MISS WOLFE'S KINDERS ROCK - Blog

MISS WOLFE'S KINDERS ROCK

Ask Me about friday, september 18, 2020

9/18/2020

We had a busy morning today in our virtual classroom! We had students being pulled out to go to their ESOL class, which is a class Mrs. Thomson has in a breakout room, and we had Mrs. Robinson pulling students to do a reading screener with them to determine a very general reading level. Students are doing well learning to use the breakout button to go to the room and to return. Thank-you for your patience as some parents have had to help their children with the breakout room. It will get easier! The screener Mrs. Robinson did gave me additional data I will use in setting up reading groups. Some groups will be fluent with children being moved to other groups from time to time.

We studied this painting by Claude Monet looking for clues that would tell us about the weather. Ask me to tell you the clues that helped us know it was a windy, sunny and possibly cool day.
In reading, we practiced identifying rhyming words. We read this poem about a puppy. After we talked about what yappy, squirms and slumpy sounds and looks like. Ask me to tell you what words rhyme in the poem.

We are also continuing to count syllables in words. The students are gently pounding the syllables with the opposite hand they write with so that as they begin writing, they can pound the syllables to break words apart so they are easier to spell. Use the opposite hand they are writing with allows them to keep writing as they gently pound the syllables, making it an efficient strategy.
We reread the story Danbi Leads the Parade, by Anna Kim, this time looking at the pictures as I read. We identified the main characters and the important events in the story. We made a text-to=self connection with Danbi making a new friend. We drew a picture to show ourselves meeting a new friend. Together, we wrote a sentence that identified the text-to-self connection.
In math, we learned about zero and practiced writing zeros.
In science, we reviewed what engineers do and listened to the story Rosie Revere, Engineer, by Andrea Beaty. This is part of a series of books that are on Epic Books. I will assign this book, as I did Ada Twist, Scientist, but remember it's a suggestion not really an assignment. It's a great book!

As I am writing this, I heard the very sad news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has passed away. There are several great children's books you might want to share with your child about this amazing woman, but are already sold out at Amazon. I assigned two books about her on Epic: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality by Jonah Winter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Sara Spiller.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Miss Wolfe

Ask me about thursday, september 17, 2020

9/17/2020

We studied this painting by Winslow Homer this morning. We thought about weather words to describe what was happening in the painting. Ask me about the weather in this painting.
In reading, we continued to work with beginning sounds of words. We looked at an, which is a rime, and added a beginning sound, the onset, to read words. We read words such as can, fan, ran, etc. This is a skill we will work on throughout the year.
We practiced visualizing today as we read the book Danbi Leads the Parade, by Anna Kim. This story is about a little girl who moves from Korea to the United States. The story is about her first day of school. The students drew quick sketches of what they were visualizing as they listened to the story.
In math, we worked with finding hidden partners in the number 3. Ask me to tell you the hidden partners in 3.

Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe

wEDNESDAY, sEPTEMBER 16, 202

9/16/2020

A huge thank-you to all of you for helping us get through our first online test. Next Wednesday is Math. Hopefully it will be a little easier to get everyone on because we won't have Mrs. Abramson, but will have support from Ms. Lillis, who is one of our amazing para-educators. The math test does not have the cute little worm and is not as user friendly, but we will go over the practice test again and hopefully since they have already had the reading test, it will be easier to administer. The big difference will be that this test goes to a frustration level, so it's really important that you not help your child with the test questions. Please just remind them to try their best and not be upset if they don't know all the answers. They aren't supposed to know all the answers. Please don't explain the questions to the children. You can only support them with technical help.
We took a break after the test and made pictures or designs with o's. I thought this might be a good way to unwind after the stress of taking a test like MAP-RF for the first time.
We worked on finding hidden partners in numbers again in math.

