Language Arts: We did not introduce a new letter. Our sight word was "like." We had lots of fun this week with our gingerbread stories! Who knew there were so many versions! By the end of the week, the kids broke into small groups and cooperatively thought of the characters, setting, problem and solution without teacher guidance! How cool is that! We also focused on beginning, middle and end.
Math: We played a few gingerbread math games: Gingerbread Number Bingo and Gingerbread Attribute Game. We made a sequence of how to make gingerbread cookies. We also counted by 2's with cookies.
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool of the week was "telling the truth."
We had fun centers which focused around the gingerbread theme, including our wonderful smelling gingerbread playdoh!
Next week we will complete our Gingerbread Unit and enjoy our Holiday Party! Have a safe and relaxing winter break!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Dec. 6 - 10
It has been a very cold week so the kids were cooped up until today! Hooray! We got to go outside! I was very proud of how independently the kids put on their snow gear. Make sure it is all labeled.
Language Arts: The letter of the week was "d" and we had two sight words: "at" and "to." We read books about dinosaurs and dogs and wrote responses. We played Doggie Bingo with sight words. The kids brought these home. If your child already knows these words you can challenge them by stated a sentence that has sight words and they can cover all the sight words they hear: I am going to the store. I am to and the are all sight words in that sentence.
We began reading a few versions of The Gingerbread Man focusing on the story elements of character, setting, problem and ending. By hearing different versions, we can compare and contrast.
Math: We continue practicing writing our numbers and we added Top It to our math boxes. The game is much like Spit where the player with the higher number gets both cards. We talked more about weight and explore the pan balance. We discussed probability and the terms "certain," "possible," and "impossible."
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for the week was "keep your hands and feet to self." We reviewed the importance of staying in your own personal space and expressing yourself through words and I Messages, not physically.
Science: We learned about things that are Living and Non Living.
Notes: Thank you to the parents who made gingerbread playdoh for next week and to the parents who bought and brought gingerbread cookie kits! You are priceless!
Have a great weekend!
Language Arts: The letter of the week was "d" and we had two sight words: "at" and "to." We read books about dinosaurs and dogs and wrote responses. We played Doggie Bingo with sight words. The kids brought these home. If your child already knows these words you can challenge them by stated a sentence that has sight words and they can cover all the sight words they hear: I am going to the store. I am to and the are all sight words in that sentence.
We began reading a few versions of The Gingerbread Man focusing on the story elements of character, setting, problem and ending. By hearing different versions, we can compare and contrast.
Math: We continue practicing writing our numbers and we added Top It to our math boxes. The game is much like Spit where the player with the higher number gets both cards. We talked more about weight and explore the pan balance. We discussed probability and the terms "certain," "possible," and "impossible."
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for the week was "keep your hands and feet to self." We reviewed the importance of staying in your own personal space and expressing yourself through words and I Messages, not physically.
Science: We learned about things that are Living and Non Living.
Notes: Thank you to the parents who made gingerbread playdoh for next week and to the parents who bought and brought gingerbread cookie kits! You are priceless!
Have a great weekend!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Nov. 29-Dec. 3
Language Arts: Out letter of the week was "n" and our sight word was"and." We read books like Noisy Nora and The Napping House in honor of n week. Our author and illustrator of the moth are the husband and wife team Don and Audrey Wood. We learned that The Napping House is an accumulative story that builds upon the last page, adding to the story. We created our own book called The Napping Ocean. This is a different VERSION...something we will talk more about in the weeks ahead with our gingerbread unit. (Look for the gold sheet today. We are in need of gingerbread cookie kits. Your help is much appreciated!) I hope you enjoyed the many products brought home from Writer's Workshop. There will be much more to come. We continue to make may class books for the children to enjoy at school.
Math: We learned two new games: Domino Match and Top It! We will be making our own Monster Squeeze next week to play at home. We continue to practice number problems in story form and are writing number sentences to go with them.
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for Citizenship this week was review of all school rules. We focused on good manners that we can use at home and at school. We also discussed the difference between needs and wants. We know that there are a few things we need to survive such as water, food, shelter, and clothing. We know that toys, candy, vacations, and trips to the movies are all things that can make us happy but are NOT things that we needs.
Notes: Today we had a class meeting about tattling. The amount of tattling is about 6 times a day per child. We discussed that it adds up to be over 160 tattles a day!!!!:) We talked about 4 rules to follow when deciding whether we need to talk to an adult: 1. If a child is in danger, you should talk to an adult. 2. Try to solve the problem on your own (This is a big one because all the children have been taught how to use I Messages.) 3. Must it be handled by teacher now or can it wait till later? 4. MYOB (Mind Your Own Business) What I tell the kids is that if it doesn't have anything to do with you, it is not your problem. And I like to add that if the problem has been solved there is no need to tell me.
I know we all talked at conferences that students should come to me for support, but MOST of the time these problems can be solved by the students.
Having said all of that, your kids are a JOY to have in class. Have a wonderful weekend!
Math: We learned two new games: Domino Match and Top It! We will be making our own Monster Squeeze next week to play at home. We continue to practice number problems in story form and are writing number sentences to go with them.
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for Citizenship this week was review of all school rules. We focused on good manners that we can use at home and at school. We also discussed the difference between needs and wants. We know that there are a few things we need to survive such as water, food, shelter, and clothing. We know that toys, candy, vacations, and trips to the movies are all things that can make us happy but are NOT things that we needs.
Notes: Today we had a class meeting about tattling. The amount of tattling is about 6 times a day per child. We discussed that it adds up to be over 160 tattles a day!!!!:) We talked about 4 rules to follow when deciding whether we need to talk to an adult: 1. If a child is in danger, you should talk to an adult. 2. Try to solve the problem on your own (This is a big one because all the children have been taught how to use I Messages.) 3. Must it be handled by teacher now or can it wait till later? 4. MYOB (Mind Your Own Business) What I tell the kids is that if it doesn't have anything to do with you, it is not your problem. And I like to add that if the problem has been solved there is no need to tell me.
I know we all talked at conferences that students should come to me for support, but MOST of the time these problems can be solved by the students.
Having said all of that, your kids are a JOY to have in class. Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Nov. 15-26
Writer's Workshop has begun! I am thrilled with the "stuff" the kids are "making" during our cozy, quiet, comfortable, and creative Writer's Workshop time. I have held on to most of the creations so we can share and inspire others in their writing. Speaking of sharing, your children have been a wonderful audience when classmates are sharing! Soon, your child will be bringing home lists, postcards, small label books, story retellings and so much more. Please celebrate you child's success! We will have Writer's Workshop at least four times a week.
Language Arts:
Our letter this week was "a" and our popcorn word was "am." There will be no letter or sight word introduction next week due to the days off. We focused on word families like -an, -at, -ap. We read a non-fiction book about alligators and did a 4 square to show what we learned. Next week we will read the story The Relatives Came and share who we like to have visit us. We will touch upon Thanksgiving in books and writing.
Math:
Our math boxes (centers) in the morning are all about numeral writing. Notice the papers that are coming home and help your child fix any reversals. This is the time to practice writing the numbers correctly to form good habits. We are creating simple number stories with pictures and retelling. Out food plate showed patterns of fruit. We also discussed things that are heavier and lighter than us.
Social Studies:
Our Cool Tool for the week was remembering to say "Thank you." We discussed how we should always say thank you when someone gives us something, helps or warns us, or pays us a compliment. Please continue to encourage thank yous at home. This sure is the season for being thankful!
Science: This week and next week we discuss nutrition. We focused on the food pyramid with our snacks, non fiction books and videos. We talked about choosing healthy foods for every meal. We read a book called Eat Healthy, Feel Great! which introduced the concept of green light foods (healthy choices that you can "go" ahead an eat any time,) yellow light foods (foods with some nutritional value but also ingredients that might "slow" you down....so we can "slow" down eating them,) and red light foods (foods with little or no nutritional value and added preservatives that we should "stop" eating all together.) Don't be surprised if your child begins monitoring his, her, or YOUR food choices.:)
Art Awareness:
This week, Mrs. Nosek came for Art Awareness. She shared with us the artist Grant Wood. We heard interesting facts about his life, looked at and discussed his most famous piece American Gothic, and created our own PARODY (fancy word meaning silly copy) of the painting. We even got to take a picture in the cut out of American Gothic. It was a wonderful experience. Thank you, Mrs. Nosek. Please know that volunteers are needed for the remainder of the year. Check back with me or the PTA chairperson in charge of Art Awareness (found on the Watts website.)
