Friday News Flash!

Is it Friday already? What a quick week that was with conferences, our pumpkin patch field trip and our fall celebration today! I really enjoyed getting to meet all of you at conferences and brag about your children. I am constantly amazed at how quickly they grow and how fast they learn and I love getting to share the growth and learning with you! Here are the highlights of our two day week:

 

Pumpkin Patch

Well, we couldn't quite get away from the rain but I think the rain made it even more fun. There is nothing quite like getting lost in a corn maze, trudging through the mud and it's pouring outside. While expanding on our learning of the pumpkin life cycle, students also got to see corn on a stalk and also play in dried corn in a corn pit (basically a sandbox but with dried corn instead of sand!) The students had a great time even though they got a little muddy and damp, and it was wonderful for them to make real world connections to the topic we have studying about in class.

The patch of pumpkins.

A group makes their way through the corn maze.

Pumpkin Investigation

Today was jam packed with hands on learning, all in the theme of pumpkins and fall! First we started with our pumpkin investigation. In small groups students got to examine a pumpkin, see how many cubes tall the pumpkin was, how many lines it had, and then finally how many seeds it had. I was so proud to see that almost every student stuck their hands in the pulp to help count seeds. Students were fascinated by how many seeds are inside a pumpkin! Then we had students predict whether they thought a pumpkin would sink in water or float in water. Naturally we had to test our prediction so we went outside and dropped 3 pumpkins, a small, medium, and large, in a bin of water. To their surprise all 3 pumpkins floated! Their reactions were priceless but the learning that was taking place was the frosting on top!

The pumpkin investigation sheet.

A student counts her pumpkin seeds.

A group piles the seeds in the middle to count.

The floating pumpkin! (the photo has been cropped for privacy)

Fall Celebration

To end our day we had a fall celebration. I read my favorite Halloween read aloud which is "The Monster's Monster" by Patrick McDonnell. Then as a follow up to our read aloud we made our own monsters! Students could put scars on their Frankenstein's bolts on the head and a bow if they wanted. They turned out great and students had fun creating their own monsters!

Some of Miss Adams' Monsters!

Such a fun two days. I can't wait to get back into the full swing of school next week! Thanks again for sharing your kiddos with me!

Smiles,

Miss Adams

Friday News Flash

Wow, what an intense week we have had in Kindergarten. We learned two new letters this week and we have been preparing for conferences left and right. The students made so many wonderful projects to show you, and I can't wait to brag about how wonderful they are!

I don't have any photos this week, I'm sorry about that, but here are some highlights of what we have been working on in class.

Math

This week we have been honing in on decomposition. Students have been finding ways to break apart numbers using their fingers, beans and cubes. First we looked at 2 finding that we could break it into 2+0, 0+2 and 1+1. Then we moved onto 3s. This is such an important skill for the students as we move into addition and subtraction that they are comfortable and flexible with their number sense. You can support this at home when dividing up objects in your house say desert or even a toy with a sibling, using language like "so 1 and 1 make 2" or "we have 2 all together."

Reading

Students have added two new letters to their toolboxes. This week we learned about the letter P and T, and what sounds these letters make. If you ask students to show you the sound they should put their hands down to their sides like a penguin for P saying "puh puh penguin" and put their muscles up saying "tuh tuh tiger" for T. As part of our phonics program we use what is called "Zoo Phonics" that helps give children an animal and a movement to associate with the sound. You would be amazed at how much it helps them even when it comes to sounding out words!

Science

We are coming to an end of our pumpkin unit as we head to the pumpkin patch next week, but this week we discussed how pumpkins grow, the parts of a pumpkin, and the pumpkin life cycle. The real fun will come next week when we get to put this knowledge of pumpkins to use as we carve our own pumpkins in class as part of our pumpkin inquiry! Students will get to count the seeds, measure how big their pumpkin is and decide if a pumpkin will sink or float when submerged in water! It is going to be a blast!

Friday News Flash!

What a busy week we had! Finishing up our study on apples, going on our first Field Trip of the year and gearing up for conferences, the students and I have been running full speed ahead!

