Kindergator Update 11.30.18


Thank you so much for working with your kids on the Thanksgiving Projects. They have turned out so well and we are really learning a lot about how different the same holiday can be for us all. I cannot wait to hear the kids share their projects with each other on Monday! We were stuffed full of learning this week. Here’s what we did:

Reading: We have been putting together multiple tricks in words while working on our reindeer research. Did you know that reindeer (or caribou) have special noses that heat the air before they breathe it into their lungs. I guess that explains why Rudolph’s nose is red!

Math: We continued our unit on measurement by playing worm versus snake to compare lengths and then experimenting with balance, analog, bathroom and spring scales for weight. There was some controversy when Zeb’s water bottle weighed 500 grams on the spring scale but 480.7 on the analog one though.

Writing: We have been working on the difference between questions and telling sentences and knowing what punctuation mark each should end with. This is something we could use your help with at home if you have any opportunity to play with the idea of what is means to be telling versus asking.

Science: We learned about day and night and why we have both. All the children were able to explain that the earth spins or rotates toward or away from the sun to make it happen and I hope they told you the same at home.

BIG THINGS:
Our field trip is this Thursday to the Center for Puppetry Arts. Please remember to send in a sack lunch (no lunch boxes or Tupperware) if your child is bringing one from home. They will probably need a coat / jacket for the bus ride down please.

Speaking of coats…we went out to play in some really cold weather this week and has lots of kids without coats outside with us. This makes for an unhappy recess for them, so please send your child in with a coat or jacket each day.

My mom sent post cards to all the kiddos from New York. We hope everyone got their card already.


Thank you to:

  • Everyone who sent in chocolate for our Holiday Shoppe Basket.
  • Everyone who volunteered already to help with the holiday shop event. PLEASE consider volunteering. Even just a half hour of time helps immensely.
  • Everyone who tried to trick us with riddles this week. Here are some favorites…
    • What walks of 4 legs at dawn, 2 legs at noon and three at midnight?
    • What question do you never get an answer for?
    • What insect is black and yellow and rhymes with “G”?
    • What goes down but cannot go up?
    • What had hands and a face but no legs?
  • All the kids who did double homework this week (and most other weeks too.) We had 11 kids do bonus work this week. Whoa! We want to reinforce that doing both choices is not a requirement. We are rewarding those that do the extra work by starting their day on a higher color to say “thank you.”


Popular posts from this blog

KIndergator Update 9.14

I am watching a 6 year old jump off a high diving board here at Georgia Tech as I type this. There is so much excitement and fear at the same time in her eyes as she gets ready to jump. It reminds me of how our kiddos look right before they sound out a big word in class. It is such fun to watch. Here are some things we worked on this week: Reading: We continued blending sounds together in guided reading groups. We began introducing the “letters that work together to make one sound” trick with blends like (sw, sn, st, sp). We also began our study of the parts of a story by discussing characters. Did you know anything can me a character if you write a story about it? We read about a blue dot as a character and a chameleon. We also reviewed th difference between real reading and fake fiction through our topic of chameleons this week. Math: We finished naming all the 2d shapes and describing them. Next week we will begin “eating” them. If your child can correctly describe the at...
Read more

KIndergator Update

Happy first week of Kindergarten! It has been a really smooth transition so far, so thank you parents. Here are some things we worked on this week: Rules, rules and more rules. What to do if you don't know what to do......raise your hand or look for a clue! Who are the people in your campground (school)? Who are the people in you camp (through sharing our all about me bags)? Next week we move into our regular schedule and begin curriculum. Our focus will be getting used to the schedule, building independence and an "I can" attitude. Look for an update next week to see how well we did. In the meantime here are some great quotes from our class this week. "I have a joke for you" "Okay" "What did the corn dog say?" "What?" "No. no monkey!" The whole class falls out laughing. "The lunch choices are hamburger, mac and cheese or salad. What would you like?" "Pizza." "Well there is ...
Read more

Kindergator Update 9.21 and some requests

Break time! I hope you have a wonderful week off. We can all use some rest and hopefully some fall weather. Here are some things we worked on this week. Reading: We continued working on the difference between real reading and fake fiction with our unit about apples. We also began our talk of how to do a great story retelling by focusing on the who (characters) and where (setting) in our first sentence. Math: We worked on comparing and contrasting 2d shapes and introduced vocabulary for 3d shapes such as edges, vertices and faces. Social Studies: We compared and contrasted the GA and US flags. Vocabulary: Cube, edge, vertices, orchard, pollen, nectar, symbol Big Things: We have had some big chats this week about how we treat others. Within the past week I have heard kids tell Mrs. Watson she doesn't pack them up right. After a student dropped their fruit on the ground they told Mrs. Watson she was supposed to clean it up for them. She and Mrs. McGhee have been told just ...
Read more