Kinder-Whale Tales: Dear Kinder-Whale Families, I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far! We had a very busy, productive, and fun week in Room 8 this past week! Featured above in this week's news is our mini lesson to review and remind students of behavior expectations in class. You may start to hear the students using the phrase, "Don't be a rotten banana!" and if they haven't explained the meaning of the phrase to you yet, you will know what it means after watching the video! I apologize for the quality of the video--I am not sure what happened during the upload. I started using an iPad to take pictures and record instead of my phone. I've also written about this activity on the right side of the weekly news, under the RECAP section. This week our lessons mostly focused on our APPLES UNIT! Thank you so much for bringing in apples to enhance our learning! This week's apple lessons were more science-based. Next week, we will shift more to a social studies outlook, while also continuing to do a few more apple science activities. There are lots of photos and some videos for you to look through--please enjoy! Reading/Language Arts This week, the Kinder-whales have been reading and learning all about apples! We are reading both fiction and nonfiction stories, including Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Wallace, Apples by Gail Gibbons, The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall, Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins, and Picking Apples by Amy Hutchins. While reading, rereading, and discussing each book, the students identified the author, the illustrator, the front cover, the back cover, and other elements found in a book. For the fiction stories, the students practiced identifying the characters, setting, problem, and solution. For the nonfiction stories, the students worked on finding the main idea and supporting details. We did a lot of Think-Pair-Sharing to show what we have learned about apples! The students also enjoyed making their APPLE BUDDIES this week! They look super adorable in the hallway! We Are Writers, Too! We discussed how the ones who wrote the stories and drew the pictures are people, just like us! Over the year, one of our goals is to become WRITERS, just like the ones who wrote books that we enjoy in the classroom and at home. After reading each story, the students became authors and illustrators themselves! The students made their own Apple Count books, Apple Life Cycle books, and Apple Seasons book. Then, they took turns and practiced reading aloud their books with different partners or in small groups of three. Some students took turns reading different pages, while other students practiced reading together chorally, and others participated in echo reading. The Kinder-whales are working on pointing to each word while they are reading, using the pictures to help guide their reading, and working productively with others. Writing/Handwriting The Kinder-whales are continuing with their letter-a-day activities. This week, we worked on the following uppercase and lowercase letters: Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww. The Kinder-whales have been doing a fabulous job with coming up with letters that begin with this week's letter activities. Next week, we will finish up the initial review of letters by working on Xx, Yy, and Zz! Math: 7 & 8 The Kinder-whales used a variety of manipulative to work on number sense this week, with a focus on the numbers seven and eight. The students showed how to make seven using picture cards, drawings, and counting objects so that there are seven in each group. Students practiced being tiny teachers as they got up to show the class how they formed seven. The Kinder-whales also played a card game where they matched cards that had the same number of objects. In part 2 of the card game, the Kinder-whales played a card game where they would mix up the cards, and then flip one over. The students then counted the number of objects on each card. Whoever had the most objects (greater number) would win and collected the cards. We also took this opportunity to talk about good sportsmanship, and how it doesn't matter who wins, as long as we are learning and having fun! The Kinder-whales were really excited to play with linking cubes during math time. First, the teacher showed a certain number of linking cubes on the screen. Then students would count and hold up the same number of fingers. Then each student was given ten linking cubes. The teacher or another student (a tiny teacher) would call out a number and the rest of the class would have to use that many number of cubes to build an object. The students had a blast showing off their creations to the class! Later on, the students partnered up with another student and did a copycat activity. Students took turns creating objects and the partner would try and copy the creation. Then students counted how many blocks each person used, and how many blocks they both used together. APPLE SCIENCE! To begin our apple unit, the students counted all of the apples that were brought in -- again, a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the Kinder-whale families for bringing in such a generous amount of apples! We looked closely at the apples and learned the names of the more common apples, including red delicious, golden delicious, granny smith, gala, and fuji apples. The students carefully compared and contrasted the apples, using three out of our five senses: see, smell, and touch. We had a lot of fun counting the number of apples and came up with the following conclusions: 9 red delicious apples, 2 golden delicious apples, 10 granny smith apples, 1 gala apple, and 22 Fuji apples. The students each grabbed an apple and we made a kid-sized graph using our rainbow rug to see which kind of apple we had the most of (fuji apples) and which kind we had the least of (golden delicious). Next