Kinder-Whale Tales Dear Kinder-Whale Families, I hope you are having an enjoyable weekend so far! We had another busy week filled with many fun activities--this week's lessons and activities had a science focus and were centered around SPIDERS! Featured above in this week's news are the students' adorable headbands! They all felt like making silly faces in their pictures. Please read below for this week's happenings in the Kinder-Whale classroom and let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Enjoy! Phonics/Phonemic Awareness: Our letter of the week was Mm! We started the week by reviewing how to properly write the letter Mm (both uppercase and lowercase) and the sound that m makes. The Kinder-Whales always enjoy coming up with as many words as they can think of of things that begin with the letter m. First, the students took some time to think on their own, next they worked with a partner to come up with as many Mm words as they could think of, and then they shared the words with the rest of the class. Throughout the week, we added more and more Mm words to our Chit Chat circle map. The Kinder-Whales also rotated through six stations that allowed them to practice and review the letter Mm, including the letter Mm words picture sort, Mm book, Mm poem, Mm writing worksheets, Mm coloring worksheets, and Mm Starfall chrome books station. Reading/Language Arts Spiders! This week, the Kinder-Whales really enjoyed learning all about SPIDERS! We started our spiders unit by completing a KWL chart together. As a class, the students came up with what they think they know about spiders (K) and what they want to know about spiders (W). Throughout the week as we learned more and more about spiders, we added more facts to what we learned (L). We also moved some of the post its from what we think we know about spiders to the Misconceptions section after learning that what we thought was true was not: For instance, a lot of people think spiders are insects/bugs, but spiders are actually part of a separate group called arachnids. We used a variety of sources to help us learn all about spiders, including BrainPop, Science Videos, and fun spider fiction and nonfiction books! A few books that we read include A Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle, Be Nice to Spiders by Margaret Bloy Graham, and Where's That Spider, a Hide and Seek Science Book. After reading through the books, we added more things to our KWL chart under the what we want to know and what we learned sections. One of the many interesting things that we learned about spiders is called ballooning: When spiders are born, they make silk balloons which get caught in the wind and carry them to other places for them to make their first web. Parts of a Spider After the initial EWWW! that I got from some of the students, we discussed why many people might be afraid of spiders. We also pointed out and asked, Who is bigger? You or the spider? Then we discussed ways that spiders can be helpful, including eating all of the pesky insects--without spiders, there would be a lot more mosquitoes and flies! We looked very closely at some pictures of spiders to help us see the different body parts that make up a spider. The Kinder-Whales learned that a spider has eight legs and two body parts, a cephalothorax (head + thorax) and an abdomen. Spiders also have fangs to help them eat their food, and spiders that spin webs have spinnerets, which they use to spin silk for their webs. Even though spiders have poor eyesight, most spiders have eight eyes. There are also types of spiders that have 2, 4, or 6 eyes. We also learned that spiders have exoskeletons, which they shed as they grow and get larger. Where's That Spider? The Kinder-Whales were very eager and excited to share stories about their spider encounters at home and at the park. The students have mostly seen daddy long leg spiders and the true house spiders, so they were surprised and excited to learn more about other types of spiders. For instance, we learned that one of the largest spiders is a bird eating spider, which eats birds, lizards, and mice, and can grow to be the size of your dinner plate. We also learned about the jumping spider, a spider that has the best eyesight with eight eyes that allow it to see all around it (both in front and in back -- 360 degree view). The jumping spider can also jump up to 30 times its own length. Compare that to us and it is like people jumping over 12 cars! Another interesting spider that we learned about was the crab spider, which gets its name from the way it moves sideways like a crab. Crab spiders like to hide in flowers and they can change color to match the petals of a flower, helping it to hide from unsuspecting butterflies and other insects. We also learned about bolas spiders, which are spiders that make web lassoes to catch its prey (look up videos on Youtube--it is quite interesting to watch!). Some other spiders that we learned about include an ant-mimic spider, a scuba diving spider, a trapdoor spider, an orb spider, a black widow spider, and how tarantulas are great mom spiders who carry their egg sack with them. Spider Stations To help review and re-teach what we learned about spiders, the students completed six stations of spider activities. Students made three books, a booklet about spinning webs, a booklet about spider parts, and a booklet about how spiders get their food. The Kinder-Whales also made cute spider headbands (featured above in this week's news!). Math Chapter 3: Measurement This week, the Kinder-Whales finished their first math workbook and started our second math workbook! We wrapped up our last lesson on pairing items with a one-to-one ratio (i.e. in our class, every student has a chair to sit on. If we get a new student, we will have to get another chair for that student.). In our next chapter, the students will be learning all about measurement and ordering items by size, length, or weight. The Kinder-Whales looked at a picture of three bears (which many of them know from the story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears). We discussed which spoon belongs to Papa Bear, which spoon belongs to Mama Bear, and which spoon belongs to Baby Bear. The Kinder-Whales also worked with a partner to look at other items and to put them in order from biggest to medium-sized to smallest and vice versa. Then the Kinder-Whales worked in small groups to sort picture cards by size. October Calendar We are continuing with our calendar binders for the month of October! The students are learning that each month has a number, and October is the tenth month. They are learning how to write the digital date (10-9-2015) and how to spell October, using our October song. The Kinder-Whales are also learning how to make numbers using tally marks, ten frames, and dots on a dice. One of the Common Core Standards is for students to be able to count to one hundred starting from any number. Our October calendar will allow us to begin doing that as the students become more capable. Another thing that the students are learning with our daily calendar routine is place value as we count the number of days we've been in school--we've been in school for 41 days! The Kinder-Whales are also reviewing how to make patterns and learning how to make simple graphs to help us graph monthly birthdays and daily weather (sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy). As the months go on, we will be adding more and more math concepts pages to help students expand their skills, number sense, and understanding of math. | Reminders & Updates Next Week:
