Mrs. Powers' Kindergators

The holiday countdown is on. Already we are seeing lots of distracted kids as visions of sugar plums and LOL dolls dance in their heads. (Yes, LOL dolls are a thing. Mrs. Watson and I had to look them up to know what the kiddos were talking about in class.) Here are some other things we talked about this week: Reading: We continued our study of non-fiction texts and how to identify the main idea and important details. Our topics were reindeer and bears this week. We worked hard on “mining for information” or getting the most learning we could out of thinking about what we read. This involves fluency and comprehension at the same time and can be very difficult for the students for a while. Math: We continued our unit on measurement by studying capacity and temperature. We searched for things in the classroom that had capacity and looked for capacity numbers on certain containers. Then we examined thermometers and how they measure hot and cold. Writing: We continued working...

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 s...

Please look for the bright pink field trip lunch preference form in your child's binder tonight. It will let us know what to do for your child's lunch on the day of the field trip. Please sign and return it as soon as possible.

Don't forget that Thanksgiving Customs Projects are due this Friday, November 30th.  We have already learned about turkey pork and how to make pilgrim hats from the projects that have been turned in so far. We are excited to learn about your family's traditions too!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this week is relaxing and restful and full of carbs. Speaking of full…here is what filled our brains with this week in kindergarten: Reading: We used our “main idea and details” focus to learn more about Thanksgiving. We read stories about the first Thanksgiving, what life was like as a pilgrim boy and girl, how Thanksgiving became an official holiday (thank you Sarah Hale and Abraham Lincoln) and what some common Thanksgiving traditions are today. What a surprise it was to learn that Sarah Hale worked for 38 years and wrote hundreds of letters to 4 different presidents until finally Abraham Lincoln agreed to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday. She really was a hero for sure. By the way… many of the kids said they had never tried cranberry sauce or seen the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade so those might be something fun to try this year. Math: We began our unit on measurable attributes. That means we began looking at the parts of things that w...

A hard copy of this letter and the booklet will be sent home tomorrow in your child's blue binder. Please note, the project is not due until the Friday on the week we return from break, but your child may need to do some "research" on Thanksgiving day about your family's customs. My Thanksgiving Customs Project One of our social studies standards asks the students to “describe the diversity of American culture by explaining the customs and celebrations of various families and communities.” In order to help students reach this standard we are asking each child to complete a “My Thanksgiving Customs” project with their families. For this project, your child will be asked to draw, take photographs or cut out pictures showing how your family celebrates Thanksgiving. Their completed project should have:            A title and cover for the booklet.            Two drawings or pictures of Thanksgiving foods they tra...

On my way into Tech tonight, I saw some students stop, thank and shake hands with another young man in military uniform. It made me think about our Veteran’s Day unit this week and how small kindnesses can often be a big deal. Here are some of the big things our small kids worked on this week in class. Reading: We worked hard to understand the terms “main idea” and “details” as we learned about the Bald Eagle, Veteran’s Day and the branches of the military. We also began thinking about how an author adds details to support their point. We wrote letters to soldier moms this week and will work on soldier dads next. Math: We wrapped up our unit on comparing numbers using strategy and we will be comparing and contrasting strategies that work best for the situation next week. We now have 17 out of our 18 students counting to 100 by 1s and our last one is very close so we will hopefully be celebrating 100% soon. We continued our introduction to word problems and introduced some of ...