We have been plugging right along in K-1 and learning LOTS and LOTS!! They have come a long way since the first day of school and sometimes I have to remind myself that they are still kindergarten. They have become the BEST listeners and are doing such a wonderful job working independently at their seats to show me what they have learned in each lesson. I am so impressed with their ability to follow directions as well to show me their best work! Way to go, K-1! I am also so proud of the way they treat eachother and how kind and respectful they are with one another too! It's a great group of kiddos and I feel very lucky I get to teach them ALL DAY!
In literacy, we have been studying poems and we have discussed how some have rhyming words and some don't. We have been finding the rhyming words in the poems and I am impressed with how quickly they can identify them and tell me why they rhyme. We talked about how poems have a rhythm and we clapped a rhythm with a few of the poems we have read. We talked about how poems don't have to follow the rules where some don't have complete sentences. We have had a lot of fun learning about poetry this week! We have also learned about verbs this week too. Yes..I said that right! We learn about what a verb is in kindergarten. We learned that a verb is an action word and we did various activities to practice finding verbs or naming verbs. We did a cute pumpkin activity that goes along with it and I hung them all in the classroom to enjoy for this month. We have also learned all about syllables too!
In phonics, we have continued to learn a few more letters and sounds and how to write the uppercase and lowercase letters so they are sitting on the lines the correct way. My kinders LOVE watching the Alphafriends videos to learn the names of the animal that goes with each letter! They have learned the letters and sounds quickly and I am impressed with how well they are starting to blend them together to read words! Yay, K-1! Along with learning the letters/sounds, we have also learned some new heart words that we have added to our heart word rings! Remember that I want my kinder friends to practice these words daily so they become automatic for them. I want them to be able to name each word within 3 seconds. The quicker they recognize these words, the more fluent they will be able to read which in turn helps with comprehension.
In writing, we have been working on learning how write our newly learned letters on the lines the correct way and we have also begun journaling. I have done a few directed draw lessons where I have taught them how to draw something in their journal and then I have asked them to add their own detail so that they have the opportunity to grow as illustrators. They LOVE adding detail to the pictures, coloring them with crayons and trying to label them using their "brave spelling!" Some of my friends have even begun to try to write a sentence too on the lines below their drawing. I am so proud of them! The more we write, the more confident they will become and the easier it will get too. Today, I did a directed draw lesson where I taught them how to draw a frog and then they added their own detail, color and labeling. I was so impressed with all of their drawings and how nice and neat they colored their pictures and what brave spellers they are becoming!
In math, we have been learning all about measurement! We learned about the concept of "shorter and longer" and they have been doing a great job practicing this skill in their math workbooks. We have also learned how they can use objects to measure other than just a ruler such as cubes, paperclips, or blocks. If they use objects to measure they have to use the same object to measure both things to ensure they get an adequate answer of height or length. For example: if they were measuring a book and a glue bottle they couldn't see how many paperclips high the book is compared to how many cubes the glue bottle is. They have to measure the book and glue bottle with paperclips to see how many paperclips high both are to get a good measurement. We practiced this new skill and they are enjoying learning about measurement this week!
In social studies they are learning about how to solve problems with others. We have had a lot of great discussions as we have done the social studies lessons together! We learned that when there is a problem we should do these 4 things:
1. Stop and calm down.
2. Say what the problem is.
3. Solve it by thinking of solutions together.
4. Vote on what solution is the best and try it.
It's been a great week in K-1! They are growing as learners and learning A LOT!!! I am so thrilled with all their amazing progress! Have a great night, everyone!
