This was a quick, yet busy week in kindergarten!  On Wednesday we had a great opportunity to listen to presentation about raptors.  We even got to see a screech owl, a falcon, a red tailed hawk, and a barred owl!  It was very exciting!  We learned a lot about these birds of prey and had a chance to touch a snowy owl foot and a barred owl wing.  Here are some of the facts that the children dictated after we got back to our room.

In writing we continued to work on persuasive pieces, focusing on letter writing.  We read books about characters that wrote letters to their owners requesting things.  We noted that they stated their request in a positive way, then backed it up with reasons.  We discussed how the reasons should appeal to the person that they are writing the letter to and that the more reasons they can come up with, the more convincing they will be.  I was the scribe as the children dictated a letter to me stating that it would be better if we had a class pet and the reasons why.

In math we have been reviewing decomposing numbers, problem solving, and working on our fluency of addition and subtraction facts through 5.  These facts should be automatic.

We learned about the parts of a seed, read about a pumpkin seed growing, and had a chance to plant our own seeds.  We planted red kidney bean seeds and watched a video of bean seeds growning.  This was fascinating to the children so I have attached a link to the video.

Time lapse video of beans growing

Our resident spider catchers

This week in reading workshop we talked about characters.  We talked about how identify the main character and the supporting characters, how you can learn about what the character might be like based on how he/she looks.  We talked about making inferences- noticing what characters are doing and saying can also help you decide what a character is like.  We discussed how you can learn more about the main character in a book by the way other characters act around that main character- how do they talk to each other, what are they doing..
In writing workshop we talked about revising.  Writers don't wait around for someone else to tell them how to make their writing better (in this case more persuasive), they reread what they have written and think, "How can I make this even better?"  Then they add and change their piece so it is even better. We discussed that writers don't say, "How do you spell?"  Writers spell tricky words the best they can so that readers can read them.  Writers say the word as slowly as they can, stretching the word out like a rubber band and listening to every sound that they hear, then write them down.  Writers also use all the ways they know to write words.  We read The Lorax and discussed the fact that it is a fiction story, but it has a real message.  It talks about a problem and what needs to be done.  We added this type of writing to our list of possible persuasive styles/pieces to choose from.
In math we worked on sorting things by more than one possible attribute.  We have been practicing addition and working on automaticity of adding and subtracting numbers through 5.  We worked on story problems than involved 'how many more...' and adding on.  We also practiced filling in missing numbers through 20.

This week in reading workshop we practiced reading strategies with a partner.  Partners can help each other to become better readers.  They help figure out unknown words using strategies such as: using picture clues, stretching out words, using context clues, looking at parts of the words, and asking if it makes sense.  Partners can listen to each other read, then retell the story to make sure they both understand what is happening.

 In writing workshop we continued our unit on persuasive writing.  We talked about how writers keep writing more and more to tackle the problems they've seen.  They write different types of pieces in different ways and they keep at it.   Did you know that some writers write songs to persuade people?The children found that idea quite interesting.  We also discussed that another way to make writing more convincing is to write about how the problem might get worse if they don't do something about it.

In math we worked on comparing objects by length and by height.  We also practiced measuring many things around our room using nonstandard units of measurements.

n reading we worked on thinking about what we are reading as we are doing it.  If too much time is spent on trying to sound out the words, then sometimes you forget what you were reading about. We also worked on rereading to make sure we understand what the author is telling us.  The children are so excited to be reading and want to read harder books.  We are working on choosing books that are a good fit.

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 In writing we started a new unit on opinion/persuasive writing.  We talked about how writers can write to make the world a better place:  they see a problem, think of ways to solve it, then write to make it better.  We discussed that one way to get people to follow your idea is to give lots of reasons why they should follow it.  The more reasons you can give the reader, the more convincing you will be.  We talked about some ways that a writer can write different persuasive pieces- they can make a sign, a list, a book, or even write a petition.  Yes, your kindergarteners are learning how to write a petition!

In math we finished our unit on decomposing numbers 11 to 18.  We worked on problem solving and following directions, solving vertical addition and subtraction, and started a new unit on measurement.  It was a fun start to the unit using unifix cubes to measure things around the room...including partners!  The children really enjoyed this activity and worked well with their partners.

 Station Time

It's finally starting to feel like spring and the flowers are blossoming.  The children are also blossoming-as readers.  This week in reading workshop we worked on reading longer texts of both fiction and nonfiction.  The children are working hard at figuring out unknown words using context clues and sounding out while maintaining comprehension.

This week in writing, we wrapped up our unit on informational how-to books.  It is impressive how much they have grown as writers.  They are able to generate ideas, thinking about all the things they know how to do,  organize the order in which the steps occur, and put them in writing.  They are also doing well with the conventions of writing such as grammar and punctuation.  Next week we will begin a new unit on opinion writing.

  

Last week in math we worked on composing numbers 11-19, this week we worked on decomposing numbers 11-19- breaking them down into tens and ones.  We also worked on solving addition and subtraction problems when they are presented vertically.  We continue to practice counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s to 100.