Jan Brett, Decomposing and Life Cycles

For the past two weeks, we read books by Jan Brett for our author study. If you're not familiar with her work, it is certainly worth checking out at the library. A lot of research and detail goes into each book she writes.  Visit the website www.janbrett.com for more information.  On Friday, we watched a video of her teaching us how to draw a hedgehog! Each day, we wrote to express our ideas after the story.  For example, on the day we read Hedgie Blasts Off, we wrote about what we would see if we visited another planet.  On the day we read The Hat, we wrote about how we can keep warm on a cold day.

We started new guided reading groups last week, and I'm sure you'll be proud of your child for all of the progress they have made so far this year.  I have completed my testing, and if you'd like more information about their reading level or reading performance, please feel free to contact me and I can share that information via email, phone, or we can set up a meeting in person.  Please remember to return all guided reading books and library books every Monday.  Check out these readers makig and confirming predictions.

 

In math, we are wrapping up our unit on decomposing.  We know how to build a number with two or three other numbers.  For example, you can make 10 in many ways including 6 and 4, or 3 and 3 and 4.  The visual of a number bond, as well as using manipulatives such as links, blocks, or even something edible like goldfish crackers, really helps make the concept concrete.  

In science, we've been stuyding the life cycle of our class pets, the mealworms.  By now almost all of our mealworms have turned into a pupa.  We are patiently awaiting the arrival of the darkling beetles. We even can compare the life cycle of a mealworm to other animals, such as the frog, and the butterfly.  

Happy New Year!

This week we had our first snow day, and first 2 hour delay!  How exciting!  I hope you either enjoyed some time outside sledding, making snow angels, building a snowman, or stayed cozy inside by the fire drinking cocoa!   

This week in reading we participated in another Junior Great Books lesson.  The story this week was The Shoemaker and the Elves. We read several versions and focused on new vocabulary in the story, and asking and answering questions about the text to build comprehension.  In writing we wrote to describe some of our fanciest shoe creations, we wrote about what we would do to thank the elves, and wrote about how the shoemaker and his wife probably felt when they first saw the elves.  We're also almost done with our second quarter weekend journals.  Writing bundles are coming home soon, so you'll be able to see all of the great writing your child has been doing in class.  I think you'll be very proud!  

In math, we started something new called "decomposing".  Basically what this mean is that we try to find ways to make a certain number with other numbers. This week we focused on making 5, 6, and 7.  We played a game called "Shake and Spill" to discover ways to make five.  We put five two colored beans in a cup and when we dumped them out, we recorded how many were white and red.  You can play this at home with heads/tails on a coin!  The next day we used two color tiles to record ways to make six.  For seven, we worked in three rotations.  We played "Shake and Spill" again to see how many ways we could make seven, pulled cubes out of a bag to make a number rod, and used Bingo markers to make two colored caterpillars.  Today we realized that there are 6 ways to make 5, 7 ways to make 6, and 8 ways to make 7.  Pretty cool stuff!  The students are beginning to understand the commutative property of addition, without even knowing it!  We call them "flip-flop-facts". Next week we will find ways to make 8, 9, and 10.  We'll also explore the possibilities of making a number with three parts.  

You might have heard about our new class pet.  When I announced that we would be taking care of a pet, we had endless speculation about what it might be.  I'm hearing from a few of you that this was discussed at home too!  We determined which of our ideas wouldn't be possible (no giraffes, sharks or flamingos), and some options that were doable (fish, hamster, and rabbit).  I revealed our new pet on Wednesday.  We have mealworms!  We will learn about what they need to survive, and watch their life cycle right in the classroom.  Soon they will become a pupa, and then a beetle!  Don't worry, they won't come home with your child at the end of the unit.  

Can you believe it's already the middle of the year?  I'm currently completing reading assessments on each child.  I listen to them each read several books independently, and ask them questions to guage their comprehension.  I also will test some foundational skills, such as sight word recognition, letter sounds, and more.  While testing is going on, you won't see a new book coming home in your child's reading bag on Fridays.  I hope to finish testing soon, adjust groups as needed, and begin new guided reading groups soon.  I'll share some of the testing data with you as well once it has been completed.  From what I've seen so far in the testing that I've completed, these Kindergarteners are making SO MUCH progress!  

Flora M. Singer has an amazing opportunity for dads!  It's called the Watchdog program.  Read more about it here:  

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/singeres/counseling/watchdogs.aspx

If you are able to spend the day at Flora Singer, we'd love for you to sign up! You'll get to spend time in different classrooms, at lunch and recess, and you'll even be introduced on Turtle TV, our live morning announcements program.