We worked on our oral language development by playing "I Spy." Then we practiced syllable deletion (ex. picnic without pic-....nic). We are almost there, but will keep practicing. We reviewed t and r and then listened to a read-aloud. This was the first time the students listened to a story where I didn't have pictures to show for it. They did a great job paying attention.
We took a break and boarded a bus to talk about bus safety. Then we practiced an emergency exit, climbing out of the back with the bus driver and principals assistance.
In math we worked on forming 5's. After this the students had the opportunity to finish up unfinished work, or work with pattern blocks on the carpet.
We ended the day by reading Apple Trouble. To go along with our story, we made apples using paper plates and tear art.
What a wonderful day! We started language by sitting in a circle and rolling a ball to one another. When the ball was rolled to you, you said your name and something you can do (ex. "My name is Miss Voigts and I can drive a car"). Then did such a great job listening to one another and waiting their turn. We worked more on syllable segmentation. This time we broke words into parts then said the word without one of its parts (ex. sunny without -ny (sun), bookshelf without book- (shelf), doctor without -tor (doc). Of course, I was impressed like usual with how smart we are! We quickly reviewed T and M. The students had to decide if the photo card I held up began with a t or an m. This was easy for us. We talked about what a sign is-that it tells us information. We then made our own signs for playground rules, revisting what it means to label something. We talked about the word inference. We read a book and the students practiced making inferences about story events from the clues the book told us ("We see that the racoon is holding a ball. What can you infer?" "That he likes to play soccer!" --the book never told us this, but we made an inference). We are some smart 5-year-olds :) :) One of our station rotations today was "Write The Room." The students walked around and found words in the room, then practiced writing them. They really enjoyed this activity, and made them aware of all the places we see words in our classroom.
Making a sign and practicing the letter T In math we reviewed vertical graphs. Then we did a listening/counting exercise where the boys and girls closed their eyes and had to listen for how many paperclips I dropped into a cup. They had fun with this as well. We had a quick snack, read a story about bullying, and were on our ways home :)
Today we finished up our benchmark math tests. The boys and girls did a great job working through a 1st grade test! In language arts we got out our whiteboard and worked on segmenting words. The students drew 2 boxes at the top, and three at the bottom. I said a word and if they heard 2 syllables, they put two cubes in their top boxes. If they heard 3 syllables, they put 3 cubes in their bottom boxes. They are quite good at this :)
We reviewed the letter T. The kindergarteners helped me read a poem about a teddy bear, and then they came up and circled the t's they could find in the poem.
In math we practiced writing a number 4. Then the students worked on math stations that had to do with the number 4 (drawing 4 triangles, practicing their 4's, finding pictures of 4 things in a scene). They worked so hard today that we had time for a craft! We read the book The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. Then we made our own busy spiders.
I introduced a special friend that will be joining our class: Sponge Bob. He sits in the back of the room and watches to make sure we're all working hard! Then he chooses someone at the end of the day to sit with him while we read a story. I reminded the students that usually this person Sponge Bob chooses hasn't had to move their clothes pin and has had a wonderful day.
Looking forward to the rest of the week!
Today we started off with some math benchmark testing. I stressed to the students that these are beginning of the year first grade tests, so to just do their best because we have not learned any of this yet. They surprised me with the things they already knew. :) These will take another day or so to finish up.
We took a quick brain break and Mrs. Mary read Apple Trouble to us.
In language arts we talked more about how words are like puzzles and can be taken apart and put back together again. We practiced segmenting words into syllables ("Elbow. el-bow. Elbow. 2 claps!") We practiced the ABC song and the students got out their lazor eyes and really worked hard to see the letters they were saying, in order to create a mental picture. The letter T was introduced, and the students came to the board to help me practice making a upper case T and lower case t the correct way. The boys and girls learned the word my. We practiced using it in a sentence. Then we went into station work while I worked in small groups with several students.
Working with students during station time. We also celebrated Piper's birthday (yesterday) today.
