We have been very busy owls in K-1 and K-3! In Jolly Phonics, we have been plugging along and we have been learning a lot of new letter sounds to add to our phonics vocabulary. With every new letter sound we learn, my kindergarten friends are able to sound out and write more and more words on their own. It is so much fun hearing them decode unknown words and write words incorporating what they learned in Jolly Phonics all on their own. They are doing fantastic and there have been many, many days where I have teared up seeing all the wonderful growth they are making as readers and writers! It is SO exciting!
Last week, we finished learning all the uppercase letters in our "Handwriting Without Tears" program. So this week we began learning how to write the lowercase letters. The class is doing wonderful using the wet, dry, try method and learning how to form the letters correctly on the lines. We spent a lot of time learning about the baseline, middle line, sky space and digger space. This helps my kindergarten friends understand line usage and how to form the letters correctly on the lines. We are going to be working very hard in handwriting to transform their handwriting so they are writing with lowercase letters instead of words in all uppercase. Here are some pictures of my kindergarten friends working hard during our handwriting lessons:
In math, we have been learning a lot about teen numbers and the pattern of the numbers 10-20. We have been learning about the quantity of each number and how to write the numbers correctly. We did a pumpkin activity where they colored a bunch of pumpkins that had teen numbers written on them. Then they cut them out and glued them in order from 11-19 on a sentence strip. They all did a fantastic job! We also have been doing some color by number activities where they colored the puzzle using the color key that was displayed at the top of the page. They LOVE doing the activities and it's a wonderful way for my kindergarten friends to work on teen number recognition!
In reader's workshop we have been reading all different fiction stories to learn about authors, illustrators, the meaning of fiction and non-fiction and how to distinguish if it's one genre or another, and learning about things "good readers" do when they read books. Both of the classes have been doing a wonderful job during our group lessons and we have been having a lot of great discussions about each book we read together!
On Friday last week, we ended our week with a parade and Halloween party that took place in both classes. It was so much fun greeting all my kindergarten friends and seeing them all dressed in their adorable Halloween costumes! They all had so much fun parading around the school and participating in some Halloween fun at our classroom party! A HUGE thank you to all the wonderful Room Reps that organized and planned such fabulous parties! Thank you! It will be a day my kindergarten friends will always remember! I hope all of you are having a fabulous weekend and Happy Halloween, everyone!
