Getting Prepared for Winter

 

The squirrels and other animals are getting prepared for the coming of winter.  This is a great time for parents to assist their children to do the same regarding dressing for these conditions.

Getting dressed on time in the morning can be a challenge for many of us, but it is particularly difficult for young children who have to contend with buttons, zippers, and snaps when their fine motor skills are still developing.

As a parent, you might want to consider shoes and boots with Velcro fasteners (zippers tend to get stuck when they have snow on them) as well as other clothing items that children can manage more easily as these skills are developing (e.g., mittens instead of gloves, neck warmer instead of a scarf, boots and coats without liners, shorter coats without double zippers).

Before winter arrives, have your child practice putting on and taking off his/her winter boots, snow pants, hat, scarf, etc. independently so that on the first day of snow your child will not become frustrated in dealing with the many items of winter clothing. Also, please label ALL of your child's winter clothing and boots with his/her name ahead of time. Often on the first day of snow, many students do not recognize their own winter clothing and it can be quite difficult to decide which pair of blue, black or pink snow pants, boots, mittens or hat belong to each child. Especially if more than one child has the same or similar articles of clothing.

Getting dressed on time in the morning can be a challenge for many of us, but it is particularly difficult for young children who have to contend with buttons, zippers, and snaps when their fine motor skills are still developing.

As a parent, you might want to consider shoes and boots with Velcro fasteners (zippers tend to get stuck when they have snow on them) as well as other clothing items that children can manage more easily as these skills are developing (e.g., mittens instead of gloves, neck warmer instead of a scarf, boots and coats without liners, shorter coats without double zippers). To help your child when he/she is going to the washroom at school, please provide pants and skirts that are easy for your child to fasten and unfasten.

Before winter arrives, have your child practice putting on and taking off his/her winter boots, snow pants, hat, scarf, etc. independently so that on the first day of snow your child will not become frustrated in dealing with the many items of winter clothing. Also, please label ALL of your child's winter clothing and boots with his/her name ahead of time. Often on the first day of snow, many students do not recognize their own winter clothing and it can be quite difficult to decide which pair of blue, black or pink snow pants, boots, mittens or hat belong to each child. Especially if more than one child has the same or similar articles of clothing.

The order for the children to learn to put on their winter clothing is:

first - snowpants      second-  boots         third - coat         fourth - neck warmer

fifth  - zip/button up coat         sixth - hat        last - mittens

                                          

 

 

                                          





By Heart Words

 

 

In many of the grades children use word wall words. These are the most frequent words the children will come across when they are reading or writing. Many of these words can't be sounded out, they must be memorized. In Kindergarten I have decided to call them the By Heart Words  because I want the children to know these words by heart.

The words that we have on our board at the moment are:  am    at    I      the. 

Yesterday both the morning and afternoon group children gave me a few sentences to write which I wrote on chart paper. Some of the sentences were the following:

I am at the park.

I am at the beach.

I am outside.

I am at the studio.

I am at the lake.

I am at the river.

 

Today some of the afternoon children took their sentence strip and printed the sentence onto a paper and drew a picture of themselves to make the sentence.  Mainly the SK children chose this activity. The morning children will have an opportunity to do the same thing on Thursday. This is the beginning of their story writing, but they can successfully read the sentence because they orally gave the sentence first and most of the words are By Heart Words, which we practise daily.

 

The children can easily access the By Heart Words because they are placed on Velcro which they can pull off and return after copying the word in their writing.

A big thank you to Mrs. Rogers for setting up the By Heart Word board for me yesterday when she volunteered in the classroom!



PATTERNING IN MATH

 

 

The first part of the lesson will be to find out where the children can find patterns in the classroom. We will search the room to find some patterns. It may be on a shirt, or on someones socks.

Next I want them to show me what they know about patterns so I will ask for a few volunteers to come to the easel and draw a pattern on the chart paper. This is always difficult with Kindergarten children because they all want a turn. In order to solve this problem I tell the children they can come and make a pattern on the chart when ever they wish and put their name under the pattern.

 

Day 2 Lesson    On the chart I will have the following on the chart and they will tell me what goes next.

 

              

 Then we move into sound patterns...clap, pat, clap, pat. I won't say a whole lot, I just do the patterns and let the kids join in. Then I let them make up their own sound patterns. I will ask the children how they know what comes next. I want them to come to the conclusion that the patterns repeat--over and over again. Like everything else math-related, I do not directly tell them. I let them figure it out on their own--with a little pushing in the right direction from me. Then I ask, "Does anybody know what that's called--when something does something over and over again?" They might say repeating pattern--they might not. If they don't, I tell them.

