What a Busy Week!

      We made it through another week!  I am so proud to say that these kids are making progress every single day!  Navigating through school can be challenging, I am seeing each child become more independent and confident in their daily routine.
       This week I introduced two new word wall words; the and little.  I have learned throughout the years that silly chants or crazy actions can really "hook" the kids into learning.  Ask your child how we "clap out" the letters of the word "the."  I am teaching the kids how helpful word wall words can be when reading and writing. Thus far we have the words I , am , the and little on display in the class.  These are the first of 40 word wall words the children will be learning this year.
      We officially started writing workshop this week!  I talked to the kids about how good writers get their ideas from listening to stories and poems. The children listened to several different poems about different things people can do.  Using this simple topic, the children brainstormed things they can do.  In kindergarten, the writing process ranges from simple pictures, initial sounds, labels and even sentences.  The children are learning to use the classroom to get hints when writing words.  I have shown them that our classroom is surrounded with words (environmental print).
      In math, I have introduced the concept of number combinations. We talked about different ways to represent the values of numbers.  I asked them to show me 5 fingers 3 different ways!  It was fun watching them problem solve that complex question.  Once they got the hang of it, we tried it with the number 4 as well.  Next week we will be looking at shapes and their different attributes.
       Enjoy the pictures!