Week 19 Highlights!

What a wonderful week!

During our Shared Reading, we focused on the poem, Arctic Animals, to explore letters, sounds, rhyming words, and print concepts.  We introduced one new word wall or snap words this week!  Our new word that we can read in a snap is it.  Please practice identifying, reading, and writing our sight words with your child at home.

In Reader's Workshop, we continued our third unit, Bigger Books, Bigger Reading Muscles.  We learned that readers have to use all their super powers when trying to read challenging books.  We focused on finding patterns within our leveled texts, using first sound power to read tricky words, and identifying surprise endings.  Take a peek at our kindergarten readers practicing pattern power using their reading mats!

Our Read Aloud of the week was Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats.  We discussed character, settings, and important events.  We used retell cards to identify the beginning, middle, and end of our story.  We also compared and contrasted the experiences of Peter in both stories.  Please ask your child to share with you a similarity and difference between our two Ezra Jack Keats stories.

During Daily Five word work stations this week, we played Sort It, Color, It, Roll and Read It, and Spin It with our snap words.  We reviewed our word sorts and explored Lexia on the iPad.  We also practiced labeling at the writing table.  Please ask your child what was their favorite Daily Five station this week!

This week during Writer's Workshop, we continued our how-to writing unit. We learned that how-to writers become readers and ask, "Can I follow this?".  We can read and peer edit our writing, while asking and answering partner's questions.  We also learned how to labels add detail to the steps of our stories.  Take a peek at our writers working together to complete our how-to stories.

We introduced lowercase letter writing in our Handwriting curriculum.  We learned how to correctly write lowercase v, w, and t.  Please practice our frog jump, corner starter, center starter uppercase letters and all numbers with your child at home.

In Whole Group Math, we continue to explore number pairs, decomposing, and composing numbers in the fourth module in our Eureka Math curriculum.  This week's focus was composing and decomposing numbers 6 to 8.  Please ask your child to share with you a number bond for each of our numerals to 8.

This week during Math Tubs, we continued our new round of tubs.  This rotation will focus on number writing, subitizing, one-to-one correspondence, number identification, number sequencing, and basic addition.  Please ask your child what their favorite math tub was this week.  Take a peek at our kindergarten mathematicians!

On Friday, we began our second Science unit, Materials and Motion. This week, we introduced the properties of materials.  We discussed, described, and sorted objects by material such as wood, fabric, paper, metal, plastic, and glass.  Please ask your child to identify and describe the different materials in your home.  Thank you again for your generous donations to our budding scientists.  We will begin our materials and motion STEM tubs in the upcoming weeks!

Upcoming Dates

January 21st--Martin Luther King Jr. Day--NO SCHOOL

January 31st-- Parent-Teacher Conferences

February 1st--The 100th Day of Kindergarten Class Party--more information to come!