Tales of a Kinder-Whale Dear Kinder-whale Families, Happy Fall! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far. I apologize for the delay in posting the weekly news--there was an issue with syncing the photos from my iPad to my computer, and I wasn't able to post any pictures until the issue was resolved. The pictures are now syncing correctly! Thank goodness! & thank you for your patience and understanding. The Kinder-Whales had another busy week, filled with lots of fun learning activities! This week, our reading and language arts lessons had a social studies connection, where we learned about a historical figure named Johnny Appleseed. Featured above in this week's news are the students' directed drawings of Johnny Appleseed. Throughout the year, as we do more directed drawings, students will start to add sentences to go along with their artwork, as they become more capable. Please enjoy this week's news and remember to leave a comment! Reading/Language Arts This week, we learned all about a historical figure named Johnny Appleseed. The book, Johnny Appleseed written by Jodie Shepherd, was read to the students multiple times throughout the week for different purposes. The first time we read the book, it was for the students' enjoyment and to build interest as well as connect any prior knowledge that the students have about Johnny Appleseed. The second and third times we read the book, we focused on building vocabulary and figuring out any unknown words (see below under Multiple Meaning Words). Towards the end of the week, the students were able to recall lots of details from the book to show how much we have learned about Johnny Appleseed, including the fact that Johnny Appleseed was a real person who lived more than two hundred years ago. We will continue to read the story next week as the students work on sequence of events, retelling the main parts of the story, and identifying story elements. The students noticed that the more times we read the story, the more we learned and found things that we had missed the first time reading the story. Multiple Meaning Word: Pitch This week, the Kinder-Whales also learned about multiple meaning words, words that have more than one meaning. We created a list of multiple meaning words, such as, miss (to miss someone, to miss a shot, when you call someone Miss, etc.), bat, fly, cool, scale, seal, lie, May, and March. Next, the students were introduced to the multiple meaning word for this week: pitch. The students did a Think-Pair-Share, where they turned and came up with meanings of the word pitch. Then they shared what they came up with to the class. A few students thought pitch meant pinch or peach. We discussed how we must listen carefully to each part of the word to make sure that we are discussing the right term. A number of students came up with to pitch means to pitch (or to throw) a baseball. To help the students retain this information, we also acted it out. The Kinder-Whales were also introduced to three other meanings of the word pitch, including: to pitch a tent means to put up a tent, and a pitch can also be a high pitched sound vs. a low pitched sound. The last definition of the word pitch is an idiomatic expression: to pitch in, which means to help out. The students acted out all four meanings of the word pitch. Have them show you what they've learned by saying these prompts, as shown in the video below (the video was cut off): 1. Show me how to pitch a ball. 2. Show me a high pitched sound. Show me a low pitched sound. 3. Show me how to pitch a tent. 4. Show me how to pitch in (idiomatic expression). We will continue to use this word all throughout next week, and we will also learn more multiple meaning words throughout the school year. The ELA Centers/Stations! (ELA: English Language Arts) The Kinder-Whales were super excited to begin having centers this week! At one center, the students practiced their handwriting, phonics, and letter formation. Students practiced writing the letters Xx, Yy, and Zz, at that station throughout the week. At a second station, the students worked on their phonics and phonemic awareness on the StarFall website. At a third station, the students worked on sequencing the life cycle of an apple, where they cut out pictures, put them in the correct order, and then colored the pictures. At a fourth station, the students practiced letter formation by doing rainbow letters: Students used different colors to write all the uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet, and then repeated with a different color. At a fifth station, the students picked an ABC card and built the letter using linking cubes. At a sixth station, students worked with me to write scaffolded sentences. See below, under Writing/Handwriting. The students had lots of fun rotating through the six stations over two-three days out of the week. Writing/Handwriting At the writing station, we did a quick summary and check for understanding about our book of the week, Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd. Students were asked, "What was his real name?" (Johnny Chapman). "Why did people call him Johnny Appleseed?" Students agreed that it was because he planted so many appleseeds -- he traveled and planted lots of apple seeds, sold seedlings to other settlers, and built many apple orchards. Next came the fun part! I asked the students what they would plant if they were put into Johnny Appleseed's situation (not shoes, because according to the story, Johnny Appleseed didn't wear any shoes). For instance, if I could plant anything across the country, I would choose either avocados or mangoes. As a result, people would call me Vanessa Avocadoseed or Vanessa Mangoseed. The students had a lot of fun coming up with their own Johnny Appleseed inspired names! Check them out below! Math Apple Taste Test The Kinder-Whales have enjoyed learning all about apples in September! We had an apple taste test, where students were able to sample red delicious, golden delicious, Granny Smith, and Fuji apples. Before tasting the apples, the students made a prediction about which apple they thought they would like the best. To prevent the students from just saying the apples taste good or bad or that the apples taste like apples, students were encouraged to use SMART words--descriptive words to use when using our five senses to make our apple observations. For instance, for sight, students looked to see if the apples were shiny, round, and at the apples' color(s). For touch, students felt if the apples were smooth, rough, bumpy, soft, solid, etc. For taste and hearing, students took a bite out of their apple slice and listened to see if it was crunchy, crispy, or mushy/squishy/soft. Students also described if the apples tasted sweet, sour, tart, juicy, etc. Afterwards, we wrote down their descriptive words on our giant apple friend. Then the students colored an apple to show which one was their favorite. Students also completed a worksheet to show which apple they liked first, second, and least. Apple Graphing! Once the students finished coloring their apple, they brought it up and graphed it on our blue pocket chart. Then we counted to see how many students liked the red delicious, how many liked the golden delicious, how many liked the Granny Smith, and how many liked the Fuji apples. We also noted which kind of apple had the most likes, and which one had the least likes. After looking at our class graph, the students worked on their own graph. We counted how many students liked red delicious and golden delicious apples, how many students liked golden delicious and Granny smith apples, and how many students liked red delicious and Granny Smith apples, and added them together. Students were surprised when they found out that they were adding just by counting! Math: Numbers to 9 The students did various activities to show how to make numbers 0 to 9. We looked at the many different ways we can show and make a number, including using your fingers, using a Ten Frame, using drawings of objects, writing the numeral, spelling out the number word, and using tally marks (new concept that we will be reviewing in October). One of their favorite activities this week was to play a math board game. Students partnered up with a friend and rolled a dice; then they would move that many number of spaces on the racing board game. Students took turns going first and we really emphasized that the purpose of the game was not to win -- it doesn't matter who wins, as long as you are learning and having fun! Students drew pictures of objects up to nine and counted them to make sure that their drawings matched the number. Students also pretended to be players in a soccer game. Each "player" was given a jersey number, and then their task was to get in order from least to greatest on their own, before getting help from their friends sitting on the rug. Afterwards, the students handed their jersey number to another student sitting on the rug, and the second group was challenged to put their numbers in order from greatest to least. The Kinder-Whales are doing a wonderful job of working with numbers and developing their number sense! Calendar Update: We will continue to introduce new math concepts and to expand our math skills using our Calendar Binders. Please be sure to send in a 1 inch binder with a clear view pocket by Monday, September 28th, if you haven't done so already. Thank you! | Reminders & Updates Next Week:
ANNOUNCEMENTS: What's New? Brag Bags & Spangler Dollars!
