PERSEVERE!
We finished up our first full week of school strong- you would be so proud of the kids! We were able to begin our regular schedule and routine, started learning academics, and continued to build frienships in our classroom.
We started our week off learning an important lesson about a big word- PERSEVERE! Some of the things we do in Kindergarten are going to be hard, but if we keep trying our best and do not give up anything is possible! This lesson helped us get through the week and will stick with our class throughout the school year.
This is a snapshot of what a typical day looks like in our class:
Arrival- This kids come in and take care of their outdoor gear and are responsible for getting out their own folder and taking care of their lunch stick.
Breakfast-This is a great addition to our classroom! Almost all of the kids eat breakfast every morning. It is a great way to start off our day.
Calendar- We take a look at our day and what we will be doing. During this time we talk about any changes that we might expect in our day.
Math- We investigated some of the math tools we will use this school year (cubes, counting bears, and dice). We learned how to use them safetly by ourselves and when we work with a partner so we can use them all year.
Recess- The kids absolutely love seeing their friends. Many of the kids said this was the best part of their day:)
Skills-This is the time during the day that we are learning to be good readers and writers. This starts off slow, but quickly builds. This week we practiced writing horizontal and vertical lines with a proper pencil grip. Learning horizontal and vertical lines is important to writing many of the letters in the alphabet. We are also practice hearing individual sounds. This will build to helping us hear individual sounds in words.
Recess- At our school we have kids go out to recess before lunch. This helps the kids so they are ready for lunch and do not rush their lunch to go outside.
Lunch- The kids have fifteen minutes to eat their lunch. They are doing very well learning the routine of sitting down and eating. They love seeing all of their friends during lunch.
Rest Time- We rest our brains and bodies after lunch. The kids watch a short show on pbskids. This is a time for the kids to turn off their brains. The kids can close their eyes during this time, but usually do not.
Daily 5- Daily 5 is a time when I will be working with a small group of students while the other kids work independantly. We are currently working up to this. This week we worked hard to build our stamina to read to self. We learned how to read the pictures of books and retell the story of books the kids put in their personal libraries. We started the week reading for one minute and have built our stamina up to 5 minutes! Our goal is to read for fifteen minutes independantly.
Knowledge- Knowledge is our literacy time. This week we are learning about nursery rhymes. We are having fun retelling the nursery rhymes and listening for rhyming words.
Specials- All of our specials are in the afternoon. The kids are enjoying going to art, music, and PE.
Free Centers- The kids have time to play at the end of the day and explore with their friends in our dramatic play area, art center, building station, science center, math station, and listening center. This is an important time for students to build social skills and work on peer relationships.
Get Ready for home- I heard many students say "It's the end of the day already?" I loved hearing this knowing they had a great day.
We had a great week! I look forward to the adventures that this school year will bring. Have a great weekend. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Jessica
