Kindergarten Writing

 

I am thrilled with the writing that has been happening in the Kindergarten classroom. There are many JK children who eagerly demonstrate a desire to write almost every day, which is very exciting to me. The JK children are usually writing about one sentence, when I assist them. What happens is the children make a detailed illustration of their story first. Then they tell me their sentence and I count for them the number of words they have in the sentence. Then I stretch out the sounds of the word for the children and they write the letters to match the sounds. The only words I insist they spell correctly are the By Heart Words, otherwise the words are spelled phonetically. Research shows that if children think they have to spell every word correctly they will not but quality into the writing and will not have to desire to write. If your child wishes to write at home, just stretch out the sounds for them. There are some SK's who are beginning to write and they are independently stretching out the sounds and writing the letters to match the sounds. These children are definitely getting ready for grade one.

 





Language

 

The jolly phonic sound for this week is the "m" sound. Some words we will focus on are:  map, mat, man, men, met, mist, miss, mop, mud, mom, mug, much, mad. I have to thank many of the parents for assisting your child with the sounds at home. It is very evident that you have been working hard with your child because most of the SK children know most of the sounds and many of the JK children are very aware of the sounds. Both groups experience some difficulty with the short vowel sound, especially the short "e" and "i" sounds. But with continued practise they will master these sounds too.

 

The By Heart Word for this week is the word "they", mostly because this word seems to be appearing in many of the books for the SK children and also the children often require this word for their writing. Since many of the JK and SK children love to get the word from the By Heart Wall to help them when writing, I thought it may as well become one of the words.

 

This week we will continue with reading nonfiction text to learn and attempt to answer some of the children's wonderings about giraffes.

 

 



 

Kindergarten End of the Year Trip

 

I have booked the end of the year trip for the Kindergarten children. Both the morning and afternoon children will be going together. There is no limit on the number of volunteers. The cost for the children is $6.00 per child and $2.00 for volunteers.

 

The date of the trip is Tuesday, June 18th and we will be leaving the school at 9:00 a.m and then returning back to the school at approximately 2:30. The children will need a snack and a lunch for the trip. The place we will be going is to Heartland Forest in Niagara Falls.

 

The following are some of the details regarding the trip. We will be breaking into 4 groups and a variety of stations to rotate through.

 

1. Guided forest hike with a staff member from Heartland Forest and a stop at the pond to look at tadpoles.

 

2. Scavenger Hunt - instructions will be included this is school provided supervision.

 

3. Art station - school supervision

 

4. Mini putt   - school supervision

 

5. Playground - school supervision

 

6. Train ride - Heartland Forest staff and school supervision is also required.

 

 

The first week in June there will be a permission form and more details about the trip being sent home with your child. This will be a new experience for the Kindergarten children and Meadowvale School.

 

New I Wonder Topic

 

This week the children learned a variety of things about birds, such as they take about a day to make the nest, items used to make a nest, how the feathers help them, how long it takes for a baby bird before the egg hatches.

 

So the morning children had some new I wonder questions which were: How long can a zebra stand?

How long does a giraffe's tail get to be? Where do giraffe's live? How long do giraffe legs grow? How long does a giraffe's neck grow to be?

 

Due to all the questions about giraffe's it looks like I will be going to the library to find books about giraffe's so we can find some answers to their wondering's.

 

I am truly amazed how thoughtful many of their wondering's are becoming. 

Marble Painting

I wanted the children to have the experience of a different form of painting. So I saved two big used pizza boxes from pizza day and aired them out. Then I placed the child's white paper inside the pizza box. Next I used red, blue and yellow tempra paint and each child demonstrated which colour blob they wanted first, second and third. Finally one marble was placed inside each paint blob and the child was instructed to shake the box back and forth as much as they wanted. All the children loved the new experience and many of the teachers commented about the wonderful painted creations and asked how they were done. I have decided to include a few for everyone to admire. Today each child wrote about what their marble painting looked like to them.



Language

 

The jolly phonic sound for this week is the "r" sound. Some of the words include: rag, run, red, rat, rug, ram, rock, rot, ran, rim, rig, rad, ring, rang, rink, rip, rack and rub.

 

The By Heart word for this week is saw.

