P is for Picnic

Our focus letter for the week was P, and you can't talk about the letter P without having a picnic, right? :) We had peaches and pineapple at our picnic. Unfortunately it was raining and we couldn't go outside, but we had fun inside!

Friday was pajama day, which just so happened to be the day we celebrated their good conduct by watching a movie and eating popcorn. It just doesn't get much better than watching a movie and eating popcorn in your pajamas! It took them almost 9 weeks to fill our marble jar. They worked hard to earn their party and definitely deserved it! We are already on our way to filling it up again!

A is for Apple

This week our focus letter was the letter A, which worked out perfectly since it was the week of Johnny Appleseed's birthday!

We got to taste red, green, and yellow apples to see which color we liked the best. We used tally marks and a bar graph to discuss which color apple most people liked and which color apple least people liked. Learning is always so much more fun when there is food involved! :)



If you can't tell by the expressions on their faces, this is when they tried the green apple. Ha!

       We made applesauce on Friday to end the week. They loved getting to help make it!

This is before I mashed it all up. Most of the class loved it! When they fill up our marble jar for good behavior we're going to have a party (it is ALMOST full!), and some of the kids asked if we could have applesauce at our party. Ha! If that is what they vote on we'll definitely have it. Afterall, they will have earned it AND it is healthy!

 

 

This week in math we've been learning about 1 and 2 more and 1 and 2 less, as well as different ways to make 5. These can be hard concepts for kids to grasp, so if an opportunity arises to discuss these concepts, please do! :) For example, I have 3 oreos and you only have 1. How many more oreos do I have? Using two different objects or colors can help students visualize different number combinations. For example, give your child 5 quarters. Tell them to shake the quarters and then drop the quarters. How many tails did you get? How many heads did you get? This can help them see different combinations to 5. We'll be working really hard on these skills in class! 

 

There are three triangles. There is one more square than there are triangles. We learned about vertices too.

 

                      There are five circles in the whole. Three are green and the other part is blue.

Each student had to roll a dice and then build a tower with that amount of cubes. They then had to compare their towers to determine who had more and who had less.

They worked as a team to create the alphabet without my help. Then two students at a time got to hop along the alphabet as everyone said the letter sound (/a/, /a/, /a/...) and danced.

I love how they love to learn! During snack the kids decided on their own to practice building the letter A with their pretzels. I was so proud of them! :)

 

 

 

What we've been up to...

                                        
                                        

M is for Milkshakes! To end our week, we made milkshakes in class. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to drink them outside while reading and discussing If You Give a Moose a Muffin. You should have seen their milk mustaches! :)



We have been focusing on numbers 0-5, but have been working with numbers up to 20. Here students are playing "More or Less." They use the spinner to determine if the winner will be the person with the biggest or smallest number. Students then count the dots on their card to see who has the most or least.

 Students pick a card and have to count out the correct number of bears to go in their dump truck. Whoever has the most in their truck wins!

Students use a spinner to see what number it lands on. They have to then find the number on their board. Whoever has 6 in a row wins!

Students have to use a tens frame to determine the number and find the correct number to match it.

We've been working on adding numbers. "Here is a tree with four apples." We drew 2 red apples and 2 yellow apples and then wrote an equation. We discussed other combinations to 4. We also discussed that there were 0 green apples.

 

We have started working on writing. We learned that being a writer is just "telling on paper." I told them a story about when I went hiking and illustrated a picture to tell my story. Students then got to write their own story. They loved getting to write! As I walked around the room and listened to their stories, I was impressed! They were able to explain their picture in detail. The more we practice writing, the better we will become! I encouraged them to write one sentence about their writing. They did a great job trying to sound out their words! Below are some examples of their stories.

 

 

T is for Teddy Bear! 

 

 

Our reading skill this week was classify and categorize. We were able to classify our teddy bears in different ways.
 



Our story for the week was Dig, Dig, Digging, so to go along with our theme we got to dig up our sight words!