Notes:
Remember that next week is short with Wed-Fri off of school.
We are in great need of glue sticks. Feel free to pick up a pack to donate to our class. It will be much appreciated!
Enjoy your time off! Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful to have your child in my class!
Language Arts:
Our letter this week was "a" and our popcorn word was "am." There will be no letter or sight word introduction next week due to the days off. We focused on word families like -an, -at, -ap. We read a non-fiction book about alligators and did a 4 square to show what we learned. Next week we will read the story The Relatives Came and share who we like to have visit us. We will touch upon Thanksgiving in books and writing.
Math:
Our math boxes (centers) in the morning are all about numeral writing. Notice the papers that are coming home and help your child fix any reversals. This is the time to practice writing the numbers correctly to form good habits. We are creating simple number stories with pictures and retelling. Out food plate showed patterns of fruit. We also discussed things that are heavier and lighter than us.
Social Studies:
Our Cool Tool for the week was remembering to say "Thank you." We discussed how we should always say thank you when someone gives us something, helps or warns us, or pays us a compliment. Please continue to encourage thank yous at home. This sure is the season for being thankful!
Science: This week and next week we discuss nutrition. We focused on the food pyramid with our snacks, non fiction books and videos. We talked about choosing healthy foods for every meal. We read a book called Eat Healthy, Feel Great! which introduced the concept of green light foods (healthy choices that you can "go" ahead an eat any time,) yellow light foods (foods with some nutritional value but also ingredients that might "slow" you down....so we can "slow" down eating them,) and red light foods (foods with little or no nutritional value and added preservatives that we should "stop" eating all together.) Don't be surprised if your child begins monitoring his, her, or YOUR food choices.:)
Art Awareness:
This week, Mrs. Nosek came for Art Awareness. She shared with us the artist Grant Wood. We heard interesting facts about his life, looked at and discussed his most famous piece American Gothic, and created our own PARODY (fancy word meaning silly copy) of the painting. We even got to take a picture in the cut out of American Gothic. It was a wonderful experience. Thank you, Mrs. Nosek. Please know that volunteers are needed for the remainder of the year. Check back with me or the PTA chairperson in charge of Art Awareness (found on the Watts website.)
Notes:
Remember that next week is short with Wed-Fri off of school.
We are in great need of glue sticks. Feel free to pick up a pack to donate to our class. It will be much appreciated!
Enjoy your time off! Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful to have your child in my class!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Nov. 1- 12
Thank you, parents, for attending the Parent-Teacher Conferences these past two weeks! I hope you found yours to be informative and helpful. In response to our conversations, I have sent home a small packet of resources to help support your child at home.
Language Arts:
Last week we focused on the letter "t" and sight word "I." We finished up the Jolly Phonics sounds, brought our orange books home to practice, but kept sound book 7 at school for extra practice. We read some fun books centering around T and created books and art projects in response. We read a fact book and then wrote about turtles.
This week we focused on the letter "c" and sight word "can." Thanks to all of the students who sent in cans for our food drive! We read come books that had a C theme and recognized that C has a hard and soft sound.
We launched Writer's Workshop, a most anticipated part of the day. We discussed why we write, who we know that are writers, what Writer's Workshop looks, sounds and feels like, and began "making" things on Friday! Some of us brought home a sample but others wanted to keep work at school to complete. We will keep a lot of what we make at school for sharing with classmates or conferencing with me.
Math:
We played a Tricky Teens games. It is important for the students to see the teens as they count. This visual support will help them recognize these numbers that don't follow a normal number pattern. We drew pictures on slates representing simple number stories. We continue to make number books and will be focusing on the correct way to form our numbers. We created a symmetry picture and practiced patterns in our morning math boxes.
Social Studies:
We discussed the importance of showing respect for substitute teachers in the same way we show respect for our regular teachers. We need to understand that substitute teachers may do some things differently than our classroom teacher. We can be helpful to the substitute teacher if he or she asks for help.
