October!

We have been working away in Kindergarten! It is amazing the difference between the first days and weeks and now, when you see how students just know their way through the day. We are really in our groove, with lots of learning happening all through the day!
We continue to work on social/emotional development through morning meeting greetings (reinforcing learning names and getting to know each other), learning about language like "expected" and unexpected' as it relates to school rules and self regulation.
On Tuesday afternoons we have begun learning about differences through a program called "Changing Perspectives". The idea is to talk openly about differences to promote awareness and build empathy. We began by defining the word "disability" and talked about physical disabilities. With a combination of books and videos, we have learned about differences in regards to physical appearance, learning, and abilities. We are reflecting on how we all have strengths and things we are still learning, and although we have differences from those around us, we often have more similarities than differences when looking closer. Some books we've read are "Not Your Typical Dragon" and "Leo the Late Bloomer". We have watched a couple of short videos about a child in a wheelchair who has Cerebral Palsy, and two children who are great friends even though one child has Down's Syndrome. All of these videos are a nice way for children to see real people that they can easily relate to. Today we did a writing prompt to look at our own strengths and areas for growth, and we will do some sharing of those in the next couple days in an effort to build empathy for each other within our own classroom walls.
In literacy we are telling stories orally and through pictures in our journals. Students are learning how to make representational drawings that tell a story of something true that has happened to them. During reader's workshop students are learning to "read" independently, participating at stations, and coming to my table in small groups to work on rhyming, beginning sounds, letters b, m, r, and s. They are sorting objects and pictures by these letter sounds as well as practicing writing their lowercase versions.

In math we are working on counting forward and backward to 30+, identifying numerals and dots on ten frames, writing numbers, and combinations to five (1+4, 2+3). Again, we are working on being productive independently at math stations while some are working in a small group with a teacher on a specific skill.

In science we have been learning about changes in fall including leaves and trees, birds and animals adapting to winter, migration and hibernation. It has been seamless to integrate so much of this into our outdoor time on Wednesdays!