September in Review!

To the Families of Cantiague Room 4,

WOW! It's amazing that the first full month of Kindergarten has come to an end.  We have spent a wonderful 20 school days getting to know each other, and it's hard to imagine a time when we didn't.  The children in our room are learning and growing together each and everyday and we are already a family.

In Room 4 we have truly hit the ground running and we are learning more and more about ourselves and what we can do each and every day. The children have already begun to take the lead in our classroom by leading our calendar each morning, performing their classroom jobs, teaching their friends using the smart board, leading a whole class reading of a poem and in so many other ways.  The "babies" who left your homes on September 1st have become lead learners in one short month.

In Reading  we are learning that readers "read the world."  When asked if they knew how to read, many children in our class answered "no" or "not yet" and yet it wasn't long until they realized that they are already readers.  Although many of them are not reading books, they can read the outside of their snack and know that there are Cheez-Its inside, or pass Target and know they can go there for some great shopping!  We established that readers read much more than books.  Together we discovered and brainstormed a list of "other" things we can read.  The children explored menus, invitations, newspapers, cereal boxes, ipads and more to realize that there is so much more to reading than books.  We also spent time reading our school.  The children explored Cantiague and found many words that they could stop and "look, think and read."  We also have learned about the parts of a book.  Your readers are already using the things that have learned to explore their books from home and the books in our classroom. I love seeing their confidence as readers and learners blossom.  

In Writing  the children are learning that we can use pictures to tell a story.  We have begun a writing activity that we will do every Monday, Weekend News.  The children choose one thing that they did over the weekend and write about it.  Of course at this point in the year, the writing mostly consists of pictures, but it will amaze you by the end of the year how much they can write about one event during their weekend.  I encourage you to have conversations on Sunday evenings or Monday mornings about what your learner plans to write about for their Weekend News.  This week we also launched Writer's Workshop.  This is the writing time where children will learn to write, revise, edit and publish many different pieces of work throughout the year.  We read the book Library Mouse where we learned that writer's write about things they know a lot about.  The children are already authors and are using pictures, and even experimenting with letters and words to write about the things they know and love.  We decorated our writing folders to help inspire us for future writing pieces! 

We have begun Fundations, which is the way the multi-sensory program in which the children study letters, sounds, words and letter formation.  So far we have learned the letters t, b, f, m, n, i and u.  Each week we study 2 or 3 letters and truly become experts on them.  We have explored our classroom for letters and sounds, learned about the lines of our writing grid and continue to use the website www.starfall.com for fun activities and words to help us learn correct letter sounds.

In Math the children are learning all about the numbers 1-5.  We have used manipulatives, drawings, images and even our own bodies to help us count, compare and explore these numbers.  We are also learning about comparing objects by using the words "same" and "different."  While originally this proved a challenge, many of the children are now able to articulate and explain the ways things are the same and the differences between them.

After having a mostly Monday-less month we were finally able to attend the Science Lab for the first time this week.  Mrs. O'Neill dug right in and the children were up to the challenge.  They began (as they always do) by listening to a book about Whales.  The children then learned about blubber, and how it helps whales to float.  The children then did an experiment in which they tested "blubber" (Crisco) to see if it would help their "whales" (olives) to float in 100ml of water.  They even measured the water in a beaker themselves!  My favorite accomplishment was NOT ONE SPILL!!  We are also learning all about apples.  We have read books and poems about apples, created apple art and even did an apple taste test! Ask your Kindergarten kid which apple was their favorite! 

There have been so many other amazing, fun, exciting and happy things going on in our classroom each day.  Dr. Sinanis has declared this school year the #yearofhappy and that feeling has permeated the building.  The happiness on the children's faces when they make a new discovery, develop a sense of pride, make a new friend, and even build a higher tower than they've ever built before is contagious.  I can only hope that the next 9 months are filled with as much excitement and happiness as our first one together!

Remember: If you do not already, please feel free to follow me on Instagram (@missgrossmansclass) and twitter (@AGrossman10) to see more of what goes on in our classroom each day!

Peace, Love and Kindergarten,

Miss Grossman