Science:
Next week we will discuss nutrition and food groups. Please look at the green note from you child's folder. We will try our best to bring in snack items from each food group. I understand that your child may not consistently participate if he/she has allergies, aversions or follows a religious regimen.
Notes:
How lucky we have been with the beautiful weather! As cold weather draws near, please practice skills of independence: zipping, buttoning, putting on snowpants and boots. Please also label outerwear...they all can look similar and can be easily misplaced. Remember that we have no school Wed., Nov. 24- Fri., Nov. 26.
A belated thank you to Mrs. Jagshi, Mrs.Yampati, and Mrs. Nosek for planning a wonderful fall party!
Language Arts:
Last week we focused on the letter "t" and sight word "I." We finished up the Jolly Phonics sounds, brought our orange books home to practice, but kept sound book 7 at school for extra practice. We read some fun books centering around T and created books and art projects in response. We read a fact book and then wrote about turtles.
This week we focused on the letter "c" and sight word "can." Thanks to all of the students who sent in cans for our food drive! We read come books that had a C theme and recognized that C has a hard and soft sound.
We launched Writer's Workshop, a most anticipated part of the day. We discussed why we write, who we know that are writers, what Writer's Workshop looks, sounds and feels like, and began "making" things on Friday! Some of us brought home a sample but others wanted to keep work at school to complete. We will keep a lot of what we make at school for sharing with classmates or conferencing with me.
Math:
We played a Tricky Teens games. It is important for the students to see the teens as they count. This visual support will help them recognize these numbers that don't follow a normal number pattern. We drew pictures on slates representing simple number stories. We continue to make number books and will be focusing on the correct way to form our numbers. We created a symmetry picture and practiced patterns in our morning math boxes.
Social Studies:
We discussed the importance of showing respect for substitute teachers in the same way we show respect for our regular teachers. We need to understand that substitute teachers may do some things differently than our classroom teacher. We can be helpful to the substitute teacher if he or she asks for help.
Science:
Next week we will discuss nutrition and food groups. Please look at the green note from you child's folder. We will try our best to bring in snack items from each food group. I understand that your child may not consistently participate if he/she has allergies, aversions or follows a religious regimen.
Notes:
How lucky we have been with the beautiful weather! As cold weather draws near, please practice skills of independence: zipping, buttoning, putting on snowpants and boots. Please also label outerwear...they all can look similar and can be easily misplaced. Remember that we have no school Wed., Nov. 24- Fri., Nov. 26.
A belated thank you to Mrs. Jagshi, Mrs.Yampati, and Mrs. Nosek for planning a wonderful fall party!
Friday, October 29, 2010
October 25-29
We had a great time on our field trip to the play If You Give a Cat Cupcake! Thanks you to Mrs. Marron, Mrs. Parrilli and Mrs. McHale for coming along!
Language Arts:
Letter P was our letter of the week and our sight word was "my." We read a few pumpkin books, learned about its life cycle, examined a pumpkin and used adjective to describe a pumpkin, and learned a pumpkin song!
Math:
With the pumpkin and Halloween theme, we practiced graphing, patterning, and counting. We also practiced skills already learned with our morning math boxes. We learned a bit about the penny this week.
Social Studies:
We talked more about bullying. We talked about what it means to be a bystander (someone who is not involved but realizes that the bullying is taking place) and how he or she can tell the bully to Stop! and get help. We discussed what we can do to stop ourselves from being a bully to others. We need to say Stop! to ourselves, take deep breaths and go on with our day. Lastly, we discussed the inappropriate remarks and how they are hurtful to others. (Ex: I don't like you! I'm not inviting you to my birthday party.) Lastly, we enjoyed some Halloween fun on Friday with a writing activity, our Fall Parade, and Fall Party!
Science:
This was a busy week for science. We finished up our senses unit with many non fiction books and lots of experiments! We also had an experiment with pennies to see what would happen to a dull penny if it goes into a mystery liquid. Did your child tell you what happened? It is fun to be scientists!
Have a safe and fun Halloween!
Language Arts:
Letter P was our letter of the week and our sight word was "my." We read a few pumpkin books, learned about its life cycle, examined a pumpkin and used adjective to describe a pumpkin, and learned a pumpkin song!
Math:
With the pumpkin and Halloween theme, we practiced graphing, patterning, and counting. We also practiced skills already learned with our morning math boxes. We learned a bit about the penny this week.
