Meet Venn Diagram...How to read fluently...and so much more!

This week was RED RIBBON WEEK.  We had short lessons each day reviewing how to be healthy and happy and how to say No! to anything that may harm our body!  Each student pledged to live a happy, healthy life!

This week we met some friends that help us organize what we read.  We first met VENN DIAGRAM.  Venn Diagram helps us to organize the differences and similarities of two things (i.e. between a tadpole and an adult frog).  The picture is of the students’ responses, I did not add a single response!  Students know that we put differences on the outside and similarities on the inside.  We use movements with our hands to help us remember.

We also introduced a T chart and how that can help us organize information and compare.

Writer’s Workshop, students are working away.  I am so proud of the students.  They really have the knowledge now and a very solid foundation of writing sentences.  They know that each sentence starts with a capital letter, they we write from left to right, that we create space between words, include the “who” and the “what”, and always ends in a period or exclamation point.  We will continue practicing each day on improving, but the knowledge is there, it’s just putting it to practice. 

We did a really fun lesson this week on reading fluently.  Part of reading fluently is knowing what to do when you get to punctuation.  This week we focused on what readers do when they see a period and an exclamation point.  We did a sentence walk around the room.   Taped to the floor were the sentences:  “I see a dog.  The dog ran home.  I love dogs!”  We practiced walking fluently (smoothly and natural, just like reading should be!) and as we read the sentences when we came to a period, we put or hands up (like we were saying HALT with our hands) and paused.  When we read the sentence “I love dogs!” we would say it with super duper excitement and when we got to the exclamation point we would jump with our hands up in the air. 

In Math we have still been working on our addition skills and just started to introduce subtraction.  I took two videos of the students doing Math.  They are picking it up so quickly.  There is a couple short math s I like to show in the morning.  I try to always be ready for the students even before the school day so they don’t have to sit in the hallway.  If they are in the building, I would rather have them in the classroom watching a fun video or doing a quick phonics or math game.  I will attach both videos.  The videos are working though.  Before I started teaching the subtraction lesson, I asked the students if they knew what subtraction meant and most of them said, “It means to take away.” So I asked, “How did you know that?”  They said, “From the video.” and pointed to the SMART board.  Cool!

We also had a fun activity to work on mastering the common core standard: “describes positions of objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, next to, and behind.   We played a Simon says kind of game ad used “friends” (paper plates with faces drawn on them) to help us learn where above, below, in front of, etc…..we rotated the paper plate around our body to show the correct position.  It was really fun, students request to play that game now.  J  Needless to say, they met the standard quickly!

I am so excited for next week.  Our Halloween Party is going to be awesome.  We are going to have centers that focus on Math and Science.  It will be great to have so many parents in the classroom that day as well.  It makes it an extra special day for your son or daughter.  J

Have a great weekend!  I’m off to run a 5K, perfect way to end Red Ribbon Week.  

Mrs. Kressin

Here's the other Math video we use in the morning (suggested by one of my fellow Kindergarten teachers!  Her class loves it, so we had to try it!):

Why are frogs so happy? They eat whatever BUGS them!

 

Days of grueling work up to the party....

 Just like our normal day to day learning environment, we had centers and centers of froggerrific activities!

 

First things first, we have to make our party hat!

 

Now let's glue the different stages of a frog's life in the correct sequence on the head band.

 

Student's depiction of a frog's life cycle. 

 

 

Since we were working on our 5 senses this week, we had a SENSORY STATION.  At this station students bravely reached their hand under a covered container to use their sense of touch to tally what stage of the frog life cycle they thought they felt.  Students put a tally mark for what stage they thought they felt.  Students described what they felt...(was it hot? cold? hard? soft? slimy? rough? etc..)

Tadpoles in water!

Frog eggs in water!

Adult frog on land!

Students tally up votes before the unveiling!

Now we can SEE the stage!  Using another sense!

Students trying to SEE what they FELT!

Students described the tadpole station as...."slimy, cold, slippery and tadpoley!" 

