This is How We Do It

So just how do we learn our letters and sounds?  After a lot of trial and error over the last seven years, I have found the current methods we use to be the most effective and FUN (which is what it's all about, really).  Everyday, the students get the new letters written on their hands.  For those who came to kindergarten already knowing the letters' sounds, I write CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words that have the new letters in them, instead. As we gather on the carpet upon arrival time, each is asked their "attendance question." I say one of the new letter's sounds, and the child holds up the hand with that letter. (This video of the PM class isn't all that interesting, but it does give you an idea of how this works).  Repetition is key when learning new things so we do this every morning, and on Friday mornings, the students tell me both new letter sounds while using their sign language. We do more with letter sounds and sign language on Fridays with Starfall.  But Monday-Thursday we begin everyday with letter chants as they follow the letters on Literacy Center.  

   We also check our Alphabet Mailbox everyday for items that begin with the new letter sounds.  This week we found marshmallows and nuts, a mug and a nest, a mop and a necklace and a magnifying glass and a net (not pictured).  We got to enjoy the marshmallows as a recess treat!  We usually end up adding the mailbox words to our letter anchor chart along with other words the students come up with.  These charts are posted in the room to remind the students of past letter sounds. 

 During center time, the students meet in their small groups to work more with the new letter sounds. We always begin with flashcards of the letters we've learned so far and they say the sounds.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, after we reread the book that was sent home the night before, we do a worksheet on the new letters.  They locate them in a mix-up of letters, and find words with that beginning sound.  We do some segmenting and writing words as well. The students who knew the letter sounds coming into kindergarten have a worksheet that challenges them to decode, segment, and write CVC words that have the new letters in them.  

    At the end of this week, we had a letter hunt.  The students went in pairs, one with a magnifying glass and the other with a clipboard and pencil, to find words that had the new letters all around the room. Half-way through the activity, they got to switch jobs. They worked wonderfully together as teams and recorded LOTS of words.  This will definitely become a Fun Friday staple.  Here's a video of the AM class hunting for M and N.



Of course we learn more besides letters and their sounds in kindergarten.  This week, the students learned what made something a living thing. We discussed the different categories of living things, and decided what was and wasn't a living thing. The students wrote about this in their journals, too.  We've also been learning about patterns in math.  On Fun Friday, they got to make necklaces using Apple Jacks cereal that showed an AB pattern. 

 I can't make a new post without telling about the centers we had this week.  We've been working on numbers up to 20 for the last 2 weeks.  Two or three times a week, we watch a music video on youtube that teaches how teen numbers are broken up into a group of ten with some 'ones' left over.  So in the Math Games center this week, the students played "Race You to 20." They played on an app called Candy Count in the Number Work center which works on sorting and determining more and less. The students strung letter beads onto string to make sight words in the Word Work center. And instead of listening to stories on tumblebooks.com like usual, they got to play on starfall in the computer center. There was another seasons floor puzzle this week, but this one was circular with the months listed on it.   

 In other news this week, two students (one from AM and PM) won an award for having and showing RESPECT at school.  Benjamin was here for the assembly and was recognized in front of the whole school. Lonnie received his later.  I am so proud of both of these boys!

 The students got to recite their first poem to a big kid class this week, too! Thank you for participating and encouraging your child with this assignment.  The winning student in the morning class recited his poem to 64 people!  Overall, nearly 300 people heard our Fall Poem and that's not counting the classrooms that heard it today. The kids enjoyed this activity and it really builds up their elocution (the skill of clear and expressive speech, distinct pronunciation and articulation) and will carry over into fluency in reading. I have videos of both the AM and PM class reciting their poems today.

AM Poem Performance
PM Poem Performance

 And now for some fun photos.  Some Brown Day silliness and School Picture Day. By the way - the lunchroom served SPAGHETTI that day and it was BEFORE we took our pictures.  Our cafeteria staff was quick on their feet and handed out some of their plastic aprons, thank goodness!  Not a stain in sight!
  Have a great weekend and wear PINK on Monday!




Lonnie is still rockin' the plastic apron here.

Brown Day Twinkies

Getting ready to "Say Cheese!"

We See Fall

It's my second favorite week of the year - Fall Week! (The 5 Senses of Christmas week will always be my absolute favorite). We read lots of non-fiction books about the upcoming season during our read alouds this week.  We learned our first poem, "We See Fall," and we made a chart about the things we see, wear, and celebrate in the fall. We practiced the fall poem all week so your child should be close to reciting it without needing  the paper copy (which was attached to the newsletter).  I explained the poem reciting assignment to them and the directions are also in newsletter.  They have until next Friday to recite it to as many people as they can.  Write the names of the people they read it to on the back of the poem and send it in their folders on Friday.  The student with the most names will get a special trip to the treasure box and then all of us will go to a big kid classroom (3rd, 4th, or 5th) and recite it to them. 

  

As I said, this week we discussed all things FALL.  We wrote about fall things as a whole class and the students wrote about them in their journals, too. When we have journal time, the students first glue the writing prompt onto the page and then begin drawing a picture to tell about their thoughts.  The next step is to use letters or words, or even sentences to communicate what they put in their drawing.  The students are at various stages in the learning to write process and thats okay. Some are working on adding detail to their pictures. Others are starting to write letters for the sounds they hear.  We do not expect them to spell words correctly unless they are "Word Wall" words. These are the sight words we've learned so far and they are encouraged to use them when writing in their journals.

In our centers this week, the students put together a 4 seasons floor puzzle,

 

 played with Legos (L is for Legos!),

 cracked the secret codes in Number Work,

 played Cookies on a Plate in the Math Games center,

 and stamped out the sight words in Word Work.

The students did a brand new whole group activity this week that we will continue to do most Fridays: Sight Word Sort.   The students work at their tables with the worksheet (pictured below)  while I am at the SmartBoard (which is projecting the same worksheet they have).  They must choose, from the sight words listed on the SmartBoard, which word fits in each set of boxes. 

 










Here is a video of the afternoon class demonstrating how its done.



For our Fun Friday art project, we bravely used PAINT for the first time!  The students used q-tips to paint beautiful fall foliage.  The students did a great job following directions and created some nice pieces of art for our hallway.  We also watched a Letter Factory video about reading with with fluency and expression while Mrs. Taylor and I finished up with the weekly assessments. There is another learning video we watch whenever we have 3 extra minutes at the end of the day that the students absolutely LOVE and so do I.  It's the first episode from a British educational series called "Alphablocks."  (Your child will love if you let them watch this at home)!

It has been a FABULOUS week. The kids are learning so much.  I am very pleased with their progress and the eagerness to learn they bring with them everyday.  Here are some snapshots from our fun throughout the week.  Remember to wear BROWN on Monday. 

Cooper's face is hilarious here.

Purple Day!



dancing at indoor recess to Waka Waka by Shakira