At the same time the Kindergarten children will continue to have daily practise with subitizing and many numeration activities.

 

 

 





Predicting

 

When I read aloud a story to the children this week, we will be working on the reading strategy "Predicting". This is where I want the children to listen to the story and use what they have heard to predict what may happen next in the story. This is a comprehension strategy that adults use all the time when we watch movies, read a book, or hear someone tell us a story. It is a way of focusing our attention and motivating us to want to hear or read more. Children benefit from predicting in the same way. Therefore, it is important that they be guided to not only predict what will happen, but to also confirm their predictions.

To predict, readers tell what they think will happen in the story. To confirm, readers find out if their predictions were true, partially true, or way off. Using this strategy gives readers the chance to make connections to the text, think ahead, and become more engaged. In Kindergarten the children make predictions and confirm their predictions by orally expressing their predictions and sometimes through their pictures.

Parents can help with this strategy at home by using the following questions when reading to your child at home:

 

What do you think will happen next?  

What clues are you using to make your prediction?

What kinds of clues did you use? (pictures, words, or background knowledge)

 

Some of the books the children will hear are: "There is a Nightmare in my Closet!",

 "There is Something in the Attic" and "There is an Alligator Under My Bed". I am sure many of the children will have some connections with these books.





Math Subitizing

 

 

Each morning or afternoon the Kindergarten children are working on subitizing. Subitizing is a Mathematical Strategy where one instantly recognizes a quantity without counting. For example, if I roll the pair of dice shown here, I instantly recognize that the 4 and 1 without counting.

 

 

In the kindergarten classroom, I flash cards with that include random dot patterns. The children shout out the number represented by the dots on each card or paper plate. The next challenge will be for the children to volunteer HOW they saw each number. Here's what I mean. If the dot plate or dot card had 3 of one colour and 3 of another, the children can explain I saw 3 red and 3 blue that makes 6, or 2 on top 2 in the middle, and 2 on the bottom. This way the children are not only subitizing, they are also explaining their thinking.

 

Some of the children are beginning to subitize, while others are still counting the dots. With practise all the children will be able do this mathematical skill. This skill assists the children with adding and especially reinforces the use of the "counting on" strategy. Parents can help with this skill at home by playing board games that require two dice. The children will be subitizing, practising their mathematical skills and having fun with their family all at the same time.

Taking the Children's Lead

 

One day last week, one of the children noticed I was eating a green apple. They asked me what it tasted like because she had never had one before. Unable to describe the taste, other than to say it was delicious, and obviously I did not want to give them something that I had been biting into. But this did lead me to decide to offer the students an apple tasting experience. I plan on having red, yellow, and green apple slices for them to taste. Then each child can explain which one they enjoyed the most and I can display this is a graph. This opportunity will automatically lead us to discuss the terms more and less and how we know. Look at the Mathematics we are doing in Kindergarten and the understanding and learning that will be taking place.

 

One day next week, I think it will be great for us to make applesauce in the Crock pot. Lots of math happening there with measuring and they will be able to see what happens to the apples. Unfortunately it will not be cooked in time to enjoy but we can always have it the next day. This will allow the students to orally communicate their likeness for applesauce or apples.



Math Problem Solving with Patterns

 

Children love patterns because they are super fun!  What they don't know is that they are an essential building block in their understanding about numbers. What starts out in Kindergarten as making pretty designs with pattern blocks or other items eventually leads to skip counting, repeated addition (and therefore multiplication and division), algebraic reasoning, and beyond! So it's important that children are provided with a solid foundation.

 

Last week I examined what the students understood about patterns by asking them to make a pattern on the feathers of a turkey. Most of the SK students successfully created a simple pattern.

 

 

The learning goal is for the students to recognize patterns in many different context. I want them to understand that red...red...green is the same as orange... orange...blue and the same as big... big... little.

 

We will be working in a small group and create the pattern with a variety of objects. This will not be a paper and pencil task, this will be an opportunity for the students to create and orally communicate their learning and understanding.

 

The first inquiry will be for the students to show and explain about the many different ways they can make the same pattern? The challenge will be for them to explain how they know it is the same pattern but a different way.