Week 19: Home Reading is coming!

January 27-30

This week students continued to work on their My Little Snowman books. Our books are now complete and they will come home sometime next week. My assessment included watching to see if students can independently: find their work tools, work independently, ask for help if needed, copy print and retell a familiar story. Students showed so much joy while working on completing their booklets as they did their best work.

Students had the chance to colour/cut a letter to spell the title Elmer in the Snow for our bulletin board display. We then added some white paint splatter to give the illusion that it was snowing on our display.

We are preparing to begin bringing home some books to read with our families. Students will bring home a Ziploc bag with a letter that discusses ways to read with your child, a recording sheet for the books they read and a list of a few kindergarten sight words. Please let me know if you have any questions about Home Reading. My hope is that these books are enjoyed by both the parents and the students as they begin to see themselves as a reader.

Reminders:
- Please be sure your child always has warm clothes so that when we go outside, they are prepared
- Return all library books each week

Next week:
- We will discuss measurement
- Letter focus on Q
- Number focus on 7

Week 18: My Little Snowman

January 20-24

This week students began working on a paper copy of a book called My Little Snowman. While working on completing this book, students are learning that we read from left to right, that the words and pictures match and how to copy words to complete a sentence. When finished, students will bring home their books to read to their family.

For the past few weeks, kindergarten has been introduced to a sight word each week. So far we have learned the, is and I. We practice reading, spelling and using the word in a sentence. We will soon begin our home reading program and the sight words we are learning are in many beginning reader books.

On Friday, students enjoyed hearing the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We reviewed what a character in a story is. Students chose their favourite character and placed it on a chart to compare the results. A copy of the story and some story props will be placed at the Story Telling Corner for students to practice re-telling the story.

During Buddies, the students talked about setting and looked for examples in books that the grade 4s brought to kindergarten.

Next week:
- Sight word: can
- Continue working on My Little Snowman book
- Outside winter walk Wednesday (If the weather is suitable)

Week 17: Write the room!

January 13  -17


On Monday, students were challenged to find 12 winter words around the classroom and write them down. We call this activity Write The Room! Many children were able to find and copy at least 9 words. Copying print is an expectation we are working on in kindergarten.

We began writing in a journal this week. Students were asked to draw a picture, print their name and print letters or a sentence to explain their drawing. We will write in our journals weekly. Students can write about any topic. The are also able to use words they find in the classroom.

Sight word of the week was: Is
Last week we worked on the word The

Next week:
- My Little Snowman Book (Students will learn to "read" this beginning reader book and copy missing words to complete the sentence.
- Ordering items from smallest to tallest
- Representing numbers from 1-10 in a mixed up order

Week 16: Representing Numbers!

Jan. 13-17

This week I challenged the students to identify a number represented in different ways and match it to the numeral. Next week, we will check for correctness and tally how many for each number.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday . . . Kindergarten is practicing saying the days of the week in order. You can say the days of the week or sing them with your child to help them learn the order.

We tried to fill a whole page with Numbers I Know and Letters I know. This helps students realize that they know and can print a lot of numbers and letters. We will take this new confidence and begin working in a journal.

I reviewed the idea of character and setting in stories. We used the story of The Three Little Pigs to discuss these concepts. The book and sequencing cards will be placed at the Story Telling Corner so that students can practice re-telling the story in order.

On Friday, our grade 4 buddies read a story to their kindergarten buddy and sketched/labeled the main character.

Next week:

- Read Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neal

- On Wednesday, we will welcome a student teacher in her first year at Mount Royal University

- Tuesday is library day. Please return all library books

Week 15: Run, run as fast as you can . . .

December 16 - 19

At the beginning of the week, we read the story about The Gingergread Man. We re-read the story many times and practiced re-telling the story in order using puppets with images of the characters. Students coloured and cut a gingerbread man and pieces of candy to decorate a large paper gingerbread house.

Wednesday was Grinch Day! Many students wore green and we had a day of fun filled green activities. We used green play dough where some students chose to create patterns, we made a green collage, practiced finding and printing the letter Gg and many more activities. Thank you to the students who brought green snacks to share.

1. Using hole punchers to strengthen our hand we punched out all the letter Gg.

  

2. Students sorted a number of green items.

3. Green collage

Happy Holidays! See you in 2020!

Week 14: Numbers! Numbers! Numbers!

December 9-13

-Thank you to those students who sent in a photo of their pattern they made at home. Keep practicing your pattern making and look for patterns in our world. Here is an example of a pattern sent in:

-This week we worked on drawing pictures to match a number from 1 - 10. Students drew a number of different shapes, animals, letters and numbers to represent a number.

-In kindergarten, we practice counting up to 10 and down to 0 from any number. In the next week, I will check in the each student to see if they can do this.

Next Week:

* Tuesday, December 17th is Ugly Sweater Day and Thursday, December 19th is Pajama Day!

* Monday and Tuesday:  Gingerbread Man story and retelling

* Wednesday is Grinch Day in kindergarten. Students can wear green, we will build with green playdough and make a green collage together. We will talk about how the Dr. Seuss character's heart grew when he did kind things for others. If you want, you can send a green snack for your child or to share with the class.

Week 13: I know all about letter E!

December 2-6

Students were introduced to the word vowel. We completed a Highlight a Letter focusing on the vowel Ee. Students are asked to find and colour all the Es and then trace and print. We talked about how there are many ways to make the letter E and that students should choose the way that works best for their brain.

On Wednesday, students focused on the number 6. We reviewed many different ways to show the number 6. Students then identified all the ways to make 6 that they could find on the Number 6 Hunt page.

During buddies, students played a game using ten frame cards. Each player turns over a card. The player with the ten frame card that shows the highest number, gets to keep the card. We used words like: more/less and greater/fewer.

If your child is using technology at home, please check out these great learning websites:

pbskids.org

starfall.com

abcya.com

funbrain.com

Next week:

-recording patterns in different ways

-check in to see if students can see a dot set on a dice and know how many

-students will choose a number to represent in many ways

-AM group attends on Friday, December 13th