week, we will use all of our five senses during our taste test! We will also learn more describing adjectives next week! This week, the students also made APPLESAUCE! More information about that is on the right, under the subheading: APPLESAUCE! The Parts of an Apple The Kinder-whales watched a brief video that goes over the parts of an apple. We reviewed the following vocabulary terms: stem, leaf, skin/peel, flesh, seeds, core. The students practiced looking at the beginning sounds and using their knowledge of letters and sounds to figure out how to read each word (example, leaf begins with the letter l and has the /l/ sound)/. Then the students took turns labeling our large apple parts poster. After a few rounds, the students were ready to label their own apples and they did a terrific job of applying the strategies that we learned to read each word. When students were done, they found a partner and they taught each other the parts of an apple. Example: The first student asked, What is the core of an apple? While the other student showed them on their diagram and explained that it is the center of the apple where the seeds are. The Life Cycle of an Apple and Apple Seasons! The Kinder-whales learned that there is a process and it takes some time for an apple to grow! First, there is a seed, which becomes a seedling. Over time, that seedling grows into a tree. And throughout the seasons, the tree goes through different stages. In the winter, the tree is bare. In the spring, buds start to appear on the tree. Next comes the blossoms. And finally, after the wind blows away the petals of the blossoms, the tree starts to grow little green apples in the early summer. In the late summer/early fall/Autumn, the apples ripen and are ready to be picked! The Kinder-whales created their life cycle hats and were so excited to go home to teach YOU about the life cycle of an apple! The Kinder-whales enjoyed acting out the life cycle of an apple! First they were seeds, then they grew into a tree, then the tree grew buds, which became blossoms, then the wind blew off the petals, and the apples started to grow! Check out the first take below (they got better and better with the second and third time acting it out), and ask your child to show you how the steps of the life cycle of an apple! | Reminders & Updates: Next Week:
Announcements: What's New? Table Captains! I am still in the process of organizing our classroom to maximize the space--this also includes the students' space while they are working at their desks! Before, each table had a rather bulky pink basket at their desks that contained all of the students' folders, math workbooks, and notebooks. To improve the organization of our classroom and to help students demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility, this week we started assigning students to be table captains! Every week, there will be a new table captain, so that we can give all students the opportunity to be in charge of their table and to take care of their table mates. The table captains are responsible for getting the folders/math workbooks/notebooks from their table's bins. They are also responsible for making sure that everyone at their table cleans up after themselves, pushes their chair in, and pitches in to make their table looking nice and neat. The table captain will also help me pass out worksheets or gather materials needed for their group. So far, this week's table captains (Brooke, Maya, Brody, Anthony, Mia, and Shannon) have done such a magnificent job with embracing the responsibility and tasks! Once everyone has had a chance to be the table captain at their tables, I will change the students' seats so that they can work and interact with other students and make new friends! RECAP Don't be a rotten banana! The Kinder-whales learned the word, "represent", to stand for something. In our rotten banana lesson, we used a large bowl to represent, or stand for, our classroom -- Room 8! In order for students to learn and have fun, we need to have certain things in our classroom, including students who are safe, responsible, respectful, kind, and caring, as well as students who always try their best and never give up. To represent all of these desired qualities, we used delicious fruit, including strawberries, oranges, grapes, and blueberries. We also want to use kind words in our classroom, including please and thank you, excuse me, I'm sorry, I forgive you, etc., so that everyone can be happy--we used marshmallows to represent the happiness we want our classroom to be filled with. Last, I brought out a rotten banana, to which the students responded with, "EWWW!" The rotten banana represents students who may cause trouble in our classroom by not following the rules, saying unkind things, not making good choices, hurting their friends, not trying or putting effort into their work, etc. We asked the students if they want a rotten banana in the classroom, and they all responded with, "No!" From now on, if anyone does something that we don't want in our classroom, we can kindly remind them, "Don't be a rotten banana!" At recess time, the students all walked to the table and they all sat together to enjoy their Friendship Fruit Salad. It was very sweet because they all made sure that everyone had a seat at the table. They make my heart melt! <3 APPLESAUCE! Our lovely instructional assistant, Ms. Nancy, helped to prepare the apples for the students to begin to make applesauce! After peeling and coring the apples, Ms. Nancy went over safety, which is our number one rule in the classroom. The Kinder-whales used plastic knives to cut the apple slices into smaller pieces and we put them all into a bowl. Towards the end of the day, we put all of the apples in a pot, added some water, cinnamon, and sugar, and made APPLESAUCE! The students did an applesauce taste test. First we smelled the applesauce, and of course, it reminded us of when