 

 

Over the next two weeks the children will be learning about rhyming words. This is difficult for some of the children. First they will be asked to identify some rhyming words, then they will be given a word and give a word that rhymes with it. The song "Down by the Bay" is an excellent introduction to rhyming. For example, Did you ever see a bear, combing his hair?

 

This week I plan to read a variety of nonfiction books about birds and robins in order to see how many of our "I wonder" questions we can find answers to. The questions and answers will eventually be posted on chart paper for everyone to see.

 



Volunteer Lunch

 

Just a reminder to all parents who have volunteered either in the Kindergarten classroom or the school as a whole. Thursday, April 25 at 12:50, there is a luncheon planned as a special thank you for all volunteers. This is the schools way to thank you for everything you have done for the classroom, the teacher, the children and the school as a whole. We want you to know all the time you have dedicated to assisting our school is greatly appreciated! If you have not sent in your notice please do so Monday morning.

I want to take this time to sincerely thank all the parents who have volunteered in the Kindergarten class. All the children and myself have greatly benefited from the time you have dedicated to our classroom!

Mathematics

 

 

I am amazed how the children independently take what they are learning at school and implement it into their play situations either at home or at school.  Last week there were several children who independently took a white board and marker, drew a line down the middle and went around to survey the children on their own made up survey. Some of the surveys were: Do you like trees or flowers best? Do you like chocolate or vanilla ice cream? Do you like to listen to songs or listen to stories? Do you like gym or play? I was able to see first hand how some of the Kindergarten children successfully reinforced their mathematical learning.

 

 

This coming week the children will be introduced to "capacity" as a form of measurement. In the sand the children will be offered a variety of containers and use Dixie cups to measure which has the largest capacity and how they know. The goal is for the children to be able to reason their answer and to orally explain their mathematical thinking. They will be offered with additional questions regarding capacity.

 

 

As a large group the children will be learning about part-part-whole. An example of this is using 6 teddy bears. I always have 6 teddy bears, some of them are outside playing and some are hiding in their home. If there are 3 teddy bears outside playing, how many teddy bears are there in the home. This is a very important mathematical skill for the children to learn about number. Each day for the next two or three weeks, the children will be offered with opportunities with part-part-whole mathematical thinking. 

Real World Connection

I placed a small adding machine (that no longer works) in the bakery. The adding machine is small enough for the children to hold in their hand.

I have a cute story I want to share with everyone. The other day in the bakery one of the SK girls was taking an order from a customer. The SK read over what the customer had ordered and then told her what the total of her order would cost. The SK girl handed the adding machine to the customer and asked her if she needed the debit machine. This is a great example of taking what she knew about the real world and implementing it into her play in a successful manner.

I Wonder...





I love hearing stories where the children are taking what they have learned at school and reinforcing it at home. One of the JK parents wrote me a note to explain they have a robin's next at their house. Here are some of his wonderings about the birds and their nests:

How old do birds get?

How long do birds live?

Is this the same bird as last year?

How long does it take a bird to build a nest and lay an egg?

When I presented these wonderings to the class, many of the children exclaimed "those are good wonderings". Perhaps this should be our focus for next week. We will become researchers to find the answers and clues to solve these "wonderings".

The young children are always amazing me with their curiosity and learning!

New Blocks

The children love building various structures with  wooden blocks. The bigger the blocks are, the more complex the structures become. I asked the school if there was any extra money if the Kindergarten class would be able to have some bigger wooden

 building blocks. They are very expensive, but the Kindergarten Class received the new blocks on Friday afternoon. I spent the afternoon setting them up on the shelf in a neat and organized manner. I traced various coloured construction paper shapes to match the blocks in order to assist the children to put them away in a neat and organized manner. The children are loving the new blocks, boys and girls alike. I have included a picture to show their creative structure.

Language

 

As a large group we completed a chart of things we see in Spring. One of the Kindergarten children explained to the group, he knew it was spring because his mommy told him it was. This week we will complete a chart on things we hear in Spring.

 

The By Heart word for this week is "this". Thank you for practising the By Heart words with your child. When the children are writing with me, they tell me that is a By Heart word and go to the board and get the word to assist with their spelling.

 

 

The children will listen to a story titled Picture a Tree. After listening we will talk about what they see when they picture a tree. Then the children will have an opportunity this week to create a scene from the story using plasticine on a paper plate.

