Kindergarten MAP testing Dec. 4th, 5th, & 6th | Hour of Code: Dec 8th! |
Next week, the students will take their first MAP tests. The MAP test, which stands for Measures of Academic Progress, is a nationally administered adaptable assessment that measures student growth and achievement in Math and Reading. (For more info go to http://www.nwea.org.) Please try to have students as well rested and fed as much as possible. Because the test is adaptive (increases difficulty when the student answers correctly) it often can be challenging for students. I make sure to tell them ahead of time that there will be questions they do not know, and that that is ok! Our adult message to them about this testing is that we do not want them to worry about the test, but we do want them to try their hardest by focusing and taking their time. You can find an introduction and sample questions @ http://www.qaelibrary.org/map.html | We are participating in the hr of code on on Friday with a group of 4th and 5th grade buddies. It takes perseverance, patience, and a lot of thinking to code. Can't wait to see our kindergarteners in action! - If your student wants to do more at home, here is the link http://code.org/learn/beyond |
Getting ready to exhibit!
We have been working hard on our first PBL project of the year, "what's in my heart? what's in your heart?" Students have finished creating their book of art that showcases the people, places, things, worries, and hopes that live in their heart. Just going through that process of identifying the things in our own hearts has been beautiful to watch, but we aren't stopping there! Our next task is to figure out what is in other people's hearts? To help us spread the word and get people to answer our question, we are creating special rocks that we will be sending out into the world. Whoever finds these rocks will be able to go to the link printed on the back that showcases one special thing in our hearts and invites them to add one special thing that lives in their heart. Our classes are excited to watch this page grow and see in what ways we are the same and in what ways we are different from each other.
We will be ready to present our learning at our whole-school PBL exhibition next Thursday, Nov. 7th. The kindergarteners will be presenting from 5:30-6:00 in their classroom/hallway.
We will be ready to present our learning at our whole-school PBL exhibition next Thursday, Nov. 7th. The kindergarteners will be presenting from 5:30-6:00 in their classroom/hallway.
We are Readers!
Learning our letter sounds to strengthen our reading and writing muscles | Anchoring our reading with sight words! |
Every year we dive in and practice the alphabet (names, sounds, handwriting). This is review for some and new learning for others. Regardless, it is a great community activity where students are all learning it in the same way. The way we learn each letter is a big anchor to the rest of our learning and something we don't want them to miss. Students progress through the alphabet in a non-alphabetic order and learn each letter by seeing, saying, and writing each letter. We are intentionally teaching all three components to instruct proper letter formation right from the start! You may be noticing a lot of handwriting papers coming home! This is an important part of our instruction right now. I am first modeling proper formation, everyone practices on whiteboards, and then they are taking all they learned and applying it to pencil and paper. This extra practice will help them transfer proper letter formation into their writing during writing workshop. If you find your child is coming home with unfinished work or work where the letters do not stay in the lines it is okay. A lot of practice in short increments of time will help build these skills. To learn our letter sounds, we are using an anchor picture to help them remember. These anchor pictures are posted on our wall and are given to all students to keep in their writing folder. These pictures become really helpful when emerging readers are starting to stretch out words in books and in their writing. Below is a file of these alphabet pictures for you to keep at home while you are practicing reading and writing.
| As we are learning our letter-sounds to help us decode words, we also want to be practicing memorizing some basic words that show up a TON in our books. We call these word sight words, because we just need to know them right when we look at them. We are playing matching games with these words, hunting for them in our weekly poems, and practicing with flash cards. Below is a list of words that we will be working on for the entire year.
Emergent Reader Pattern BooksWe now have individual book bags that have leveled reading books that we will be looking at and sharing during our private and partner reading time. Most students have A and B books which are pattern books with words that highly correlate with the picture. After an adult has read the first few pages, the student should be able to recognize the pattern and read the rest. Students are practicing pointing to each word and using all the cues from the picture, what the book is about, and the first letter to help them figure out the new word in the pattern. Decodable BooksIn addition to pattern books, we also have decodable books that help students learn phonics skills and spelling patterns. These books are similar to the "BOB" books that you may know about. These books are being introduced to students in their small-group reading time and are getting sent home when students have finished reading them. These are also great books to practice at home if you see them coming home in orange folders.
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We are Writers!
Each week, we are diving into a new writing topic using a mentor text that is read to the class. For the last few weeks, we have been working on writing pages and pages to add to a book about "What I like About Me!" We were inspired by some 4th grade art in our hallway and the book, "I Love my hair." We generated a list of body parts that we like and what makes those parts special to us. - heads helps us smile - bodies help us run - arms help us move - Ears help us listen to music - Stomachs help us eat The goal with Kindergarten writers is to help them get their stories and ideas out of their heads and on paper the best they can using words and pictures! At this point in the year, quantity will lead to quality. If a child is hesitant to write the words, they may still need to work on their letter sounds, which is something you can help with at home. | |