Ms. Buzil's Kindergarten News
February 12, 2016
Hello Kindergarten Families!
Welcome to Kindergarten Room 109. Here you will find updates and news about what's happening in our classroom. As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments!
Classroom Highlights:
In Reading...
- We continued building our reading stamina by practicing reading independently and also with a partner.
- We added 3 new words to our word wall: with, was, want.
- We learned about the "sneaky e" and how it makes the vowel say its name. (ride, cute, hope, tape, kite, etc..)
- We enjoyed reading a non-fiction book titled "Where Do Polar Bears Live?" We learned about polar bears diet, hunting techniques, habitat, and the impact global warming has had on their environment.
- We started reading Magic Tree House book #7 "Sunset of the Sabertooth".
- We read a Valentine's Day story titled "Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch". After reading this story, the students wrote kind notes for different people around the school.
In Writing...
- We practiced writing our own non-fiction books about polar bears. We wrote about where polar bears live, things they have, what they eat, and also about the different things polar bears can do.
- We are working on using proper conventions of writing, such as using an uppercase letter at the beginning of a sentence, putting spaces in between words, and adding ending punctuation.
- We have been spending time practicing handwriting using proper formation. We also talked about using the lines on the paper to help us write neatly.
In Math...
- We have a new pattern to explore on our calendar this month during Number Corner. The February pattern helps us to think about counting groups of 5 and some more.
- We have learned many new Valentine's Day themed math centers! We are practicing counting on when adding two numbers, combinations to 20, identifying more or less when comparing groups, counting in different ways (by 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's), and also sorting numbers to 100 on a hundreds grid.
- We are working on becoming more fluent in identifying numbers before and after to 20.
- We are working on our subitizing skills. Subitizing is the ability to instantly identify how many without having to count from one. We practice this skill every day on ten frames, double-ten frames, using standard dot patterns (on a dice), and irregular dot patterns.
Using OSMO Tangrams
Rainbow writing word wall words
Counting by 5's
Working on Dreambox
Taking a yoga break
Playing a fun Valentine's math game
We published videos using an app on the iPad called Shadow Puppet where we were able to record our voices describing things we learned about polar bears. Check out one student's example below!
IMG 0522
Important Dates:
February 15: Presidents Day- No School
February 16: 100th Day of School
February 17: Special Lunch- No hot lunch served
Ask Your Child:
- What they have learned about polar bears! Where does a polar bear live? What do they eat? What is happening to the Arctic ice? What can we do to help?
- Who their 3rd grade reading buddy is?
- Which Magic Tree House book has been their favorite so far?
Character Counts Week is February 22-26
- Monday- Pajama Day
- Tuesday- Crazy Hat/Hair Day
- Wednesday- Lego/Block Day (wear lego colors)
- Thursday- Dress up as a character from your favorite TV show/movie/book
- Friday- Time Travel Day (dress up from your favorite era)