Week in Review ~ March 23rd - 27th

It was another great week...I couldn't believe it today when I noticed on our hundreds chart there are only 55 days of school left. This year is definitely flying by!

In ELA we finished up Unit 7 which was all about animals. This week we focused on Animal Habitats. Our vocabulary words were: habitat, wild, complain, join, and stubborn. The sight words introduced were said and want and we focused on the letters Vv and Xx. We also listened to the stories Bear Snores On, Anansi: An African Tale and Animal Homes. Next week we will be starting Unit 8 where the big idea is where can you go that is near and far. Next week's focus will be on transportation.

 

 

In Math we have been working on Topic 12 which is all about measurement. So far we have discussed length, height and capacity. We also talked about standard and non-standard units of measurement.

Here is a quick "Sid the Science Kid" clip that we watched which described non-standard units of measurement.

When working on length we spent time looking at the length of each K2ers name and then ordered them from longest to shortest.

 

We also played games using connecting cubes to put them in order from longest to shortest or shortest to longest.

Everyone enjoyed when we worked on height and played the gameTower Grab. Each student grabbed a handful of cubes and built a tower. Then they flipped a two-colored chip. If it landed on red, the person with the longest tower got a point. If it landed on yellow the student with the shortest tower got the point. Play continued until one player got 5 points.

Last, we talked about capacity. We looked at three containers and predicted which container would hold more water and then tested it out. We were amazed that the container that was the shortest actually held more water than the middle sized one. Next week we will be finishing up our measurement unit by talking about weight. After measurement we be starting Topic 13 where we will be Sorting, Classifying, Counting and Categorizing Data.

As a reminder, next week is a 4-day week as there is no school on Friday.

Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

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Nonsense Word Fluency

In January, when the students are assessed with DIBELS, one of the subtests is Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF). In kindergarten students are assessed reading simple words, which are composed of 2 or 3 letters that represent sounds, as well as assessing the ability to blend those sounds into words. It is also noted how many whole words were read by the student, however this skill is not required in kindergarten. This week I have been doing some quick check-ins with all the students to see how they have improved with NWF since January. I am VERY impressed at how far they have come. Many are saying each sound,some are blending the sounds to read the words and some, although not required, are reading the whole word. I am going to be sending home a NWF sheet with each child to practice at home. Please take a few minutes each night to practice these Nonsense Words with your child. The following are 3 videos I took with some willing students to show the different levels of NWF. Thank you to my little helpers for helping show our K2 families what NWF looks like in kindergarten. As always, if you have any questions,please feel free to contact me!

 

 

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Building Fluency

Today I sent everyone home with a photocopied story. This is a story we read in class in small groups (except the Celtics group that will be doing it tomorrow with me) that I would like them to practice reading at home. I am always talking to them about reading and re-reading texts to build fluency. Fluency means that the story or passage is read accurately and with expression. I talk to them about chunking groups of words so that it is more like a conversation as opposed to being choppy or "robot-like." My hope is to send more and more stories home for your child to practice and build fluency with. Please encourage your child to read to a family member and I always tell the that most stuffed animals like to be read to as well. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

 

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Welcome Miss Davis

On Monday we welcomed Miss Davis to K2. Miss Davis will be with us until May 13th as she does part of her student teaching placement in our room. I am excited for her to see all the fun learning we will be doing!

 

 

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Week in Review ~ March 9th - 13th

This week was another busy week in K2! In ELA we started unit 7 where the big idea is "What are different kinds of animals?" This week we focused on how some animals are alike and how they are different. Our vocabulary words were appearance,behavior, exercise, wander and plenty. We listened to the stories Zoo Borns! and Baby Farm Animals. We worked on the short vowel sound of Uu and introduced the sight words for and have. We also introduced the concept of compound words and brainstormed different words that are a compound word. Some of the ones we came up with were: playground, strawberry, toothbrush, baseball, and snowman. Here is a cute song that I found called the Compound Boogie.

In Math this week we started Topic 11 titled Decomposing Numbers 11-19. We discussed how when we composed the numbers 11-19 we were putting numbers together so now when we decompose numbers we are taking those numbers apart. We have been working on a Numbers 11-19 booklet where we showed all different ways to take a number apart using base ten blocks and ten frames. Once we finish this topic we will be moving onto Measurement.

 

As I posted during the week, we FINALLY had outdoor recess. Hopefully the number of outdoor recesses will soon outnumber the indoor recesses. Please be sure to dress your child appropriately as if they will be going outside for recess each day. It can still be a little cool when that wind blows. And just think...only 6 days until the official start to spring!

