Friday, April 30

  

Friday, April 30
Late Start

Word Family Focus: -ob
Math: Subtraction with Fingers
Fingers are very useful at a young age to see an abstract concept such as subtraction become a concrete visual for 'taking away'. The kids will be practicing a variety of subtraction statements such as this:
There are 4 apples in the apple tree  (put up 4 fingers) 2 apples fall off the tree, (take down two fingers) How many are left? 4 apples take away 2 apples is 2!”
They will also learn another finger technique called 'Touch and count back’  Let’s say there were 7 birds in the tree and 3 birds flew away. I’m going to touch my head to keep 7 in my brain and count back 3 using three fingers. 7 {touch head }….6, 5, 4 {counting using your three fingers to hold a place for each three that flew away}. 4 is my answer!  7 take away 3 is 4! 
I have 5 shirts and 2 get dirty.  How many are clean?  I will put 5 in my brain and then count back 2!  5….4, 3 (holding up one finger for each dirty shirt). 3 shirts are clean.”  This concept can be VERY difficult and will take lots of modeling.   

Guided Drawing

Your child will create a step by step drawing guided by me. It will take more than one day to complete so we will do some today and the rest next week. The drawings will be sent home next Friday.

Phy Ed Today
If the weather cooperates, PE will be outside from now on. Mr. Ronnenberg is getting the children ready for Track & Field Day!

*URGENT* 
Moms, please take a photo of you and your kindergartner and email it to me right away...Thank you!
tongenc@maplelake.k12.mn.us

Enjoy the weather this weekend!

Thursday, April 29

  

                                                              Thursday, April 29
                                                Sight Word Focus: there
                                 
                                                     Word Family Focus: -it
                                           Literacy Jobs 

 Writer's Workshop: Transitional Words
This lesson is about using the words first, next, then, and lastly when writing a sequence of events for 'How-To' stories.
 Handwriting: Sentences

Math: Subtraction with Objects

It's time to move onto subtraction!  For these beginning lessons, the kids will be introduced to strategies that will help them in solving subtraction problems. However, the symbols {- and =} are not introduced quite yet. For this introductory lesson the kids will use 5 snap cubes and a five frame to manipulate 'taking away' from the poem “5 Little Ducks.”

                                   
                                                                  Music Today

~Late start tomorrow morning...Wear blue for Autism awareness.
~SAVE THE DATE: Kindergarten Graduation for our class is Thursday, May 20 from 1-1:30...Details to come!
~SAVE THE DATE: Track & Field Day is Friday, May 21. Kindergarten participates in the morning...Details to come!

Wednesday, April 28

  

Wednesday, April 28

Sight Word Focus: were

Word Family Focus: -ig

 Literacy Jobs 
 Writer's Workshop: Using Pictures in 'How-To' Stories
Instead of writing each step in 'How-To' stories as 1, 2, 3, 4, the kids will draw pictures to go along with each step.

Math: Addition Sums to 10

Today’s lesson is all about having FUN with addition! In our read aloud, Domino Addition by Lynette Long, we will look at presenting addition in a horizontal and vertical format. Usually, I have the items the kids need to manipulate the addition problems but they get to choose their own items today. This is motivation in itself! 

PhyEd Today

Time for Kids: Ready, Set, Recycle!

~There are some important papers coming home in the Wednesday envelope today.

Tuesday, April 27

  

Tuesday, April 27

Sight Word Focus: their

Word Family Focus: -in

 Literacy Jobs 
 Writer's Workshop: The kids will write a thank you letter to Wright-Hennepin for the night light they received last week.

Math: Solving for Unknown

In today’s lesson we will continue working on addition story problems. However, we will be focusing on solving for the unknown addend in word problems. The kids will be using a number bond board to solve for the unknown and will have to listen real careful when completing these type of problems as listed below. 
There were 7 cats at the door. Some were brown and some were black, 3 of the cats were brown. How many were black? There were 8 balloons. Some were red and some where blue. 5 were red. How many were blue? There were 10 frogs at the pond. Some were in the water and some were on the log. 7 were on the log. How many were in the water?

**Zero the Hero is here today...Day 150!

   Computer class today.

Pushes & Pulls: What's the Biggest Excavator?

  In this lesson, the children discover that there are pushes and pulls involved in any kind of work, including the work done by machines. In the activity, Be a Digging Machine, they pretend to use shovels and excavators to dig a hole for a swimming pool.
                                 
                                                                 Music Today 
                         
                             ~No extra news for today.                           

Monday, April 26

   

                                                                       Monday, April 26

Sight Word Focus: which

Word Family Focus: -ig

 Literacy Jobs 
 Handwriting: Poem

Math: Writing Addition Stories

In this lesson the kids will continue to work on writing addition word problems. To help launch today's lesson, we will read Mrs. McTats and Her House Full of Cats by: Alyssa Capacelli.  The kids are going to write the addition problems we hear in the story. 

Addition word problems require a lot of listening comprehension skills. These skills will, at times, need more practice than the addition equation itself.  

Library Day

PhyEd Today

~No additional news for today.

Friday, April 23

   

Friday, April 23
Late Start

Word Family Focus: -ad

Math: Addition Stories
We will be continuing to work on story problems and it’s vital that our students know there is always more than ONE way to solve a problem. They will practice solving a few addition stories by using each of these strategies...A number path, ten-frame, writing the statement (e.g., 2 + 3 = 5), and drawing a picture.
There were 5 kids on the swings and 2 more kids came to swing. How many kids are on the swings in all?

My mom gave me 6 buttons, and my dad gave me 3 buttons. How many buttons do I have in all?
There are 4 girls in the class and 4 boys in the class. How many kids are in the class?
The clown has 7 red balloons and 3 orange balloons. How many balloons does the clown have in all?
Music Today

~The children will learn about 'Litter' Red Riding Hood who thinks it is okay to drop her garbage on the ground instead of putting it in the trash can. The story explains how it hurts animals, our environment, and people. At the conclusion of the story, the kids will sequence the events as they occurred in the story.

 
Project: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree
What a fun way to reuse paper towel rolls!

~A big thank you to Wright-Hennepin for their donation of night lights for MLE kindergartners!

Have a nice weekend!