Pumpkin Unit

We started our pumpkin unit yesterday and I was astonished by how much your students already knew about pumpkins! We will be looking at how pumpkins grow and the different parts of the pumpkin as we move into next week. However, to kick off our pumpkin unit we read "The Bumpy Pumpkin" and made our own special pumpkins. Students cut and painted their pumpkins and got to create them as they saw fit. Here are some photos of a few. They all turned out wonderfully and I can't wait to hang them up on the wall!

Sight Words

As students have been learning letters and sounds, students have also been learning sight words to help with reading. The sight words your student has learned so far are I, We, The, Can and See. Students have been writing sentences using these words and using their fine motor skills in practicing making these words with play-doh. The play-doh is a great way for students to actually build the words and practice. (For fun ask your student if they remember the "THE" song, it has been a major hit in class). Your students have been great at practicing these words and applying their learning to the books that we read during reading group. They really are doing amazing work. Here are a few examples of the play-doh words that students did in class.

Addition

I know it may be surprising but we are quickly moving into simple addition in the next week or two. In class students have been grouping objects and looking at the different parts of a number that make up a whole. For example if we draw 3 flowers, 2 red 1 blue, then we can say the number sentence "2 red flowers and 1 blue flower makes 3 flowers altogether." As we move into next week we will be decomposing numbers within 5 to find all the ways we can make 5. To do this we will be using stories such as the flowers and by using umber bond worksheets which you will see coming home next week. It is amazing how quickly we move from counting to adding but I know that your students are ready and hungry for more math!

Foster Farms Fun!

Wow! I am so thrilled with your children. We had a fabulous first field trip and learned a lot! The students got to participate in 3 different stations. They got to harvest, grind and plant wheat, they got to grind apples to make apple cider, and they got to harvest seeds from varying vegetables. Seeing the connections that students were making and watching them have a hand in their learning was a magical thing to witness. To spark a great conversation, ask your student what their favorite part of the field trip was! I am sure they have many stories to share!

On a side note I apologize for not posting a Friday News Flash last week. With no school on Friday I got all my notes crossed and forgot to post! I will do better next time :)

Here are some photos from today. I have others of specific students that I am more than happy to share with you just send me an email or call me!

Students harvesting wheat seeds.

Students harvesting pumpkin seeds!

Pulling a bean from the pod.

Friday News Flash!

Happy Friday! What a fantastic week we had. I can't believe it is October already! Here are a few topics that we studied this week:

 

Mexico Letter Exchange

Our class has the wonderful opportunity to participate in a letter/picture exchange with a Kindergarten class in Mexico City! The first letter/picture was the topic "My School in Mexico" and "My School in Oregon." When I show students the pictures from the students in Mexico next week we will talk about similarities in their school and ours. This is such a great opportunity to expose students to a different culture while showing them that they also have a lot in common with these students. Here are a few pictures that the students drew to send to Mexico:

Eating lunch with my friends.

 

Apple Study

As we continue our apple study we had an apple tasting this week where students got to try 5 different apples! We discussed the varying sizes, colors and of course tastes. I was so proud of how many students tried all the apples, even ones they didn't think they would like! I can't wait for our field trip to Foster Farms where students will get to learn even more plus we are making apple cider so that will be great hands on learning!

 

Reading: Make New Friends!

The main idea in our reading curriculum this week was how to make new friends. Now that we are set in our routines, we are working to build relationships as a classroom community. I have seen that students do not know each others names and so this week we really worked to fix that. Students were incredibly insightful around how to be a friend (listen to each other, share, take turns, be kind). Today I had students work with a partner that they wouldn't normally work with to make a poster about how to be a good friend. This was a wonderful opportunity to bring different students together and also help them brainstorm ways they can be a good friend to their peers. Here are a few examples of posters students made:

Note: the yellow box is not on the picture, it is just for purposes of hiding student identities online.

Everyday I feel so lucky that I get to know your children better and I know that I am learning just as much from them as they are from me. So thank you for sharing them with me!

Cheers to a great week,

Ms. Adams :)