Friday, September 17, 2010

Our first full week of Kindergarten!

It has been a fantastic first full week of Kindergarten! Everyone seems to be learning the routines of our day and lots of new friendships have been formed. On Friday’s I will post a newsletter to this site telling you about our week! Throughout the week I may also post photos to show you new things we are learning, places we have been and more.

Read Alouds: This week we read aloud several books. Students were introduced to Robert Munsch (a favorite author of mine and many kids worldwide). Books we read included: Andrew’s Loose Tooth, We Share Everything and Get Out of Bed! We talked about the stories and any connections we had to our own lives.

Shared Reading: We spent all week working with the poem, “The Flying Man” and read the corresponding “Big” book, Dan Comes Home. This book gave us many different methods of transportation. We spent time with the word “H” and found as many words as we could in the Big Book that began with “H”. We also brainstormed a list of methods of transportation (airplanes, submarines, helicopters, etc.) that were all mentioned in the book. Students had the opportunity to draw an illustration of what they might pack for an adventure like Dan has in the story.

Math: In math this week students spent time working with partners as they were matched up by finding a student with the exact same size strip of paper as them. Words like: shorter, longer, bigger and smaller were all introduced and used in this lesson. We also spent time this week exploring with Pattern Blocks. We learned about triangles, squares, trapezoids, rhombuses and hexagons! We sure had fun using these blocks to make all kinds of patterns! J On Friday we had our first Math Workstations. Each table was equipped with a different set of math manipulatives and had time to explore with the math tools while using them to create patterns and designs. When asked what the kids thought of math, they told me, “We LOVE Math!!”

If you are looking for a great way to review with your child what they learned this week, ask them to help you sing this new triangle song we learned to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat:

1, 2, 3 straight sides,

And 3 corners too,

Triangles here,

Triangles there,

We find them EVERYWHERE!

Important News: Just a couple of reminders and announcements this week! A BIG thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help in the classroom. Now that we have our specials schedule I will be sending out emails Monday to let you know about days/times we can set up to get a regular rotation of volunteers in the room. Another BIG thank you to everyone for coming to Open House last night, it was great to see so many enthusiastic smiles about Kindergarten last night.

Snacks Leaders for next week include: Monday: Evan C., Tuesday: Alycia Y., Wednesday: Nolan C. and Thursday: Skylar C. J

Have a fantastic, fall weekend! J Mrs. Weckstein

P.S. Please make note of our Special’s Schedule listed on the blog below!