Kindergarten Happenings!

 Wow!  It feels like forever since I last posted because I didn't have any pictures of the children to share!  Happy New Year!  We are off to a great start.  The first remote week back was successful and the children did an amazing job handling the different schedule.  Everyone has turned in their work so now I will work on correcting it all and getting it back.  Thank you for helping your child out during this remote / hybrid learning.  I know it isn't easy but do appreciate all you are doing to help your child.  Here are some pictures from our week!  We were all excited to be together and have some learning in person take place!! 

We have been working on the concept of addition.  We talk about adding or joining two or more parts to make a whole.  We also told the students that the total or whole is called a "sum". We like to expose them to these different math terms so it will be familiar when they enter first grade. Here are some math addition centers we had fun completing.  We will continue these next week as well.

Above, Hannah is finding how many more snowflakes to make 10.  Students then would say 6 + 4 = 10.

Avery is adding the numbers on the football and matching it with the sum found on the football player or cheerleader.  Some children used their fingers and some used counting chips to help figure out the answers. They all did a great job solving problems. 

Movement with Heidi Songs & Jack Hartmann!  The kids love these videos and moving a little.  We try to space the kids around the room so they have distance between them. 

Work board this week worked on CVC words and identifying the vowel sound in the middle.  This was really tricky for some but others were able to figure it out on their own or with some help.  This is a big kindergarten concept!  We will be practicing this for the rest of the year.  

Anthony is matching the Fundation letters with their keyword pictures.  

Our two new sight words this week were of & they.  We wrote each in the sight word poem book then read the poem.  We also started a sight word check up with the students.  This is just to see if the children are able to write the sight word correctly.  This was tricky for some and shows us how important the sight word activities are so the students can read and write the 42 sight words by the end of the year.  I started this with Cohort A and we will finish this on Tuesday.  Cohort B was able to fit in time to do all 27 of them.  Some students did really well with this and others will need to keep practicing their sight word reading and writing.  

Clipping beginning sounds & completing the December writing activity.  What was your favorite thing about December.  Many students decided that opening presents was their favorite thing.  There were also some other great ideas as well.  

Here's another math activity working on adding to find five.  The students used a dry erase marker to circle the 2 numbers they could put together to make five.  We challenged them to find as many as they could.  Everyone was able to find at least 10 ways to make 5 and some found 14, 17 & even 19 ways to make 5.  Awesome job everyone!  

Here is a math mat that we are using to help us add numbers and also to find ways to make a number if given the sum.  It provides students with two parts and a whole.  It also has a place for them to write an equation after they figure the problem out.  Your child will be getting one of these in their folder next week.  I will place it in a sleeve protector for you to keep at home so your child will be able to practice addition problems anytime they want or when we assign it.  

Alexis is tapping out the sounds.  

Journal writing! 

Harmony celebrated her 6th birthday over the December vacation so we wanted to acknowledge her special day!  We sang to her and she picked out her birthday bag.  We hope she had a wonderful birthday!!  

This week we also started some mid year assessments.  I will be continuing these in the next couple of weeks.  I will let everyone know how your child did once I have completed them all.  Please let me know if you have questions.  

Next week brings some more changes to our schedule.  When your child is remote, he/she will have 3 check in times on each day (Monday & Tuesday OR Thursday & Friday).  Wednesday is also set up differently.  We will no longer have our 8:30 class meeting.  Your child will have 2 Enrichment Webinars to attend every Wednesday.  8:45 - 9:15 & 9:20 - 9:50.  We will then meet as a class over Zoom for 2 hours.  The time will be present on the weekly schedule.  We will put all the links on the schedule for you.  Please let me know if you have questions or concerns. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend!