Science Update
This week, we designed a fair test to see which foods snails preferred to eat. We came up with a big list of items that we think snails eat (grass, vegetables, fruits, dirt, beans, moss, etc). From that list, we picked 4 items that we were going to test. The goal of this lesson is to get kids thinking about how to conduct a fair test (only 1 variable is changing at a time). We talked about where the food and the snail need to be placed in order for the test to be fair, how many times we were going to test the snail, and how we knew when the snail was making one of the food choices. We collected individual data from the snail we tested at our table and then looked at our compiled whole class data to see if there were any trends. Don't forget to ask your kindergartner what the snails liked to eat!
Here are the two ways we thought to set-up the fair test so the snail would have fair chance of choosing any of the foods. One suggestion was to line up all the foods in front of the snail and the other was to place the foods in a circle around the snail. We then made a prediction about which food we thought the snail would eat.
Our reading SUPERPOWERS!
As readers we use these superpowers to help us READ books. The superpowers can sometimes feel like magic for emergent readers. They help focus readers on really looking at the words and pictures in books without making it so difficult that they shut down. We are also learning some tricky digraphs that seem to pop up in so many words! We are practicing reading and writing these sounds. |
Book Walk:
Whenever we get new books, we do a book walk to study the pictures and the words. We think about what is happening in the story just from the pictures!
Pattern:
When we pointed to the words on the page, did we notice a pattern in the words? Did it keep saying the same words on each page? If so, practice the pattern or ask for a little help so that you can read the rest of the book on your own! It is okay to help readers read that first page in their pattern book. These are typically sight words that can't be stretched out using conventional phonics anyway. Every time the say and point to the sight word on the rest of the pages, the more they are recognizing that word and memorizing it.
Pointing:
We point under each word on the page and make sure the number of words we say matches the number of words on the page. Are we always able to read all the words on the page, not always. We can point to the words and see which words we do know. Are there any words from our sight word chant?
Matching:
Are you reading too fast? Are you actually matching the words you say to the words you are pointing to? S...l....o....w down
Sight words:
Practicing and knowing sight words in a snap really helps with our reading! Using the sight word chant, playing matching games, and going on word hunts all help you learn these words
Sounding it out:
Make the sounds that go with the letters c-a-t and then blend them together to read the word.
Re-reading:
If you get to something that doesn't make sense or doesn't sound right, go back and re-read the sentence to see if you can find out any clues to help you figure out that tricky word
Think:
We are always thinking and making connections while we read. What other book does this remind me of? have I don't the same things as this character in the book? Making connections help us make sense of what we read.
Whenever we get new books, we do a book walk to study the pictures and the words. We think about what is happening in the story just from the pictures!
Pattern:
When we pointed to the words on the page, did we notice a pattern in the words? Did it keep saying the same words on each page? If so, practice the pattern or ask for a little help so that you can read the rest of the book on your own! It is okay to help readers read that first page in their pattern book. These are typically sight words that can't be stretched out using conventional phonics anyway. Every time the say and point to the sight word on the rest of the pages, the more they are recognizing that word and memorizing it.
Pointing:
We point under each word on the page and make sure the number of words we say matches the number of words on the page. Are we always able to read all the words on the page, not always. We can point to the words and see which words we do know. Are there any words from our sight word chant?
Matching:
Are you reading too fast? Are you actually matching the words you say to the words you are pointing to? S...l....o....w down
Sight words:
Practicing and knowing sight words in a snap really helps with our reading! Using the sight word chant, playing matching games, and going on word hunts all help you learn these words
Sounding it out:
Make the sounds that go with the letters c-a-t and then blend them together to read the word.
Re-reading:
If you get to something that doesn't make sense or doesn't sound right, go back and re-read the sentence to see if you can find out any clues to help you figure out that tricky word
Think:
We are always thinking and making connections while we read. What other book does this remind me of? have I don't the same things as this character in the book? Making connections help us make sense of what we read.
Exploring numbers to 100 through counting collections
Counting, one to one correspondence, and place value are important skills students need to learn in kindergarten. Students get practice with these skills while counting collections of things. Differentiation occurs as some kids count smaller collections and others are ready to move onto larger collections. Explaining your thinking is also really important! During counting collections, we have students record what strategy they used when counting and then explain it to the class. | |
As a class, we have discussed ones, tens, and hundreds by seeing how groups of ten influence these numbers. With ones, this looks like 1-9 being single digits and 10 being our first 2-digit number that needs a new spot, the tens column. Next comes the hundredths place! When we have 10 groups of ten, we need a new spot for that 3rd number. The pattern continues as such. Kids can get stuck with this idea in many different areas; from knowing what the 1 means in the number 14 to writing a number like 451 and and understanding what that means.
Learning place value in kindergarten through counting is leading kids through a sequence of understanding that leads to multi-digit addition, subtraction, ect.
Learning place value in kindergarten through counting is leading kids through a sequence of understanding that leads to multi-digit addition, subtraction, ect.
The Groove Experience!
On Thursday, our whole school got a slice of "The Groove Experience." It is a creative dance approach that will get you up on your feet, moving to music, while inspiring self-expression, community and nurturing a healthy body and mind. Benefits include enhancing physical literacy, self-responsibility, mindfulness, peace, joy, and respect. It is a wonderful fit for our core teachings at QAE…and the best part....when you Groove, "You Can't Get it Wrong!"
Thanks to our QAE Specialist Ms. Veleber and Ms. Arzani for bringing this experience to all of our kids.
Thanks to our QAE Specialist Ms. Veleber and Ms. Arzani for bringing this experience to all of our kids.