Thank-you again for all your help today!
Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe

Ask Me about Tuesday, September 15, 2020

9/15/2020

Today we reviewed rhyming words and isolating the beginning sounds of words. These are important foundational skills that children need to be efficient readers and writers. While we were working on these skills, Mrs. Robinson did a quick screen on many of the children to get a general reading level. The kids had to navigate to a break-out room for the quick test, and return to our regular room. I'm thankful for the help from Mrs. Robinson, and it's also giving the children the chance to go to the break-out room. We will be using these more as we go along, and the smaller groups will give the kids time to talk to each other.
We listened to an old rhyme and studied the picture to help us understand two words in the rhyme. Ask me to tell you about the word scholar and noon. Here's the rhyme we read:

In math, we found hidden partners in towers of Lego. We started with a tower of 5, then broke it into two smaller towers or parts of 2 and 3. This is decomposing, and it's a very important concept for children to understand that will help them with addition and subtraction. We also looked at how moving counters into different configurations did not change the number.
We listened to the story Ada Twist, Scientist, by Andrea Beaty. This book is about a little girl that very early in her life discovers she wants to be a scientist. Ask me to tell you about Ada Twist.

I assigned this story to your child on Epic. It is not an assignment really, I just thought they might want to hear it again. They seemed glued to the screen when it was on!
In science, we talked about what scientists and engineers do. We watched a clip from Sid the Science Kid about going to the science center and meeting scientists. It's long, so we just watched the part about a marine biologist. I was hoping to find more clips from the show on YouTube, but I couldn't, but I could find a game that was on PBS KIds. I'll link that below so the children can watch it and begin to learn about other kinds of scientists.

Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe

Ask Me about monday, September 14, 2020

9/14/2020

What a bumpy morning! Third time trying to fix my internet online when it keeps knocking me off, but it seems like it is working better than ever now. It should since I'm paying more now for it! I hope that my internet issues are behind me now.
This afternoon we talked about visualizing. Readers visualize to help them understand and enjoy the story and learn more about information shared in a text. We used the poem The Swing, by Robert Louis Stevenson, to visualize a swing. We all had different ideas of a swing based on our experiences. We listened to the poem to add to our "movie in our head" of the poem. I was visualizing when I was a kid and pumping my legs to go as high as I could! The children drew pictures of what they visualized as I was reading. Many drew a swing but didn't add a person in the picture. This can be something they add to show it shows more of what the poem was about. Ask me to show you my picture of The Swing. This should be in their red folder.

We also listened for rhyming words in the poem. We made a chart of the words that rhymed in the poem, then added more words that rhymed to our chart. We are starting to notice that sometimes the words not only sound the same at the end, but sometimes they are spelled the same. Ask me to tell you some words that rhyme with swing and blue.

In math, we continued to work with showing numbers in different ways with our fingers, looking at dots and quickly knowing how many were there without counting, and arranging counters in columns and rows to count.

Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe

ask me about Wednesday and Thursday, September 9 and 10

9/10/2020

Hello Families! It was good to see so many families at Back to School NIght. I am going to catch you up on what we've done the past couple days! We enjoyed Hat Day on Wednesday. We used what we had learned in math using the words exactly the same, the same but different and different to talk about a collection of hats. Using precise language in math is important, so this was great practice, and fun too! Ask me to tell you about the hats!

In Language Arts we have been learning about syllables. We are using an Orton-Gillingham strategy to pound the syllables with the opposite hand that is used for writing. We do this so they can break words apart as they are writing later on as they spell longer words. I have asked them to pound gently on a table, so I hope that's going well on your end! This is a developing skill so we will be practicing this over time. We used some of our favorite superheroes, princesses and Pixar characters to help us practice pounding syllables. Ask me to show you how I can pound out the syllables.

We are continuing to learn about sorting in Math. We are sorting items into groups in different ways by attributes, but also by number in the collection. So today, we colored groups of 2, 3 and 4 different colors. You can find this paper in their math folder if you would like to see how they did. This is reinforced in tonight's homework as well.
Our Picture Talk today was to study a collage of photographs to see how they all go together. I asked the students to think of two words that describe all the photographs. Play and friends were what came to my mind. Ask me to tell you what I notice about these photographs.

The children are really trying hard to focus and pay attention the whole time. We try and take Brain Breaks, and when necessary, I just stop and read a story or give them time to relax. We are working on building stamina, but also on establishing expectations of learning online that will carry-over into the classroom when we return. Being able to sit up during lessons and not play with school supplies or their study buddy is important. Sitting up so we see the faces and feet is important, and being focused and not dancing around or making faces is important. I know they are just learning, so this is expected! It's also expected that it will improve! We have talked about Zoom Rules, now we'll work together to create classroom expectations that we will print and send to you so you can see what we have agreed on as a class. They are doing great! I really am enjoying them so much. Today they made me so happy to see how they respond so well to music.
Thank-you for your continued support, patience and kind words. It means so much to me!
Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe

Ask Me about friday, september 4, 2020

9/4/2020

We started our day with a Picture Talk. We thought about what we learned in math with identifying objects that were the same, but different. We identified the objects that were the same, and talked about what made them different from each other. Ask me to tell you about the keys and what makes them the same, but different.

We had a visit from our amazing school counselor, Mrs. Kanter. She talked with the children about COVID-19. They watched a short video and reviewed basic reminders about sneezing and coughing into their elbow, washing hands often, wearing a mask when around people who are not in your family, and maintaining school distance from others.
We also briefly met our ESOL teacher, Mrs. Thomson. Several children will be meeting with her in a break-out room on Zoom for screening to see if they will be part of the ESOL program.
In reading, we talked about what key-events are in stories. We know that key events are important things that happen in the story. We read the story Dozens of Donuts, by Carrie Finison. This is a story many of the children were familiar with if they were in class with me this summer. We read it again and started to identify specific things that happened in the story. Ask me to tell you about some key events from Dozens of Donuts. The author, Carrie Finison, made a video reading the book that I have shared below.

In math, we talked about items with patterns on them, and matched them to coordinating objects with the same pattern. We also talked about items that go together, and talked about why they go together. For example, a cup and straw go together because you can use a straw to drink out of a cup.

It's been a busy, tiring first week of school for all of us! I hope you know how much I appreciate your help and support this week getting kids on to Zoom and helping them with all those math workbooks! We will talk about how we will make that easier for everyone next week, and begin to use the folders for papers. I think the kids are making good progress. I hope everyone has a very safe, relaxing and fun weekend! See you on Tuesday!

~Miss Wolfe

ask me about Thursday, September 3, 2020

9/3/2020

We started our day by sharing our Lego or building project. The children were so proud of what they made to share. We are having a fun time getting to know each with our Spirit Days, and are also getting better at muting and unmuting! The kids are doing a great job of speaking up so their classmates can hear and understand them.

We talked about the routine for Readers Workshop. This is a time when we will be listening to books and talking about them. We made a chart that tells what Readers Workshop looks like and sounds like.

In Readers Workshop today, we listened to a story called I'm Sticking With You, by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. This is a sweet story about two friends, a squirrel and a bear. Here's a book trailer about the book. You might want to watch the trailer with your child, then ask them to tell you more about what happened in the book.

We practiced rhyming words again today. We played an online game from ABCYA, called Alphabats - Rhyming. Your child can find a link to this game in our Google Classroom. I showed the children how to play it today as we practiced rhyming words with the game.
In Shared Writing today, we wrote about why we wanted to come to school today in response to the story Katy's First Day of School. I modeled how we get an idea, say the words, then begin to write the words. We talked about how many words we said, then checked to see that was how many words I wrote. We also counted spaces between the words to call attention to putting spaces between words.
We practiced handwriting again today. We will be going through the alphabet to review how to write letters, but will spend more time on each letter soon. I have to tell you how impressed I am with the handwriting I am seeing! The kids are doing a really great job of writing their letters neatly and so others can easily read them.
We practiced "belly breathing" today. We can use belly breathing to settle down when we have strong feelings. Sometimes the strong feelings are anger, but they can also be sadness, worried feelings, being over excited, or any feeling that is making it hard to focus. We watching this video that tells about belly breathing.

