As always, it was a busy and productive week! We had a lot of fun too, of course. As I wrote in the note sent home yesterday, we did not get off to a consistent start with sharing. This was due to a very different schedule many days this week, which I did not think about when deciding to start sharing this week We will be back on track next week, with the Friday people each sharing on a day Monday-Thursday since there is no school on Friday. Sorry about the change--but if you helped your child prepare for this week's share, there is nothing needed for next week! Please remember, though, sharing is really meant to be done verbally. It's OK to bring something small like a photo or drawing, but that is not at all necessary.
NWEA:
Students completed the Reading and Math MAP-Common Core assessments on the Chromebooks on Wednesday and Thursday. This is a district-mandated assessment. We were fortunate to have excellent and diligent helpers from Mrs. Hibbard's 5th grade classroom to help students navigate on the Chromebook. Our students are pretty adept at using this device, but there were some aspects that were new to them. It was a long assessment, but students persisted and did their best! If you child was absent on either day, they will make up the test next week. Note: we did not refer to it as a test for fear of making students unnecessarily anxious about it. I simply referred to it as our "computer work." Students will take this assessment officially in December and May.
NWEA:
Students completed the Reading and Math MAP-Common Core assessments on the Chromebooks on Wednesday and Thursday. This is a district-mandated assessment. We were fortunate to have excellent and diligent helpers from Mrs. Hibbard's 5th grade classroom to help students navigate on the Chromebook. Our students are pretty adept at using this device, but there were some aspects that were new to them. It was a long assessment, but students persisted and did their best! If you child was absent on either day, they will make up the test next week. Note: we did not refer to it as a test for fear of making students unnecessarily anxious about it. I simply referred to it as our "computer work." Students will take this assessment officially in December and May.
Math
As described in a previous blog post, math stations are in full swing. Students are becoming more independent with completing station activities, which has allowed me to start working with students in small groups to better meet individual needs. We are currently in the Counting and Comparing unit of our Investigations Math program. Students are practicing being accurate counters, writing numerals correctly, showing numbers on a 10-frame, comparing numbers, and understanding what numbers mean (number sense). Math stations are popular, as they give students a chance to use familiar math tools, explore math concepts using online games (via the Chromebooks), and explore new math materials. As we progress through the school year, more choices will be embedded in each math station, which is always a welcome thing for kindergarten students!
As described in a previous blog post, math stations are in full swing. Students are becoming more independent with completing station activities, which has allowed me to start working with students in small groups to better meet individual needs. We are currently in the Counting and Comparing unit of our Investigations Math program. Students are practicing being accurate counters, writing numerals correctly, showing numbers on a 10-frame, comparing numbers, and understanding what numbers mean (number sense). Math stations are popular, as they give students a chance to use familiar math tools, explore math concepts using online games (via the Chromebooks), and explore new math materials. As we progress through the school year, more choices will be embedded in each math station, which is always a welcome thing for kindergarten students!
Not just 10-frames--Pete the Cat 10-frames! Health Thanks to a generous grant, students in K, 2nd, and 4th grade at Blair get to be part of the PE-Nut program monthly. Mrs. Tiesworth is the teacher for this important part of our curriculum. We had our first lesson on Thursday, and it was very popular! Students talked about healthy lifestyle choices such as eating well, exercising, drinking plenty of water, and keeping our bodies clean. We tried some brain break exercises, listened to Mrs. T read a fun and informative book, and got to taste a delicious and healthy pumpkin dip. Your child should have brought home a cookbook and informational sheet on Thursday. Our next lesson will be the week of Thanksgiving. | Mrs. Sorenson in a picture!? Yep, I really am there every day! These students are ordering numbers 1-10. |
Word Study
Our letters of focus were Ii and Jj, which is a bit behind what is indicated on our letter/sight word calendar. We also practiced sight words me and my. Please practice these sight words with your child at home. Making a simple set of flash cards to review whenever you have a spare few minutes is one way to help students commit these words to memory. So far our sight words have been: I, a, the, and, see, can, me, my, is, in. Some parents shared that their children are starting to notice and read these words when reading books together! Yay! Your child should be bringing letter and sight word mini-books home regularly. Reading these together is a great way to reinforce the learning we do at school.
I will post an update about our Reading and Writing Workshops next week.
Fun with Reading Buddies
Since we won't see our reading buddies on Halloween (no school Oct. 31), we did a spooky Halloween project together on Friday. Our Q-Tip skeletons were inspired by the book Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler. They will be hanging in the hall next week. It was great to have helping hands of 2nd/3rd grade students for this project!
Our letters of focus were Ii and Jj, which is a bit behind what is indicated on our letter/sight word calendar. We also practiced sight words me and my. Please practice these sight words with your child at home. Making a simple set of flash cards to review whenever you have a spare few minutes is one way to help students commit these words to memory. So far our sight words have been: I, a, the, and, see, can, me, my, is, in. Some parents shared that their children are starting to notice and read these words when reading books together! Yay! Your child should be bringing letter and sight word mini-books home regularly. Reading these together is a great way to reinforce the learning we do at school.
I will post an update about our Reading and Writing Workshops next week.
Fun with Reading Buddies
Since we won't see our reading buddies on Halloween (no school Oct. 31), we did a spooky Halloween project together on Friday. Our Q-Tip skeletons were inspired by the book Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler. They will be hanging in the hall next week. It was great to have helping hands of 2nd/3rd grade students for this project!
There is, of course, a lot more to tell about our week, but this covers some of the highlights. Students are working hard and learning a lot! I know I'm exhausted! I hope everyone enjoys this gorgeous weekend.