Siri's Kindergarten & 1st Grade Class
Welcome to Siri's Kindergarten & 1st Grade Class!
Teacher:
Siri Miller Kindergarten Number Corner
This month’s calendar markers are focused on tools commonly used to measure time, weight, temperature and length. Each day, we flip over a new card to show these measuring tools. The Kindergarteners are given the chance to discuss the ways people use these tools. We introduced and have been reinforcing the words time, weight, temperature and length. Other topics of focus are to expand our thinking on simple repeating patterns by finding, describing and extending them; reading and identifying numbers up to 31 (especially by counting from 5 or 10 as a landmark) and exploring probability through our Days of School spinner.
Poetry with Janet S. Wong
The K/1’s were so excited to meet our current Author Study author in person when Janet S. Wong came to our school! Not only did she read us many poems, but we got to hear the fascinating stories behind her poems. She is an author who uses her life experiences to create her poems. She took the time to answer everyone’s questions. One question that came up often (besides how old are you) was how do you write so well? Her answer each time was “Practice. Practice, practice, practice.” She compared it to how you get better at sports. Later on she taught everyone one way you can write a poem is to compare someone you know and love to an object or animal. She also taught us that she likes to do multiple drafts of each poem and pick her favorite.
Kindergarten Math
Most of our Workplaces now are partner games where kids have the opportunity to play a game against a partner. These games give children many opportunities to discuss and have conversations about mathematical concepts.
A few of these concepts are:
Estimation- When working with frog handfuls, the children are asked to make an estimate. They record their best guess (on ten frames) and then do the actual count. They can then compare the difference between their estimate and the actual count. They do the same thing with Unifix Cubes measuring by measuring things around the classroom using unifix cubes (grouped by 10’s).
Reading Dr. Seuss Books
This month, our author focus is Dr. Seuss. We launched this author study by celebrating his birthday during Read Across America Day. The children enjoyed listening to Dr. Seuss stories read by Giddens School teachers and the Cat in the Hat herself (that was Portia, of course!)
Writer's Workshop
In Writers Workshop students are having the chance to show off their expertise. They are writing informational books about something they know a lot about! We are discovering that informational books have lots of different types of writing in them. Students are figuring out if they might need a how-to section, or a diagram where they label parts in their books. Students are also learning how to organize their books so all the information about what trees need is on one page, and all the information for what leaves look like is on another page. This unit has been a great opportunity for the students to connect writing with reading, science, and so much more!
Busy Busy K-1 Readers
Our phonics focus these past few weeks is vowels and their sounds. Vowels are key to figuring out words but they are also super tricky. The kids learned that the vowels are a, e, i, o, u (and sometimes y) and that every word has a vowel. We are also discovering that vowels make more than one sound. For now, we have been focusing on short vowel sounds. The children noticed the vowels in our focus words, such as in cat and met.
Ladybugs: A Growing Pattern
The Kindergarteners have returned to their exploration of ladybugs. This time they are using them to help learn to count by 2’s, look at number patterns, and continue to develop the understanding that 1 can stand for 1 object as well 1 group of objects. We created a ladybug pattern poster. Each ladybug has 2 spots, 1 on each wing. We observed that each ladybug has two of certain things, 2 wings, 2 spots, 2 antennae and 2 eyes. When we assembled the ladybugs on the poster, we made it into a triangle arrangement that is in itself a growing pattern, 1 more ladybug in each row. Finally, we recorded their observations, solved problems about pairs of ladybug spots and explored the number patterns that can be seen on the poster.
Integrated Studies & Writing
During Integrated Studies, students have been learning more about seasons and applying that knowledge. We read Sky Tree together and discussed what we notice about each season. We saw the leaves change color and fall in the autumn, birds leaving in the winter, the squirrel reappearing in the spring and the tree full of green leaves in the summer. The next day students got to paint a tree how they imagined it in each season. Everyone talked about the colors each season could have.
Writer's Workshop
The K-1 students continue to be authors of How-To Books as they work towards our Writing Celebration this Thursday. To write a How-To book, the children recall a procedure they can do. Then they lay out the directions for that procedure, starting at the beginning and proceeding in a step-by-step fashion to the end. In this fourth week of How-To book writing, writers are focusing on the details in the steps (both in the illustrations and words) and making sure that the reader can understand their writing. The children are also adding on a page for the things they need as well a title page. We are all excited to hear, read and learn more from each other through these How-To Books!
Second Step Unit 1 Complete!
The K-1’s have finished the first unit of our Second Step program and it has been a great success. This unit focused on supporting students as they acquire Skills for Learning, including focused listening, paying attention, following directions, using self-talk and being assertive to advocate for what they need. We used a variety of methods, such as the much loved “attent-o-scopes” to focus attention (demonstrated in the picture by Adrian and Oliver) and games played with the Puppy and Snail puppets. We have shared these with the Specialist Teachers and other adults in the school so that we can all use a common language. Many families have reported that the Home Links have offered them the opportunity to use this language as well.
Kindergarten Math
The Kindergarteners have added three new workplaces these past two weeks. They are the Hungry Caterpillar, Count and Compare Butterflies and Pattern Block Designs. The focus on these workplaces are shapes—putting shapes together to form new shapes, counting and comparing and probability. The children have been enjoying these games - particularly the ones where they play with a partner.