 

 

 

Students working on LILY PAD addition!

 

 

 

"Can you please place my life stages in the correct sequence of events?"

 Student's also got to have a dance party to end the day, dancing to the awesome frog song of course!
 

5 Senses, building addition number sentences!

Phonics Center: Students master letter identification.  They align lower case letters with the corresponding capital letters.  Once we are done with that!  On to letter sounds!  Let me tell you, these girls are letter ROCK STARS!!!

Last week was business as usual…as far as the students doing an OUTSTANDING job! 

In Writer’s Workshop we are stilling working on the long list of things to remember when writing. 

1.       Always write from left to right.

2.       Use a capital letter to start each sentence.

3.       Leave space between words.

4.       Including the “who” and the “what” in each sentence.

5.       Ending each sentence with a period or exclamation point. 

There are SOO many things to remember which is why we practice each day! 

In reading, the students mastered the sequence of events of the different stages of a frog’s life cycle.  While reading the non-fiction book “The Life Cycle of a Frog”, we also looked at: The Table of Contents page, glossary, sidebars, bold faced words and other features that help us better understand any non-fiction book we are reading.  (They worked so hard, they were rewarded with an all day FROG party!  Next blog will showcase those photos and videos!)

In Science we worked on our 5 senses and which body part is associated with it!   We analyzed fruit loops with each one of our senses and then described what we saw, heard, felt, tasted or touched.  We also did an interactive SMART board activity where students had to decide which sense would be used to do something? And what body part would be used for that sense.  (i.e. “our nose would help use the sense of smell to smell stinky basketball socks!”) Students also helped to rebuild a stick figure that had lost all of her body parts that are associated with a sense.  They took turns to give her ears, nose, hands, eyes and mouth.   

Guided Phonics Center with Mrs. K

"I can build the word....(lap and cap...and many others)" center.  Students build words with gentle coaching from Mrs. Kressin.  After they build their word, they practice writing that word as well.  Sometime we speed build...where Mrs. Kressin gives a word, and the students race to build the word as fast as they can!  :)    

9 ways to make (equal) 8!  8 ways to make (equal) 7!  Students are building the addition number sentence, then writing the addition number sentence.  These boys are getting to be pro's! 

Students are making sense of number addition sentences!

"I..."statements, Setting, Sequence of Events, Adding +1

THIS WEEK IN…

Phonics:  Students were completing RHYMING activities.  The super secret password was the sight word “MY”, and review of the letters Kk, Ll, Mm, Ee.  Some students are asked to tell the sound, some students tell words that begin with that sound or words that end with that sound, etc.”  Each week we have a new password to enter the classroom. 





Above:

Students sharing the sequence of events of their own bedtime routine. 

Writing:  The students worked on visualizing what they wanted to write about.  First we visualized an event that they had experienced in the past, an event they look forward to in the future, something that happened recently.  They wrote “I…” statements like “I had a big cake.”  Or “I had a red belt” or “I love leggo land.”  I have to share; one of the students said the most adorable thing.  During journal writing we have been working on “I…” statements.  In reading we have been working on sequence of events, so for the reading homework, students were suppose to use the “IMPORTANT” words to help organize their writing of: First, Second, Third, Next and Finally.  One of the students came to me in the morning and said, “I’m sorry Mrs. Kressin I told my Mom we need to start every sentence with a Capital I, but she wasn’t getting it and she made me write it like this.”  (Which of course, Mom was right!) That just made my week, and it was so precious.  I couldn’t help but laugh.   So during journal time I explained that this week we were just working I statements but we can change how we start off our sentences.  This is why I LOVE teaching Kindergarten!  They are so sweet and ready to soak up learn anything you put in front of them!



Partner Teaching

Reading:  We spent a majority of our week on: sequence of events, determining text importance (not every detail), and review of setting.   Setting can be tricky for students.  Setting is not only where, but also when.  The setting could be in the 1800’s or in the future!  Setting can change within a story.   Setting can change from page to page sometimes and other times the setting stays the same through the whole book.  Good readers are investigators though, and are always looking for and thinking about the clues they see, hear or read!



