Week of Learning 4-27-15

This class never ceases to amaze me.  Every class is special, but this one is BRILLIANT.  They are such a smart group full of questions and a desire to learn.  Please give yourselves a pat on the back because this is one amazing group!  They make coming to work exciting and fun! :)

Since we began our living/non-living unit last week, we have been adding many different creatures, critters and growing things to our classroom.  Although we will discuss them all in more detail at different points through the remainder of the year, it is great to see the students beginning to ask questions and get familiar with these different things that are alive. 

(Shoutout to CAES PTA for providing the funds for these projects to all kindergarten classrooms)

We observed the worms last week, but this week we got them all settled in their new habitat so that we can watch them live in the soil:

 
We also have some caterpillars that will be forming chrysalises soon:

 And finally, some tadpoles, who sadly, reached the end of their life cycle Friday afternoon.  Luckily, other kindergarten classes have offered to let us observe theirs from time to time so we can still see them change into frogs:

 

In unit study this week, our focus was on plants.  We mainly focused on the beginning of the plants' life cycle (which is when it is in its seed form).

First, we found out what we already knew about plants and what we want to know by starting a KWL chart:

We sorted seeds and compared/contrasted them:

 Then, we planted seeds.  Both in cups with soil:

 And in bags so we can see the roots grow too!

In language arts this week, we focused on the letter Yy.  We learned the sight words: you, so, got.  We summarized fictional stories about Franklin the turtle.  

In math this week, we began talking about subtraction.  We told number stories that involved "taking away" and modeled with pictures and manipulatives.  

Looking forward to next week:

In unit study, we will be continuing our study of plants.  We will learn about the parts of the plant and how the life cycle continues.

In language arts, we will be focusing on the letter Zz.  We will learn the sight words: this, mom, son, went.  We will read books about outer space and start to learn about the "questioning" comprehension strategy.  

In math, we will continue to focus on subtraction, and begin to use number lines to help us add and subtract.  

Have a great week!