Today I read the story The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Before and during reading the student made predictions and asked questions about the story. It was great to hear them so engaged in the text. After reading the story we talked about characteristics that describe the main character. Together we did a character analysis. We also discussed how Spookley's feelings change from the beginning to the end of the story. In the beginning Spookley is sad because he is square and everyone else is round. All the other pumpkins tease him. At the end of the story Spookley saves the day. His difference made him a hero. He is happy. Finally, each student sequenced the events of the story on a sentence strip. At the end of the story Spookley the Square pumpkin everyone realizes that being unique is special. The farmer grows a pumpkin patch full of pumpkins of different shapes, sizes and colors. The students had a great time creating their own special pumpkin. Their pumpkins could be any shape, color or design. After creating their pumpkin the students wrote a descriptive writing piece describing their pumpkin. All of the pumpkins were posted on our classroom pumpkin patch. I read each descriptive writing piece. If the students used clear adjectives we were able to find their pumpkin in the patch. This week our phonics instruction focused on beginning blends like fl, gl, cl, bl, br, tr, sm, sn, etc to read words like flag, glad, blog, brag, trip, etc. We did most of this in our small guided reading groups since the students need varying levels of support when reading and writing these words. We also continued to work on comprehension skills when reading books at the students' reading levels. We are working on answering comprehension questions by providing text evidence from the selection.
In math we worked on adding 3 numbers. Students are shown mental math strategies for adding 3 numbers. For example, when adding 3+5+3 students could add the doubles fact first (3+3=6) and then add the 6+5. When adding 6+5 they may recognize that as a doubles plus one fact. They did great with applying these mental math strategies. We saw students go from adding the numbers in a nonstrategic order and counting up on their fingers, to applying mental math strategies and adding 3 numbers much more fluently. It is so exciting to see them "grow" in this area. We will continue to work on this skill throughout the year and they are encouraged to look for ways to make 10, doubles, doubles plus one etc when adding. Of course, many students need more time with applying these more complex strategies. Students are still allowed to draw dots/circles/pictures to help them when adding. In our whole class reading comprehension, we worked on sequencing. The students learned that sequencing means putting things in order. In our nonfiction reading, students sequenced the steps of a pumpkin's life cycle. In our fiction read aloud (Room on the Broom), students sequenced the event from the story. The students loved Room on the Broom! There are so many possibilities with this book. It has some wonderful vocabulary words opportunities and LOTS of rhyming words. Students worked in cooperative learning groups to find rhyming pairs. I provided them with words from the stories on cards and they worked together to find the matches. It is always so fun to see them work in cooperative learning groups to develop strategies and work as a team to accomplish a shared goal. Students did a fun writing response to the story as well. They wrote a sentence about what/who they would have on their broom. Their pictures included real brooms and a photo of themselves. This week we incorporated fall leaves into our learning. The students worked on distinguishing the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts while reading and listening to text about leaves. Students worked in groups to read Why Do Leaves Change Colors? They identified nonfiction text features and shared facts that they learned from their reading. We worked this week on reading and writing VCCV words. In math we worked on the ways to make 10 and then the more difficult skill of making a 10 in order to add. The students loved using the ten frames! Before reading the book When the Leaf Blew In the students made a prediction and asked a question about the story. Good readers use this strategy to help them comprehend what they read. The class really seemed to enjoy listening to this story. After reading they were given stick puppets to act out the events in sequential order. Small groups worked together to sequence the animals in the order that they appeared in the book. They used these pictures to retell the story in their own words. Below are pictures from the story When the Leaf Blew In. Ask your child to retell the story to you. This book is perfect for reviewing nouns and verbs. Together we talked about the nouns (animals) and verbs (actions) that appeared in the story. Our small groups had one final task. They had to match each noun with its correct verb. Every group was given a copy of the story to use as a reference. Today in math the students learned how to add a number to 10. For example, 10+3=13, 8+10=18. To introduce this skill the students learned to first fill up the ten frame and then add the remainder addend. We had so much fun using candy corn as counters. To add a challenge the students used the ten frame and candy corn to find the missing addend in an addition problem. For example. 