Polar Regions

Brrrrr…it is cold in Evanston, and the Kindergarten theme goes perfectly with the snow and chilly temperatures – the polar regions!  The K-kids started learning about the similarities and differences between the Arctic and Antarctica.  They learned about the people who live in the Arctic and learned some Inuit words, facts about what they eat and where they live in the very cold region.  The K-kids wrote facts that they learned and drew pictures to match.  These are on display in the hallway.  They were very creative when they made Arctic scenes, as they made igloos, snowflakes, and Arctic animals in the pictures.  They also began learning about the animals that live in each region.  The K-kids were very surprised that polar bears and penguins do not live together!  Next week we will focus more on the polar animals and how they survive the coldest areas on Earth.

The Estimation Jar is being circulated around the classroom this month!  The estimation jar is a fun way to reinforce making estimates and then counting and grouping the objects!  We can make groups of 2s, 5s, and 10s to make the counting go faster!  The K-kids also learned a fun math game called Growing Train.  This game reinforces addition and is easily differentiated to meet the needs of all the learners.  Next week we will play the Disappearing Train game which is a combination of addition and subtraction.  The kids also worked in their math journals this week, created a graph of favorite colors, and learned more about place value as we celebrated our 60^th day of Kindergarten!

The kids loved learning about Hanukkah this week!  Natalia's mother shared a story with the class, showed the class their family menorah, and passed out goody bags and cookies.  Thank you again for sharing with the Kindergarten class.

We finished reading Flat Stanley this week and have been working hard on coloring Stanleys and sending him to our friends and families around the world!  The kids are so excited to see where he travels.  Please send him out to friends and families near and far so we can learn about our state, country, and world!

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Roycemore next week.  It will be open in the EDP room before school and after school.  The Book Fair is a great place to buy holiday presents and/or to build your child’s libraries!  Please take a minute to check it out next week.

A big thank you to our parent volunteers who went with us to the Nature Museum.  The tree workshop was a great supplement to our year long theme of life cycles in nature, and it definitely complimented our ongoing observations of our Kindergarten class tree!