Sunday, February 25, 2018

Week 23 - Rainforest Habitat

This week, we are learning about the rainforest habitat. We will be reading 
a nonfiction text to learn interesting facts and visiting the rainforest in 
another Jan Brett book, The Umbrella. This will allow us to compare and 
contrast the two texts from this week as well as make connections to other 
texts we have previously read.

This week for our research project we will be finishing up the writing page for
the habitat of their animals, and by Thursday we should be ready to start building
our habitats out of the shoe boxes! I popped over to the other kindergarten class last
week who have already started their dioramas and their creativity was amazing! I can't
wait to see what our little experts will come up with! Looking at their projects, I found
a lot more materials that I think could be useful for our class. If anyone could bring in any
of the following materials by THURSDAY, it would be greatly appreciated :)
  • paper towel or tape dispensers
  • glue bottles
  • small paint brushes
  • brown and green pipe cleaners
  • fake decorative leaves

In math, we begin a new unit which focuses on numbers to 100. This unit 
begins with a focus on skip counting. Skip counting is an important concept
for developing strong number sense because it encourages students to see 
amounts within larger amounts and allows the to practice seeing and using 
number patterns.

We will be taking the MAPS test on Tuesday. We want the students to do 
their best, but this is not something I want to create stress about. Standardized 
assessments provide valuable information for driving instruction, but we also 
have to keep in mind the mode of assessment and that this is only one source 
of information about how your child is growing and learning.

The students voted on a special activity for this week… and reading won- by 
a landslide! We will be having this special reading time Thursday afternoon
For this special reading time, students are welcome to bring in a 
small blanket and stuffed animal to have a super comfy reading session! To 
keep this manageable, the blanket and stuffed animal must fit into a large 
brown paper bag (Winco style). I have plenty of these available so if you do 
not have one, let me know and I will send one home for your child to bring 
their special items in on Thursday. They really need to be in these bags so we
can easily store them while not in use.

Next week, students will be counting out collections of 100 items. This is an
exploration of how it is easier to use our handy dandy groups of 10. A gallon 
sized baggie will be coming home with your child this week, please assist 
them in counting out 100 small objects. Sanity saver: use the groups of ten 
strategy as you help count out the objects- it makes it so much easier to keep 
track when distractions or interruptions happen. These objects need to be 
relatively small as we will be using them to fill 10 frames (like the ones that 
were included in your Math Night goodies.)

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

Math:
Remember, math should be done for 10 minutes each night. Time spent 
with the activities you got from Math Night is a great idea, too!


Please make sure your child has their 100 object bag ready to go for 
next Monday. You can send it in any day this week or next Monday 
morning. If your child does not bring a bag, they will still participate 
in the counting activities, but it won’t be quite as much fun.

Your child may review any past objectives that you feel they may benefit from. 
Those in the D section may be worth a revisit. Some of the shape names have 
been a little sticky for some students- if you noticed that this applies to your 
kiddo, they may also revisit those tasks.