During writing, children have been working on stretching words to write as many sounds as they can.  Using this strategy and their knowledge of letter sounds, students are able to write independently and I am often able to read their writing.  This is a really exciting step and they have been extremely focused during writing time.  I told them I can almost hear their brains churning as they think about the sounds they hear and write the corresponding letters.   The class has also been doing a wonderful job of helping each other.  Sometimes it's easier to hear the sounds as a classmate stretches the word and helping a friend is a fantastic way to learn.

As they grow as writers, children are naturally in many different places.  Some are writing just first sounds  and maybe finishing one sentence in a writing block while others are able to finish multiple pages.  We had a conversation about the importance of not comparing ourselves to classmates, but working hard wherever we are and trying to grow a bit more as writers each day.  We imagined that it was exactly five years ago, and I guessed that at least a couple of children would have been speed crawling, if not walking, while a couple more may have just learned to sit up, and some would have just learned to lift their heads independently.  But now watching them run around on the playground these differences are unapparent.  Acquisition of literacy skills is very developmental and all of the kindergarteners are really excited about becoming writers.

A couple of weeks ago we planted corn seeds, comparing their needs to the needs of our caterpillars. We have been using our science notebooks to document their growth.  Children have been making scientific drawings, being as accurate as possible, paying attention to details such as color and shape.  We have also been working on using letters we know to label parts of the drawings.  We have made several drawings, showing the change over time.  This week during ECO several students became very interested in our field guides, which inspired some more scientific drawing as children create their own field guides.  Hopefully we will continue this during ECO next week.

On Wednesday we had our final all school read for the time being.  This time the whole school went to the gym and children partnered up to read several books.

In your child’s green folder I have sent along an informational sheet about number sense and ways to help develop this, along with a packet of math games that I have collected from various resources (I did my best to site the source when possible).  These include many different ideas for practicing counting and number recognition, some of the most important math skills we work on in kindergarten.  They vary in level of difficulty and skills, but hopefully there is at least one that will appeal to everyone.  We have played Bingo, Five Frame Fun, and Build a City in class already. 

This trimester we are particularly focused on counting to 30 by 1’s, recognizing and naming numbers 0-10, writing numbers 0-10, using fingers to show numbers 2-10, representing simple addition problems up to five, and counting collections of up to 20 objects.  We spend lots of time working on these skills during math stations, but also often practice them during transitions.

Showing numbers with our fingers.

On Friday morning Adeline brought in several boxes, which inspired a spontaneous morning of box creations.    We raided the school recycling bin and children spent the first hour of the day making rocket ships, jet packs, horse stables and more.  They did a wonderful job of helping each other and working together.  It was a fantastic way to spend a rainy Friday morning!

We had our first mini-fire at ECO this week.  We gathered "mouse tails", the tiniest sticks used for starting a fire, to make tea in Lindsey's Kelly Kettle.  This was a really nice way to wrap up our morning in the woods, and kindergarteners did a remarkable job of remembering expectations around our safety circle.

Following is some information about an opportunity for families of children who participate in ECO.
Friday October 16th is ECO Bird Banding Night at North Branch Nature Center!

From 7-11 p.m. we will be banding Northern Saw Whet Owls during their fall migration.

Topping the scales at 4-5 oz, and standing as tall as a red squirrel, these owls are the cutest fluff balls to grace the sky. Where mice and other small mammals are concerned, however, this fierce, silent owl is anything but cute. The banding demonstration is led by NBNC staff and there will be a warming fire nearby.

 

Saw Whet Owls migrate individually but follow the weather pattern of the cool weather during the dark moon at this time of year. In order to band the birds, naturalists set up a net that catches them during their nighttime migration, and handle them carefully to put a nearly weightless band around the ankle. You are welcome to join us for this special banding session for ECO students and their families.

     

For the past several Wednesdays we have ended the day with all school reading.  Children have been in mixed age groups listening to and discussing several books with a similar theme or message, such as kindness or being yourself.  Kindergarteners were grouped in pairs and I do not have any  in my group, so you will have to ask your child who they are with and what books they have read!  This has been a fun way to mingle with children from different grades, and for me a really nice way to reconnect with some past students.

Our class was featured in a blog post about ECO for the North Branch Nature center.  Below is a link to that post: http://northbranchnaturecenter.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-three-cares.html

We are also featured in a post on Eric Mongeon's blog, with the following link:
Kindergarten & ECO

Thank you to everyone for coming to Open House last week.  It is always exciting for children to share the classroom with their families.

For several weeks we have been working on letter sounds and formations using the Fundations program.  So far we have worked on lower case letters t, b, f, m, n, i, u, c, and o.  We practice these in many ways including writing the letters in the air, using high lighters to practice on paper, writing on white boards, and making letters out of play dough and wikki sticks.  We also search for individual letters in our morning messages each day.  In addition, we have started working on sight words.  Our focus has been on I, the, you, and is because they are words that we use a lot in our own writing or they appear every day in our morning message.  Practicing and learning sight words is a great way to work on fluency in reading, as many of these words can't be sounded out, but are words we just need to recognize.  I am sending home a list of the first 100 sight words a resource for you.  This is not homework- there is no expectation that children work on these at home- but sometimes children really enjoy practicing them outside of school.   Kindergarteners are expected to know 20 sight words by the end of the year, but I am sending the first 100 for children who are learning them quickly and feeling ambitious!  It is very exciting when children learn these words and can use them in writing or beginning to read.

During math our focus has been on counting, matching numerals to quantities, and practicing numeral formation.  We have spent the first several weeks focusing on 0-9, building our fluency with these numbers before moving on to increasingly larger numbers.  We have learned several math games, a fun way for children to work on math skills as well as the social skills involved in playing a partner game.  Being a good sport and having fun are most important, and we always shake hands and say good game when the game is over.