Week of September 19-23

 We had a great week despite all the rainy weather! By the end of the week the kids were bubbling with energy as we missed several outdoor times in the morning and at recess. We did make it out to the forest for some fun times! Parker's family donated a mud kitchen that the kids are having a BLAST with, and some new stumps that I thought would be tables but the kids had other ideas! ;) We also had Mr. Deyo's class visit for the first time!

Indoors, kindergartners learned some new math games (Collecting Jewels and Teddy Bear Race), practiced writing numbers 1-5, and worked with five frames and finger flashing. They are so excited about the games they can't wait for math time each day! 

We officially kicked off our literacy routine that begins with word play (Heggerty phonemic awareness) followed by working with letters and sounds. This week we focused on b and m, the sounds they make, and how to write them. The handwriting part was pretty challenging, but we will keep practicing! 

Students are really beginning to form friendships and the classroom community is really building. We finished our self portraits this week, and read lots of books about skin color, students with disabilities, and gender. While I typically think of this theme as "diversity and inclusion" the kids are quickly making the connection and have affectionately been referring to the common theme as "same, same, but different!" from a previous read aloud. I find that talking openly about these topics helps to bring up genuine and heartfelt conversations in a really authentic way. Truly one of my favorite parts of this job.

Lastly, we worked with iPads again and learned how to build with pattern blocks on the device, just like at our math station! Building these skills to become more independent with the iPads will allow them to use some of the great programs we have for math and literacy during their independent work time.