Fiction and Nonfiction: Noticing the Differences

Noticing the difference between a fiction book and non fiction book is a big discovery in Kindergarten. After students were introduced to the two books "Froggy Goes To School" and "Uncover Frog", their observations were charted and discussed. The children noticed how in the book "Froggy Goes To School" frogs really don't wear clothes or go to school. They noticed that the other book "Uncover Frog" taught them about real frogs. Reader's Workshop was " leaping" with excitement while they also noticed all of the "extra" information the non fiction book gave them about frogs. 

After the lesson, children were handed a book to look over and decide where it should go (either the "fiction" or "non fiction" bin)..

Students took it one step farther by sorting the books in their book bins.

Close Reading Bulletin Board: What lens are you using?

 This month our bulletin board features the work we have been doing in Reader's and Writer's Workshop. Students have learned a few elements of  what it means to "close read." Some students focused on the patterns in Eric Carle's books, some focused on the vocabulary used, and others talked about how their thinking changed from what they first thought about a book. Children had the opportunity to think deeply about not only about Eric Carle's literature but the author himself. His childhood years included lots of nature walks with his father which gives his books a special appeal to young readers.

 Kamryn had her "pattern lens" on while listening to "From Head to Toe" and discovered the question and answer pattern of this book.

 Ezekiel changed his thinking from what he first thought about "The Grouchy Ladybug" to his new thinking.

 Jacob thought is was going to be about a caterpillar eating a lot of food but then his thinking changed to discover that Eric Carl was teaching us how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

Ayden saw two patterns in "Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?". One was the pattern in the animal's skin and the other was the words repeating.

Eric Carle Celebration Day

On Friday, we celebrated the end of our three week author study of Eric Carle. We looked closely at the vocabulary he used, his writing patterns, the characters, and themes of his books. After a morning of center activities, including Eric Carle bingo, pancakes, and making caterpillar necklaces, we celebrated with our very own Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake cake (Thank you to Susan E., Christa H., and Mary G. for all of the tasty treats.)

Some of Eric Carle books that the children love.

Eric Carle artwork - The Grouchy Ladybug and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Having fun with caterpillar necklaces.

This is one author that the children will remember for a long time.

Closely Looking at Eric Carle - Author Study

 

 The Eric Carle Author Study is one that all Kindergarten students and teachers enjoy. We took it a step further this year and started to look at Eric Carle and his literature a bit deeper in our close reading. By using different "lenses", students were able to focus in on the characters, settings, vocabulary, patterns or recurring objects. It was amazing to see how the quickly the children understood this concept and were able to share with the class what "lens" they used. For instance, for "Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?" one student used her "pattern" lens and was able to recognize the question/answer pattern and said how it helped her understand the book and  how Eric Carle likes to write. 
From "Does A Kangaroo Have a  Mother Too? students noted that Eric Carle must like animals.

"Do You Want to be my Friend?" we looked for evidence in the text to decide where this story takes place.
 

Bringing the stories back to Eric Carle himself, students noted that he must like cats a lot.

Fund Run - Fundraiser

 Children were lined up for the "Fund Run" on Thursday. Family and friends pledged a certain amount of money for running each lap. The kids had a great time running on this chilly morning.

 Students were checked off after each lap.

 They just kept running.

Making 3D Shapes Fun

 Students have been recognizing and learning about the 2D and 3D shapes all around them. Today they were invited to select a 3D shape and reconstruct it using mini marshmallows and toothpicks. Children are also learning the terminology when talking about their shapes: vertices, faces, and bases.  They were very pleased with their results.

 Students explained their strategies and gave tips on how to construct them to friends.

   Constructing a triangular prism.

Learning about George and Abe

It was no surprise when most of the children had two favorite presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They see them almost every day on a penny, quarter, dollar bill or a silly commercial selling cars or furniture. Their familiar faces made learning fun facts about each president and listening to books about them a very interesting time for the children. Did you know Abraham Lincoln carried his important papers in his hat and George Washington returned a lost dog to a British general during the Revolutionary War? We also visited the history of the presidents site and the children had the chance to see what each president looked like...not a good reaction for most...except, of course, for George and Abe!

Reader's Theater: The Hat

Getting up and performing is second nature with our class. The performance was "The Hat" by Jan Brett. Students picked what animal they wanted to be and acted out the play while it was being read. Hedgie could not get a sock off of his head and when he met different animals he explained how warm it kept him. The other animals got an idea and then they put clothes on themselves but everyone knows "animals don't wear clothes."

More from the 100th Day of School

100th Day of School - 2014 on PhotoPeach

Here are some random pictures from the 100th day of school. Students wore shirts or hats with 100 items on them. It was a benchmark day for all to celebrate.

