Sunday, December 7, 2014

Art, P.E., Money, and MORE!

Hello Kindergarten Families,

Happy December!  Here is a brief synopsis of our first week of the new month, together.  Enjoy!

We had guest speakers from the 5th Grade Class come talk to us about the IA Fun Run.  Friends heard about how they and their family can help raise money for the Rady's Children Hospital.  


During Open Choice Time, each Game and Activity Committee worked together to finalize the agreements of how to play the games they came up with, supporting each other in their drawings of each step for their instructions.  Groups will now be moving into the building phase of their games.  Here is the Snowball Freeze Dance Committee listening to a friend explain how they can make a snowball by balling up a piece of paper.


As our community develops, we have continued to consider which words describe us best.  Over time, we have narrowed our ideas down from very long lists to just six key words that I cut out on separate pieces of paper.  I asked the students to think about how we could pair some of these words to make a name for our class.  As they gave their suggestions, I would move the different word cards around like a puzzle, and the group would discuss if it was a clear order or if it needed to be rearranged (ex. Scientists Caring could be rearranged to Caring Scientists).  We will be voting on which name we agree on the most, soon.




The class had their first P.E. session with Clara.  After coming up with some agreements about how to work together and then doing some stretches, different partnerships practiced various skills, including: passing, aiming, patience, concentration, and MORE!










 They also met with Nikki for their first Art session.  After some introduction of names and materials, Nikki guided the class in exploring how different people can see lines and shapes in the world around us differently.  Everyone received a piece of paper with black lines on them that the students were able to turn into anything they imagined.































Our group of friends had the opportunity to be audience members to the 4th Grade production of Greek Mythology.  The students were intrigued by their use of lights and shadows, costumes, and props to tell a story that they all knew by heart.  What is most significant to you when watching performances?











Our Learning Extensions continue to provide many opportunities for discussion in our class and our friends are improving in their public speaking and listening skills.  Watching their growth is always something I get blown away by!  This week, friends shared about how stickers are made, words they have learned to read in their favorite stories, theories about aquatic animals, cause and effects of air on play dough, transferring the knowledge of how to draw a heart to drawing an apple, an interview with an actual veteran, theories about the praying mantis' name, diet, and habitat, and using your understanding of addition to find the sum of 4-digit numbers.









Two shares this week inspired us to try something new together.  The first idea the group tried was making snowflakes.  After learning the different steps it takes to fold the paper, friends took time during Relax and Reading Time to practice cutting out snowflakes.  Now bad for their first tries!








 The second share was about the amount of change a friend received for the cashier at a store.  This got us thinking about money: the names of the coins, their values and calculating how much multiple coins equal when adding their denominations.  Friends worked together in partnerships to see what they came up with.












Thank you for helping us stay curious about the world around us and supporting your children in their process!

Friends also worked in partnerships this week to write out different words for our Winter Celebration Sign Up Sheet.  One friend was the writer and the other friend was the Tip-Giver.  The Tip Giver helped the writer sound out the word, find the names and shapes of the letters needed, and gave reminders about using upper or lower case letters.











With all the hard work we do in class, it's always nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the classroom and get outside.  Even though we were happy to have the rains come this week, it does keep us pent up inside more than we are used to, so I invited the class to participate in a Relay Game.  I challenged them to balance a ball in a spoon with one hand behind their back as they walked in a straight line.  These guys were so successful and happy for each other in the end.  Maybe next time I need to throw in a wrench to REALLY challenge them… =]


























In Other News Not Pictured:

The rainy weather triggered a lot of memories of having experienced thunder and lightning in our lives, however, there was a lot of different ideas about what thunder and lightning was and how it all worked.  This prompted us to do some research online to learn from an expert about the science behind these natural phenomenon.  After watching the video, the students were invited to write one concept that they felt they now understood about thunder or lightning (we watched the first 7min only).  Be sure to come in and ask your child to show you what their take-away from watching this video was!


Speaking of coming in to check out our work, be sure you take a peek at our Number Talks and Language Activity Walls!

We also had our Buddies come in this week to participate in giving feedback to a different groups section of the story our friends are writing.  They had time to read over their pages and give suggestions about how to make the information in their writing more clear.



4 comments:

  1. Eli: "I really liked the play about the Gods because there was one about the dead and fire." David and I are impressed with the learning that is taking place in the classroom. Thank you for this informative post.

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  2. Even though Lego Physics will be missed, Emma enjoyed P.E. with Clara and art with Nikki Inspired by the money discussion, she started playing shop, including coming up with pricing, handling different coins and adding up costs. She enjoyed the Greek play and also the thunder and lightning video. Thanks, again!

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  3. Looks like a great week! Jennifer & Jackson

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  4. Ronny loved the movie about the lighting and thunder!

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