What a week in K-1!

We have had quite a busy week in K-1! We had MAP testing this week in both reading and math. Boy, my kindergarten friends blew me away with how well they did! They did OUTSTANDING!! Way to go, K-1! The highlight of our week was meeting with Mrs. Muhr's class for our 5th grade buddy time. My kindergarten friends LOVED meeting their buddies and doing a few activities. We did a "get to know you" activity and they also had the opportunity to show off what good readers they are by reading their book bag books. SO much fun!

In math, we have begun a new book with new concepts that focus on the learning all about the teen numbers 10-20. We are learning all about the quantity, how to write the numbers the correct way and understanding how many 10's and 1's are in each number by showing the amount on ten frames and doing many hands on activities. We have also begun learning addition as well. They are learning how to add small numbers within 10 and how to write an addition sentence correctly such as: 2+4=6. They have loved learning these new math concepts and picking them up quickly!

In literacy, we are focusing on those tricky digraphs and learning how to read and write words that have them within the word. We have also been doing a lot of activities where my kindergarten friends are reading sentences and matching pictures that go along with the sentence. They are reading for content instead of stopping to sound out each word. The more we practice these skills, the more fluent they are becoming as readers and writers. We have also learned some new "heart words" and we have added them to our heart word ring. We have been doing a lot of activities to practice these new words so they become automatic when seeing them.In writing, we have been working on being illustrators where I ask them to draw a picture to a writing prompt. Then I ask them to write one or two sentences that go along with their picture using their own "brave spelling." They are doing a WONDERFUL job writing sentences on their own and I am so proud of how much growth they have made in the last few weeks. We have been talking a lot about what good writers do and plugging those skills into their own writing.

We have begun guided reading groups this week. I have four groups and in each group we practice specific heart words, learn some reading strategies that "good readers" do, read a book together and talk about the book to ensure they are reading for comprehension. When we finish all that, we do some "word work" where the kids get to work with me in writing words. All these activities help my kindergarten friends to grow tremendously as readers and writers. I LOVE this time with my kindergarten friends because I get to meet with them in a smaller setting and really get to know each and every one of my friends as readers and writers. This helps me to see what they are doing well and what I can help them learn more about.

In SEL, we have been talking a lot about feelings and how to self-regulate our feelings with specific strategies. We have read many books that go along with these lessons which has helped us to have a lot of wonderful discussions as a class. They are doing great using these strategies in day to day interactions with their classmates and their time at school. In social studies, we have been talking about holidays and we will be talking a lot about one in length tomorrow and why we have Monday off from school next week. We will be learning all about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and we will be making a fun project to go along with all we learned. We are learning so much and I couldn't be more proud of all of their growth! They are doing AMAZING!!