Thinking and Learning Time Week of October 14

Below you see readers underlining the Heart Words "I" and "Like" with a highlighter. Then they are to underline the color words in the correct color. We are working hard on learning color words. After finishing, learners go back to color the picture to match the words. This is another little book that is kept in the private reading baskets. 

Upper and lower case pumpkin match. After picking a pumpkin, fawn friends record the lower case letter on their pumpkin patch page. This is tricky, especially with B, D, P and Q!! Maybe you can ask your thinker to point out some lower case letters while you read at home!

Letters in the bag. These learners take turns pulling upper or lower case letters out of a bag. They then all trace the matching letter on their sheet. It takes a lot of work to think about upper verse lower case letters. If your child does not finish, you can play the game at home with letter cards :-)

Gord Recording

Here you see scientists using what we've been learning in both science and writers workshop to look closely and record diagrams of various gourds. Ask your thinker to tell you all about this work when they come home :-)

We love science!!

What a great week we will be having!

Writer's Workshop... When you think you're done...You've just begun!

Today we learned that there is always more you can do to make your writing piece better!! After working for several days on our sunflower pieces writers were ready for the last phase...adding color! Today each writer was given his/her own box of crayons! They are labeled with their names. We practiced opening and closing the lid carefully. We talked about how, if you pull out more than one crayon and leave them lying on the table, they will surely get mixed up with others. After all, the individual crayons do not have names on them :-) Writers practiced putting one crayon back before taking out another as they worked silently to color in their pieces.

I don't know that I've ever seen such focus! They were silent as they worked!

Amazing writers we have here!

We Are Storybook Readers!

Today in Readers Workshop, we embarked on a new journey as readers! From the very beginning of the year I have been reading "Star Books". These very special books are stories we read over and over (5 times to be exact) before putting them in our very special "Star Book Basket". Well, after having read 10 of these books, 5 times each, we were ready!! Each reader was given the opportunity to choose two of their favorite star books for their private reading baskets. They were so excited! We will be working on retelling and pre-reading through these favorite story books! Ask your reader which two star books he or she chose to put in their basket!
Here you see readers working with their partners to retell their favorite books!

WE ARE STORYBOOK READERS!

Math Centers Week of Oct. 7

This week we put our mathematical learning into practice!

Below you see mathematicians finding objects, counting how many, and graphing their results! This was a really tricky activity because of how  many different objects they were looking to record!!

Below you see mathematicians applying what we have learned about "Tens Frames" in order to show a specific number. We learned that the entire top row of the "Tens Frame" must be filled in order to move on to the next row. We also learned that it is more accurate to either draw a circle or an "x" to mark each spot. When children color in the squares they can become carried away and it makes their recordings hard to interpret.

When they finished, mathematicians worked to build numbers with playdough on tens frames or using bean counters  :-).

 

Roll and Record-

Below you see mathematicians rolling to dice, adding up the total, and coloring the matching number on their sunflower sheet. It is so interesting to watch how differently they add the numbers together! Some learners counted all of the dots. Others looked at one die and if it was 5, they would count up on the next die. So, for example, if they rolled a 5 and a 2, instead of counting one by one they would say "five, six, seven". Still others would look and say 5 and 2 is 7. I love learning all about how their minds work!

Growing Patterns!
Mathematicians love geometry! At this table learners worked to build the designs and patterns from a variety of cards. Some were very tricky!

Your thinkers are amazing!

Thinking and Learning Time Week of Oct. 7

Fawn Friends worked on another little book. This time we focused on color words. They underlined our heart words "I, see, and a" and traced color words in the matching color.

Beginning Sound Work-

Learners spun to find a letter and color the objects that matched with the beginning sound.

Learners used magnetic letters to match the beginning sounds of the pictures on the mats

Five Senses little book-

Bringing science and literacy together!! After studying our five senses through interactive center work on Friday and taking a five senses hike Monday morning, your learners were ready to create their own little book! Please keep in mind that at this point in the year we have been focusing on beginning sounds. Any written work your learner brings home should be celebrated, even if he or she has only written the beginning sound for the word. Ask your scientist to "read" you his/her book. If they don't remember what it says try to come up with some things together that could fit on that page! Encourage your writer to add that to their book labeling their picture with the beginning sound! If they hear more sounds they can add more! Keep in mind, we are trying to build confidence! Don't spell a word for your child! Encourage him or her to use their letter/sound knowledge to write the sounds they hear!

Five Senses sorting game-

When scientists finished their little books they were able to play a sorting game-

Focusing on letters and building fine motor skills with our hole punching work!

 Another great week of learning in the Fawn Room!

Thinking and Learning Binder Poems

Today we added our first poem into our Thinking and Learning Binders. These binders will house all of the poetry we learn throughout the year, our letter and sound knowledge, number recognition, word recognition and writing samples. As we learn more poems, your reader will add them to their binders. We work to circle "heart words" as we learn them. This week we focused on the words "I", "a", "we", "see" and "the". Poetry is a great way for readers to fall in love with language. As they recite these well loved poems and songs, readers begin to notice words they know. Once that starts to happen, a learners confidence builds, they become risk takers and move forward as readers in the comfort of our well loved verses.
We worked hard to use gentle hands and learn to open and close our binders safely. We learned how to put the poems in the front of the binders and where to locate writing samples and learning assessments. I cannot believe how quietly and carefully all of these thinkers worked!

Here is the poem we have been studying...

After circling all of the new "Heart Words", readers are encouraged to illustrate their poems. They were so careful to draw pictures of their friends on the back.

😍

5 Senses Study

Today your scientists practiced using their five senses to explore the world around them! Take a look!

Here you see our learners using their sense of taste to discern whether they like green apples or clementines the most. Shockingly to me, green apples won out! I loved hearing their language; juicy, sweet, sour, crunchy... Ask your thinker about it!

Below scientists use their sense of touch to make claims about what might be in the bags. You would be amazed by the language your learners already have and are learning from one another! 

As these thinkers stated their claims as to what might be in the bag we recorded their evidence for their thinking. Take a look at the claims below and explanations they gave as to the why.  It's kind of messy, but, well, science is!

This may have been my favorite! I placed a bar of soap, vinegar, peppermint and basil in cups. Then I covered each cup with a paper towel. Scientists were invited to smell each cup and record whether they did or did  not like the smells. I loved hearing their language and seeing their faces as they explored!

The results...

Listening closely to tuning forks and studying how different sounds can be made :-)

Below you will see scientists using their sense of sight to observe color tools.

We love science in the Fawn Room!!

Thank you for sharing your scientists with me! I hope they are able to explain and share some of our learning at home!

:-)