Kindergarten
September 30th
Reading
Our next lesson incorporated our understanding of realistic fiction and fantasy when reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears retold and illustrated by James Marshall. We also added the concept of retelling a story with the characters, setting and plot. After we read the story, we retold the story using the words, first, next, then, after that, and last. We also practiced sequencing another story independently called The Adventures of Spot.
Math
We are getting very good at subitizing to 5. This week, we practiced subitizing, the ability to quickly identify the number of items in a small set without counting, with five frames. A five frame is a rectangle divided into five squares. Students worked with their "face partner" to subitize when looking at the counters placed in a five frame. One partner would place a number of counters in the frame and quickly show then hide the frame. The other partner needed to say how many counters were on the frame. Not only does this help our number sense, it also prepares students to think about combinations within five (which is a future math unit). They started to recognize four when there was one blank square. This will help students to add 4+1 more fluently when we begin to add later in the year.
The picture below is a ten frame, but the students imagined that it was really 2 five frames stuck together. Later, we will use the whole ten frame!