Last week in reading we worked on making predictions.  Before we read, we guessed what the story might be about.  As we read, we guessed what might happen on the next page.  Even after reading we guessed what might happen to the characters now that the story is over.  Practice making predictions with stories you read at home, or as you watch TV shows or movies! 

We are getting really fancy with our patterns in math.  We can name patterns with letters, and even count the repeating units of a pattern.  We can even make non-patterns. This week we drew our own patterns and continued to practice making them online with Virtual Manipulatives and the Promethean Board.  Next week we will review some concepts from the first quarter like position words and graphing.  We'll also start our next unit on counting and cardinality.

This week in Science, we finished up our study of the water cycle by making a rain stick.  It was a lot of fun, and we really worked like scientists.  First, we looked at all of our materials and tried to figure out what we would make.  Then, we tried to figure out how to put the cap on the paper towel holder.  It was tricky.  Then, we had to decide what would make the best rain sound.  We could pick rice or corn.  Finally, we added some tin foil to our tube to help make the rain sound.  Some people rolled it, some tore it up, and some rolled it into a ball.  We realized that different ways of making the rain stick produced different results!  The next day, we painted white, gray and black clouds on our tube. If we shook the tube, would it rain?  Who knows, but we sure had a rainy Friday after we made them!!

In writing this week, we wrote about our weekend, made a list of things a firefighter wears, labeled a firefighter, and wrote a sentence with the words "I like".  We are getting really good at stretching out our words to listen for letters so we can spell words!

 One of our favorite Center is Playdoh.  We can write letters and words and even spell our names!

The highlight of last week was certainly our visit from the firefighters!  We also learned a lot and continued to grow so much as Kindergarteners.  In math, we continue to work on patterns.  Here's a picture of one of our centers where we are making patterns with leaves!  Here's a student making a pattern with Virtual Manipulatives from Glencoe.   Want to try out the website?  Click here:
 http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html

 We read non fiction books about firefighters all week, but on Friday we had a fun surprise.  Katrin's mom was our mystery reader.  She read us two books, and the class was an amazing audience.

In science this week we learned about the water cycle.  In writing we continued writing lists.  Soon we will begin to write reminder, friendly and thank you notes!

Guided reading is in full swing.  Be on the lookout for your child's plastic folder with a guided reading book inside.  We are working on using the first letter of an unfamiliar word to figure out and using picture clues for help. 

Fire Fighter Fun!

Today we had a big surprise in Kindergarten!  Firefighters from station 19 came to visit our school.  Mrs. Ramienski kept it a secret just in case the firefighters had a real emergency and couldn't make it.  She didn't want anyone to get disappointed! :)

First we went outside and learned about the fire truck.  We walked all the way around it and counted the hoses.  Then, we got to go up the stairs, through the cab and jump out the other side.  It was so much fun.

Then we went inside and met some more firefighters.  We learned about calling 911, stop drop and roll, and how to get out of our house in case of a fire.  The firefighters told us to talk to our families about a meeting place in case of an emergency.  They also told us that we needed to know two safe ways out of our house. 

Then we watched Firefighter Ben get dressed in his gear. He looked really different when he wore all of his gear, but we weren't afraid.  We knew it was our friend Ben!!  He wore pants, a jacket, a hood, a mask and gloves.  Everyone got to shake his hand! 

It was such a fun day! 

We had a super week in Kindergarten! 

We started reading non-fiction books this week.  We learned that nonfiction books give us facts and true information about a topic. We learned about a variety of topics including rain, clouds, brushing our teeth and the subway.  We'll continue reading non fiction books next week.  If you happen to visit your public library, be sure to get both some stories and nonfiction!  Ask your child if the book you read each night is fiction or nonfiction. 

We started guided reading this week.  We are reading books with repetitive patterns and plenty of  familiar sight words.  The pictures give us big clues about unfamiliar words in the text.  During guided reading we also practice reading and writing letters and words.  Be on the lookout for guided reading books coming home soon. 

