Loved how the Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star projects turned out! We will continue to learn nursery rhymes throughout the year.Our Reader's Workshop lessons emphasized studying the pictures in a book to help us better understand the story. I shared how often the words won't tell the entire story. In the book "Fire, Fire said Mrs. McGuire" we found that the words did not tell where the smoke came from, but instead the illustration told the ending. We talked about how it was a different and unique way to end the story. Students practiced looking closely at pictures in books from their book bins during their independent reading and some shared what they found.
Our Writer's workshop focused on oral story telling. Again, we want to stress that what we say, we can write. But this time we practiced telling stories to each other. I model story telling on the spot and even explained how to make something simple into a story. I gave an example saying I couldn't think of a story, so I'd tell about my breakfast...I extended this story with parts that didn't really happen. We had a big discussion on how stories are best when they are about things we know best and that we can add details to make it more interesting even if they are not true. However, I stressed the fact that we need to tell others that parts aren't true. Students were put into small groups to share stories. We call these "buzz groups" . To encourage good listening, only children with a talking stick can speak and the stick goes around so that everyone gets a turn. As we wrap up the stories a student from each group is asked to share the most interesting story that they heard from another student. The student that told the story comes to the front and eventually we make a blind vote on the best story of the day. Below you can see Andy, Lily, Amelia, Nolan, Kathryn and Claire after they each shared their stories. On this day Claire's story won. I then model how to illustrate and write her story as she dictates it to me. In the upcoming months your child will return to his/her seat to "write" his/her story.
In word study this week we worked with the sight word see. We practiced writing it on white boards and made a book with the word see. Children found fall words from charts put out on their tables to use in their books. Your child should begin recognizing "see" in text. Over the past weeks we have also worked on "the", "my" and "I". We use our bodies to make motions to help us learn these. Ask your child to spell any of these words and see if they remember motions to go along. For example we spell t-h-e on our arms touching our shoulder, elbow and wrist with one letter. Your child should also be able to show you our tricks for the sh sound and th...for t-h we put out our index finger for t and the next for h and then make our thumb "magically" pop up because together t-h makes th sound as in thumb. These are the types of things we do that will hopefully give meaning to some of our abstract lessons. We repeat these often as repetition with young children is a must. We also had a lesson on hearing words in sentences. On a pocket chart I wrote sentences about things we do in kindergarten. After reading these and having children come up and read them they went back to tables for independent practice. Each child was given a cut up sentence (one of those from the pocket chart) and s/he had to rebuild the sentence. It was glued in order and illustrated with a picture to match. This was difficult for some as they struggled to match their sentence with one of the four from the chart. Posted is Addison's independent page "We sing songs in kindergarten".
We also had an updated "Good morning" poem for October. These poems are set up to give children patterned text with only the last word changing. Students practice tracking words with this familiar text. Allison and Sophia are matching pictures to the familiar sentences by looking at the first letter of the last word in the sentence.
Rhyming continues to be part of our weekly word study as well. Here is a lesson we used a fun Raffi song, "Down by the bay" to teach.
The highlight of our week was our Wednesdays' fire prevention theme day! We read numerous books teaching us about fire fighters and fire safety. Our big book "Fire Fire said Mrs. McGuire gave us many laughs. It's a book written by Bill Martin Jr. whom the students recognized as the author of Brown Bear and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom; such smarties we have:)Students gave reasons they might want to be a fire fighter and we made fire trucks. During free choice many of the children pretended to be firefighters and there were plenty of volunteers wanting to scream FIRE! At the end of the day we attended an assembly in the cafeteria put on by White Lake Firefighters. Throughout the presentation they took participants from the audience. Lily got to hold a mask, while Andy and Merrick role played the stop, drop and roll technique. Finally, we went outside to see the firetrucks. Fun was had by all.
Just a few extra notes for you...
You'll see that your child is writing a given number near his/her name on most papers. This is done to help volunteers place papers into the correct folders.
As you look over papers being sent home please take time to share your thoughts regarding the work. Always be sure to give praise first for things that are completed and/or done well. If there are notes on the papers please explain these. This one on one time will be beneficial for your child's progress. First, it shows how you set school work as a priority and second it gives attention to specifics of progress or needed improvement.
I am going to attempt to begin work stations this week (Tues.- Thurs.) For the first week I will work with children to set expectations and create a busy, but working environment. Beginning the next week (Oct. 17th) parent volunteers signed up for work stations are invited to join us to help with work stations while I take time to teach with small groups.
Thank you to our play dough makers...Madelyn and her mom made it last week while Kaitlyn and her mom are making it for next week. This is certainly a favorite activity in our room.
Our Fun Run will take place this Friday. This began a few years ago and replaces the many small catalog sales, pizza or cookie dough sales etc. that we once had as fundraisers. This is a one time donation for most families and/or students are asked to get pledges from family/friends for their walk. Our school budget for approximately 500 students is very small and these funds help Dublin in so many ways. Our school is known for the many extra activities we provide for our students, but these could not be possible without fundraising. In fact, within the next few weeks classrooms will be visited by Science Alive, a group that brings exotic animals to the children. It's a fascinating experience for all! We will begin our run with light exercises, then we'll run around the track and finally have a snack and water before returning to class. Students have a great time out there and are encouraged to run/jog to exercise bodies. Our time slot is from 9:50-10:40 A.M. You're welcome to come run with us or cheer us on.
*October 14th - Dublin's 3rd annual Fun Run
*November 8th- Teacher Professional Development day, no school
*November 17th - No school, parent/teacher conferences
This is great! Thanks, Mrs. Lablanc:) It's a large group, but they're all smiling and it looks like a great learning experience for all of them! Thanks so much for all that you do each day!
ReplyDeleteMrs. LaBlanc, just wanted to say that you certainly have your hands full! I really don't know how you do it ALL! (and do it well!!) God really does make certain people to be teachers. The time and energy that you put in during and after school hours is truly to be admired. We as parents are so blessed to have a teacher who really cares about our little ones. I am in there almost everyday and it is truly amazing how much I can see that the kids have already learned and advanced. What you are doing is working, so all of your efforts are taking shape.
ReplyDeleteTHANK GOD FOR TEACHERS!!