We also drew pictures of a peaceful, calm place we can visualize as we belly breathe. Ask me to show you my peaceful place picture.
In math we continued to talk about objects that are the same, but different. We also practiced counting, using our math fingers which are like a number line.
In the afternoon we talked about rules at school and at home. We talked about why rules are important. The children drew pictures of a rule they have at home. Most of the children did the assignment, but several students did not. I just want you to be aware that it's the expectation that children participate, but I know it was the end of the day and the children were getting tired. Ask your child to share their picture of the rule they drew. If they did not draw a rule, you may want to talk to them about giving it a try, and that they need to listen and do what the teachers tells them to do, just like they were in a classroom at school.

Enjoy your evening!
Miss Wolfe

Ask Me about wednesday, september 2, 2020

9/2/2020

Today we began our Benchmark Reading instruction, and our Eureka Math Instruction. Our Benchmark Reading instruction begins with 12 days of learning routines and reviewing foundational skills. Today we talked about what makes a strong listener. We know strong listeners pay attention, look at the person who is talking, waits for the speaker to finish talking and sits still. We also practiced following directions. I gave the children some simple two and three step directions to follow which got them up and out of their chairs, too!
We listened to a story called Katy's First Day of School. We looked at parts of the cover of the book and discussed what the author and illustrator do, and how you can find the title. We read the book and noticed the thinking bubbles above Katy's head that showed what she was thinking, not what had happened. This book was a rhyming book, so we talked about rhyming words, then practiced making pairs of rhyming words from a word bank.
If we were in the classroom, we would often be doing a "turn and talk" where the children would turn to a partner so their knees were touching, and they would share ideas and thinking before sharing with the whole class. I still want to establish this routine, so the children can have a study buddy they can turn and talk with during our lessons. They can choose a stuffed animal or doll to use as their study buddy as long as the study buddy does not interfere with learning. So the study buddy can be nearby, off-camera, but then be held when sharing ideas or thinking, or when listening to a story. As with the break basket, the study buddy needs to be nearby and shouldn't be something the kids go away from the screen and search for during a lesson.
The big challenge in math today was getting used to three different books to use in math, and to find the page I needed them to use during the lesson. Thank-you for helping your child be organized with the books in a place near the computer so they are ready to use during our lesson.
We talked today about counting the math way by using our fingers. In Eureka, the children count on their fingers starting with the pinkie on their left hand and putting each finger up as they say one number, stopping at their thumb with 5. We used counters to put on a hand showing that same order. We also talked about the same, and exactly the same.

I hope your child has some time to create a structure or something they built out of Legos or other building material for our Lego Building Spirit Day!

Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe

Ask Me about Tuesday, September 1, 2020

9/1/2020

We had a great second day of school. Today we continued to get to know each other. We started our day by telling our friends our name and what we would like to learn about more. Many of the children had similar interests. We have many friends who are interested in space! We shared some of the five picture All About Me project. Thanks for helping the children with this special project. I know they have fun seeing pictures of the kids and their families, as well as what they love.
We learned about our brain today, and how it is elastic and grows and changes as we learn. We drew three brains and drew something we already learned, something we are learning, and something we want to learn. This is part of a growth mindset lesson I am doing with the children to help them set goals in their learning. We also made a wish for our kindergarten year. Many of the children made a wish to learn to read or to make friends.
In math, we started with a scavenger hunt. I had the children get up and find different items that represented a topic we will learn about in math this year. They seemed to like the scavenger hunt, so I'm hoping we can do an activity like that from time to time to get them up and moving. Ask me to tell you what I found on the scavenger hunt. We are working on following rules and routines, so we established these rules for our scavenger hunt:

Since we dressed in our favorite color for our Spirit Day, we collected data and made a pictograph to show our favorite colors. Ask me to tell you about this pictograph.

Each day we will be reading a book as part of our Book a Day project. Today's book was Purple, Green and Yellow, by Robert Munsch. This author writes funny books that have a lot of repetition and exaggeration in them, but he also is the author of the beloved book Love You Forever. Ask me to tell you about the funny things that happened in Purple, Green and Yellow!

Remember, Wednesdays we have class until 11:30, then we have the afternoon for meetings, small group instruction and interventions. I will e-mail you with activities your child can do, off-screen, for the afternoon. Thank-you to everyone who has signed up for a testing time in the afternoon tomorrow, and for those who signed up for a slot before school begins.

Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe