Diwali!
When we visited Mrs. Dutt in the library this week, she taught us about Diwali - a five day festival of lights celebrated worldwide by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains. This year, Diwali is on Sunday, October 30th, though celebrations span the entire week leading up to and following the holiday. Each girl received a special bindi, a small dot/jewel, on their forehead from Mrs. Dutt. We loved learning about Diwali and India - thank you Mrs. Dutt!
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Halloween Books!
This week we combined our knowledge of sight words and our passion for fun Halloween themed words to publish our very first books! Each student created a pattern book on their iPad (using the app MyStory) and their own handwritten book. We used Halloween themed mini erasers to help us remember to put spaces between our words. After writing 5+ pages following the "I see a..." pattern, the students were challenged to include color words, or multiple words on the same page. When our books were complete, we gave them a cover, a spine, and a title page. We can't wait to bring these home to read to you!
 |  Next week the students will work on including the strategies they practiced in their Halloween pattern books to write their own multi-page stories. Kindergarten writing is the best! |
Paint Blob Monsters!
Although we are missing Mrs. Caldwell's art classes, I am having a blast teaching art class on Wednesday with the help of fabulous parent volunteers! Big thanks this week to Tracey Turner and Cindy Sittman for their help with our Feeling Monsters!
We read a fun book by Ed Emberley called Sad Monster, Glad Monster and talked about how we can create different feelings for our monsters using different shapes for eyes, eyebrows, mouths, hair, and colors. The students chose a color for their monster and we squirted a blob of paint in the middle of their paper. The students then closed up the paper and squished the paint around. They loved opening up their paper to see the surprise shape of their monster head. They used scraps of paper to give their monster feelings. Can you guess the feelings of these monsters below? :)
We read a fun book by Ed Emberley called Sad Monster, Glad Monster and talked about how we can create different feelings for our monsters using different shapes for eyes, eyebrows, mouths, hair, and colors. The students chose a color for their monster and we squirted a blob of paint in the middle of their paper. The students then closed up the paper and squished the paint around. They loved opening up their paper to see the surprise shape of their monster head. They used scraps of paper to give their monster feelings. Can you guess the feelings of these monsters below? :)
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 The monsters were in the art room drying and I forgot to fetch them for our Friday folders this week - so sorry! Look for them in folders next week! :) |   |
We Love Math!
Over the summer the Reed teachers took an online Stanford course about Growth Mindset. We learned the importance of helping kids develop a mindset where they believe they can learn to do anything. Carol Dweck, one of the leading researchers in growth mindset found that a student's mindset - how they perceive their abilities - plays a key role in their motivation and achievement, and found that if we change students' mindsets, we can boost their achievement.
In math we have begun working on word story problems. Some adults admit that they dreaded word problems in math when they were kids. As a kindergarten teacher, it is my goal to teach students to persevere and try a variety of strategies to solve problems. We are also working on teaching them that making mistakes helps to "grow" their brain! Ask your student about Mojo and the power of yet, perseverance, and growing their brain!
In math we have begun working on word story problems. Some adults admit that they dreaded word problems in math when they were kids. As a kindergarten teacher, it is my goal to teach students to persevere and try a variety of strategies to solve problems. We are also working on teaching them that making mistakes helps to "grow" their brain! Ask your student about Mojo and the power of yet, perseverance, and growing their brain!
This week our math story problem was about our friend Carter!
Carter had ______ pieces of candy corn. Then, he went trick-or-treating and got ______ more pieces of candy corn. How many pieces of candy corn does he have now?
(3, 4) (5, 4) (7, 3)
The way this question is written allows the students to choose numbers that are a "good fit" for them. Some students choose the smallest numbers, others choose the largest numbers. If students find the solution using the first set of numbers, they challenge themselves to solve the problem using a different set of numbers. I love these types of math problems because they allow the students to solve problems in ways that make sense to them - using manipulatives, drawing pictures, using their fingers, etc. We are certainly growing our brains!
Carter had ______ pieces of candy corn. Then, he went trick-or-treating and got ______ more pieces of candy corn. How many pieces of candy corn does he have now?
(3, 4) (5, 4) (7, 3)
The way this question is written allows the students to choose numbers that are a "good fit" for them. Some students choose the smallest numbers, others choose the largest numbers. If students find the solution using the first set of numbers, they challenge themselves to solve the problem using a different set of numbers. I love these types of math problems because they allow the students to solve problems in ways that make sense to them - using manipulatives, drawing pictures, using their fingers, etc. We are certainly growing our brains!
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We also worked on strategies for counting groups of objects in circular and scattered arrangements. Ask your child to teach you about a counting path!
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PAJAMA DAY!
...also known as...the GREATEST. DAY. EVER!
We had a blast on Friday celebrating our first pajama day in Room 4. We enjoyed morning math stations, an afternoon viewing of Room on the Broom, a special hot chocolate with marshmallow treat, and we ended the day with fort building! We loved being extra cozy and spending the day with our favorite stuffies and blankets. We missed a few of our friends due to travel and sickness, but we will have another pajama day before the end of 2016!
We had a blast on Friday celebrating our first pajama day in Room 4. We enjoyed morning math stations, an afternoon viewing of Room on the Broom, a special hot chocolate with marshmallow treat, and we ended the day with fort building! We loved being extra cozy and spending the day with our favorite stuffies and blankets. We missed a few of our friends due to travel and sickness, but we will have another pajama day before the end of 2016!
 Doesn't get much happier than the faces in the picture above! ...and do you notice the extra large student in the photo to the right?? Big shout out to Mr. James (JJ's dad) for joining in on the pajama day fun with a Darth Vader onesie while he helped stuff Friday folders!!! |  |
 |  Hot chocolate, blankets, and PJs.... does it get any better? |
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Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF
As we enter this Season of Giving, it is so important to be reminded of our great fortune and all we have - our health, our families, an amazing community, an incredibly school environment. Please take the opportunity to kick off the season by encouraging your child to participate in Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF. Check out the video below for more information. Your Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF box was included in your child's Friday folder on October 28th!
Thanks so much for checking in this week! Hope you are enjoying the Halloween weekend - see you tomorrow for our Halloween parade and party! - Mrs. Bowe