Upcoming October Events:
RECAP Student Council Visit: Spirit Day! The student were very excited when we got a visit from Student Council members (our fifth grade buddy class) to discuss ideas for upcoming spirit days! The students came up with many great ideas, including Under the Sea day, Superhero day, Animal day, Crazy hair day, Halloween Round 2, Disney day, Color day, Food day, etc. After hearing our ideas, the Student Council will be deciding which spirit days to have and when! Stay tuned! Happy Birthday, Dennis! On Monday, October 5th, we celebrated Dennis's 6th birthday! The Kinder-Whales shared many compliments about Dennis and how he is a great friend and a wonderful student. Then, each student created a page in Dennis's birthday book and we read it aloud to the class while Dennis wore his birthday crown! At the end of the day, Dennis's mom made adorable party favors: Cups lined with crayons, filled with sweets, and made with love! Happy birthday, Dennis! Happy Birthday, Dan! On Friday, October 9th, we also celebrated Dan's 6th birthday! The Kinder-Whales listed ways that Dan has been helpful as a friend and as a student. The students asked Dan what his favorite color is and included it in their drawings on their page for his birthday book. We sang, "Happy Birthday!" and read him his birthday book. Happy birthday, Dan! Starfish of the Week: Shannon! Our starfish of the week is Shannon! She had been waiting eagerly for her turn, and Shannon did an amazing job as our starfish of the week! Whenever the class got a little too loud, she would remind them to stay on task by using our attention getter and saying, "Waterfall." In addition to being my special helper for the week, Shannon also got to share wonderful things about herself--the Kinder-Whales loved learning all about Shannon! Shannon's parents describe Shannon as a joyful, happy-go-lucky girl who brings sunshine into he lives of many and everywhere she goes, including at school! We learned that Shannon has a baby sister named Sheryl, whom she loves very much! Her parents also shared how impressed they are of Shannon's excellent memory--Shannon is always remembering her experiences with her family abroad, including her visit with her grandparents in Malaysia, and her role as a flower girl in a wedding in Hawaii! Shannon is excited to create and make more memories with her sister, Sheryl! The Kinder-Whales, especially the girls, loved meeting Shannon's special item: Her Hello Kitty from Las Vegas. They especially loved the way she was decked out in purple and pink. Her Hello Kitty was special to her because her parents got it for her while they were on a family trip in Las Vegas. During Shannon's Starfish Talk Show, she introduced us to her family members, including her mom, dad, and baby sister, Sheryl. Shannon also shared that she loves going to Disneyland, and she is great at arts and crafts. All of her family members love her very much and are very proud of her, including her grandparents, parents, and little sister. Her parents left her with some great advice that we can all take and do for ourselves: "Do to others what you want others to do to you, and don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." Fantastic job as our starfish of the week, Shannon! NEXT STARFISH: U'ILANI! PLEASE NOTE: Because I will be out for training on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, and because we have a minimum day on Thursday and NO SCHOOL on Friday, we will not have a Starfish of the Week for next week. We will have our next Starfish of the Week on the week of October 19th-October 23rd. She can still bring in her poster as early as she would like, and we will display it in the classroom. Thank You! Thank you for another memorable and amazing week! We are learning so much in the classroom, both the Kinder-Whales and the teacher! We had a blast learning all about spiders and we will wrap up our spiders unit on this upcoming Monday, Over the next two weeks, the students will start to learn all about PUMPKINS! The last week of October will be geared towards Fall and Halloween activities. A huge thank you goes out to Ahmed's father, Mr. Warsame, for volunteering to provide our class with the remaining requested five sets of class headphones. Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness! We truly appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts!! Thank you for all of your ongoing support! As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. For this week's news, please leave a quick comment with your child's favorite candy or sweet treat (since Halloween is coming up)! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend! Best, Mrs. Lorenzana |
8 Comments
Ira McGee
10/11/2015 04:13:41 pm
Brookies favorite candy is suckers.
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Stephanie Guthrie
10/11/2015 07:31:57 pm
Marissa says she likes skittles the most!
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Emiliano Madrigal
10/12/2015 09:14:06 am
Christian loves popcorn and reeses pieces, he always gives the second peanut butter cup to his mom.
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Mohamud
10/12/2015 09:19:00 am
Ahmed loves M&M's
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Monique Johnson
10/12/2015 01:18:12 pm
Bruce loves anything with chocolate but one of his favorite's is York peppermint patty.
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Sonali Acharya
10/12/2015 01:20:48 pm
Aashni loves Skittles and Smarties the most.
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Jennifer
10/12/2015 08:27:40 pm
Shannon's favorite is chocolate.
Reply
Hrishikesh Engineer
10/18/2015 11:01:00 pm
Simone's favorite candies are fererro rocher, skittles and m&m chocolate buttons.
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Mrs. LorenzanaKindergarten Teacher at Spangler Elementary Archives
June 2016
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