Christmas around the world

Today we were able to complete our "Christmas Around the World" scrapbook. During our social studies time, we have been learning about how other countries celebrate Christmas. As we talked about various countries, the children filled in their own scrapbook. We learned about the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, Italy, Sweden, England and Germany. We learned that Santa is called by a different name in different countries and we learned about various holiday traditions.

Weekly Update

This week in Fundations, we will continue to tap out the sounds for three letter words. We will be finishing up the uppercase alphabet letters. The children practice writing the letters on dry erase boards as well as in a work packet. They will finish up the work packets this week.

In math, we are working with addition all week. We have been learning how to write addition sentences. We have been looking at pictures to tell "joining together" stories. We will take our topic test on Thursday. The simple math tests are used for my own records to make sure the children are learning the material. 

Just a reminder: We have our Holiday Concert on Wednesday at 9:30 and 1:30. Please select a time that works for your family to attend. (Kindergarten families are encouraged to come to the afternoon time slot, but you can come to the morning one if it fits better into your schedule.)

Reading program over break

Children can go to the children’s department of the Avon Lake public library, fill out a card listing two books they’ve read over holiday break, and the library will give them a coupon for a free kids meal at Chipotle. This program will go until January 15.

The meal is good for a child’s meal, side dish, tortilla chips and drink.

For any questions, contact the children’s department at 933-8128 x253

Making giant elves

We began our lesson by filling out an elf application. We talked about if we may or may not be good elves. The kids had fun writing the name of their favorite toys and deciding if they were on the nice or naughty list.

 Then we cut and put our elves together. Some pieces were pre-cut, while others needed to be cut along the lines. We also had plenty of time for creative cutting, drawing faces, and stripes on the legs.

We hung them in the hall right outside our classroom door when we finished.

Winter door decoration

The students gave ideas and then we voted on how to decorate our classroom door. I made a reindeer (although I really tried to make it look like Sven from Frozen). Then the students learned how to fold paper and cut snowflakes! Most students made two or three snowflakes once they learned how to do it! They hung more snowflakes on the front of their lockers.

Students reading to the class

Many students have been bringing in books from home to read to the class. This has been helping their fluency with read aloud passages. It has also been helping to develop their confidence. If your child would like to practice reading a book from home, they can bring it in to read to the class any day! :-)

Holiday Shop

 

 

Information for Holiday Shop is in the What's Up Wednesday Folder today.

Don't forget to return the form with money if your child intends to shop. Our shop time is this Friday.

Fun filled and busy Monday

Several students worked in a small group to read sight words and put sentences in the correct order. They paid attention to capital letters and punctuation to help them.

Another group worked with our new sight word "the." The traced it, wrote it, found it, used it in a sentence, and built it.

Students sounded out to write three letter words.

We played partner math games to compete addition problems. 

New math topic!

We began our new math topic today. We are starting our unit on addition. We learned about putting two sets together and count the total. We used lots of stories to tell the math problem and manipulatives to count out the answer. We will continue to work with addition for the rest of December.

Gingerbread math stations

The children had a great time on Thursday working on gingerbread themed math stations. Stations ranged from measuring with gumdrop rulers, number hunts around the classroom, color and spin partner games, and number Yatta!

Finger-paint trees

The children used finger-painting to create Christmas trees. Then they added glue and glitter to make the garland. The trees are hanging up outside our classroom.

Building upper case letters

Children used wooden pieces to practice building upper case letters. Since we have become lower case experts, we have been learning to write and build the upper case letters so fast!!

Picture and word match

Students worked in small groups today to match words with the pictures. They practiced tapping out the three letter words and then found the corresponding picture.

IMPORTANT DATES for December

Scholastic Orders due Friday, Dec. 5

Holiday Shop 10:35-10:55 on Fri. Dec 12
 (Students will have a chance to shop for family members for the holidays.)

PJ day and Polar Express Mon. Dec. 15 at 2:00
(Mrs. Drotleff will be doing a retelling of the Polar Express.)

Holiday Party Mon. Dec. 15 at 2:30
(We will be decorating gingerbread houses.)

Holiday Concert Wed. Dec. 17 at 9:30 and 1:30
 (Family members of all day kindergarten are encouraged to come to the afternoon concert time.)

Writing Rubric

As the students are working on writing their own sentences, we have incorporated a simple writing rubric to help students check their own work. Each writing page has a small version of this rubric. A teacher helps them to rate their own work to make sure they wrote a full sentence properly. It is amazing to see how much their writing has grown so far this school year!

Uppercase letters and tapping out sounds

For the next three weeks, we will be learning to write the uppercase letters. We are learning approximately 2 new letters each day. Since the children are comfortable with letter identification and letter sounds, we are reviewing daily but focusing more on uppercase letter formation.

We have also been learning how to tap out sounds for three letter words. We use our non-dominant hand to tap out sounds to read new words. We try not to use our writing hand so that we can still tap out sounds when we are writing.

