Another Terrific Week of Kindergarten!

On Monday, the children helped choose a pattern for our calendar by voting for their favorite one (there were 4 choices). The pattern that got the most votes was an AABB pattern (ladybug, ladybug, spider, spider). We also began keeping track of the weather in Our Month in School Chart. We will be using this information to create a graph too. We've noticed that we've had a lot of rainy days in October! We will continue keeping track of how many days we've been in school using the links and the hundred's pocket chart. So far, we've been in school for 27 days!


Also in Math, the children have continued to explore the math manipulatives. They also helped create quilt squares using triangle pieces in two different colors. On Friday, they helped assemble the quilt. Then, we completed another mathematician dyad by sharing what we noticed about our quilt with a partner. The children have also continued working very hard at forming their numbers correctly in their Number Books.


In Fundations, the children were introduced to the letters m and n. The children also practiced re-calling and re-telling a story that I've shared with them that involves Echo searching for food in the forest. Below you'll find the words that the children came up with that began with each of our new letters.






During Writer's Workshop, the children have continued telling stories through pictures. Even some writer's have begun writing beginning sounds of words with their stories! I showed the children how they can label themselves in their pictures by writing the word me (our first popcorn word) above the person that resembles them in their story. We also practiced spelling this word using our body and added it to our Word Wall. See if your child can spell this word.

During theme this week, the children were asked to taste three different apples: Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Macintosh. After, we created a graph showing what our favorite apple was during our taste test. Then, the children had to transfer the data onto their own graphing sheet. This graphing sheet will be sent home this coming week in your child's Friday folder. Ask your child what apple was liked the most.

Also during this week, we have been observing an apple slice and what happens to it when it's left out. We drew a picture of the apple slice each day. By the end of the week, the apple was brown, wrinkly, and felt like a piece of rubber.




After reading the book The Apple Pie Tree, the children completed an art project that had them illustrating the seasons of an apple tree. First, they had to draw the tree and it's branches. Then, they glued pink tissue paper (blossoms) on their spring tree, green tissue paper (green apples) for their summer tree, and then red tissue paper (red apples)for their fall tree.

Another fun art project the children completed this week was tearing construction paper to cover a template of an eaten apple. This was a great fine motor activity! Both art projects are hanging beautifully in our classroom.


On Friday, we conducted an experiment that had us making predictions. I had 3 different apples: one big red apple, one small red apple, and a green apple. We had to predict how many seeds were in each apple. Then, I sliced each apple and we counted how many seeds there were. During this activity, the children had to record their predictions and the actual number of seeds on their data sheet. We found that the green apple had the most seeds. After, they had to draw the inside of the big red apple. Ask your child what shape was inside the apple.



Mrs. Tatlock came into our classroom again this week. She brought her friend Pumsy (a puppet) to help her introduce mud mind, sparkle mind, and clear mind. See if your child can give you examples of how a person might feel in each of the 3 minds. After the children were introduced to these, Mrs. Tatlock showed them pictures of people. The children had to guess if the people were in mud, sparkle, or clear mind. Next week will be the children's last guidance class with Mrs. Tatlock before she begins friendship groups.

On Thursday, we had a terrific assembly put on by Hannafords titled FOODPLAY. The children were fully engaged during this performance as it was very funny! This assembly was all about eating healthy foods and staying active. The talked about Whoa Foods (processed food, soda, junk food) and Go Foods (fruits, vegetables, cheese, whole grains).
The performers talked a lot about how Whoa Foods make your body feel and what it can do on the inside of your body (cavities in your teeth, clogging your arteries, etc). We also learned that in a can of soda there is 10 teaspoons of sugar! The performers encouraged us to eat breakfast every day, eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, and get one hour of physical exercise daily. If you would like more information about this wonderful program, please visit the FOODPLAY's website.