It’s been another awesome week in Room 301! We are in the midst of many different projects and there is a noticeable buzz every time “Book Publishing” or “Gardening” is mentioned.
Language Arts
In Reader’s Workshop this week we added a new book to our list of little books, one centering around Dalmatians after our 101 day celebration. Reading Groups met Monday-Thursday… Mrs. Weckstein was home sick on Friday (an honest bummer for me). Thank you to everyone who is returning their Guided Reading books in a timely manner – it has helped our groups to meet and move very smoothly. I am very excited to see such energy and enthusiasm surrounding our abilities to read different books.
In Writer’s Workshop we chose one of our Small Moment pieces to publish this week! Each child was given their own book to write and illustrate their favorite story in and then share. Please look for these to come home at the beginning of next week with an attached note. We spent a great deal of time on these books and the kids are VERY excited to read them to our class before they bring them home to share with their families.
We also spent time this week writing to a topic. While it may seem like a LONG, LONG, LONG way off, there will come a day when this group of kids will take the MEAP tests (3rd grade really is still a long way away) and on the test they will need to be able to write to a topic. Building wide we hold “Topic Tuesday’s” once a month and this month the topic was kindness. We spent a great deal of time talking first about kindness and read the book, The Splendid Friend Indeed. We used this Mentor Text to brainstorm ways people have been kind to us. Then each child was given a paper with a square for an illustration to illustrate a time someone was kind to them and then they had to write a couple of sentences. I was VERY impressed with how well our writers’ did on this task for their first attempt!
Our Word Study this week has been HUGE in connecting our Reading and Writing together. We have spent time breaking words into onsets and rimes. Onsets are the beginning sounds and rimes are the ending sounds. For instance, if the word was “brown” we would say the onset was “br-“ and the rime was “-own”. By breaking words apart this way we are helping ourselves to write the sound we hear in words more accurately as well as teaching us ways to break tricky words apart when we are reading and come across an unfamiliar word. I will be sending out a “sight words” list next week that will give you more words you can practice at home that we have been using in many different ways at school.
Math
This week in Math we did a few different things! We practiced counting by ones, fives and tens by using our hands (THANK YOU for your speedy response in returning the homework) and then we practiced counting using base-ten blocks. Additionally one of our stations this week was a math game where students had to use a spinner to spin a number ranging from 11-20. Students then had to use different counters to make the number on a ten frame. This helped to reinforce the concept that any number in the teens is simply 10 + ___ .
Social Studies
This week in Social Studies we talked about the differences amongst people (physical characteristics, cultural backgrounds and even ages). The Weckies were partnered up randomly and had to complete an interview with each other comparing: eye color, height, favorite food, favorite holiday, length of hair, hair color, boy/girl and more! It was fun for the kids to share their findings with the whole group and see that we are alike in many ways and also very different in many ways. We talked about why it is good to be different!
Science
AND… this week in Science we became gardeners! After spending time with a poem that describes “sowing seeds” we planted our own seeds. Each child had the chance at stations this week to plant their own flowers – daisies or lavender. Please keep your fingers crossed that they grow! (wink wink)
Important Upcoming Info…
Next week brings an exciting week upon Dublin Elementary with the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day! Starting today, leprechauns visited Room 301 and left a gold coin in your child’s book drawer J! Over the course of next week the leprechauns will play tricks on us and of course, leave us fun treats. Feel free to play along at home, the kids are really excited and curious about these new visitors. On Thursday, March 17th there will be a school-wide “Wear Green” motto sponsored by Dublin’s Student Council. If you are able to donate a quarter to wear green, the kids of Student Council with Mrs. Entwistle (our Media Specialist) are collecting money to help buy a brick and donate to the Foster Farm House (http://www.walledlake.com/FosterFarmhouse/fosterindex.htm) in Walled Lake.
Additionally, next week I will be out of school on Thursday and Friday. I was fortunate to participate in a program called MI-Champions this year and the lessons that I developed for our Morning Calendar Routine on the Smart Board were actually part of this program. As a result of my participation, we are required to attend the MACUL (Technology Conference) Conference on the 17th and 18th at Cobo Hall. I am thrilled for this opportunity to learn more from the classes about incorporating technology into our classroom. I am heavy-hearted to be missing one of the most FUN days at Dublin (St. Patrick’s Day). To guarantee a FANTASTIC day in 301, Jill Jones, retired Dublin teacher extraordinaire, will be our Guest Teacher both days. I will leave detailed plans for more surprises from the leprechauns and other fun St. Patrick’s Day festivities!
Have a fantastic weekend and give your little Weckie a big hug from me! :-) Mrs. Weckstein
Next Week's Snack Leaders are: Monday: Hannah; Tuesday: Robby; Wednesday: Nick; Thursday: Carly; Friday: Ava :-)
I’m telling you, the weeks in Room 301 just keep getting better and BETTER! What a fun week this has been in Kindergarten! It was great for me to be back on Monday after two days out and hear ALL about the leprechauns that continued to bother our classroom last week! By Wednesday, all of the hype was over our night out at the Rolladium! You can check out just a few of the fun photos from our night. If you weren't able to make it, have no fear, I'll be going back again soon and be sure to let you know when! Come Thursday we got to celebrate Mrs. Weckstein’s 29th birthday with LOADS of ice cream and toppings brought by Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Weckstein’s Mom! We also got to welcome a new addition to our Room 301 extended family! A HUGE congratulations to Kelsey, and her parents Joanna and Raul, and her sister Ariel (4th grade) on the birth of baby Ava Acosta! We cannot wait to meet this little bundle and were VERY excited to see her picture on Thursday!
