Writing Workshop, Reading Workshop and Math

We are really getting good at our Writing Workshop.  We have been learning that writers think first, then they sketch a picture, label it and add words.  We have also been talking about what writers do when they are "done".  Mrs. Kurt taught us this cool saying..."When I'm done, I've just begun!"  Now this means that when we are writing and we think we are finished with a story, we need to look at our work and check on some things.

First, I ask myself if I can add anything to the picture.  Maybe some details.  Maybe some color.  Next, I ask myself if I could add to the words.  Maybe I could add another sentence.  After I have added to the picture and the words, my story would be done.  Then it would be time to get a new piece of paper and start a new story.

   

Look at all of this good writing going on.  So exciting!

Since it is a new month, our Number Corner has changed!  We are anxious to see what the calendar markers will be like...

 Today's Math lesson was on sorting.  This time we sorted bugs.  We came up with several ways that the bugs were alike and how they were different.

   

    

 In Reading Workshop, we learned that sometimes people read magazines.  Mrs. Hemsey loaned us some really cool kids magazines from the library.  We got to have a magazine and find a cozy reading spot somewhere in the classroom to "read" the magazines.  Check it out!

   

In our Social Skills lesson today, we talked about how sometimes we get frustrated and say things like "I can't!" or "I don't know!"  We talked about words we could use instead and look at the great ideas we came up with...

Our goal is to use some of these ideas  instead of saying I can't or I don't know.  We will add more ideas to our list tomorrow.

Whew!  We had a busy day today!

Apple Poem, Quilt and Family Fun Night

It has been a busy but FUN week in Kindergarten Plus.  We made a project to go with the new apple poem we learned.  The poem goes like this:

Eat an apple.

Save the core.

Plant the seeds.

And grow some more!

   

   

We also made quilt squares for our class quilt.  Today we worked together to assemble the quilt.  Did you know that assemble means to put something together?  We know that now!  We saw lots of patterns in the quilt.  We noticed that the patterns went across, up and down and diagonally.  We also noticed lots of triangles and squares in this quilt.  We even wrote about it, too.

   

Tonight was the first PTO Family Fun Night.  It was held on the playground and it was a blast.  Mrs. Kurt was getting a little tired trying to keep up with her friends on the playground equipment.  Thanks to the Northview PTO for sponsoring this event and many thanks to our families that attended!

   

   

   

Thanks for a great week.  Have a good weekend!

Applesauce and Reader's Workshop

Such an exciting morning!  We made (and ate) applesauce.  Thanks so much to everyone who sent in apples so we could make this.  It was really good.

    

   

In Reader's Workshop, we talked about where readers read.  We thought about places we have seen people reading.  Then we chatted with a partner about all the places we have seen people reading and what they were reading.

We really had some amazing things to share.  We have seen people reading in the grocery store, at home, at school, on airplanes and even at church.  We have also seen people reading all kinds of things...smart phones, iPads, iPods, magazines, books, computers, road signs, newspapers...even directions for toys, such as legos, etc.  We came to the conclusion that readers read many different things, and they pretty much read anywhere!

Then we decided to find places in our room where we could read.  We got books and set off to find our  own cozy reading spot.  Even if we couldn't read all the words in the books we chose, we could still look at the pictures and even make up a story.  It was really cool to do what readers do!

   

   

Tomorrow we will finish our shoo fly quilt for math and a cool sequencing activity about apples.

Apple Tasting and Graphing

Today for our apple unit, we did something new.  We tasted three different types of apples.  We each got to try a piece of a yellow, red and green apple.  Ms. Arboe passed out the apples and we tasted each one.

   

  

   

After we tasted each type of apple, we had to decide which one was our favorite.  Then we organized this information by using two different kinds of graphs so we could analyze our data!  Mrs. Kurt was really proud of us because everyone participated in this activity, too.

First, we made a graph using tally marks.

   

Then we used a giant floor graph to show our favorite kind of apple.

We discovered that the most popular kind of apple was the red apple.

We also made shape people this afternoon using squares, circles and rectangles.  We did a really good job following directions and putting our people together.

   

   

Tomorrow we will make applesauce for our snack.  We are pretty excited!