we made our gingerbread man, except we knew our applesauce wouldn't run away ;). Students colored in smiley faces to show if they liked the applesauce or not, from Delicious, to OK, to Yuck! It was interesting to see their cute faces as they tried the applesauce... it would either break into a huge smile or they would scrunch up their nose. Happy Birthday, Maya! On Wednesday, September 16th, we celebrated Maya's birthday! Maya turned 6 years old! We celebrated by singing to her and sharing all of the ways that Maya has been a great friend to us. Afterwards, each student created a page with a compliment about Maya and we made a book for her to keep to remember her special day! New Toys at Recess! This week, we brought out some new toys for the kids to play with, including seat scooters, a ring toss, large waffle puzzle pieces, a two-person bike, and a string ball toss. Needless to say, the students were all very excited! Some of the other recess duty supervisors requested that teachers send out a note to parents asking them to make sure students are wearing shorts under their skirts/dresses, so that they are able to play on the scooters and bikes. Pleas let me know if you have any questions about this. STARFISH OF THE WEEK: MIA! The Kinder-whales enjoyed learning all about our first Starfish of the Week: Mia! Mia did a wonderful job being my special helper this week, and helped to make announcements, pass out papers/student work, and also made sure students stayed focused and on task throughout each day this week. We loved reading Mia's favorite book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. We discussed how one thing led to another, just like in real life! The students were captivated by Mia's special item, Ms. Sparkly Doll, who can fly when shot out of a launcher. Mia called on students to ask questions about her special doll, and walked around the class to give our friends a better look. Mia's mom also wrote a sweet letter to Mia to share how proud she is of her and how much she loves her. Mia is her mom's favorite person. She always has something to say and makes her mom laugh. One story that her mom shared with the class is how Mia loves to take selfies and videos on her mom's phone. Her mom also left Mia with some advice that we can all take to heart: Never stop being yourself! On Friday, we had our Starfish Talk Show, where Mia presented her beautiful poster to the class. She introduced her family members including her cute dog, Leo, shared that her favorite things to do are dance, draw, and play at the park, and her favorite place to visit is Disneyland. She also loves to eat pizza. When she grows up, she wants to be a bird or a teacher :). What an amazing job, Mia! Next Week's Starfish: AUSTIN! Thank You (& Aloha to Summer!) Thank you for taking the time to read through the weekly news and for leaving a quick comment to indicate that you have read all of the updates, reminders, and recap of our activities and the weekly learning that takes place in our classroom! I prefer using a class website to keep you up to date on school and class happenings because it allows me to share pictures and videos of your child at this precious age! In order for me to keep doing these weekly updates on our website, it would be super helpful if we could get everyone to leave a quick comment, just so that I know that this is the best way to relay information to all of you. If not, then we may have to look at other options, such as sending home newsletters in paper format that is sent home with students in their WHALE folders--whatever works to make sure that we have an effective system of communication! For this week's news, please leave a quick comment with your child's favorite place! There are only three more days of summer and then it will be the Fall season! I am so excited! Have a marvelous weekend! Best wishes, Mrs. Lorenzana |
13 Comments
Ira mcgee
9/19/2015 05:02:26 pm
Brookie loves to go to restaurants.
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Stephanie Guthrie
9/19/2015 05:18:39 pm
Thanks for the thorough recap of the week!
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Kyla
9/19/2015 06:43:57 pm
U'ilani's favorite place is Disneyland.
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Jayne
9/19/2015 11:30:51 pm
Brody loves the beach and catching sand crabs
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Juda Gafurova
9/20/2015 10:09:46 am
Munisa's favorite place is Oakland Zoo and Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco.
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Monique Johnson
9/20/2015 12:29:54 pm
Bruce's favorite place is Disneyland. Thank you for going over this week and every other week so far. I love reading all about what they have learned and seeing all the many pictures and videos.
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Mohamud
9/21/2015 09:08:08 am
Ahmed loves legoland park
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Elodie Coriell
9/21/2015 11:46:19 am
Maya loves the park and the swimming pool.
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James
9/21/2015 01:47:23 pm
Thank you! They are always nice to read.
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Sonali
9/22/2015 07:16:56 am
Aashni loves to go to the beach and loves to play with Sand.
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Eileen
9/22/2015 10:12:39 am
Norah loves to go to the park. Her favorite is the monkey bars.
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Jennifer
9/22/2015 12:28:40 pm
Shannon's favorite place is Hawaii.
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Rebecca Brackett
9/23/2015 07:20:49 pm
Mia enjoys going to the park and wishes she can go to Disneyland more often.
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Mrs. LorenzanaKindergarten Teacher at Spangler Elementary Archives
June 2016
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