Setting and Smiles :)

 I am so excited to hear the students answering questions with complete thoughts (complete sentences). For example if I was asking the students where the setting of the book was, they would respond, “The setting of the book is in the forest.” If a student responds“In the forest”, I always say, “WHAT is in the forest?” It didn’t take long for them to catch on!  

Partner Reading

 

MATH: Addition!  We started off as a whole class looking at what happened to any number we add one to.  One student shared with the class that “…any time you add one to a number, it is just one number bigger!”  We split up into our Math Centers and worked on our individual needs.  Some students were working on mastering counting to 50, others worked on mastering comparing numbers with greater than,  less than or equal to, others were writing their numbers after counting a certain number of objects, some student were working on addition problems up to 5. 

There is an INCREDIBLE WEBSITE we use in class for our technology center. 

ü http://www.ixl.com/math/kindergarten

If you click on the link, it will take you directly to a page that shows most of the standards that Kindergarteners are required to learn throughout the year.   If you click on any of the links, it will have practice questions that pop up to test that specific standard.  For example if your son or daughter is working on Counting to 20, you would click on that link and 10 stars would pop up for them to count.  If they got it correct they would move on to another question and the questions would slowly increase in difficulty.  If they got it wrong, it shows how to figure out the answer.  It is amazing.  Towards the end of  the year I hope to have all of students working on 1^st grade math from this website!  (I just ask please do not have the student begin skip counting until they can count forwards and backwards by ones to 100 with ease.  Skip counting can really confuse students when they are building thier understanding of numbers!)

The students in this class are always on “Outstanding!” for our behavior chart.  They try their best every day. 
What coming next week???

ü Writer’s have a lot to remember.  We are going to practice putting a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence, space between words, ending with a period or exclamation and including the who and what in their complete sentence!  Mrs. Kressin is also going to start using the word verb in our every day vocabulary!

ü Reading/Science: Build academic vocabulary as we learn about the life cycle of a frog.  Continue to determine text importance and sequence of events.  Identify and discuss nonfiction text features (table of contents, glossary, sidebars, bold words, etc.)
 

ü Math: Adding numbers up to 5.  Some students I may bump up to adding numbers up to 10.  We’ll see how the week goes! 

ü http://www.ixl.com/math/kindergarten Check it out!  Kids love anything on the computer! 

Visualize, Complete Sentences and don't forget MATH TALK!

The words "VISUALIZE", "COMPLETE SENTENCES" and "MATH TALK" were probably said about 100 times this past week... Here's why...

Writer’s Workshop has been going great this week.  When we work on writing it is important to not overwhelm the students with too many corrections.  During each writing session, we first take a moment to VISUALIZE what we want to journal about, discuss it with a partner, share, and begin.  I try to only COACH the students on one or two items during their writing session.  Initially we focus on: sounding out words, leaving space between words, capital letter to start a sentence, using a drawing to tell opinion, information or what happened, and so on.  We want the students to enjoy the daily Writer’s Workshop.  This is a time for minor adjustments each day (that add up to major gains!)and lots of positive reinforcement and encouragement!  Writing can be a daunting task for Kindergarteners! 

 In Reading and Phonics we have been working on Beginning sounds (specifically for Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj), recalling and retelling information IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.  Silly Mrs. Kressin often forgets the question she just asked or anything about the story we just read, so it is very important to always speak in complete sentences so she can figure out what is going on!  The students are doing a wonderful job adjusting their answers!  I can see them growing and learning every day.  It is so exciting.  J  I have been getting great feedback from parents that you are working on reading comprehension questions at home.  That is so awesome!  Anytime you can ask your son or daughter questions about the story (beginning, middle, end, characters, setting, etc...), you are teaching them how to be a better reader! 

