Learning Independently and In Community

In last week's post I highlighted the concentration and focus that students were bringing to their work- the time was right to  introduce IN SCHOOL book packs much like the leveled books that I send home for practice. The new routine involves students finding a solo space, working their way though on-level books using all their superpowers (see previous post), and logging the titles of books they have read in a reader's notebook. At other times during the day (Quiet Time and Explore) I pull children aside to check in on their fluency and comprehension and add a little note in their log. We are building independence each day!

You've seen what the children are doing independently and now you can have a look at the class meeting "The Marble Challenge" with their big buddies.  This was a hands on experiment connected to our Force and Motion unit in science.  Check out the ways in which children are making the marble: move without using their hands to push it, turn a corner, hit a target and move an object.

Lastly, I wanted to share the lesson on handwashing that Nurse Casani brought to our class.  Through the use of a special lotion and a black light, we were able to practice handwashing techniques that will insure the germs are scrubbed away!

Shining Stars

I think this happens at this point in the year every year but it always amazes me!  Truly, I feel so fortunate to witness this kind of development- I think it's one of the reasons I love Kindergarten so much.  This post is dedicated to children "taking that leap"- seeing themselves as capable and recognizing their own strengths and achievements.  Here you can get a glimpse if one student co-leading the intro to the bowling unit in P.E.

Next, have a look at students self monitoring their popcorn words with word rings- words they are confident with on one side and challenge words on the other.

Here you can see a glimpse of whole group handwriting instruction.

And lastly, some future female mathematicians!  Look at the concentration and focus.

I Love to Read and Olympics Week!

The week before February Break was action packed- literally!  I will take you on a look back at the week's events starting with Friday's Orchard School Winter Olympics in the gym.

Before the ceremonies began, our class was highlighted because of the letters of encouragement we wrote to the US Women's and Men's Nordic Ski Team.  If you haven't already heard (thanks to Mr. White's connections) we sent good luck letters as well as a list of questions and Jessie Diggins- now an olympic gold medalist wrote us back!  Here is a look at the crew holding up their letters while Mrs. Frostman read Jessie's responses.

Here is a look at the speed skating event (note the scarves on the floor) that our two class representatives competed in and a look at one of them with their gold medal.

My fifth grade daughter spent the day with us as a helper and here you can see her working with a student like a big buddy and playing the role of "The Great Boudini" in Mr. White's game of magical mind reading.

On Thursday we read with friends by the light of flashlights at Quiet Time.  Pretty cozy in our jammies!

On Wednesday Officer Kevin was our Guest Reader!  He read a super story about baseball and believing in yourself and answered many questions.

On Tuesday, we had February's Farm to School Lesson and learned about cheddar cheese, where it comes from and how the aging process changes it's flavor.  It all begins with the cow!

Lastly, we began the week with "read with a stuffie" as an I Love to Read Week activity.  You can see from the picture below that our cuddly friends inspired reading and and lots more.

Hard At Work

    In looking back over the last several posts I noticced how many special events and celebrations I've documented.  It's true, we like to "woop it up" in kindergarten and there are so many "firsts". BUT... it's also true that the children are working very hard and building new competencies every day.  This post is dedicated to sharing about some of their recent work in Writing and Math.
    Below you can see three consecutive Morning Message questions or "jobs". They all relate to and build on one another.  You can see us working on representing a combination of five in a picture and an equation.  You can also see us moving on from five by relating a nickel and three pennies to a ten frame with 5 dots on the top 3 on the bottom.

Each day I assist the children in reading the message and send them off to their work spots with a small piece of paper to record their thinking.  The children then tape their papers up and we learn from the variety of responses.

In the pictures above you can see us integrating recent learning in Math and Literacy by doing a written response to the story A Chair For My Mother (upper left).  In this book a family saves coins in a jar for the perfect, comfortable chair- one that a hard working mom can really relax in at the end of a long day.  In the upper right photo, you can see us working on many ways to represent numbers (number bonds, 10 frames, equations...).  In the lower left photo we are doing coin rubbings to make pictures of coin jars and write about what we might want to save for.  And finally, in the lower right, the children are completing a worksheet that involves counting by 5's (or nickels) to add up to different amounts.  Lots of connections- lots of learning!

Friendship is Worth Celebrating

On Monday of last week we worked with our fifth grade buddies to make Valentines for adults in the school who are not classroom teachers.  It was fun working together to send a bit of appreciation to our custodians, cafeteria helpers, guidance counselors, and specials teachers.  On Tuesday we decorated collection bags for our classroom valentines and below you can see us reveling in the "kindness of cards" and having fun with valentine "fortune tellers".  Friendship Salad was delicious but taking photos while chopping fruit was challenging. On Thursday we participated in the science of "glitter explosions" for Logan's Candle Day.  It was a sparkly- bubbly- baking soda and vinegar-y good time.

100 Days of Friendship and Learning

What a milestone!  We've been counting up the days since we started and we made it to 100! The mural you see here is hanging in the kindergarten hall and children in all four classes had a chance to write something they love about kindergarten on one of the hearts.  Perhaps you can zoom in to read some of the responses.

Below you can see us working hard to string 100 pasta beads on string.  The children wore their necklaces and headbands that were decorated with 100 tally marks on the parade and to the dance party we had with the first grade.

Early last week we took advantage of the sun and snow to play outside with our big buddies.  It was pretty to cool to see the kindergartners swinging and spinning their fifth grade friends on the playground equipment.

Designing, Coding and More!

This past week the children were involved with several design challenges- some that were structured and some that were not.  Take a look below at friends teaming up to build matching, symmetrical structures out of Zoobs and pattern blocks.

Below is a duo feeling proud of their unit block structure and a group of children exploring Pentominos.

On Thursday we extending on the coding skills we learned earlier in the year in the library with Mrs. MacDonald and programmed BEE BOTS with Ms. Corcelle!  Here you can see her getting the whole group acquainted with the robotic bee and then us splitting off into pairs to program the bees to reach various shapes on the mats.

Even with taking time to design, build and code we managed to get in writing letters to the US Olympic Nordic Ski team (thanks to Mr. White's connections) and work in a new "Numbers Galore" book in Math.   All in a week's work!