Try asking your child to tap out the sounds of these simple three letter words: cat, hat, mat, mug, mud, fan, cup, sit, sip, etc.

November books

Over the past few days, students have been working on a book called "No, No, November." They created each page and have been practicing reading it. The mini books came home in backpacks today!

The book: The Ox-Cart Man

As part of our social studies lesson, we read the book Ox-Cart Man. The story follows a colonial family for one full year. It highlights how they needed to make and sell things to survive. After finishing the story, we made a list comparing "long ago" and "today." The students generated examples of what people had a long time ago compared to what we have now.

Filling in the missing numbers

In math today, we introduced the 100-grid. We talked about identifying patterns within the chart. We looked at patterns within the row as well as the columns. Then the students worked on writing in the missing numbers on their own charts.

Sentence Writing Practice

"I eat turkey. I eat sparkling cider. I eat cranberries."

We practiced writing sentences again today. We began our lesson on carpet. The children came up with a list of food that they like to eat on Thanksgiving Day. We sounded out our words together and matched pictures on the ActivBoard. Then the children went to their seat to write sentences. They worked really hard! Most children put spaces between their words and added punctuation!

Recess!

Just a Reminder:

 Students will still be going out for recess 

in the snow. 

Please dress your child for the weather 

(Snow pants, waterproof gloves, 

hats, boots, etc.) 

We will only stay indoors in the snowy season only if the wind chill is below 20.

Working with Letters

We have now introduced all 26 lowercase letters! The students were very excited today to finally uncover all the letters on the board. We practiced our new letters: q and z. Then we worked together to put the whole alphabet in order. During work stations, some of the groups were working with beginning sound activities. One activity was sorting pictures based on their beginning vowel sound. Another group used a spinner to select a q, x, z, or y. Then they had to color in a picture with that beginning sound.

Learning all about Thanksgiving

We have been learning all about Thanksgiving during our Social Studies time. We began working on our own Thanksgiving books. Yesterday, we filled in the page about the pilgrims. Today, we are writing about the Mayflower. We have read the books: The Very First Thanksgiving Day and The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving. We filled in a flip chart on the ActivBoard today. Children told me what they were thankful for, and they voted for their favorite food to eat on Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Party

We will be having our classroom Thanksgiving Party on Monday, November 24th at 2:30

Families are welcome to participate!

New sight word

We introduced our new sight word: "are." We read a sight word reader called, "We Are Painting." Then we wrote our own "We are _______" sentences.

Practice with Letters

Students practiced writing simple letters and sorting lowercase letters based on size.

Monday Musical Math!!

Each seat was set up with a math card with objects ranging from 9-19 circles or squares. A dry erase board was also set up. The students walked around the table to music, and when the music stopped, the child had to find a seat. They counted the objects and wrote the number three times on the dry erase board.

Counting Cubes

In math, we use a variety of hands-on manipulatives to help us count using one-to-one correspondence. At home, try counting with your child. Can they count 20 objects and say 1 number for each object?

Math Partner Game

Students selected a partner. They each picked a number tile. Then they filled in the game board using color tiles. They counted the total and raced to put their finger on the correct total number. They played several times while practicing their numeral recognition.

Parent Visitation Day on Monday

Just a reminder that we will be having our family visitation day on Monday from 1:30-3:00. We will have stations set up in Mrs. O'Connor's classroom, the art room, as well as my classroom. Children will be decorating their Native American costume, making placemats, wompums, and headdresses.

Let's Learn the Teen Numbers

This past week, we introduced numbers 11-15. We practiced counting sets of objects, writing the numbers, and filling in a ten frame using counters. We will be learning numbers up to 20 this week.

At home extension: You could practice these numbers at home. Practice counting out toys and writing the numeral that goes with it. You could also make flash cards to aid in numeral identification.

Voting

We learned about election day today. We watched the video based on the book Duck for President. We talked about how people vote using a ballot. Then we had our own classroom vote. Each child received one m&m and one skittle. Then they visited the voting booth in the classroom to place their vote. We shared the results as a whole class. Skittle won by a landslide!!

Halloween Party

The children made spooky ghosts!

They played bingo using candy corn.

The children had a great time at the Halloween party. They made a ghost, played bingo, participated in pumpkin bowling, and ate a special treat. Thank you to all the families who made this wonderful party possible!!

Hands-on Learning

The children have been working with a number line. They added links to show that the numbers get one larger as they count.

Students have the choice to work at the lego table when they complete certain activities.

Students take turns being the teacher to practice letter identification and sounds.

Leaf collage

We began learning about trees. As part of this unit, we went for a walk outside to collect leaves. When we brought them into the classroom, we sorted the leaves by color and then by shape. The students did a great job working together in small groups to sort the leaves into shapes.

If children would like to collect leaves from home, they can bring them in to add to the collage!