 

Thanks to all the incredible donations at the beginning of the school year we are doing great with Clorox wipes and Dixie cups but we are starting to run low on tissues...there has been a lot of nose-blowing lately. If you can spare a box of tissues to send in with your child, it would be greatly appreciated!

Have a great weekend!

 

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Story Time with Mrs. Joslyn's children

My daughter Anabelle LOVES Storyline online just as much as some of the K2ers so she asked if I could tape her reading a story. Of course then my son Andrew wanted to get in on the action and read a story as well. So here they are reading they story that they picked. I hope you enjoy them!

 

 

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Half-Day Reminder

 

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow, March 13th, is a half-day for students. Dismissal begins at 11:30. Kindergarten classes will be going to "lunch" at 8:55 am and there will be no snack time. If you would like to send a snack with your child for them to have during our "lunchtime" you may do so. Please let your child know if they have been sent to school with a snack or if you would like them to purchase school lunch. Also, if there is going to be a change to your child's transportation at dismissal time, please send in a note. Thank You!

 

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"Numbers in the Teens" songs

We have been busy composing and decomposing numbers 11-19. Here are a couple songs I showed the students in class to help them remember that numbers in the teens start with a 1 and that numbers in the teens have a group of 10. I told them that I would post them to our blog to watch again.

 

 

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Harlem Wizards visit

Today we were treated to a visit from Broadway of the Harlem Wizards.

He spoke to the students at JA about the importance of being a good sport and being a team player. Here is a video of one of the games he played with some teachers and students. Great job to our K2 friend that was chosen from the crowd to participate. The Harlem Wizards are playing a game tonight against some Leominster teachers at 7:00 at Leominster H.S. Tickets are $12.00.

Enjoy the video!

 

 

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Finally...outdoor recess again!

I am not sure who was happier that we finally had outdoor recess for the first time in what seems like forever...the teachers or the students?! My guess would be the teachers! :)

 

 

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Week in Review ~ March 2 - 6

Can you believe it...we have actually gotten in TWO weeks in a row of school without a snow day! I feel like everyone (including myself) is now back into our routines.

This week in ELA we finished up Unit 6 which was all about weather. We talked about all the different ways we can prepare for bad weather. We certainly have had enough practice preparing for snowy weather, that's for sure! We read the stories Waiting Out the Storm and Be Safe in Bad Weather. Our vocabulary words were: prepare, safe, notice, celebration, enough. We reviewed all of our sight words with a focus on: are, he, is, little, my, she, was, with. Everyone has been working hard on sounding out, spelling and writing words. We wrote about the weather for the day in our journals and practiced writing weather words. Next week we will be starting Unit 7 where we will be talking about different kinds of animals.

In Math we started Topic 10 titled "Composing Numbers 11-19." We discussed what it means to compose something (to create) and came up with ways we can compose numbers. When looking at the number 11 we talked about how it is made up with a group of ten and 1 more. In looking at the number 14 one student stated "if 14 is made with a group of ten and 4 more then 16 must be made with a group of 10 and 6 more." We wrote number sentences to match the ten frames.

 

We also had a fun week celebrating the many wonderful stories by Dr. Seuss. Friday we closed up the week by having a "Mystery Reader" come read to us. All the classroom teachers at JA were sent to a different grade to read to them. Mrs. Londo, a 1st grade teacher, read Oh the Places You'll Go! to our class. While she was reading the K2ers had a special visit from The Cat in the Hat.

 

Later in the day we paired up with a 3rd grade class to be book buddies. The 3rd graders read us stories and then the K2ers read to them. It was a fun time!

 

We ended the day with a special Dr. Seuss treat...I challenged the class to bring in at least 20 completed Books & Beyond sheets and they did it. I am so proud of them!!! We watched the movie "Horton Hears a Who." As you can see on our tracker to the right of the screen, we have now completed 131/176 stations towards our ice cream party at the end of the year. We have had some students come and leave K2 this year so the total amount of stations needed kept changing. At this point I am going to keep it as 176 stations needed to earn the ice cream party. Even if a new student moves in it will not change. At this point of the year I do not think it would be fair for the new student to be expected to complete 8 stations and it would not be fair for the class not to earn the ice cream party because a new student moved to the class. So keep reading...I would LOVE to give out a reading medal to EVERY one of my K2ers at the Books & Beyond ceremony in May.

Don't forget to change your clocks Saturday night...it MUST be a sign that spring IS going to be here soon. We may still have snow on the ground until summer at this rate but spring has to come, right?!

Have a fabulous weekend!

 

 

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