First Grade Math at Home
During family/teacher conferences, many people inquired about what they can be doing to support their first grade mathematician at home. Any “math moments” that you can find to share thinking about math with your child are awesome, but here are a list of specific skills we are working on mastering. Any time you can steer the conversation in these directions is a bonus!
• Addition AND subtraction facts within 10
• Tells time on an analog clock to the hour and half hour
• Knows the day of the week and the slash date (month/day/year)
• Knows the names and values of coins (penny, nickel, dime and quarter)
• Can count forward to and backward from 120
• Can count by 10’s to 120
Author Study
Our study of an author a month has had a fabulous fall! After devouring Mo Willems books, we moved on to Leo Lionni’s books. In the K/1 hallway, you have seen the art inspired by Leo Lionni’s book A Color of His Own. Each time we read a book we study the art as well as the story, and we have noticed that Leo Lionni’s illustrations are very different from Mo Willems' and Kevin Henkes'. We found prints, rubbings, multi-media and much more. Most of Leo Lionni's books discuss seasons and fables, which have sparked many interesting conversations.
Reading with Lexia, Writing How-To Books
Our reading groups are in full swing and each day students are practicing reading behaviors focused on their strengths. One aspect of this is the use of the Lexia computer program. The students use Lexia to practice their phonemic awareness and visual discrimination skills, both of which are important to reading success. More accomplished readers have the opportunity to refine their skills in a fun, engaging way. Please install Lexia on your home computers! It is a great way for your child’s teacher to monitor their progress and it is fun for the kids. 5-15 minutes, 3-4 times a week can have a profound impact on a child’s reading skills. If you are interested in using Lexia at home, please contact your child's teacher.
Math in First Grade and Kindergarten
The first grade mathematicians are exploring lots of strategies for computing addition and subtraction. One of our favorites is the number line. Using plastic frogs, we are “hopping up and down” the line looking for bugs. Writing the matching equation has offered another level of challenge. We are using both horizontal and vertical representations of number lines to become fluent with this mathematical tool. Don’t forget, our goal is to have mastery of addition and subtraction facts to 10. Please make sure you are practicing at home!
Harvest Festival Food Drive
We have launched our annual St. Mary’s Food Drive! During Integrated Studies time, the K-1 community discussed how people in our city may need help to have enough food. During the discussions, the children shared that some people have enough food at home and some don’t. As the season changes and the weather gets colder, there is an increased need for food and warmth in homes. People who may need extra help can go to Food Banks to get the food they need for their families. Just like any other bank, in order for food to be given away, food needs to be “deposited” and so we are asking our Giddens community to help us make a big “deposit” at our local food bank, St. Mary’s Food Bank, which is right across the street from us.
Studying Seasons
The K/1 has begun a new topic of study! In light of our school wide theme of colors, we are studying seasons. We kicked off this unit by going on a fall stroll around the neighborhood last week. We looked for features typical of a fall day such as, red leaves, yellow leaves, squirrels gathering nuts to store, birds flying south, bare trees, people raking leaves and so on. It was an exciting walk. At the end we all picked leaves to use in the classroom for art. During our walk to the library on Tuesday, many students noticed more of these features of a fall day. They saw squirrels, leaves on the ground, bare trees and colorful leaves. We look forward to exploring more about seasons, including how colorful each season is.
Using Math Tools in Kindergarten Math
Mathematicians in Kindergarten Math are cruising with shapes, bugs and work places. We continue to explore math tools such as unifix cubes, pattern blocks, geoboards and bucket of bugs during our Work Places. Over the past couple of weeks, we have replaced some of these work places with more structured tasks that include spinners, graphs and recording. For instance, children graph the results of a spider and lady bug race. They also record and draw a shape they have built using the geoboards. We also have been exploring numbers in groups such as groups of 10’s and 5’s. We’ve introduced tally marks and ten-frames where in children practice counting up from 5 or 10. This is a math concept we will keep exploring throughout the year.
First Grade Math with Sea Creatures
There are amazing things happening in First Grade Math! Each day the students are moving through a wide range of whole group, small group and individual learning activities. Our focus for the past few weeks has been on addition and subtraction. We have used several mathematical models, such as ten frames and number lines, to communicate our thinking. In the coming weeks, we will use a study of sea creatures to learn more about numbers in groups. We created paper crabs, each with 10 legs, to support our success in counting by 10’s. Five-legged sea stars (not starfish!) will help us become more adept at counting by 5’s. This opportunity to apply our mathematical thinking to real world constructs deepens each child’s connection to the numbers.
Reading and Writing
Reading
We have launched Reading Workshop! Each day after recess the children wash their hands, collect their book baskets and settle into their reading group classroom. Each reading classroom includes children from all 3 homerooms and a mix of K and 1st grade students. Students are placed in small groups within these classrooms with other students to work on targeted reading skills. All 3 classrooms have begun with lessons on how to “read to self”, the 3 ways to read a book and routines. The teachers have chosen and placed “just right” books and their poetry notebooks in their book bins for them to read independently. We seek to foster independence and support children in becoming self-motivated readers.
