Kinder-Whale Tales Dear Kinder-Whale Families, I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far! I apologize for posting the weekly news so late--I have been feeling a bit under the weather! Thank you for your patience and understanding. This past week was a short week since the students didn't have school on Friday. Even though I was out for two days, the Kinder-Whales still had a very productive week! Next week, I will be trying out many new strategies that I learned at the valuable SEAL training that all Kindergarten and first grade teachers attended. I am eager and excited to try them out and then share the effects with you in next week's news! Please let me know if you have any questions about any new strategies that you see or hear about that will be occurring in our classroom. Featured above in this week's news are the students' seasons project that we started towards the end of our Apple Unit. The students did a marvelous job and were super excited to paint their hands for this project. Now that we are in the season of Fall, every opportunity that we get, we have been discussing what we observe happening around us, such as leaves changing color and falling from the trees! Reading/Language Arts/Centers The Kinder-Whales have been getting so much work done during our English Language Arts Centers! This past week, the students went through six centers from Monday-Tuesday and another six centers from Wednesday-Thursday, making it a total of 12 centers, completing 12 different activities! A few of the centers were on the letter R. We reviewed how every letter has an uppercase and a lowercase, and we also practiced forming the letters correctly using white boards and markers, writing strips, paper, coloring, and search and find activities. The students also did a wonderful job with coming up with words/items that begin with the letter r sound, such as rain, rainbow, rabbit, ring, rock, etc., and every time we thought of another word, we added to our Chit Chat circle graph. We always have some technology centers where the students familiarize themselves with how to use the chrome books and iPads using Starfall. Next week, we will begin using Raz-Kids and iReady in preparation for our upcoming iReady diagnostic tests in early November. Along with the homework, students have also been sent sight words pages focusing on the word, "see". One of our centers is also to help the students read, write, and use the sight words daily in order to help them learn and remember the word! This week, the students had a mini-introduction to our pumpkins unit. Our substitute teacher read them a story about pumpkins and then they went over the different parts of a pumpkin and labeled the stem, vine, leaf, and pumpkin shell. Next week, we will go more in depth as we look at real pictures and real pumpkins! Guided Writing: Spiders - Can - Have - Are This week, the Kinder-Whales also started something new: GUIDED WRITING! On Monday, I had the students try to write on their own, using what they know about letters and sounds. Students were encouraged to use their best guess spelling. Then on Monday, students were called by group to work with me on writing about spiders to wrap up our spiders unit. Students identified what spiders can do, what spiders have, and what spiders are like. The students used sentence frames, tree maps, pictures, drawings, and dictation to help them form their sentences. We will be doing more guided writing activities throughout the year! My goal is to build up the students' confidence in writing especially in preparation for our upcoming writing assessments. Spider Glitter Webs & Acrostic Poems We also concluded our spiders unit by completing an acrostic poem about spiders. The Kinder-Whales described spiders using words that begin with each of the letters in the word spider. For instance, for the "S" in spider, the students came up with spooky, scary, etc. For the "P" in spider, the students came up with powerful, poisonous (although some spiders are actually venomous), and so on and so forth. Here is an example of one of their acrostic poems: S - spin webs P - powerful I - interesting D - dangerous sometimes E - 2, 4, 6, or 8 eyes R - run fast Then the students created their own spiders and glitter webs project to go along with their poem. You are welcome to come check out their beautiful projects hanging in the hallway right outside our classroom! I love that each web looks different! Math This week, we also tried doing rotating math centers. The Kinder-Whales rotated through six stations, with some review stations, some technology math stations, with one station working with Ms. Nancy on number sense and recognition using manipulatives, and with Mrs. Lorenzana to introduce new concepts and to complete ongoing assessments. This week, the students were worked on comparing items by size, length, and height. The Kinder-Whales practiced using math vocabulary, including bigger, medium-sized, smaller, taller, shorter, tallest, shortest, longer, etc. We looked at a picture of zoo animals and had the students turn and talk with a partner to describe which animals were bigger, smaller, taller, shorter, etc. We emphasized how bigger does not necessarily mean taller, and smaller does not necessarily mean shorter. For instance, in one of the pictures below (of animals), students looked at how the elephant is big and the lion is big--The elephant is taller than the lion, but they are BOTH big. Similarly, the baby elephant is small, and the baby lion is also small--the baby lion is shorter than the elephant, but they are both still small. | Reminders & Updates Next Week:
Mark Your Calendars! Upcoming Events in Oct./Nov.!
RECAP A Message From Peace Coaches Spangler is proud to be a peacebuilders school! Every morning, in addition to reciting the pledge of allegiance, the Kinder-Whales also recite the Peacebuilders Pledge: "I am a peacebuilder. I pledge to praise people, to give up put downs, to seek wise people, to notice and speak up about hurts I have caused, and to right wrongs. I will help others build peace at home, at Spangler school and in my community." This year, our school has Peace Coaches--fifth and sixth grade students who exemplify what it means to be a peacebuilder and help others to become peacebuilders, too! A few Peace Coaches came to speak to our class about how to be a good friend while playing at recess. Students who are caught being peacebuilders will be given praise notes by peace coaches and by teachers, and those praise notes will be displayed in our classroom! Columbus Day In honor of Columbus Day, the Kinder-Whales read a book about Christopher Columbus, the explorer who sailed the ocean blue in 1492! Our wonderful substitute teacher drew pictures of Spain, the ocean where Columbus traveled, and the three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Check out her awesome sketches below! The students made Columbus puppets. On Thursday, we reviewed who Christopher Columbus is and made Columbus ships of our own! Students decorated the sails and then put them into our delicious boats! Pumpkin Buddies! Is your child's Apple Buddy still at home?! The Kinder-Whales made PUMPKIN BUDDIES, which will be on display in our classroom throughout the month of October, and then they will get to take them home to join their Apple Buddy! The students are doing such a great job at following step-by-step directions, taking care of their materials and supplies, sharing items with each other, and using our learning tools responsibly. Starfish of the Week! As mentioned in last week's news, we did not have a Starfish of the Week because it was a shorter week AND I was out for two out of the four days. I want to make sure that I am there for when your child is the Starfish of the Week! Next week's Starfish is U'ILANI! Thank You! Thank you again for all of your continuous support! I really missed the Kinder-Whales while I was out for training, but as mentioned early, I am excited to bring what I have learned to our classroom! When you have the time, please watch the following video to get an overview of SEAL. I am also excited for this upcoming full week, where I will get to be with the dear kiddies each day! For this week's news, please leave a quick comment about your child's family vacation or trip. Where did you go? What did you do? Etc. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a FANTASTIC rest of your weekend! Best wishes, Mrs. Lorenzana |
9 Comments
Kyla
10/18/2015 07:20:42 pm
U'ilani's favorite family vacation is our trip to Disneyland with our our whole entire family. Getting all of out together doesn't happen often so her favorite part was having everyone there. Three days of rides, roller coasters, shows, and meeting characters in the happiest place on Earth made the trip fun too.
Reply
Stephanie Guthrie
10/18/2015 09:02:44 pm
Marissa loves any trip where she gets to see our extended family. We went to my hometown, Oklahoma City, this summer and got to see her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Her favorite parts were feeding the ducks with 'gramps' and going down the big water slide alone! She loves these trips because of all the extra attention she gets, being the only grandkid/niece to not live somewhat locally.
Reply
Hrishikesh Engineer
10/18/2015 10:55:46 pm
Its been a while since we took a family vacation. However Simone loves to go to beaches and wildlife parks as she loves the ocean and seeing animals in their natural habitat. We had spent a few days in crescent city last year where she went to the beach every day, saw the fishing activities and sea lions and other marine life for real, the first time and ever since she never misses an opportunity to visit any place by the ocean.
Reply
Mohamud
10/19/2015 08:47:19 am
Ahmed most recent vacation was a trip to Canada to visit his cousin. His favorite vacation is the annual trip to legoland.
Reply
Sonali Acharya
10/19/2015 07:33:06 pm
Aashni loved her recent vacation, when we went to Yellowstone National part this summer with all her friends. She loved the log cabin we stayed in the most as it was huge and she could run around with her friends. She also loved hiking in the national park and liked all the Bison she saw.
Reply
Elodie Coriell
10/19/2015 07:38:47 pm
Maya's favorite vacation was at the Treehouse Resort in Oregon. We got to stay in a treehouse and go ziplining between tall trees.
Reply
Ira McGee
10/20/2015 10:10:32 pm
Brookie's favorite vacation was a trip to Las Vegas. She was amazed by all the lights,music, beautiful hotels and it's incredibly kid friendly nowadays!!!
Reply
Monique Johnson
10/21/2015 11:25:12 am
Bruce's memorable vacation was Disneyland and California adventure.
Reply
Jennifer Yeoh
10/26/2015 08:07:59 pm
We went to Disneyland last week and it's Shannon best vacation for now. She loves all the rides and meeting up princess for their autographs. She enjoyed herself at the California adventure especially she gets to race in the sport car.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Mrs. LorenzanaKindergarten Teacher at Spangler Elementary Archives
June 2016
Categories |