Week 11 in Kindergarten

We have started many new things in our classroom this week. In math we have been learning how to compose numbers to 5. We are learning various combinations to 5 and then to 9. We used fun pumpkin shaped ten frames to show our combinations. Ask your child if they can tell and show you about subitizing. 

You can help them practice combinations to 5 using two different colored buttons, coins or other counters. 

In community circle each day, we write a message. In our message, I leave out popcorn words, sounds we are practicing, or words I want the kids to stretch out and write. We have started learning to recognize how we start and end sentences. We will be learning to recognize and use periods, question marks and exclamation point correctly. After we complete the message, we look for our uppercase letter to start our sentence and our ending punctuation to determine how many sentences are in the message. We then count the number or words and letters in our message. This helps us know the difference between sentences, words and letters. 

In small groups, we get dedicated time with Mrs. Morton to practice various skills, We love using fun finger pointers to practice our Jolly Phonics sounds. we are really building fluency with our sounds. We love sorting picture by the first sound. Our favorite game has been reading words on spider webs. If we could read them, we covered the word with a spooky plastic spider. 

In reading, we have started learning about just right reading spots. Just like you might curl up on the couch at home to read a book or the newspaper, we try to find cozy spots in our room to read. We have been incredibly fortunate to receive a donation of cozy bean bag type chairs for our classroom. The kids LOVE curling up with a good book. We rotate each day so everyone is able to get a turn. 

One day a week, the students select new books for his/her book box. Ask your child about passion and just right books. One day they read at their desks, one day they have cozy seats, one day they hang out on the carpet and one day they listen to reading. We currently listen to books on our CD player or we listen and view books online on the computer. We are working on getting some MP3 players set up with audio books as well. 

Each day our class records the number of minutes we were able to read. Our goal is to stay in one spot, read quietly and read the whole time. We are currently reading 7-9 minutes each day, which is great for kindergarten at this point in the year. Our goal is 10 minutes consistently by Thanksgiving. The photo below shows our reaction when we were able to read for 15 minutes on Friday! Way to go!