RECAP Fall Leaves! The Kinder-Whales did such a beautiful job on their Fall Experience Family Project! They look amazing hanging up in our classroom! It was also a lot of fun hearing what the kids did and where they went with their families to complete their project! Thank you so much for taking the time to complete this project with your child! Emergency Drills! This week, we also practiced the earthquake drill and the fire drill. We will be practicing the procedures for this next week so that we are prepared and we know what to do in case of an emergency. Overall, the students did a great job of lining up quietly, quickly and safely, and walking to our designated safe zone during the fire drill. I strongly encourage you to have a discussion with your child about the importance of these drills at home, so that we are consistently promoting safety both at home and at school. Johnny Bear (As Ms. Waslif calls them!) The Kinder-Whales enjoyed coloring and dressing up their bears to look like Johnny Appleseed, complete with a pot on its head! Buddies Time! On Friday, the Kinder-Whales met with their fifth grade buddies in the Learning Center. We took this opportunity to learn more about our buddies and a few of each others' favorite things. The fifth graders helped the Kinder-Whales complete a double bubble map. They had a wonderful time finding out what they had in common and learning about each others' likes, dislikes, family members, pets, etc. Throughout the year, we will be doing more activities with our buddies! Welcome, Fall! To welcome the Fall season, we learned a few new songs, including another September song and our Autumn Leaves song. A video of the Autumn leaves song will be posted in next week's news, once the students have learned the words and the movements. Too Much Glue! This week, we also read a cute story called Too Much Glue by Jason Lefebvre. In the story, the art teacher warns her students not to use too much glue, because too much glue never dries. However, Matty loves to play with glue. One day in art class, Matty takes the fullest bottles of glue and squirts them all out on his desk, along with sequins and other art supplies. Then he belly flops onto the glue... when he tries to put himself on the drying rack, he finds out that he is stuck to his desk! Different members of the school try to figure out a way to solve Matty's problem. The students enjoyed listening and discussing the silly things that happen in this book. When I asked the students why they thought I chose to read this book to the class, they knew right away: To remind them not to use too much glue! Students learned the chant: "A little dot can hold a lot!" We also introduced the students to the concept of glue sponges! We will be using those next week, along with a video to show you how we can glue quickly and without the mess! THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE FAMILIES WHO DONATED GLUE TO OUR CLASSROOM! Starfish of the Week: Austin! The Kinder-Whales enjoyed learning all about our Starfish of the week, AUSTIN! We especially enjoyed reading aloud his favorite book, Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss. The students had a wonderful conversation about trying new foods--you don't really know if you like or dislike something until you try it. We also enjoyed the plentiful rhyming words that we found in the book, such as mouse and house, goat and boat, fox and box, etc. The Kinder-Whales listened carefully as we read aloud a sweet note written by Austin's parents, detailing what a wonderful helper Austin is at home. He picks up his toys, helps to clean the house, and puts the laundry away. He also is a fantastic role model for his younger brother, Lucas. When other kids come over to play, Austin doesn't hesitate to share his toys with them and he gets along well with other kids. The Kinder-Whales were really interested to hear about all of the cool places that Austin has visited with his parents, including places nearby such as Sacramento, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Disneyland, to places further away, such as Tulsa, Hawaii, and Taiwan. A few of Austin's favorite things include learning about dinosaurs and finding interesting rocks. Many of the Kinder-Whales were excited to hear this because they also love dinosaurs and cool rocks :). Because we met with our buddies on Friday, we ran out of time and did not get to have our Starfish Talk Show. As a result, we will have Austin's Starfish Talk Show on Monday! Any new information that we learn about Austin will be added to this post. Next Week's Starfish: Christian! Thank You! Thank you for another FIN-tastic week! The Kinder-Whales have done an amazing job learning the routines and procedures of our classroom and school community in the 31 days we've been in school, and I'm excited to see them learn and grow even more throughout the year! For this week's news, please leave a quick comment about your child's favorite sport or sports team, if any! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend! Sincerely, Mrs. Lorenzana |
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Mrs. LorenzanaKindergarten Teacher at Spangler Elementary Archives
June 2016
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