Updates

BOO! Did I surprise you? I know I am surprised that it is already the week of Halloween.   What a fun week for kindergartners! There are so many different crafts, games, nonfiction activities about pumpkins, songs, and much more. 

Math:

In math this week, we are continuing to work on writing numbers, matching numbers to sets, estimating measurements of cartoon monsters with unifix cubes, and beginning story problem.  We will review tally marks during morning and afternoon meeting, and we will play a math game called Roll-a-Pumpkin.

Language Arts:

In Language Arts, I have introduced the letter sounds /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /f/, /v/, /k/, /g/, /qu/, /th/, and /a/. I told my class that the most exciting day in kindergarten, for me, is the day we learn the first Super Star Vowel.  Short /a/ is the first Super Star Vowel.  Now that we know /a/, we can make words.  Now is the time when reading starts to take flight for many students.  Here are some questions you can ask your kindergartener at home:

      What sound is made of 2 letters?

      Why do these letters always stay together?

      (Answer: /qu/ the q looks like the momma duck, and the

      u looks like the baby who always rides on her mother’s

      back)

      What sound does the /t/ and the /h/ make together? /th/

      Remember to stick out your tongue a little bit, and then blow.  

      Just like how "t" is sticking his tongue out at "h".  

      What sound does the short vowel sound /a/ make?

      What words begin with /a/?

Can you sound out these words? Don’t worry if it is a little tricky!  This is just the beginning.

                  at        pat      fat         bat     

Reading:

We will be practicing the three ways to read a book during Reader’s Workshop this week.  Skeleton Hiccups, by Margery Cuyler, is a great book for kids to practice reading the pictures and retelling.  It is so important for readers to look closely at details in the pictures.  I even hide the words to make sure my kiddos are really trying to tell the story by just looking at the pictures.  After the story, we use the 5 finger retell.  I use the image like the one below.  If a story does not have a problem or solution, I just ask what happened in the beginning, middle, and end.  

I encourage you to read a short book to your kindergartener at night, close the book, and then ask what happened in the story.

This week, a sight word game called "BOO!" will be coming home.  We have been working hard on this DIY learning game. I realize many kids do not know the majority of their sight words.  This game will hopefully be a fun way for you and your child to learn the words.  

Directions:  Open up the pumpkin bag and lay the (pumpkin seeds) cards face down on the table.  Player one turns over a card.  He/she tries to read the word (parents you can help).  Player one gets to keep the card.  Continue taking turns until someone gets "BOO!"  When someone gets "BOO!" he/she must put all of their sight words back in the pile face down.  That player keeps the "BOO!" card.  The object of the game is to collect the most sight word cards.  Remember: Do not get discouraged if your child doesn't know most of the words.  With more practice, it will come.  

Writing:

Today in writing, we read one of my favorite mentor texts, Ralph Tells a Story, by Abby Hanlon.  This is a book about a little boy who thinks he has no good ideas to write about.  All of his classmates are writing stories around him, but he tries everything and anything to avoid beginning his story.  Students can relate to Ralph because generating ideas to write about is not easy.  Like Ralph’s teacher, I tell my students that stories are all around us.  Good writers write about what they know.  After the story, we made lists of ideas to write about during Writing Workshop.  Immediately following, we each filled out our own heart map.  Throughout the year during Writing Workshop, we will use our heart maps to write stories about things we know and love.  What a productive day we had during writing today!

Concepts for the Car ride:

Rhyming continues to be one of those things that kids lose when they don’t use.  Please emphasize ending sounds with your kindergartener.

Looking for sight words everywhere is a great way for students to learn them (I, a, the, go, like, see)

Thinking of words that begin with the sounds we have learned.

Talking like robots to review syllables.

Coming up with ideas to write about in Writer’s Workshop

“I Spy Words that Begin with Short Vowel /a/”

Counting to 30 or higher (especially the tricky teens).

Counting by 10s to 100.