One classroom routine that is well established already is math, which takes place each day right after our morning recess. During this time students typically work in small groups, rotating through stations. The stations tend to be hands on and almost always include manipulatives for children to use. The groupings change regularly, providing students an opportunity to work with different peers. One tool we use often is ten frames, which are 2 X 5 rectangular frames. Representing numbers on ten frames  helps students develop visual representations of numbers within the context of ten, and they are an integral part of our curriculum.  

We have also played several partner games, something we will do a lot of during math. Children know that the games are intended to be a fun way to practice essential math skills. We have talked a lot about the importance of being a good sport and what that looks like for both the person who wins the game and the person who doesn't win. We always end our games by shaking hands and saying "Good game!" 

We had a fantastic hike today! Kindergarteners should be very proud- they all made it all the way to the Nature Center, and some parts of the trail were quite steep! Thank you for sending your child prepared for a successful day and thank you to parents who joined us. Ask your child what their favorite part of the hike was.

 We have had a fantastic first week of school! Getting a school year under way takes an enormous amount of patience and perseverance on the part of students, with a lot of time spent listening and learning new routines. I am always amazed at how quickly children internalize these routines as they adapt to the flow of our days. A few of the things we have done this week include:

• practiced walking safely in a line as we move through the school 
• learned how to use classroom materials including pencils, markers, scissors, and glue sticks
• learned about reading books to ourselves by looking at the pictures and telling the story
• explored materials that we will use during math
• learned about expectations for using the playground safely
• learned about options for choice time in the classroom
• learned how to connect a color to how we are feeling in a given moment and talked about how this can change throughout the day
• watched a collection of caterpillars eat and grow, including several caterpillars that we found in the middle of the playground (we started wtih 6 and now have 13!)

We will continue to practice all of our routines in the coming weeks and learn a few more as well!

 For the past month we have been working on nonfiction writing. We began by talking about the difference between fiction and nonfiction books, reading several specific examples of nonfiction texts including "Red Eyed Tree Frog" and "Chameleon, Chameleon" both by Joy Cowley with fantastic photos by Nic Bishop, as well as "One Tiny Turtle" by Nicola Davis. After reading each of these we talked about some of the facts we learned from these books, and how fiction might be different.

Children then spent a couple of weeks engaging in nonfiction writing  about any topic they chose. Many loved the idea of using riddles to share information about a topic, presenting facts without revealing the subject  until the very last page. 

Last week we began a project writing about our nature name animals. Eric graciously loaded ipads with books about each child's animal so they were able to learn basic information such as what their animals look like, where theiy live, and what they eat. We finished by creating collage covers. Children are very excited to bring these home!