This week we also had FIRE SAFETY.  I will post information and pictures from that event next week.  (I have to get pictures from another teacher.)  Reminder:  Make sure you and your family have a “meeting place” in case of emergencies! 

Math activities.  The students in this class are gaining a solid foundation with numbers.  We have started our “MATH TALK” during our Math centers, where we focus on talking about a certain topic.  This week we compared two numbers to see if they were greater than, less than or equal to.  We use a variety of different ways to measure our learning and understanding for these concepts.    

LESS THAN talk...

Fruit Loops GREATER THAN activity. 

Fruit Loops and Fruit Loops!

In this video I asked one of the students to quiz the other students on "EQUAL TO".  The number he wrote was 100!  You can hear at the end, he is saying what the other students wrote down.  They are number rock stars!!!

Addition Number Sentences

Corresponding Numbers with the correct Number of Stickers(objects).

 

Counting!

Cups and Cardinality Build Up.  We used this for our Math TALK..."Is my pyramid less than your pyramid?  Let's count and see!  I think this pyramid is GREATER THAN the other!

"Add them all up and let's decide whether my number is greater than your number?  less than?  What if our numbers are equal to?  That would be crazy!" 



I love using whiteboards as an assessment tool. I can ask a series of questions, each student quickly writes down their response. I can see who is "getting it" and who is not and adjust our learning needs accordingly.

 I can see some serious NUMBER POWER going on here.  Students are problem solving and making sense of numbers and how it makes sense to them....and trying to explain it to their friends!



Tech. center....creating addition number sentences. 



 One last thing, tomorrow we are celebrating our POPCORN reading party! They have already earned every REWARD possible on our REWARDS BOARD! Time to start over with a clean slate!

Enjoy the long weekend!  No school on Monday!  Read and Count!  Read and Count!  :)

Take Care,

Mrs. Kressin :)

Writer's Workshop Begins!

The WRITER’S WORKSHOP has been a hit so far!  Our goal through Writer’s Workshop is to have each student complete authentic writing. 

Authentic writing means:

ü  The writing is personal.

ü  Can hear the writer’s voice in their writing.

ü  Work is original.

ü  Stems from connections.

ü  Important to the writer.

Authentic writing:

ü  Creates pride in writer.

ü  Allows writer to express feelings.

The students' "special" Writer's Workshop bins! (Thank you parents for bringing cereal boxes!)

 

Our first Unit during the Writer’s Workshop is focused on the genre of Journals!  People write journals about themselves.  People also write so they can remember what happened to them.  People write in journals to feel better. 

 Some of you may be thinking… “uh…but my child does not know how to write?”  That is ok!  That is what is so great about Writer’s Workshop; it allows each child to work at their own level!  We encourage students to write words or sentences associated with their picture.   Initially, if a student does not know how to sound out words yet, we encourage the student to write the letters we are working on that week in school.   However, we phase each student into sounding out and writing their own words or sentences that go along with their pictures.  Already in the first couple days of Writer’s Workshop I can see the students’ wheels are turning….sounding out words to match a word or words for their drawings.  It’s awesome!  The journal idea packets are relied on heavily!  The students did a phenomenal job on them!

There is an excellent website I invite you to encourage your son or daughter to visit if they are ever bored at home.  They love it in class and it is the one of the best educational websites for young people!  www.starfall.com

We use this website as part of our technology center for Phonics/Reading centers and for a Math center. 

 

The students have been working really hard on Math this week too.  We have been trying to improve our number line in our head.  We have been looking at numbers and deciding what numbers are greater than, less than or equal to for that number.  I have some really fun activities planned for next week to continue our work on these concepts that include Fruit Loops for my constantly hungry Kindergarteners! J  It’s ok, I am hungry all the time too! 

Some of the students work below I wanted to show! 

 

The students are filling up their personal billboards with their work.  The students choose what they would like to showcase in their area.  They are very proud of what they have accomplished so far.  As they should be!

 

 

 

 

 

Kindergarten is the LAND OF ONES!