In writing this week we wrote lists!  We made a grocery list, favorite animals list, and a list of people in our family.  We keep a lot of our writing in a folder in our classroom, so we can show you how much progress we are making at the end of each quarter.  It's amazing how we are stretching out our words and writing beginning, ending and even some middle sounds when we write words. 

In math we are working on patterns, patterns, patterns!  We can make patterns, extend them, and describe them.  We know ABABAB, AABBAABB, ABCABC, and ABBABB patterns.  You can make patterns at home with food, toys or even coins!

Mr. Mollo was our mystery reader this week.  He read four books to the class and everyone was an amazing listener!  We are already wondering who our next mystery reader will be!

 We read a pumpkin book with our 3rd grade reading buddies this week and they helped us cut,  color and sequence pictures from seed to pumpkin pie.  It's amazing to see how quickly the Kindergarteners and 3rd graders have formed a connection.  The third graders LOVE helping the Kindergarteners! :)

 

Science was super fun this week.  We learned about clouds!  We know three types of clouds;  cirrus, cumulus and stratus!  We made cotton ball clouds to help us remember the three kinds of clouds. 

In Social Studies this week we finished up our U.S. Symbols by learning about the Liberty Bell and Mount Rushmore. 

We had a fun Friday at the end of this week.  Our reading buddies came and we read a story about pumpkin seeds.  Then, we worked together to cut, color and put some cards in order.  At the end of the day, we had our compliment party!  We earned five compliments from other teachers because our whole class was so well behaved in the hallway.  Our class took a vote on how to celebrate.  We decided to have a snack party with chips, Doritos, Cheetos and popcorn!   Yum! 

Next week is an exciting week.  Monday is Open House.  Parents are welcome to visit anytime.  Next week is also fire safety week!  Check out www.sparky.org for some cool activities.  We will read all about firefighters and fire safety next week and we might even have a visit from some local firefighters. 

Scholastic Book Orders

A great way to get your son or daughter to love reading is to let them pick out books they want to read at home!  Scholastic Book clubs is a great way to build up your child's home library. Every order also enables me to get free book for our classroom!  There's always a good variety of books to choose from and the books are quite affordable!  Please place orders by the 15th of the month.  You can order online:  https://orders.scholastic.com/HKNXZ or send in the catalog that was sent home yesterday with cash or a check. 

Helping at Home

A lot of parents have asked me what they can do to help their kindergartener at home.  I thought I'd make a post with some ideas of things you can do at home to help reinforce what we are doing in school!  If you have any additional ideas, please leave them in the comments section below. :)




While you are driving down the road, shopping in the store, or even looking for something to eat in your pantry or fridge, ask your child to point and name letters they see.  Ask them to look for a certain letter.  Ask them if they are uppercase or lowercase and if they know the sound or sounds they make!

Ask your child to count with you to see how long it takes to do household chores or activities, like putting away the dishes, making the bed, brushing teeth etc.

Practice tying shoes!!

Ask your child to look for numbers as you go shopping, drive around, or even see if they can recognize numbers around your home.

Practice sorting with coins, toys, collections, silverware, food items, clothing, leaves, etc.  Ask your child to count and name each pile after sorting.

Survey your family, friends or neighbors about their favorite things and display the results in the form of a pictograph or bar graph.  Use words like, more, less, and equal when you discuss the results.

Practice naming and counting coins.

Use an analog and digital clock to begin practicing how to tell time.  Show your child the clock at key times such as bed time, dinner time, or the time you typically leave for school or a weekly event.

Point out symbols used in our everyday environment and explain their meanings.

Discuss the weather daily, including the temperature each day. Ask your child to look at the picture forecast in the newspaper to tell you what the weather might be like tomorrow or later this week.

Ask your child to help you make lists for shopping, daily events and activities, things they need to do, or favorite things. Encourage them to listen to the sounds in the word and try to write as many letters as they hear!

Practice saying or singing the days of the week and months of the year.

Make patterns with household objects and ask your child to describe the pattern.  Point out patterns you see in your home or everday environment.

Take a walk and discuss the season and what you hear, smell, taste, feel and see during this time of the year. 

Do you have any other ideas?  Have you tried any of these yet?