Social Studies:
We talked more about bullying. We talked about what it means to be a bystander (someone who is not involved but realizes that the bullying is taking place) and how he or she can tell the bully to Stop! and get help. We discussed what we can do to stop ourselves from being a bully to others. We need to say Stop! to ourselves, take deep breaths and go on with our day. Lastly, we discussed the inappropriate remarks and how they are hurtful to others. (Ex: I don't like you! I'm not inviting you to my birthday party.) Lastly, we enjoyed some Halloween fun on Friday with a writing activity, our Fall Parade, and Fall Party!
Science:
This was a busy week for science. We finished up our senses unit with many non fiction books and lots of experiments! We also had an experiment with pennies to see what would happen to a dull penny if it goes into a mystery liquid. Did your child tell you what happened? It is fun to be scientists!
Have a safe and fun Halloween!
Friday, October 22, 2010
October 18-22
Language Arts: Our letter of the week was "r" and our sight word was"the." We focused on rhyming through books, songs, games and writing. Look for our Oh, A-Hunting We Will Go and our rhyming page. During Flex groups, we added a fall book and discussed labeling pictures in our journal.
Math: We played a game about tricky teens (11-19) and a game using our instant recognition skills called Rabbit Flash. We made number books 1-3 which helps us with number concept. Every morning, we are doing math boxes. For the next few weeks, we have boxes that reinforce the following concepts: graphing, counting, estimating, coin recognition, and more than and less than.
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for the next few weeks is on Bullying. This week we talked about what a bully is and how a bully situation is different than an accident or small conflict. We also discussed the difference between talking and tattling. We practiced implementing the Stop! Walk! and Talk! method for bullying. We also practiced what to do if someone uses the Stop! method on us. A detailed explanation of these procedures are available on our May Watts website.
We finished our unit about Firefighters with a firefighter tool four square.
Science: We began our unit on the Five Senses. We have read a few books and created a small book for our book bags that tell what our five senses do.
Important News: Monday is our field trip to the play "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake." Please send a snack and a SACK LUNCH (lunch from home.) We will be eating lunch in our rooms after our field trip so the cafeteria and hot lunch will not be accessible to us.
Friday is our Fall Parade and Party. Please refer to the handout for details. Remember that children come to school with their costumes on. We will begin the parade at 2:00. The parties will begin at 2:15. We are in need of a few more helpers. Please contact Tina Jagshi (info in email received this morning) if you are interested.
Have a great weekend!
Math: We played a game about tricky teens (11-19) and a game using our instant recognition skills called Rabbit Flash. We made number books 1-3 which helps us with number concept. Every morning, we are doing math boxes. For the next few weeks, we have boxes that reinforce the following concepts: graphing, counting, estimating, coin recognition, and more than and less than.
Social Studies: Our Cool Tool for the next few weeks is on Bullying. This week we talked about what a bully is and how a bully situation is different than an accident or small conflict. We also discussed the difference between talking and tattling. We practiced implementing the Stop! Walk! and Talk! method for bullying. We also practiced what to do if someone uses the Stop! method on us. A detailed explanation of these procedures are available on our May Watts website.
We finished our unit about Firefighters with a firefighter tool four square.
Science: We began our unit on the Five Senses. We have read a few books and created a small book for our book bags that tell what our five senses do.
Important News: Monday is our field trip to the play "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake." Please send a snack and a SACK LUNCH (lunch from home.) We will be eating lunch in our rooms after our field trip so the cafeteria and hot lunch will not be accessible to us.
Friday is our Fall Parade and Party. Please refer to the handout for details. Remember that children come to school with their costumes on. We will begin the parade at 2:00. The parties will begin at 2:15. We are in need of a few more helpers. Please contact Tina Jagshi (info in email received this morning) if you are interested.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Welcome to our KP blog!
I am so excited to finally have learned how to create a blog! From this blog site you will be able to see what is going on in our kindergarten classroom. I will send an email reminder to let you know when a new post is up. I will try my best to communicate weekly but sometimes I will post twice a month. I hope you find our blog a fun way to Peek into our Week!
Enjoy!
Mrs. Peterson
Enjoy!
Mrs. Peterson
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