We had some incredible learning going on this week that just warmed my teaching heart!  We were working on the “sticky” vowel “U” this week.  I completely let the students take the reins in creating words that had the sticky vowel “U” in them.  One student decided “FUN” was a word that used the sticky vowel “U”; I had the students help me sound out the letters in the word “FUN” and write the letter F and N.  Another student shouted out “UP”.  I was about ready to have two groups use the same word “up!” until an unexpected student excitedly shouts “I know another word! RUN!”, then another student chimes in, “Hey!  Run and fun rhyme!”  That’s why students are so fabulous, if you give them the room to grow, they will…and even more than you had anticipated! 

 

For reading comprehension this week, we worked really hard on mastering telling what happens at the “Beginning, Middle and End” of a story.  Ask your student to show you the action we do when working on the beginning, middle and end!  You will see students watching the animated book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”.  We also acted this out in class.  Great book!  (There was also some counting to do!  Mrs. Kressin’s favorite!)  The writing activity was organizing the beginning, middle and end by drawing what happened in the correct sequence on the graphic organizer. 

 

Working on Independent Reading.

At the phonics technology center.  One student is using the SMARTboard while the other student is listening and using the desktop computer. 

Number Power is the word on the street in Kindergarten.  Last Tuesday I had to attend a Professional Development Conference on teaching our young ones numbers.  Really the biggest goal was to give students not only number sense, but number power.  We want our Kindergarten students by the end of the year to have an unshakable number line from 1 all the way to 100 and beyond.  We want students to be able to visualize their number line without any gaps.  The speaker for the day even coined the phrase that Kindergarten is the land of “ones”.  After going to this conference I revamped my Math centers to go along with the latest and greatest of what research says best practices are in Math.  Our new math centers include “Cups and Cardinality” where students can work as a team or individually to build their own cup tower.  The only catch they must be able to count as high as they build their tower.   It is pretty interesting to watch what students can create without any interference from an adult.  One student was absent and the previous day students cycled through the centers and the highest anyone was able to build their tower was 15.  The student who was absent sat down at the “cups and cardinality” center the next day and built a tower totally different than anyone else in the class and her tower was made of 21 cups.   What was even better was the rest of class was just as excited for her, ran over and immediately began congratulating her on her success!  That is what is so great about this class, they really are a community of learners and it is really fun to observe every day. 

Another math center we are working on is “Counting Up”.  This center focuses on number sequence from any number 2-20 through 100 (or less depending on what is appropriate for that student’s level).   We see many students really struggle with the numbers THIRTEEN, FOURTEEN and FIFTEEN.  I wrote those in CAPS because when we say those numbers in class, we do not just skim right over them (you know the LMNOP effect), we enunciate and raise our volume when we address these three numbers.   With our half day, we fit numbers in anytime and anywhere we can.  When we are waiting in line we are always working on counting 1-100.   Of course, we also have whole group instruction on Math, but these are some of the new practices we have put into place last week.

The students worked so hard this last week and part of the “FUN FRIDAY ACTIVITY” they earned included some more counting..but to camouflage the  counting, we used a parachute! J  The students loved it!  They got to get some energy out and completely wore me out!  Playing with a parachute is a workout!

 

 

GROUP HUG!

We have had a couple parent volunteers so far this year and they have been great help in the classroom!  I welcome any volunteers in the future!  As always if you ever would like to discuss anything regarding your son or daughter, my door is always open.  (As well as my email inbox and cell phone!)  I apologize for the delay on this blog update.  My goal is to update every Friday night on the previous week, but I forgot my camera at school and you just can’t update a blog without photos!  (This is why I have so much patience with Kindergarteners I forget things, I spill food/drinks on myself,  it takes me more than one try to get good at things, I can’t sit still and I love to be goofy and silly….we are a perfect fit!)

And yes your child's appetite was ruined last Friday, but we had a birthday celebration!  How can you turn these faces down?? 

 

Have a great week!

 Sincerely,  Mrs. Kressin