Ask Me About Tuesday, October 15, 2019

We found out we have a Lincoln expert in our group!  During Talk Time today, we studied this painting of one of our great leaders.  The children noticed lots of details that gave them clues about this man, but then one of our friends shared that this was indeed Abraham Lincoln.  He remembered so much from a book he read with his family.  Using his background knowledge, we learned a little more about this important man!  Thanks Jacob for sharing so much of what you know to help us all learn more about Lincoln!  We will be learning more about leaders this week.
In math, we worked with writing equations to represent different numbers of beans placed on the corners of a square.  The children looked to see how many were on the corners and how many were in a group at the bottom of the picture.  Then they wrote the equations using the addition and equal sign.  We played a really fun game that helped the kids practice counting-on.  We sat around the edge of the carpet, then each child said 3 numbers in sequence, such as 1-2-3, then the next counting on three more, and so on until 10.  The person who said 10 said only one number and had to stand up.  We played quickly until all the children were standing.  We will play this again but starting with different numbers and making a different target number.  Counting-on is an important skill that will help with addition facts.
In reading, we reviewed identifying the main character in stories and key details.  We read a poem about rules and practiced reciting a couple lines as a mini-choral reading.  Then we read a very funny rhyming book called The Rules, by Marty Kelley.  Ask me to tell you some of the funny rules in this book!
We have started our small group work in reading.  The children will be pulled in groups either to read, work on a specific skill, or to write.  This is a really important time for the children.  While they are working in their group, the rest of the children are working in literacy stations.  One station that we did not open yesterday when you visited was our Technology Station.  In this station, the children will work on the Chromebooks, listen to a story on cd or work on the Promethean Board.  The children are doing a really nice job of using mostly 6-inch voices during this time.
We read Not Friends, by Rebecca Bender for our Book a Day selection.  This book is about a giraffe and bird who say they are not friends.  Each of them is annoyed by many things the other does.  I chose this book today to talk about how sometimes in groups or even with brothers and sisters there are things that are annoying to us.  We will be learning about DeBug tomorrow and then again next week with Mrs. Kanter to learn and practice strategies for what we can do when someone annoys us.  These would be kid-size annoyances that would be appropriate for children to learn to handle on their own.  In the story, the giraffe and bird find out how important they are to each other during a thunderstorm.  Learning to be part of a group is something we work on a lot in kindergarten.  Learning strategies and developing better self-control so the children can give themselves time to stop and think before they make the wrong choice in how to deal with annoyances is something that will develop more over time.

Watch your e-mail for a Sign-Up Genius from me to sign up for a conference time.  If the times on the sign-up do not work for you, just e-mail me and let me know a couple other times that will work for you.  I'll try to accomodate if possible!  Thanks!

Don't forget, tomorrow is individual class picture day!  

Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe