Taking a Pause

The past few posts have been largely about our work in Literacy and Math.  I'm taking a minute here to show you some other aspects to our learning.  We take some time everyday to move our bodies and practice focusing our minds. The children are learning how important it is to be able to focus on one thing at a time- that's being mindful!  We often say- "when you are walking in the hall, just walk" or "when you are listening to directions, just listen". This past week we did a mindfulness activity called "Pass the Cup" where we literally passed a cup full of water around the rug so each child was responsible for handing it to and receiving it from someone else.  It took focusing on just that one thing!  Below you can see us doing some Mindful Movement with  leadership by Jamie from the Cosmic Kids website. A fun thing you can try at home with your Kindergartner.

Moving Right Along

This post got its title because it's really a continuation, or "next steps" to last week's post.  If you've been following along here or in the newsletter you know that our hope was that after reading so many "old favorite" storybooks, we would learn some tips and tricks for writing our own stories.  This past week be begin making  sketches in little notebooks of possible ideas for true stories.  You can take a look.  Also we enjoyed a second round of Math Menu- our three session rotation in which the children set the pace and monitor their completion of activities.  Have a look at floor puzzles for counting and number recognition, the teen number card game and problem solving with Mrs. Lamphier- 3 of the choices from this rotation.

And, on Friday afternoon we had lots of fun playing the Dreidel game with our Big Buddies.  We are always busy!

Working Harder to Get Smarter

This week the children made great strides in literacy and math.  We're in an exciting new unit in literacy where our reading focus and writing focus are intersecting.  Over the next few weeks as we read "old favorite" stories (the kind that are so good you want to read them again and again until you know them by heart), we will work up to writing our own true stories! The children are learning about story elements such as characters, setting, plot and dialogue.  Below you will see pictures from lessons led by both Ann Knox, Literacy Teacher and Janet Hayden, ELL teacher highlighting the stories Harry the Dirty Dog and The Three Billy Goats Gruff .
The children made tri-fold story boards to remember the beginning, middle and end of Harry... and popsicle stick puppets and block bridges to dramatize The Three Billy Goats...
In math the children are applying their addition and subtraction skills to story problems! Being able to listen to a scenario, understand the question and use math to solve it is a great skill!

All in!

This past week was cut short by the snow and it feels like a long time until we'll be back in the classroom.  I don't think it will be hard to get our momentum back though, because the children have been "all in" when it comes to learning.  Have a look at some highlights.  Below you will see two students teaming up to make a number poster- they are representing 11 in three different ways.  You can also see partners reading their Gratitude and Happiness books to one another.  Have a look at one friend enjoying the old fashioned themed dramatic play set up, another friend feeling proud about her Native American inspired symbolic story, and finally some of our finished and nearly finished weavings.  A week well spent!

Thinking About the Future

The title of this post is a bit of an intended pun...
The last post was about our study of what life was like where we live 100 and 200 years ago.  While this unit has been lots of fun, it's equally important to think about what life will be like in Vermont 100 years from now... insert RECYCLE RHONDA!  Rhonda is a talented outreach educator from CSWD who came to talk to us about the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling, the three things we can to to take care of the earth for generations to come.

Traveling Back In Time

As you know a recent topic of study in our room has been Long Ago and Today.  This is an integrated unit that we're exploring through stories, math activities, craft projects and our sharing theme!  Have a look at the children learning to weave with paper (the ultimate patterning experience), trying out their weaving skills with cardboard looms, designing paper quilt squares with shapes, and learning about an egg scales that were used on Vermont farms about almost 100 years ago!  In one photo you can even catch a look at our cardboard "hearth" that's been a popular place for dramatic play.

What's New In Math?

What's new in Math is CHOICE and INDEPENDENCE! After some professional development last spring and summer, I became very enthusiastic about devoting a part of our math block to what is often referred to as "Math Menu"- essentially a structure where activities are planned to target and practice an array of skills but the children can choose which ones they will engage with and how.  Some activities are games- do you want to play with a partner or without?  Some activities are worksheets- do you want to work with numbers below ten or above? And still others are teacher dependent- and these of course would be a "have-to"- not a choice.  Getting this structure up and running has been a slow and deliberate process that Kathy Lamphere (math coach) and I have worked on together.  Here you can see the children fully engaged and even tracking their own progress!