Holy cow. Thanks for your patience in between posts, folks! Weebly just did all sorts of security updates and things got a little funky with my account. But, things are mended and I have a whole lot of kindergarten action to share with you! I'm going to catch you up, subject by subject, on everything we've been up to in room 202!
Daily 5:
We have accomplished so much in the last few weeks! For starters, the kids have become master "Read to Self-ers". After several days, we were ready for some focus lessons, and we learned about being "Picture Walk Detectives"! Since we're still learning the skills for reading words, it's fun to learn to read books without reading the words in them! So during my 3 days of being in Massachusetts, Mrs. O'Keefe laid this groundwork. The kids talked about making sure to go one page at a time, and look for the details in the pictures. The kids even got to use flashlights and magnifying glasses, just like detectives do!
We have also launched Word Work. During this center, the students get to practice writing, building, saying, and reading their sight words. Each week, I write our new sight words on a small white board that lives above the Word Wall. The kids get to do activities with magnet letters, letter beads, writing, Scrabble tiles, and flash cards to help familiarize themselves with their new words. Once they work on our new words, they get to practice our old words from the Word Wall to keep them in their Brain Banks.
We have come so far so fast in D5! Students have been placed in their small groups (which we will begin next week), they will begin Listen to Reading next week, and we are working on finding their reading levels, as well! Yahoo for major progress!
Daily 5:
We have accomplished so much in the last few weeks! For starters, the kids have become master "Read to Self-ers". After several days, we were ready for some focus lessons, and we learned about being "Picture Walk Detectives"! Since we're still learning the skills for reading words, it's fun to learn to read books without reading the words in them! So during my 3 days of being in Massachusetts, Mrs. O'Keefe laid this groundwork. The kids talked about making sure to go one page at a time, and look for the details in the pictures. The kids even got to use flashlights and magnifying glasses, just like detectives do!
We have also launched Word Work. During this center, the students get to practice writing, building, saying, and reading their sight words. Each week, I write our new sight words on a small white board that lives above the Word Wall. The kids get to do activities with magnet letters, letter beads, writing, Scrabble tiles, and flash cards to help familiarize themselves with their new words. Once they work on our new words, they get to practice our old words from the Word Wall to keep them in their Brain Banks.
We have come so far so fast in D5! Students have been placed in their small groups (which we will begin next week), they will begin Listen to Reading next week, and we are working on finding their reading levels, as well! Yahoo for major progress!
Science:
We finished our first Social Studies unit and have already jumped right into our first Science unit. This unit is all about living and nonliving things. We have already found out the characteristics of living things, what they need to survive, and have compared and contrasted animals and plants. Coming up, there will be discussions about life cycles and habitats.
Much of our work is being done in science notebooks. I did not use these with my students last year, but based on how it is going this year, I really wish I had! The kids have made T-charts, learned how to label things, used inventive and copied spelling techniques, colored accurate representations of things they observe, and will soon use a Venn Diagram--and we've only used them 4 times so far! It is really incredible to see them take on the documentation role of a scientist with such skill and excitement. I'm seriously loving these books!
We finished our first Social Studies unit and have already jumped right into our first Science unit. This unit is all about living and nonliving things. We have already found out the characteristics of living things, what they need to survive, and have compared and contrasted animals and plants. Coming up, there will be discussions about life cycles and habitats.
Much of our work is being done in science notebooks. I did not use these with my students last year, but based on how it is going this year, I really wish I had! The kids have made T-charts, learned how to label things, used inventive and copied spelling techniques, colored accurate representations of things they observe, and will soon use a Venn Diagram--and we've only used them 4 times so far! It is really incredible to see them take on the documentation role of a scientist with such skill and excitement. I'm seriously loving these books!
Writing:
Our current writing unit is a new one for me as well, but I am finding it extremely helpful and meaningful for the kids: oral story telling. This unit starts out with zero writing at all, but instead inundates the students with stories told orally. We have read books, listened to stories told by myself and Mrs. O'Keefe, and the kids have begun telling their own stories in both partner and whole-group settings. Right now, all of our stories are about "Things That We Know, Can Do, and Are True", so they are all things that have happened to us. The stories we have read in books are mostly told in the first person and only ever have human characters, so that we can be inspired by them and come up with our own stories to tell.
The kids have learned the qualities of a great listener and a great story teller. Together, we made a list of the expectations for how to play both roles. We decided that, to be a great listener, we have to have our eyes on our partner, listen to and think about their story, sit tall, and not move around. To be a great listener, we thought it was important to use a loud and proud voice, to look at our audience, take a deep breath if we get lost or nervous, sit tall, and sit still. Our partnerships have been working on sitting "Eye to Eye, and Knee to Knee" to keep their attention on each other. Soon, we will be learning how to respond and ask questions after being the listener--a great skill that they will use a lot as we get further into the year with writing and sharing our work!
Religion:
God gave us many gifts when he created the world. Our first unit in religion focuses on each individual gift. So far, we have learned about the gifts of light, water, land, and animals. Each week, we discuss the importance of these gifts, how to take care of them, how to share them with others, and how to show God our appreciation for them.