In math we quickly reviewed representing numbers 1-10, this time using shapes. We worked on relating shapes to one another by talking about which shapes can be put together to make another shape (two big triangles can make the big square). This helped students practice their shape and size vocabulary and become more exposed to the language.
The students were hungry, like usual :) , so we had a quick snack while we listened to the classbook we made Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Look Who's in Our Room! I will be sending this book home overnight with each student. They can read and share their classmates with their families, and return the next day.
Today our class along with Mrs. Boese's kindergarten section traveled to Harley Nature Center.
We listened to a short presentation by one of the naturalists. We talked about trees, their parts and what they need to grow. A volunteer from Mrs. Boese's class came up and he turned her into a magic tree. We added all the ingredients a tree needs to grow into a bucket. Then he magically pulled out a mini tree.
We split into groups and walked around the nature center doing a variety of activities. One included making pretend cameras out of play dough, then using them to take pictures of things we explored in nature.
The students really enjoyed walking around the beautiful park!
...and I think they'll sleep well tonight! :)
Today we worked really hard to do a little extra work in both reading and math in order to not get behind with our field trip tomorrow. The boys and girls have just been having an awesome week and handled the extra workload wonderfully.
During our oral language part of reading, we talked about what it means to describe someone. We discussed how you can describe someones clothes, or physical appearance, interests, or personality. We took turns describing a few of our classmates. We continued working on syllable blending, and most of the students have 2-3 syllable words down ("draw-ing....2!" "Let-ter....2!" "vege-ta-ble....3"). We quickly reviewed r, m, and s. Then I gave the students 3 stations to work through while I pulled others for individual and partner reading enhancement. The students made "Mm," books. They highlighted every word that began with m, then found 3 friends to read to. They did a 'r' activity where they had to decide how many syllables were in the word the picture represented (picture of a rat....1 syllable). They went above and beyond my expectations, as they have been doing all week :)
For math we quickly reviewed the shapes cone and cylinder. Then we revised horizontal graphs using numbers 6-10. The kindergarteners described the graph talking about which tower had fewer, less, or more. How do you know? (taller, shorter, higher, more tiles, etc). They have this down pretty well now!
We ended the day with our last MAP test in the computer lab. Then we came back and read two books by Leo Lionni; Swimmy, and Fish is Fish. We admired his wonderful art work on each page.
Everyone is very excited for our field trip! I'm looking forward to a warm day and an outdoor classroom to learn in tomorrow.
The students were very hard workers again today. We did our morning calendar and then transitioned into reading. We warmed up with the song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." Then we worked on describing things we see using complete sentences. "I see....(a desk, a table, a frog, etc)." We practiced blending syllables to say words, and worked on counting the number of syllables we hear in words (car-toon (2), pre-sent (2), a-ma-zing (3). They are doing excellent at this. The letters r and s were revisited. The students listened to me say a word, then had to decide and then write on their whiteboard what letter that word started with. We are getting pretty quick with r and s words. To reinforce our learning of the letter r and the word a (still tricky to understand that this is not only a letter but also a word), the students drew and labeled a picture of either a rainbow, a racoon, or a rabbit. While our reading was taking place, the substitute para that was in the room today pulled students aside to do a painting project.
Working one on one with students; establishing that each word holds meaning by making sure to point to every word on a page. Today I introduced station work to the students. I gave the boys and girls 4 tasks they needed to complete while I worked one-on-one with each student. The students did a great job independently working! One task had them highlighting all the 'r' words in a book, coloring it, then finding 3 students to read to and getting their signatures. I couldn't believe how well this went! I have some very smart kindergarteners :)
Students taking turns reading to each other
I promise I will not be feeding your children sweets on a daily basis (especially right before they come home ;) , but I brought in birthday treats today. I had the students guess how old they thought I was. Their first two guesses were 100 and 5. When they figured it out they we're shocked I was the oldest one in the room. I'll take that as a compliment and not that I need to act more my age :) :)
Looking forward to tomorrow!