10+______= 15, 6+______=16. They did such a great job that they all earned some candy corn to celebrate their hard work. This week in math we have been working on math strategies to help us with addition. We learned about turn around facts 3+2=5 so 2+3=5, counting on and now doubles. To help the students practice their doubles we sang the doubles rap. Each student made their own i-pod. Inside the i-pod are doubles flash cards from 1 to 10. The students really enjoyed sharing their song with the kindergarten classes. Another great practice activity was doubles bingo. The students were given a board of numbers. They had to roll a dice, double the number and color in that number on their board. The first person to fill a row won doubles bing. They did a great job! Next week we will learn how to add doubles plus 1. More fun with batsBat week has been a lot of fun. Not only did the students read nonfiction books, but we also read a fiction book called Bats at the Library. We had a special visitor help us with this book.... Batty the bat :) We talked about how we can tell this book is fiction compared to the nonfiction books we read earlier in the week. After reading we discussed the characters, setting, problem and solution. The students got to make their own bat to take home. This week students were introduced to nonfiction text features. First, we discussed the difference between fiction and nonfiction. We talked about the author's purpose and our purpose as readers is different when we read nonfiction as compared to fiction. They learned that there are features of nonfiction books that they should use when reading these types of books. I read nonfiction books about bats aloud (one projected on smart board) so that we could identify these features. We created an anchor chart using pages from a printable book with example of each feature. Students referred to this all week as they found examples of nonfiction text features in our small guided reading groups as well as their independent reading. They get so excited when they spot one of the features on their own! Here are a few pictures of them working in small groups and locating nonfiction text features in their bat books. The students were VERY interested in learning about bats! After reading, we would meet as a whole class and summarize what we have read and learned. Students told me interesting facts that they heard or read in the bats books. I made a list of their ideas on the board. Students then choose between 4-8 facts to write on their bat graphic organizers. We used these graphic organizers to begin writing informative All About Bats book. We are including nonfiction text features in them as well. They are very excited to be writing their own real nonfiction book! Today they drew their very own diagram of a bat with labels. Next week, students will add finishing touches to their books. Make sure to visit the Student Links tab where I posted the fun song about echolocation! We also had to do a few things not related to bats! We learned about open and closed syllables. This is helping us prepare to read larger words. Students learned that open syllables have long vowels and closed syllables have short vowels. In math we are working with addition strategies. Students learned that they can change the order of the addends and still get the same answer. We also worked with the counting on strategy. When students have to add 1,2,or 3 to a number, they should begin with the larger number first and count on the 1,2, or 3. They can do this in their head, using counters, or by drawing dots. For example, to do 8+2, a student would say 8 and draw two dots to help count up. They wouldn't need to draw the eight dots. We are encouraging them to now just say the larger number and count up. Some students can do this mentally and other students need a manipulative like counters or the support of drawing dots. Next week, be ready to hear about SPIDERS!!! Apples! Apples! Apples! To continue with our apple theme for the week we did an apple taste test. The students got to taste a slice of a red, yellow and green apple. Together we created a graph of our favorite. Take a look at our graph below to find out which apple our class thought was the best. Yummy! After tasting the apples we learned about adjectives. We brainstormed and wrote adjectives that describe apples. We couldn't have a week of apples without talking about Johnny Appleseed. I read a book about Johnny Appleseed to the class. After reading we did a character analysis. The students did a great job remembering facts from the book that describe the type of person Johnny was. Together we read a book called "Go Johnny Go" and the students made their own pot to wear on their head. The students learned the difference between a fact and an opinion. To practice identifying facts and opinions we read a statement on an apple and set it into the fact bucket or opinion bucket. Later the students wrote an opinion piece. They learned that in an opinion piece you include a topic sentence that states your opinion, two reasons or examples and then a closing which restates your opinion. To help them remember this format we relate opinion writing to an oreo cookie. Everyone enjoyed an oreo after writing their opinion piece. The students wrote their own opinion piece- "In your opinion, do apples make a good snack? Give reasons to support your opinion." |
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