Around the World

This week, the kids began their journey around the world!  They welcomed back Flat Stanley from Florida and Colorado and learned about starfish, sponges, and skiing!  The K-kids started learning about the world by first focusing on the United States.  Through books and multi-media, they learned about the flag, Washington D.C., and more about the duties of the President of the United States.  The Kindergarteners also made their travel passports and travel journals to use when parents share about different countries.  After learning about the U.S., they traveled to Germany.  Philip's mom shared what children eat in Germany and what a typical school day looks like.  She also shared sports played, a story about the Berlin Wall, and about the holidays.  The K-kids were able to look at photos on the computer of castles, mountains, and a typical German outfit.  They were also able to taste many different types of German food including meatballs, special toasts, chocolate, and gummy bears!  After learning about Germany, the K-kids wrote a fact they learned in their travel journals and had their passports stamped!  They are looking forward to the many countries being shared throughout the month by the parents.

In math, the K-kids began exploring with tangrams.  Tangrams are excellent for encouraging sorting by different attributes.  The shapes are also fun puzzles that can be used to encourage the kids to cover a puzzle with the shapes so all of the shapes fit perfectly.  It was fun for the kids to explore the shapes, sort the shapes, use the correct names for angles and sides, and create different figures using the shapes.  The K-Kids also practiced writing numbers after hearing clues such as, "Write the number that comes before 54."  Their answers helped the teachers assess the students' knowledge and will be shared with you during parent teacher conferences in February.  The Kindergartners also reviewed coin identification and values this week as well as addition and subtraction stories.

Sharing the letters we wrote

During Writer's Workshop, the Kindergarteners continued learning about writing a letter.  They learned the different parts of the letter and practiced letter writing by writing a letter to the President.  I was impressed with their phonetic knowledge, their ability to begin and close a letter appropriately, and by their ideas within the body of the letter!  Check out the voicethread of the letters on the glog! :)