Week 15-Gingerbread Men

I am so excited for this special week in Kindergarten!  The kids can hardly wait for Christmas to arrive.  We will continue to read, write, and to do math each day but we will do so with a special hum of happiness! 

Our theme this week is Gingerbread Men. It is an enjoyable and rich way to practice comparing and contrasting stories.  We will be finding similarities and differences between stories in regards to characters, settings, and events. We will also continue to practice retelling the important parts of fiction stories.  You can help with this skill by asking about the stories that they hear and read at school and with you at home.

In phonemic awareness, we are continuing to work on hearing different sound chunks in words. We want to be able to break them apart and put them back together.

For writing, we will be writing letters to Santa.

In math, our measurement unit continues with a focus on length, height, and weight. We have a great variety of books and hands on activities to help us explore comparing these.

As we count down the days to Christmas break, I hope that you are able to take some time to relax and enjoy your child's joy this season.

HOMEWORK

Reading:
10 minutes each night. Reading can include reading stories, the poems in the binder, sight words, and working on alphabet sounds and letter names.

Math:
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes. 

This week your child can explore any of the following objectives in whatever amount/order seems most appropriate for them.

1. S.1 Long and short
2. S.2 Tall and short
3. S.3 Light and heavy
4. G.3 Fewer and more - compare by counting
5. G.5 Fewer, more, and same 

Thursday - Have a great Christmas Break!  

I came across a site that looked pretty engaging from the sample I was able to try out. The website says that parents can sign up for free (There is also a paid version available). If your child is whipping through the IXL assignments, you may want to have them try out this site for additional practice with important foundational skills.

https://www.splashmath.com/math-skills/kindergarten?gclid=CPi9-Ye5mNICFVG1wAodNz8IVQ

Over break:
Having your child read, play a sight word game, practice any IXL skill, and/or write a bit whenever you can fit it in or they seem interested is a great way to keep the many things we have been working on sharp in their growing minds. (No pressure!)

Thank you for sharing your child with me!

Week 14- Reindeer

This week our theme will be reindeer.  Often, children's only exposure to reindeer will have been Santa's flying reindeer.  To be able to engage in an informational study of reindeer without lessening the magic of Christmas, I will differentiate between most reindeer and Santa's special reindeer. During this nonfiction study, we will introduce many nonfiction text features such as maps, diagrams, and headings.  

We will also be reading a funny story called The Great Reindeer Rebellion. While still practicing our previous comprehension focuses, we will also be comparing texts more formally.

Your child will be bringing home a Retell Bracelet that they can use during their homework time to practice this oh-so-important skill!

We will be exploring onset and rimes for phonemic awareness.

We are continuing to work on writing informational booklets to share facts. Our kinders did a fantastic job with this new genre of writing last week!

We will be wrapping up one math unit this week and then jumping in to a new one- measurement! This unit totally builds on and strengthens our comparing skills.

Students will continue to learn about Forces and Motion with our next STEM Challenge- Race Car Ramps!


Thank you for the fabulous turn out for conferences. I appreciate you taking the time to attend!

HOMEWORK

Reading:
10 minutes each night. Reading can include reading stories, the poems in the binder, sight words, and working on alphabet sounds and letter names.

Math:
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes. 

 

Monday- G.3 Fewer and more - compare by counting (or a review of a previous skill) 

Tuesday- G.5 Fewer, more, and same(or a review of a previous skill) 

Wednesday- S.1 Long and short  
Thursday- S.1 Long and short (or a review of a previous skill)

Week 13- Pigs

This week we will be learning about pigs from a nonfiction text. We will use facts from this text to write a piece of informational writing. There are countless skills that go in to be a strong reader- one that can be difficult is "using text evidence". We want readers to make connections and inferences based off of their own experiences, but we also need them to be able to refer to knowledge gained through others. 

We will also be reading an adaptation of the Three Little Pigs by Mark Teague. In this version, the problem and solution of the story are delightfully different than the traditional tale. We will be really taking note of how the problem and solution of a story often fit together, not unlike puzzle pieces.

We will continue to learn about some more Secret Stories- Sneaky y and oo.

We begin our next science unit on forces and motion this week, by exploring our use of pushes and pulls.

Our math unit continues to compare numbers and amounts, with a special note on figuring out "how many more".

The students will have a STEM challenge on Thursday to build a sturdy house that can withstand the huffing and puffing of the wolf. 

A shout out of gratitude to the lovely parents who were able to send materials in for our upcoming Christmas stations! 
We could still use:
* shaving cream
* spangles and sequins
* volunteers for the stations 

I am looking forward to conferences this Friday. It is so nice to get a chance to sit down and meet with each you!

HOMEWORK

Reading:
10 minutes each night. Reading can include reading stories, the poems in the binder, sight words, and working on alphabet sounds and letter names.

Math:
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes. 

 

Monday- G.5 Fewer, more, and same

Tuesday- G.6 Compare two numbers - up to 10

Wednesday-G.7 Compare three numbers - up to 10

Thursday- C.16 Count up and down - with numbers