In Science, the students continued observing and investigating the goldfish. We added food to their tank and observed them eat the food and noted their behaviors. I also added a small tunnel to the tank and used the iPad and Apple TV to zoom in on the action so all children could see. We were surprised that, at first, the fish didn't react to the tunnel, but within a few minutes all of the goldfish were swimming through or around the tunnel. (This was also a great time to practice prepositional words, such as: through, around, beside, and above.)
In Writing Workshop, we delved into some very in-depth lessons. First, the students learned that writers sketch their drawings by "doing the best they can and keep on going." Writers don't shy away from writing meaningful stories simply because they don't know how to draw them; instead they give it their best effort! The rest of the week's lessons were dedicated to how to write words, and just is the case with drawing pictures, writers write words the best they can and keep on going. I did, however, teach the students many strategies for writing words. First, students learned that writers say each word slowly and listen for the sounds they hear. They write the letters that make those sounds. Sometimes, writers hear sounds that are the same as the beginning of a picture on the alphabet chart. We talked about using this knowledge and association as a reference tool. What's more, the students got their own copy of the alphabet chart to keep in their folders! They learned that they can use the alphabet chart to help them write letters if they don't know how to form the letter or to match a sound to a picture and determine the letter that makes that sound.
Please know that the process of "sounding out" words and recording the sounds you hear is one that will be practiced throughout the entire year. You will be amazed at the progress your child makes throughout the year, but don't be surprised if you can't quite read his/her writing just yet. I encourage you to write with your child every day- even if it's just to ask his/her help with writing "milk and bread" on the grocery list!
The students now have organized folders for writing workshop. Each pocket of their folder has either a green sticker or a red sticker. The green sticker represents writing that is still in progress; the red sticker represents writing that is complete. The children organized their folders and are beginning to get into the habit of finishing work on the green side before starting a new piece. Of course, children are always welcome to revisit writing on the red side as they learn more about writing techniques.
We concluded our "personal narrative" unit in writing, and the children learned about how to make their stories complete by adding to the words and to the pictures. All of the students shared their personal narratives with the class!
In reading, the students are continuing to learn about how readers think and talk about books they've read. We reviewed thinking and talking about your favorite part and providing reasoning and an explanation as to why it is your favorite part. In addition, I taught the students to think about what they learned from the book. Even if children are only looking at pictures and "reading the pictures," there is a lot to learn from books! The children also learned that they can share their strong feelings about a book; they can talk about something in the book that made them surprised, sad, happy, worried, etc.
The children also got to go "book shopping!" Every child has a book bin, and in that book bin, they will keep all the books they can read during reading workshop. The children were able to select a variety of books for their book boxes including: "Star" books, "Just Right" books, fiction books, and non-fiction books. "Star" books are stories that I've read to the kids many times and the children know the story well enough to tell/read it in their own way. "Just Right" books are books that are appropriate for kindergarten readers. They are simple texts with one-two sentences per page, and the children will be reading these books on their own before you know it!
In math, the students were introduced to a character in our math program: Puzzled Penguin. Puzzled Penguin makes mistakes in math, and we ask the students to figure out why Puzzled Penguin is wrong and what the correct answer is. In the most recent Puzzled Penguin activity, the students talked about whether or not Puzzled Penguin counted correctly. We discussed tips to use when counting to ensure we count correctly.
You also may have noticed that the students began learning how to write numerals. This can prove to be a tricky skill, so extra practice may be needed! Please remember that the importance is in the process (how the child forms a numeral) and not the product (what the numeral looks like at the end). Also remember that reversals are common at this age, and extra practice may be the best remedy!
The students also began learning about 2-D shapes including circles, triangles, squares, and rectangles. It's common that children know the names of these shapes, but we began discussions about characteristics of these shapes. For example, how are a circle and oval similar/different? I began reading the book The Greedy Triangle (a wonderful book with strong literary AND math qualities!), and the students learned that triangles have 3 sides and 3 angles. They also discovered the triangles can be many shapes and sizes and turned in any orientation. In the book, The Greedy Triangle, the triangle always wants "just one more side and one more angle" (turning it into a quadrilateral, then pentagon, then hexagon, then heptagon, then octagon, and so on). When the greedy triangle got one more side and one more angle, it turned into a quadrilateral. We discussed what a quadrilateral is and how/why squares and rectangles are quadrilaterals.
The children found triangles and quadrilaterals in a box of shapes, and we talked about how we know a triangle is a triangle, a square is a square, etc. The children are learning to use appropriate math vocabulary such as sides and angles. We also compared/contrasted squares and rectangles. The students also worked with a partner to create shapes on a geoboard with rubber bands and draw shapes on a dry-erase board. Check out the pictures on the "Inside the Classroom" page to see the kids in action!