A Spectacular 13th Week in Kindergarten!

Dear family, how was your week? We hope it was as fun, adventurous, knowledge-filled and team spirited as ours. Let's take a look at how our week went, and maybe you can decide for yourselves!

Large group 

This week in our large group sessions, we learned about the five oceans as well as a few sight words. Besides the calendar setting, digraph of the day, and shapes of the day, the oceans and sight words (literacy highlight) were the key topics we covered this week. We learned the names of the five oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Oceans. We also covered some fun facts about each ocean. The "5 Oceans" song by Jack Hartmann helped the children memorize the names and kept the learning process fun and engaging. Our children actively participated in this lesson, pointing out the oceans on a small printed map and a globe. They were particularly fascinated to learn that the Pacific Ocean is larger than any of the continents. This connection to the continents they had learned about previously helped solidify their understanding.

 "Pacific is bigger than Africa?" -Umar

Literacy

This week in our literacy session, we learned some new sight words - "I, go, am, get, me, for, can, have, not, did, run, and, my, the, it, said, like", and a few others. We went through the words together, making simple sentences to help our children memorize them. They then took turns reciting the sight words. After that, we did a coloring worksheet where our children colored the words "if," "it," and "in" using three different colors, just as the instructions specified. This activity helped reinforce the sight word recognition. For our second activity, our children practiced tracing and rewriting the sight words. This hands-on exercise not only helped them become more familiar with the words, but also worked on their overall writing skills. It was great to see our children's engagement and progress as they continued to build their literacy foundation.

Math

This week in math, we focused on comparing numbers to help our children identify which number is bigger or smaller. We started with a simple comparison activity using only one-digit numbers on our whiteboards. Next, we moved on to a two-digit number comparison worksheet. This allowed us to assess where our students are in their understanding of number comparison. Once we determined our students' level of proficiency with number comparison, we took it to the next level. We had them arrange numbers from least to greatest, starting with one-digit numbers. For the more advanced students, we had them work on arranging two-digit numbers in order from smallest to largest. Our students seemed to really enjoy these number comparison and ordering activities. It was great to see them engaged and having fun while strengthening their math skills. Practicing these fundamental number sense concepts will serve them well as we move on to more complex math topics.

Science 

This week in our science lessons, we dove into the topic of animal habitats! This was an engaging unit that really captured the interest of our children. We began by discussing what an animal habitat is - the natural environment where an animal lives and finds the food, water, shelter, and space it needs to survive. Our students shared their prior knowledge about the different places animals can be found. Next, we explored some specific habitats in depth including farms, jungles, ponds, forests, deserts, oceans, and grasslands. For each environment, we looked at the unique features and the types of animals that call it home. Our children loved seeing pictures of the diverse creatures adapted to these various habitats on our big white board. To reinforce what they were learning, we did a hands-on matching activity. Our students received worksheets with animal pictures on one side and habitat pictures on the other. They had to carefully match each animal to its correct corresponding habitat. This allowed them to apply their new knowledge in a fun, interactive way. The science lesson wrapped up with an open discussion. Our students shared their favorite animal habitats and explained why they found them interesting. It was wonderful to see their excitement and curiosity about the natural world. We are so proud of our class!

Art 

In our art session this week, our young artists got to explore a unique and creative painting technique - using frozen paint! This hands-on activity sparked their imagination and allowed them to experiment with different materials. We froze various paint colors in ice cube trays, using popsicle sticks as the "paintbrushes." When it was time for the art activity, our students were thrilled to see the vibrant frozen paint cubes. As they began painting, our children quickly discovered that the frozen paint had some fun and interesting properties. It glided smoothly across the paper, leaving bold strokes of color. As the paint slowly melted, it created unique textures and effects on the artwork. They tried different techniques, like swirling the popsicle stick, dotting the paint, or dragging it across the paper. Some even tried mixing colors by combining different frozen paint cubes. The final artworks were a delightful mix of colors, shapes, and textures. Each piece was a wonderful expression of the young artists' creativity and imagination.

Cooperative Game:

Since the kindergarteners had a café experience at the beginning of the year during our literacy sessions, we decided to create a café center designed specifically by our children. They came up with creative names like “Unicorn Café,” “Rainbow Gold Café,” “Flower Café,” and so on. We allowed them to draw and write their ideas on paper, which we then attached to a circular cardboard display they chose for the café logo. Next, we sat down to list the menu, where each child contributed their own food items and prices. We printed these out for use in the café center. Today, Friday, November 15th, we used our cooperative game session to officially open the café, which will serve as a center for all the children in LE starting this coming Monday. Our children were incredibly happy and excited about their creation, and they felt a sense of responsibility to ensure the café is maintained properly at the end of each day. Since they set it up themselves, they know exactly where everything goes. We are very excited to see how this center will develop over the course of the school year, and are so proud of our class of innovators!

Next week’s schedule:  

Monday – Math, Literacy

Tuesday – Literacy, Science, gym

Wednesday - Library, Math

Thursday - Science

Friday - Cooperative game

Specials:

Monday- Art

Tuesday - Gym

Thursday - Ethiopian center/ clay

Friday - Football

Reminders and notes:

• Next Wednesday your child will be coming home with a library folder and a story book in it. Make sure to read the story together and return the folder book back the other Wednesday so your child can get a new book.

• Make sure that your child is wearing suitable clothes on Monday as we have

       art class and activities get messy sometimes.

We can't wait to see what adventures await us next week! Stay tuned for more..