Winter has been Wonderful in Kindergarten!

Since returning from the break we have been reading and writing about all things winter!  We have learned about winter weather, how snowflakes are formed, and believe it or not, not everyone has cold weather in winter!

We read lots of great books by Carolyn Buehner.  

 

We decided to use our imaginations and make some fun stories about what we would do with our snowman--in a snow globe!

We have also begun a new unit of study during Writers Workshop.  We have been learning all about "how to books" and decided to try our hand at some how to writing of our own!

First, we read All You Need For A Snowman by Alice Schertle.  

Then...we made a SNOWMAN!!

Next we created a snowman flow map to show everything you would need to have and do to make a snowman of your own.  Finally, we created our own how to books!

Later in the week, we even used the Engineering and Design Process in an attempt to create the world's largest marshmallow snowman! 

We even celebrated the 100th Day of school with a wintery twist!  We worked in groups to search through trays of baking soda "snow" to find 100 buttons hidden in "snow."  We used vinegar to help "melt" our "snow."  

Winter can be SNOW much fin!!

New Year's Reading Tip

I can't believe it's already 2016, and the second half of Kindergarten is well underway!  Your child has spent the first half of Kindergarten learning all about letters and sounds, and how to use those letters and sounds to read and write new words.  As we move into the second semester, the words and books that we will be reading will slowly begin to increase in their length and difficulty.  It is going to be more important than ever for your child to use their finger to track print and draw their eyes to ALL the letters in the words they are reading!  Don't let your child get in the habit of looking at the first few letters/sounds and making a guess.  Encourage them to use their finger to touch each letter/letter pair in the words they are reading so they are able to read each word and make sense of the text they are reading.  After all...there is a big different in baG and baD, caP and caT!  

Stay focused readers! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had a great few weeks celebrating Fall, harvest,  and Thanksgiving!

First we learned all about corn--how it grows, how it's harvested, and all the ways we get to enjoy it!  We read Corn by Gail Gibbons and wrote our own teaching books. 

      

We all agreed that popcorn is one of the yummiest ways to enjoy corn, and from the looks of our class popcorn graph, cheddar popcorn was our favorite!  

We even Lego engineered some technology that might help a farmer get his corn from the field to the store.  SUPER FUN!!  We had trucks, ships, and even some flying crafts!  

Next, we spent a week learning about the Pilgrim's, Indians, and the very first Thanksgiving; and even got to enjoy a special Thanksgiving Feast here at school!

This week has been dedicated to the turkey! We have read about sneaky turkeys, surprised turkeys, little turkeys, and fat turkeys!  We have done some turkey writing too!

      

Anyway you carve it, I hope you and your sweet kiddos have a great Thanksgiving!  

Pumpkin and Halloween Fun!

We have been SUPER busy the past few weeks!  We have been learning all about pumpkins and how they grow.  We became experts and decided to write our own teaching books!  Then we planted our own pumpkins!  We are anxiously looking for growth in our little pumpkin patch! 

 

We are starting our patch from the seeds we dug out of the largest of our classroom pumpkins!

 

But we didn't plant them all!  Some were for roasting!

We enjoyed our pumpkin seeds, but not nearly as much as we enjoyed our fresh baked pumpkin bread!  Just in case you are wondering, pumpkin bread is even better with your reading buddy! 

We learned about how pumpkins grow and even how to eat them, but we also read and wrote some make believe stories about pumpkins!  One of our favorite sources of inspiration was Spookley the Square Pumpkin!

And finally the long awaited holiday arrived--HALLOWEEN!  We celebrated with some witchy writing and a little witches brew!

Stretchy Snake Strategy!

We all have a new reading strategy--Stretchy Snake!

Stretchy Snake will quickly become one of your child's go to strategies and involves touching each letter of the unknown word, making the corresponding sounds, and then pushing those sounds together to identify the unknown word.  

Check out the link below for a video explanation!  Happy reading!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DweEdXTw6fk

How to read with STAMINA!

We have spent much of the first quarter becoming acquainted with books.  We have learned how to use the pictures on the pages to help us understand what the book is about.  We have learned that all those letters on the page make all the words the author needed to tell a story, and we have learned how to use what we know about letters and sounds to help us read that author's words. We have a few of the basics--now we are ready to put our skills and knowledge to use!  We are ready to stretch our reading muscles and build some stamina!

We have learned that stamina is the ability to do something (by ourselves) really well for a really long time.  As a class, we are up to almost three minutes of reading stamina, and every day we are working to meet or beat our current time.  We have worked hard to understand what reading with stamina should look, sound, and feel like.  Encourage your child to talk about the things that good readers do and work to build stamina at home.  

Have fun learning to read longer and stronger!  

An Apple A Day

I am a mountain girl, so nothing says Fall, or home, to me like APPLES!!

We have used our senses to describe how apples look, feel, and taste; and we made a classroom graph to show our favorite varieties.  

We learned about how apples grow, and how apples get from the orchard to our house in the form of apple cider, applesauce, and apple pies. 

We even made our own applesauce!!  YUM!!

We also made a classroom graph to show how we like to eat our apples after an apple-riffic taste test!

I can't believe the apple cider beat our homemade applesauce!!

As you and your family get ready for the long weekend, consider a trip to do some apple picking.  Have your child spell the color of their favorite apple, use our new apple vocabulary (like blossom and orchard) to tell you how apples grow, or try out an apple recipe at home!  Your child should know all about making applesauce, or try out a new recipe together.  Be ready to use the words first, next, and last to talk about the steps you take.  Or just head to the library and look for some apple books (Apple Farmer Annie, The Apple Pie Fairy, or The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree are great choices).