This week in reading workshop we talked about what characters are.  They can be people, animals, or even things that are given qualities like people. Characters are who the story is about.  Characters can change as things happen in the story.  We talked about how characters interact and that dialogue helps understand the characters in the the story.

On Tuesday we had a surprise assembly to celebrate Mrs. Bonacquist's birthday!  Earlier we had created a page in an alphabet book that was presented at the assembly.  Two children from our class read the page and presented Mrs. Bonacquist with a flower.

This week in writing workshop we continued to write true stories.  We talked about what makes writing hard to read, and what makes writing easy to read.  The children had to assess their own writing and divide it into two piles-easy to read, and hard to read.  We talked about revising and ways to make our writing better.  We practiced writing stories that readers really want to read by remembering and using everything we have learned so far about writing.  We talked about how writers think about what they want to say before writing anything down.  The children rehearsed their writing with their writing partners before beginning a new piece.  We ended the week with the children reviewing their most recent piece of writing and whether it was hard to read or easy to read.  We also began our use of conventions such as a capital at the beginning of a sentence and a period at the end.

In math we practiced making groups of 5,6,7, and 8, then writing addition sentences to describe the groups we made.  We talked about comparing numbers to 10.  We practiced making groups on a ten frame using the terms one more, one fewer, and two more.  We practiced quantity recognition within a ten frame by playing a game called ten frame flash.  The ten frame flashes a group on a ten frame and the children need to say the quantity before it changes.  I have included a link to "Ten Frame Flash" on youtube.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRR9LK3zfho

This week in reading workshop we worked on retelling familiar stories including key details. We read the story of the Three Bears and practiced retelling as a whole group.  We learned storytelling words such as: first, next, then, last, and finally to show sequence in the retelling.  The children had a chance to practice retelling the familiar story of the Three Bears with their elbow partner using storytelling words.  We discussed how retelling can help you understand what is happening in a story.  We also talked about using a storytelling voice. and how changing your voice to sound like

different characters makes the retelling much more interesting.  We sat in a circle and practiced retelling the story using both storytelling

words and a storytelling voice.  Each child had a chance to add a 

sentence to the retell. It was great practice for both active listening 

and retelling.

In writing workshop we practiced bringing our writing to life by adding dialogue with speech bubbles. We discussed how the story tells the reader about who the characters are, where it takes place, and what happened.  The speech bubbles tell what the people in the story are saying.  This was very exciting for the children!  We ended our week talking about editing and using everything we have learned to make our writing pieces the best that they can be.  It is very exciting for me to see what tremendous growth your children have made since the beginning of the year!

 

In Math we worked on counting, reading, and writing 10.  We sorted objects into groups of 10 and used 2-sided counters to make different combinations that equal 10.  We reviewed counting and sorting numbers 6-9 by sorting toothpicks into groups of a certain number, then using that number of toothpicks to create a shape.

This week in reading workshop we focused on making a plan to share during share time with their partners.  Last week we talked about what they could share, this week we worked on marking the place  they wanted to share.  The children practiced using a single sticky note to mark one place they wanted to share, then had a chance to discuss it with their elbow partner.  We reviewed some of the things that they can share, then introduced the folder, "My sticky notes."  It will give the children four sticky notes to mark places that they want to share.  It has the same icons that are on our anchor chart so that the children are able to discuss four different things to share.

In writing workshop we worked on writing true stories.  We told a story about a common experience-our last fire drill. I told a very basic version first, then asked the children if it was interesting. It was not.  We talked about what we were doing before the fire drill, how everyone behaved, what the day was like, and things we heard.  We added details each time, then judged our story. We planned how we could write that story and what would be on each page.  The children had a chance to think of something that they have done/experienced then share that with their partner.  We talked about how details make a story more interesting and help the reader get a good mental image.  The children started working on their own stories with illustrations and words.                In math we continued practicing more/fewer using ten frames.  We reviewed counting and writing numbers 1-5, then started with numbers 6-10.  The children played a memory game that they had to count objects 6-10, then find a corresponding number of objects.  We worked on addition and subtraction skills using a five frame and a die.  Given the number on the die, the children had to either add or subtract cubes from their five frame to get to that number.  The children also had to verbalize what they did using mathematical language.

Thank you to everyone who came in or donated items to our Halloween party.

On Monday we celebrated Peace Day with a school wide assembly.
First, our entire school made a human peace sign by standing on a giant peace sign that was painted on the field. Next, we gathered in the gym and representatives from each grade level talked about how we could bring peace to the world.

 This week in reading workshop we focused on what we can share with our partner during share time.  We discussed how they can talk about their favorite part in a story and tell why it is their favorite part, they can share something that is interesting or "That's cool" to teach their partner something.  They can share something that they learned from their book, something that makes them say, "I didn't know that!"  They can also share a connection that they have to the book, or a similar experience with, "That's happened to me."
The children have been practicing their reading stamina and are now able to read for 8-9 minutes independently! I am so proud of them! Independent reading is followed by followed by 4 minutes of share time.  They do their independent reading back-to-back with their partner so they don't distract each other, then they turn so that they are knee-to-knee for sharing.

 

The children did a great job staying focused during share time.

At the fine motor station the children had to use a hole punch to punch out black circles that would form the legs of their spiders.

In writing workshop, the children finalized their books and many had a chance to read their books to me so that I was able to write words underneath.  This was a great exercise because as they were reading over their own work, they were able to see things that they wanted to revise or change because it wasn't what they really wanted to say or they wanted to add more words.  We worked on visualizing an idea before beginning to write and many children started a new piece in their writer's notebook.  After only 1 1/2 months of school, it is so exciting to see the growth that is taking place.  Listening to them stretching out words or using our 'useful words' in their writing is so great to watch.

In math this week we worked on comparing and ordering numbers 0-5.  The children used 1:1 correspondence to compare two groups to determine whether one group has more, fewer, or as many as another group.  We practiced ordering numbers 0-5 in sequence, and learned about ordinal numbers through fifth.

This was a quick week in kindergarten!
This week in reading workshop we talked about reading partnerships and how to appropriately interact with each other while sharing books.  The children practiced getting their book boxes and settling quietly in a place where they could read with their buddy.  They practiced sitting elbow to elbow to to take turns reading the the same book and also reading each other their own books.  We also practiced sitting knee to knee and discussing the books that each child is reading.  We discussed staying busy the whole time and how to book share with a friend.  We also worked on our stamina for independent reading.


During writing workshop the children continued to work on their books.  We worked on revising and re-reading to make sure that each page is saying just what they want it to say.  The children have worked hard and are taking great pride in their work.  I have seen wonderful progress in their ability to stretch out words to hear the sounds and determine the letters that are making them.

On Friday the volunteers from the Slingerlands Fire Department came to school to teach us about fire safety.  They donned their gear to show the children that it's a real person inside and not to be afraid if they see a firefighter.

The children even had a chance to see "Firefighter Bonacquist" don all the gear.

 We were lucky to have an opportunity to talk to the firefighters, learn about how they get to the fires, and even sit inside the fire truck.

The children have been working hard at learning our 'useful words' and finding them in books, poems, and other print as well as hearing them while I read aloud.  These are the words that we have so far.  

Reading in bins at the library work stations.

Playing the 'at' family game.

Working on fine motor skills.

Reading poetry from her reader's notebook.

This week in math we learned about the number zero.  We practiced one more, two more, one fewer, and two fewer.  The children worked on ordering, counting, and writing numbers 0-5.