Greater than, less than, equal to

Last week, we used the terms "greater than", "less than", and "equal to" when comparing numbers. We created our own symbols and used them to help compare our numbers. 

Here are a few videos of our kinder friends describing their thoughts (please excuse my voice).

We LOVE giving our "seal of approval" :-)







Wonder of the Week #3

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Wonder of the Week #2


What jobs did people have in the past?

Building our Communities

Today was just SO MUCH FUN!! We took our blue prints we created yesterday, and used materials to begin building our communities! We worked REALLY hard and then we shared with the rest of class features from the communities we created. I am so proud of my kinder friends and all of their hard work. I think my students enjoyed hearing from each other just as much as they enjoyed creating their communities! So sweet!
























Creating Our Communities

This week in social studies we have been continuing our study in maps and communities. Today we split in to three groups, discussed the layout of our blue prints, and drew our blue prints. We are so excited to build our communities tomorrow and show off our hard work!

















What We're Up To In Room 202



This past week was a lot of fun! We began our unit on maps and communities, launched our Daily 5 math stations,  worked on our "wonder of the day", launched our "wonder of the week", learned a lot!! 

We launched our Daily 5 math stations this week. These stations include, math with technology, writing about math, math work, math games, and once we get our stations running smoothly, math with Ms. Fortner.

In math with technology, we practice math on the Promethean Board, iPads, and computers. 






In math games and math work, we are practicing representing numbers in different ways.










During writing about math, students go to the writing station and practice writing their numbers, or drawing different representations of numbers 1-10 (these representations include, 
dice, dominos, fingers, tallies, tens frames, and number words). 

 Every morning, we begin our morning with a "Wonder of the Day". We use www.wonderopolis.com and look at a picture from their wonder of the day and create our own wonders. Check out these amazing wonders of the day from this past week!


 "Why is the sun sunny?"


"I wonder how maps are made."

Awesome, right? I am so proud of my students!!




Wonder of the Week #1

Why was school created?

Wonder of the Week

In our classroom, we will begin having a "Wonder of the Week" question for you and your child to research at home.  The topics will vary greatly, but I will match most of them to our science or social studies unit.  I will introduce the question to the students on Fridays, post it to our blog under the label, "Wonder of the Week," and send the question each Friday in my weekly email.  You and your child will have until the following Thursday to spend time together researching for the answer.  I encourage you to participate by responding to my blog post with any answers or resources that you guys found through research.  


Each Thursday in our classroom, we will take the time to research and discover the answer for ourselves.  We will do this by using the answers and resources that you guys post for us on  the class blog as well as any articles, videos, or experiments which I find.


My hope for this is that this will be a fun way for you and your child to learn about different (and interesting) topics together! I hope this introduces the importance of research and gives your child an opportunity to practice research! I hope this broadens your child's horizons and allows their natural ability to wonder to increase their opportunities for authentic learning!


The website that sparked this wonderful idea, that we are using as our "wonder of the day" as well, is www.wonderopolis.com (linked at the top of this page). It is a wonderful resource!

If you ever have an idea for a "Wonder of the Week," please feel free to share!



Reading Stamina Awesomeness!!


We read independently today for TEN MINUTES!!!! We doubled our reading stamina from yesterday! My kinder friends' brains are growing so strong!! 


Our Treasure Hunt

Yesterday, we began our maps and communities unit. I told my kinder friends there was TREASURE in the school and we needed to find it! We lined up and walked around the school, students telling me where to turn. We walked around the school (literally, in a circle) and wound up back in the classroom... no treasure. We discussed what could have helped us, and we decided that we needed a map!

Lucky for us, we had a map today to lead us straight to our treasure!! First, we spent our time looking over the map in our classroom and discussing things we noticed about it. 



Then, we lined up and used our map to find treasure. We followed it through the kindergarten hall, past the computer lab, past the library, past Dr. Patterson's office, and into the front office where we found...



our treasure!!


We were so excited!!! Look at these sweet faces :-)


 After we all grabbed a piece of candy from our treasure chest, we talked about how we could use our map to go back to our classroom. Mason lead us back to our room.


What a fun day!!!



Fun Sight Word Practice (At Home!)

Lately I have gotten a few questions about some good ways to practice sight words with students at home. I thought I would compile a few suggestions to make practicing sight words at home fun for both you and your student! 


We have practiced Rainbow Writing in class with our sight words a few times, and my students have loved it! "Rainbow writing" is simply taking a crayon, writing a sight word in a color, then another crayon and writing the sight word again (on top of the first color), and doing it in several colors that make the sight word look like a "rainbow".  I like this specific resource in particular because it integrates recognizing numbers 1-6 on a dice AND practicing sight words. Two birds with one stone :) This printable I linked to is free!


Another sight word strategy I am particularly fond of is pictured above. Put some (washable :-)) paint in a zip-lock bag (but don't fill the bag up!), zip it tightly and lay it flat. Give your child a q-tip and have them practice writing the sight word in the paint. This is a clean, yet fun way to practice sight words, AND you don't have to use a lot of paper! This also helps your child develop their fine motor skills while they practice writing the sight words. Again, two birds with one stone :-). 

(The method above can also be adapted to grits in a baking pan and shaving cream on the wall during bath time!)


This strategy takes a little more prep time on your behalf, but is also very effective! You could post the "password" (or sight word) on the entrance to any room your child enters often, or even, multiple words outside of multiple rooms! Ask your child the "password" every time he or she enters the room. This will ensure multiple opportunities for your child to practice at home!

Lastly, if your child is musically inclined, or just enjoys a fun song, I LOVE Have Fun Teaching's sight word (and alphabet) songs! These are really fun and hard to not dance to :) 

If you would like more resources to practice sight words with your child, please do not hesitate to ask!! I am so excited that I have so many students (and parents) that are so eager to support their child's learning!

Goodies with Grands

This morning, some of my kinder friends' grandparents visited for a morning of "Goodies with Grands". We had a very fun morning and I was thrilled to meet all the sweet grandparents that mean so much to my sweet students!