 

 

The Jolly Phonic sound for this week is "h" sound. I try to find as many three or four letter words with the sound as possible. Some of the words are:  he, has, had, hat, hand, hen, hall, hip, hill, hop, hog, hit, him, hid, hut, hint, his and hot.

 

 

During teacher read aloud the children will continue to share what the problem was in the story and how the problem was solved. Before finding out the author's solution to the problem, the children will be asked to share their ideas for a solution to the problem.

New Idea

 

I want to introduce the children to a new idea, which is an "I wonder..." board. I plan to have chart paper on the bulletin board and have sticky notes and pencils near the chart paper. The children will write an "I wonder" about anything they actually wonder about. Young children are very curious and often ask many questions. I want to celebrate their questions. On Friday, I will choose one of the "I wonder" questions and read it to the class. As a group we will brainstorm ideas that we think we know about the question and examine places where we can find the answers. This will offer the children ways to research a variety of topics and may even lead to more "I wonder" questions. If your child asks an "I wonder" question at home, jot it down and send it in. It may be something that many of the children are curious about. Some questions will be worth examining and some not as much, because perhaps the answer if very obvious. 

Mathematics

 

In math we will be wrapping up this week on surveys and learning about tally marks. For this week the children will be conducting the following surveys:

 

Do you like rain puddles or rainbows?

 

 

Do you like cheese popcorn or butter popcorn?

 

 

Do you like small marshmallows or big marshmallows?

 

 

Do you like the beehive or the slide?

 

 

Do you like to sing songs or dance songs?

 

Tally marks are very difficult for the children to understand. However, the more they use tally marks the more familiar the children will become with them. Tally marks are very important in grade 1, so being introduced to them in Kindergarten will be beneficial, especially to the SK children.

Spring Lamb Trip

 

Thank you to the brave parent volunteers who ventured in the rain with the Kindergarten children to the Spring Lamb field trip. Other than freezing toes, damp body and cold hands, the trip was a fabulous learning experience. The children were motivated and were very engaged. Not one child complained about being chilly. A few little ones, fell asleep on the bus ride when returning back to school. But it was a wonderful learning experience for everyone.

Bakery

 

Thank you to those who donated measuring spoons and measuring cups for the bakery. I picked up pot holders, wooden spoons, whisk, and some other things for the centre. The morning children have decided the centre will be called The Tasty Bakery and the afternoon children have voted on The Yummy Bakery. The two signs have been made and one child made a picture of a wonderful cupcake. I have little brown bags, and the play dough is made.

 

Hopefully I will be able to add some pictures of the bakery real soon. I never include pictures of the children on the blog just so everyone is aware of that.

 

The children will be created other items to sell at the bakery and the have decided what to sell and will have opportunities to make a list of what they will sell and the price of each item. There will be a cash register and money and receipts for the customers.

 

If anyone has a child cookbook they would loan us for the centre that would be wonderful. At this centre the children will sign up to participate. There will be two bakers and one person on the counter. The afternoon children decided three children in the centre will be enough this time. When the children make the decision it offers them opportunities to self regulate the centre. 

Pictures of Kindergarten Writing Samples

 

 

In the area of writing, I attempt to meet with two or three children a day to assist them in the area of writing. When the grocery store was in action many of the children wrote lists of groceries they wanted to buy. The children in the construction area sometimes draw a plan of what they want to build for the day. Other children choose to write a story or label a picture. There is also make a book centre and make a card centre. In the make a card centre, the children have topics they can make a card about, I Miss You, To My Brother, To My Sister, and Hope You Feel Better. Each child created a big envelope for their writing samples to go into and each sample is date stamped. At the end of the year, or when the envelope is full they will bring their writing samples home for you to view. I have included some samples of the children's writing.

 



Make a Plan

 

 

 

 Writing Envelopes

 

 

 

  

Make a List Make a Book

 

 

 

Label a Picture    Make a Story

 

Language

 

In language this week the jolly phonic sound is short "e" sound. During the morning message, the JK children have an opportunity to come to the chart and circle the vowels in the word and the SK have an opportunity to come to the front, stretch the sounds together and state the word. Some of the words they will find on the message chart for this sound are:

 

 

hen, ten, end, red, pet, set, men, elf, den, fed, met, pen, leg, jet, wet, hem, yet, yes, vest, well, shed, neck, deck.

