Classroom Update

 We have had 2 full weeks of school after what feels like a lot of in and out! We've been working to get back in to a learning routine. 

We spent time learning about weather. We talked about tools scientists use and observed a thermometer in warm water and ice water. 

This week in Science, we have been focusing on polar animals and how they survive in their habitat. We learned about blubber and how it keeps some animals warm. We felt what it was like to have blubber by sticking our hand in a "blubber bag" (shortening in a ziploc) in ice water. 

We are going to be learning about different animal habitats in the next few weeks. 

In Math, we are learning about measurement. We got to compare the length of our names with some friends. 

We finally made it to the 100th day of school last week! We celebrate with hats, 100 exercises, and lots of counting!

We've been busy and students are continuing to learn independence with their work. Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Steinman

Update

We have been back to in person learning for a couple weeks and are working to get back into the swing of things! 

We've spent our math time working on addition and understanding joining stories. We've used a lot of objects to help build our concrete understanding. 

After a couple weeks of taking it slow, we learned to use flashcards to build fluency! Students in kindergarten need to be able to add quickly up to 5. That makes 20 math facts for addition they should know quickly. We learned the strategy of using fingers to help us get started, but as they practice, they should know they immediately, kind of like a sight word! Students practice with a partner. 

We have some additional skills to work on with addition for the next week or so before we wrap it up. 

In Science, we learned about living things. Students did some writing about a living and nonliving thing and did a sort with living and nonliving things. 

Students got to bring home a book to keep this week thanks to some donors I've had. We love the old lady, and this time she was cold!

My husband and I are happily expecting our first child in July. It was fun to share our news with the kids!

Have a wonderful weekend!

:) Mrs. Steinman

Weekly Wrap Up

We learned about bats this week. We read some informational books on Epic and students did some writing with simple sentences to teach their reader about bats. I sent home a page to access Epic at home if your child is interested. There are books they can listen to about all sorts of topics! Students use Epic during centers a couple times a week. 

We learned that bats come in different sizes, and measured the wingspans using cubes. The largest one we measured was the Giant Flying Fox with a 5 foot wingspan, or 80 cubes!

We read Stellaluna and then compared bats and birds. Students drew a picture of a bat and a picture of a bird. 

We are working to be careful readers who think deeply. We read the words from the book Go Away Big Green Monster and students drew what they visualized (pictured) in their heads while listening. After the first read, we read the book with the illustrations, then students compared their original visualization with the illustrator's ideas. 

Next week, we are going to learn about voting and the election. In Math, we are starting 2-dimensional (flat) shapes and our reading activities will go along with shapes as well! 

Have a great weekend!

:) Mrs. Steinman

Pumpkin Week

 We focused on pumpkins this week. We are so thankful for the donation of pumpkins for each student! 

We learned about the parts of a pumpkin and made a simple diagram of the inside and outside. We counted seeds and ended up with 464 (at least) that we counted using 100s charts. 

Scientists use tools to measure, so we measured the height of the pumpkin using cubes and the circumference of the pumpkin using links. We also counted the lines on the outside of the pumpkin.

We watched some videos from my garden this summer about how a pumpkin grows, then drew the steps of a pumpkin life cycle. 

Next week, we are going to learn about bats. In Math, we finished numbers 6-10 and are taking a bit of a break from numbers. We are going to be sorting objects in different ways! In reading, we will be learning about tools and continuing to use our super reader powers! 

Thank you for signing up for Parent Teacher Conferences! On November 4th, I will send home a page to help guide our video or phone conference. I will also send home the directions for attending/logging on with your packet. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

:) Mrs. Steinman