We had a fantastic day today! We started off with our benchmark testing. The boys and girls did a much better job today following directions. We breezed through it, and now the reading portion is done! The kindergarteners got a Hershey kiss from me for doing such a wonderful job :)
We started our reading practicing listening for syllables we hear in words. The students are catching on really quick! We then practiced listening for the letter r in words. I held up a picture of an object and the students had to stand up if it began with r, or sit on their hands if it started with another letter. Then we read the book "A Farm," with a partner sitting elbow elbow knee knee. We talked about how in kindergarten, it is important to point to each word as we read it (to make sure they are reading each word, and learning that words hold meaning). The students had trouble with this last week, so I gave them each a 'magic eye' to help them. This seemed to do the trick :)
We did a quick math lesson, talking about the words cone, cylinder, and circle. We discussed how they are the same, and how they are different. We then contrasted a circle to a square.
The boys and girls were such good listeners today that we had time for an art project at the end of the day. We made owls using construction paper and cupcake wrappers. They seemed to really enjoy this activity. Also, no one moved their clothes pin today so they earned another brownie point. We're half way to getting an extra 'fun day,' or mini "class party!"
Note: Please return the picture forms by Friday, as that is picture day! Also, if you do decide to order books from this book order (they will be getting one every other week or so, so don't feel like you need to this week or ever for that matter) and are adventurous with the computer, I believe that you get an incentive for ordering directly online. You still enter our class code so I get credit and can order classbooks :) Otherwise, checks are good too.
Last book order I as able to order 6 free books, which is very exciting for a new teacher :)
Today we did some more benchmark testing. The material is pretty difficult, because much of it is learned throughout the year and has not yet been introduced. The students did a great job focusing and following directions! Hopefully we can get it finished up tomorrow :)
In reading, the word syllable was introduced. We talked about how words are like puzzles, made up of different parts. I said a word, and the students clapped out its syllables (i.e cupcake. cup....cake. cupcake). They did a great job listening and clapping. The letter R was introduced. Students came up to the smartboard and helped me practice writing a lower case and uppercase r. Then we did an activity where they got another chance to practice their r's and also pick out words that start with r. The words differ, stalking, and mellow were briefly introduced for our weekly robust vocabulary. Then we touched on the word label, and when and where we use labels (on our notebooks, on our desks, to describe a drawing).
We took a quick brain break and then went right into math. The book Anno's Counting Book was revisited, in order to establish links between math and the real world. We also talked about how we will now be focusing on numbers 6-10. We used our counting mats to build concepts of these numbers, and then brought out our graphs to compare.
The kids were quite tired after all this thinking, so we ate a quick snack and listened to a story. Then it was time to head home.
Today we jumped right into our language arts in order to have time at the end of the morning for fun friday. We worked on discriminating between M and S. I said a word and the students had to decide if it started with m or s. After that, they had to decide if the word I said ended with m or s. They came up to the smartboard and moved that word into the appropriate category. Then, we worked on reading simple words. The students were introduced to reading with a partner in the position elbow elbow knee knee. They took turns reading the book I Can. They did a wonderful job for their "first" book. We reviewed our robust vocabulary words and gave examples of what they mean (ability, confident, complained, reverse, talent, and encourage).
Students reading elbow elbow knee knee
After reading we took a quick brain break and moved and danced to the song "Going on a Bear Hunt." Then we continued with math. Today we worked on understanding concepts of alike and different. I held up two shapes and the boys and girls told me if they were the same ("Why? How do you know?"). We talked about which objects belong, and what that means. The words first, second, and third were introduced. The students then did an activity picking out alike or same objects.
This week was homecoming week and all the kindergarten students painted a hand print onto a banner. We marched into the gym with our banner, showing that we are class of 2025. The cheerleaders came around to each grade level and did a cheer for them. Then the high school students had their homecoming coronation, and we cheered them on from the bleachers.
We finished our fun friday by having choice time in the classroom. The students had 5 different stations they could pick from to rotate among. One station the children really enjoyed was creating things out of scrap paper.
What a great morning! Enjoy the weekend :)
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