Kindergarten is full of firsts, especially in the beginning of the year as we learn how to use new materials, play new games, or do new activities. This week we had several firsts.
We have our first readers! Once students can read at least 50 sight words, they are able to go to the school library to check out books and start the AR (Accelerated Reader) program. Two friends surpassed that goal when we tested sight words last week, so they were able to go check out their first library books. We love having our friends read to us before they take the comprehension test on their books. Reading to the class is extra exciting because they get to do it under the document camera so it’s projected on the board AND they get to use the microphone so we can all hear their great reading.
This week we played with dice for the first time. We used our dice trays from Box Cars and One Eyed Jacks to play a partner game where we matched our rolled dice to the game board from Colors and Kindergarten. Then we used large foam dice to play our first Roll and Write sight word game.
In math this week we explored making numbers using two colored counters. Students counted out the correct number of counters, shook them up, and then counted how many red and yellow counters they got each time. The combinations of counters represented different ways to make the number. This is an important concept we are starting to explore as we make our way towards learning how to decompose and compose numbers.
Our story this week was The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. In this story a young girl thinks she can’t draw. Her art teacher tells her to make a mark on the page and see where it takes her. She makes a single dot, then the next week when she returns to class her teacher has framed it on the wall and she decides she can make a better dot than that. She continues to make better dots until she has a huge display in the art show. To wrap up our week of reading the story we broke out our watercolors for the first time and practiced making our own dots. We had a blast!
We also had fun with some new activities in centers this week. Our class loves exploring all of our new materials.
What a fun week we had. Here’s to many more firsts to come!
🙂 Ms. Collins
Kinder with Ms. Collins 