Sometimes, the lessons don't delve as deep into the concepts as they could and are too basic for our kiddos. This means we make lots of adaptations to beef them up and make them more meaningful. The kids have watched videos, done work pages, colored, played charades, acted situations out, and listened to bible stories. Religion is a great time in the day to cater to multiple intelligence and learning styles, and the kids are always so engaged! It's always a great time in the day where we can learn new things and commune with God.
Our current writing unit is a new one for me as well, but I am finding it extremely helpful and meaningful for the kids: oral story telling. This unit starts out with zero writing at all, but instead inundates the students with stories told orally. We have read books, listened to stories told by myself and Mrs. O'Keefe, and the kids have begun telling their own stories in both partner and whole-group settings. Right now, all of our stories are about "Things That We Know, Can Do, and Are True", so they are all things that have happened to us. The stories we have read in books are mostly told in the first person and only ever have human characters, so that we can be inspired by them and come up with our own stories to tell.
The kids have learned the qualities of a great listener and a great story teller. Together, we made a list of the expectations for how to play both roles. We decided that, to be a great listener, we have to have our eyes on our partner, listen to and think about their story, sit tall, and not move around. To be a great listener, we thought it was important to use a loud and proud voice, to look at our audience, take a deep breath if we get lost or nervous, sit tall, and sit still. Our partnerships have been working on sitting "Eye to Eye, and Knee to Knee" to keep their attention on each other. Soon, we will be learning how to respond and ask questions after being the listener--a great skill that they will use a lot as we get further into the year with writing and sharing our work!
Religion:
God gave us many gifts when he created the world. Our first unit in religion focuses on each individual gift. So far, we have learned about the gifts of light, water, land, and animals. Each week, we discuss the importance of these gifts, how to take care of them, how to share them with others, and how to show God our appreciation for them.
Sometimes, the lessons don't delve as deep into the concepts as they could and are too basic for our kiddos. This means we make lots of adaptations to beef them up and make them more meaningful. The kids have watched videos, done work pages, colored, played charades, acted situations out, and listened to bible stories. Religion is a great time in the day to cater to multiple intelligence and learning styles, and the kids are always so engaged! It's always a great time in the day where we can learn new things and commune with God.
Today, 4 of our 5th grade Buddies came in and taught the class a special lesson on the Sacrament of Matrimony! The kids learned about marriage and how a wedding takes place through the use of a PowerPoint they made for us! Then, they helped us through a craft to show the church with the bride and groom inside. It was such a special and well-done lesson! Way to go, Big Buddies!
Math:
We are already almost done chapter 2 in our math books. The kids have learned about ten frames, greater than and less than, finding one more and one less, and now we're doing ordinal names through 10th. Our math centers are going so well! The kiddos receive differentiated instruction in 2 teacher-lead groups, and then they reinforce their new knowledge at a game/activity center. On days that we don't do centers, I sneakily keep them engaged by having volunteers come up and "teach" the class on the white board throughout the lesson. They love getting to use those dry erase markers and show their classmates how much they know!
This week, we are focusing on ordinal numbers from 1st-10th. We already discuss this everyday during Calendar and morning meeting, so we flew through these lessons! But as an added treat leading up to Halloween, the kids got to listen to/watch Room on the Broom on YouTube during the game center. The next day, we rewatched it as a class, and used little finger puppets and pipe cleaners to show which characters got on the broom 1st-5th. On Halloween, we will watch the movie adaptation of this book as a class for a special treat!
We are already almost done chapter 2 in our math books. The kids have learned about ten frames, greater than and less than, finding one more and one less, and now we're doing ordinal names through 10th. Our math centers are going so well! The kiddos receive differentiated instruction in 2 teacher-lead groups, and then they reinforce their new knowledge at a game/activity center. On days that we don't do centers, I sneakily keep them engaged by having volunteers come up and "teach" the class on the white board throughout the lesson. They love getting to use those dry erase markers and show their classmates how much they know!
This week, we are focusing on ordinal numbers from 1st-10th. We already discuss this everyday during Calendar and morning meeting, so we flew through these lessons! But as an added treat leading up to Halloween, the kids got to listen to/watch Room on the Broom on YouTube during the game center. The next day, we rewatched it as a class, and used little finger puppets and pipe cleaners to show which characters got on the broom 1st-5th. On Halloween, we will watch the movie adaptation of this book as a class for a special treat!
Have I mentioned my love for whole-body math games yet? Maybe not. But I LOVE THEM!
Here, the kids are competing against me (and completely clobbering me, btw) in a game to practice greater than and less than. I had individuals go to the corner of the room and close their eyes, and then had different sized groups head to the rug on different sides. The kiddo in the back came back to the rug, counted the two groups, and told me which group was greater and less than the other. It was a great way to reinforce our lessons, as well as practice subitizing!
Here, the kids are competing against me (and completely clobbering me, btw) in a game to practice greater than and less than. I had individuals go to the corner of the room and close their eyes, and then had different sized groups head to the rug on different sides. The kiddo in the back came back to the rug, counted the two groups, and told me which group was greater and less than the other. It was a great way to reinforce our lessons, as well as practice subitizing!
Other Fun Things We've Done:
Craft Activity with Big Buddies
The Living Rosary
The Book Fair
Grandparent's Day
5th Grade Star Base Rocket Launch
Craft Activity with Big Buddies
The Living Rosary
The Book Fair
Grandparent's Day
5th Grade Star Base Rocket Launch