First full week of school down! We made it in one piece!

We have started our ABC Bootcamp, where we focus on one letter a day and make our way through the alphabet many times! We also played ABC Bingo! This first round through the alphabet, we just focus on naming the letters and finding them in print in our every day lives.

We read a story for each letter and do a letter search around our room to look for it. This week we did the letters M, S, P, and T. For the letter M, we made mustaches for ourselves!

For S we colored some wooden starfish that students got to take home. For the letter P, we learned all about peacocks. This was fun for Kindergarten because many of them had never even heard of a peacock before! They enjoyed learning about them and looking at pictures of their beautiful feathers. For the letter T, we learned the difference between turtles and tortoises. We even got to meet 2 Russian Tortoises that are owned by our very own Computer and Middle School Science teacher, Ms. deBruyn! Students were so brave and each took turns petting them, and were fascinated by the tortoises’ bodily functions. We also have been collaborating on making a class alphabet line, which we will continue until we complete the alphabet.

For the letter T, we learned the difference between turtles and tortoises. We even got to meet 2 Russian Tortoises that are owned by our very own Computer and Middle School Science teacher, Ms. deBruyn! Students were so brave and each took turns petting them, and were fascinated by the tortoises’ bodily functions. We also have been collaborating on making a class alphabet line, which we will continue until we complete the alphabet.

At the beginning of the school year, it’s important to review our colors. We are going in order of the rainbow, we this week we focused on red. For another collaborative project, we practiced using paint and put red hand prints on a poster that I will keep up and add to until we do the whole rainbow. Students loved the sensory experience of feeling the paint on their palms!

In Math, we have been working on sorting. Students had the chance to get used to the format of doing worksheets together as a class and using the SMARTboard. We also got to practice using some flexible seating with our scoop chairs and clipboards while we did these worksheets. I have found that this makes it much easier to get through our Math work when we work together as a group, and it’s fun to switch things up! Next week we will be working on writing numbers by ourselves.

 

At recess and during Free Play, I’ve observed students playing a lot of games where they pretend to shoot each other. I found this article that I thought was really helpful in understanding the reasons why this kind of play is normal and developmentally appropriate, but the ways we can still make sure it is being done safely and won’t have poor repercussions later on. We had a class discussion about how when we play these games, we need to make sure everyone involved is aware of and okay with using pretend guns. Kindergarten really took this to heart and every day this week, at the beginning of recess, they ask each other if it’s alright to play like that. When they get the go ahead, they always come to inform me that they did the correct thing. It’s awesome to see, and I hope it is one of many future lessons about setting boundaries with our friends during play!

https://offspring.lifehacker.com/what-to-know-about-kids-and-pretend-guns-1823249214

Students also attended Mass for the first time! They did a wonderful job remaining quiet and respectful. I was really impressed with them!

Finally, in Science we learned about the 5 senses. We made a chart documenting words that we use to describe what we notice when we use each sense. This is a lesson we will continue to expand upon for several weeks. Next week we will dive into learning about the seasons!

Next week, I also ask that if you are able if you could start sending in a snack for your student to have in the afternoon. I will have snacks available for anyone who forgets or who is not able to provide one, but I do appreciate any help. I do also take donations for snacks for the class!

I hope you all enjoy the fall weather this weekend!

Love,

Ms. V 🙂