Hi JK Parents!
I apologize in advance for any typos and duplicate photos! I try to write a little each day when they are resting so the QC isn't always first priority! Also, I try to ensure each child is photographed and represented equally, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way. We will talk more about sharing pics at our Curriculum night.
We have finished out first week and are learning all of the new ways to do things! It's such a challenge when all they want to do is be close and play, but I am happy we are all staying healthy and know distance play isn't ideal but incredible for them to socialize and learn with friends. We are zooming in Zamir for our morning meetings next week, and started zooming him into French!
Literacy/Fine Motor:
We have read many fiction books this week about celebrating our similarities and differences! We are talking about all we have in common as well as the things that make us unique and wonderful. Elmer the Elephant helped us see that standing out is better than being the exact same as the herd. They decorated Elmer's with pastels and tissue paper, working on their fine motor skills as they separate paper and use glue sticks.
The children used their fine motor skills to peel tiny stickers to make name placemats. It required patience and perseverance!
Note: I am anti-work sheet as a rule, but with the children needing to be separated at all times, we will be using some great tools for individual learning with one-on-one and group learning-through worksheets. I have to continue to remind myself that this year is VERY different than my typical year of teaching, and we have to make changes that work for now. The kids don't know or see the difference, but wanted to mention this. :)
We do our Zoo Phonics letters and sounds, matched with an animal motion, every day. We have children learning letter sounds and some who are reading so the foundational skills are beneficial for all! Being able to decode words along with learning/memorizing the digraphs of letters, rhyming, breaking up words into syllables and beginning and ending sounds, finishing the ending or using the same ending on different words are just some of the skills we work on in our morning meeting as we use the Heggerty Phonics program.
We had library outside and chose books to take home after Ms. Hilda read to us! It was a perfect day for outside class.
We all completed self portraits with colored pencil, using mirrors to study our features before replicating them on paper. I love watching the progression through the school year as the portraits become more detailed!
Math and Science:
We are breaking out into groups for centers, and played Math Bingo as the children practiced writing their numbers. The sing song of counting isn't as important as the one-to-one correspondence, so using manipulatives while counting is extremely beneficial. Have your kiddos count cheerios as they move them into a pile. We use blocks, bears, dice, acorns, etc. to work on this all year. If your child is counting over 100, counting by 10's then 5's is next step, along with 10 frame addition and subtraction. We keep it fun and will break out in more specialized group later this fall...
We have gone on many scavenger hunts outside and found all sorts of beautiful cecada shells, leaves, pine cones, butterflies etc. We spend lots of time outside climbing and doing monkey bars, playing games, and running around!
We visited the Roycemore garden and saw all of the amazing pumpkins turning from green to orange! There's one growing into the fence. The kids loved it!
Social/Emotional:
For now, we are concentrating a large part of our day on social/emotional and routines, as well as learning language for communicating with teachers and peers. We use, "Bugs and Wishes" and a host of other strategies.
The children ALL presented their show n tell! They told us three things about their item, and then called on friends who had comments or questions. We will practice public speaking throughout the year. They are already completely great! They love being able to choose friends and are so sweet. Benjamin asked Jayden if he would teach him how to shoot a basketball and Jayden said, "Sure!". They all loved seeing their friend's prized possessions! I was impressed with Nathaniel's baseball-that he CAUGHT at a game as a foul ball!
Our names are unique, as we learned from Chrysanthamum! Benjamin is getting lots of practice with many letters in his name! I always ask them to use four colors since they are four (Demi and Jayce, you have graduated to five colors!). It's a great way to be sure they are not rushing through their work and thinking about details.
Have a lovely long weekend!
See you all Tuesday!
Ms. Massey
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