100 Cans for 100 Days of School

As a community project and to celebrate the 100 Days of School, students brought in over 100 cans of food to donate to our local food bank. Each day, while counting up the 100th day, cans were tallied until our goal was reached. The children were eager to help and this was a great way to show them how good it feels to give to those in need. We actually collected 120 cans food!!

Math Shapes All Around Us

 Children have been digging deeper into shapes and noticing that they are all around them. They worked in small groups putting together a mural of shapes in the real world. 

They created pictures with shapes in the air, sea and land.

Table groups presented their shape worlds to the class when they were completed.

100th Day of Kindergarten - Let's Celebrate

 What other way to start the celebration of 100 days in kindergarten but to have 100 balloons greet the children upon their arrival? It was the start of a great day!

This has been a day we have been talking about since the first day of school. They have been counting and marking each day as it past and it has finally arrived.

"The Mitten" is just the right fit bulletin board

In Reader's Workshop, we have been reading a few of our favorite books by Jan Brett including "The Mitten" and "The Hat".  This bulletin board represents "The Mitten" and some of the activities the students have done to compliment the book. For instance, students made their mitten paper bag and orally retold the story with animal story cards; retold the story via Reader's Theater with animal masks and practiced sight words using the book as a reference. So many children could relate to this book, especially this month, with all of the cold weather lately in Florida 

Writing Checklist - Making our Writing Better

 Today we worked on our Writing Checklists. This is basically a rubric that encompasses all of the writing lessons (Lucy Calkins' Writing Units) taught so far. Checklists are a daily part of our life. For instance, when we drive our car we use a mental checklist: "Do I have my keys?", "Is the garage door open?", "Is the driveway clear to back up?"  Students were told the story of "The Miracle on the Hudson" and how Captain Sullenberger went through a checklist to help him safely land the plane. 

The pictures on this checklist help to determine if the narrative story they wrote meets the rubric expectations. Below is one narrative whereby Ayden used her checklist to make sure her writing was the best it could be. Ayden later added the "Elaboration" part of the checklist to include how she felt when she saw that the "Not yet" section was checked. Making our writing easier for our readers is our #1 goal!

Page 1 - One day I wentto my cousin Emma's house. This is where I got the trampoline. It was big.
Page 2 - I got into the pick up truck and watched the guys carry the trampoline.
Page 3 - Finally I got it to Poppie's house.

The Magic Pencil in Writer's Workshop

Writer's Workshop has been "magical" ever since the children learned about how special their pencils are. These pencils help writers become better at reading and writing their work. One side is for reading (the eraser side) and the other side is for writing (the lead side). (Lucy Calkins Writing Unit) Students are rereading their writing for the shear fun of using the eraser side to tap out the words and then flipping it over to write with it. How can a simple black pencil make so many kids happy?  Just call it magical!!            

Penguins on Parade

 Maybe seeing some of these cute penguins will warm you up . Our hand art for his month was our "hand penguins". The children traced their hands, added the nose, stomach, eyes and a little snow and there you have it. We are saving the hand art each month to make an end of the year booklet to give parents as a Kindergarten keepsake. These just turned out adorable!

Reader's Workshop and "The Mitten"

Jan Brett is the author and illustrator of "The Mitten" (retelling) of this Ukrainian folktale. It is one of our favorite books to share with the class after the long winter break.  The weather was so cold our first week back that the book "The Mitten" was a perfect fit for Reader's Workshop. The story is about a boy named Nicki who wanted snow white mittens. His grandmother did not think it was a good idea because if he lost them in the snow they would be too hard to find. She gave into his request and as the story goes he lost one of them. It was eventually found by a stream of woodland animals that made the mitten their home. One by one the animals moved into the mitten to keep warm. When a bear lumbered by and snuggled into the mitten it held fast until a field mouse tickled his nose and made him sneeze. The animals went flying along with the mitten which flew back into Nicki's arms. 
The following are some of the fun activities that we did with "The Mitten."

Reading our sentence strips and learning sight and color words.

Students decorated their own mitten book with all of the colors in the above chart. This book is now in their book bin as another book to read.

After rereading the book, students were invited to sequence the animal's arrival in the mitten, how they got there, and why the other animals make room for them.

Students drew, cut out and glued their own mitten onto a paper bag. The cards are for them to sequence their own retelling of the story and place them in the bag.

Finally, in Reader's Theater, children had lots of fun retelling the story they now know so well.

Back to Work with Word Families

 This is our first week back from our winter break. After so many days off, we started the week with a lot of review. During Skills Block, we went over the short "a" word family including: "ap", "at", "ab" and "at". Then students were invited to play the above game with a partner. On one block was single letters and the other block contained the word family. Students rolled the cubes and then wrote the word down on white boards. After this step, they only circled real words. This was a wonderful opportunity to get their thinking kick-started and back into school mode -- they also had a lot of fun playing this game!