 

 

 

The By Heart Word is fun and was. Many of the children are able to sound out the word fun, but because it appears many times in their reading and writing I thought we should have it on the By Heart Chart. 

Mathematics

 

The children have shown a very keen interest in conducting surveys. Therefore, I have thought of some other categories for them to survey their peers. The following are some of the ideas:

 

Monday    Do you like the rain or the snow?

 

 

Tuesday   Do you like strawberries or bananas best?

 

Wednesday   Do you like morning or night the best?

 

Thursday      Do you like carrots or celery?

 

The children will also have a bag with 2 different category items in the bag. They will select one item at a time and place it on a simple graph (with only two columns). Then they will count up the items on the graph and tell me which has more and which has less. In order to challenge the children, I will ask them to explain how they know the one category has more.

 

The children will play a simple dice game, where they roll the dice and make that many dots on a piece of paper with bingo dappers. Then they roll the dice again and make that many dots with a different colour or bingo dapper. Fun Mathematics in Kindergarten!



Dramatic Play Centre

The grocery store is not as popular as it was a few days ago. Therefore, I surveyed the children for ideas for the dramatic play centre. Here are some of their ideas:

castle

bakery

zoo

animal kingdom

restuarant

ninja house

Once again there was a vote and the winner for this time is to have the dramatic play centre be a bakery.

At this time I am requesting some of the following items:

pot holders

oven mitts

wooden spoons

measuring cups and measuring spoons

flour sifter

whisks

rolling pins

clear packaging that muffins, cookies, etc comes in from the bakery

I have one little chef hat and two aprons. I want to try to make a few more chef hats but they will be from paper, rather than cloth/material.

another else you feel will work well

I plan on getting a box for the children to paint and decorate to become a microwave and then one for an oven. The children will make a sign for the bakery and we will use playdough. I plan on also trying have some felt pieces that the children can use to pretend they are cookies, cakes, etc. We do have a cash register and a long time ago I bought a cookie/lemonade stand so I think we will use it as a counter.

The children become very excited when the dramatic play centre changes from one thing to another. The new centre will gradually be offered at the beginning of next week.

Art Gallery

 

Just a reminder, both the morning and afternoon kindergarten children will be working with pastels on Thursday, April 4th when the Art Gallery is in the Kindergarten Classroom. The children will be learning from an expert on how to complete a portrait of themselves through step by step instruction. This is a wonderful experience for the children and I am always truly amazed at how the finished product. The finished product will be hung in the hallway, outside of the classroom for all to see.

Language

 

 

The Jolly Phonic Sound for this week is:  c/k.   In the morning or afternoon message I will print a variety of simple words for the SK and some JK to stretch out the sounds, in order to figure out the word. The JK will have an opportunity to circle the vowel in the word. Some of these words are:  can, cap, cat, cut, cup, kin, cub, cot, king.

 

The By Heart Word for this week is "you".

 

 

During the Teacher Read Aloud this week the focus will be on character emotions. How did the character feel and giving the proof, either from the pictures or from the text in the story. The goal is for the children to be able to communicate their ideas. For example, I know that (character's name) was feeling ... because I saw his face in the picture or the words .... told me. 

Mathematics

 

The children will continue to be offered games that will reinforce subitizing, counting and identification of numbers. At the same time, they will be offered opportunities to conduct surveys. Each day they will be offered a new suggestion, where they will survey some of the other children in order to determine their particular preferences. The following are some of the surveys for this week:

 

 

Tuesday     Did you collect less than 10 Easter

                 Eggs or more than 10 Easter Eggs?

 

 

Wednesday   Are you like the grouchy ladybug

                    or the friendly ladybug?

 

Thursday      Are you a JK or a SK?

 

Friday          Does your Mom drive a car or a

                    van?

Discovery Centre

 

There are a variety of nature items at the discovery centre. During this time the children have an opportunity to examine a variety of the materials through the use of magnifying glasses. The children are then encouraged to sketch what the material looks like and feels like. Then I scribed what they notice about the material. The goal is for the children to sketch what they examine, rather than drawing.

 

 

 

New Sensory Bin

 

Before Easter break I took a variety of paper, tissue paper, shiny paper, cardboard, corrugated paper, etc and cut the paper into a variety of sizes. Then I hid various number of objects amongst the variety of paper. The children will draw a card and try to find that many items. This particular centre will be ongoing for the next two weeks.