Dear Families,
We’ve been learning all about pumpkins this week! Our Big Book this week is called Pumpkin, Pumpkin and is a wonderful story about a boy named Jamie and the process of growing a pumpkin. Monday, we took a picture walk through the story and gave our thoughts as to what might happen on each page. Tuesday, we predicted how many times the word “pumpkin” would appear in the book (13). We highlighted it each time we found it and then went back and counted. Wednesday, played Guess The Covered Word. I covered some key words in the story and through reading the story, they children had to use the words and the letters in the covered word to guess what it was. Thursday, we talked about the life cycle of the pumpkin. We used sentence strips and wrote down step by step the growing process of a pumpkin. Friday, we choral read the book together and reviewed the different activities we could do with this book once it is in Big Book Work Station.
We also introduced two new Work Stations this week: Name Work Station and Work with the Teacher Station. At Name Work Station, I will be creating a box for each child to practice writing their names, tracing their names, and matching magnetic letters to outlines of their names. They all love to see their name in print at this age, and this lets them do that but also practice fine motor skills, their friends names, and one to one correspondence. Work with the Teacher Station is a station where the children will come work with either myself or Mrs. Groote. We will be doing different activities for different groups of children based upon their current ability levels. These may be as simple as identifying letters all the way up to reading simple books and having a discussion. These activities will change throughout the year and when a child’s ability level changes.
Our Predictable Chart this week was all about pumpkins. We started the week by beginning our chart, A pumpkin is...” The children then each took turns over two days completing their sentence. Wednesday, we touch read the sentences; the children each had a chance to come up to the chart and read it aloud. Thursday, I picked three sentences and wrote them on sentence strips. I cut them apart and the children came up to the front of our group and held them. We then talked about what students needed to switch with others so that the words would be in the correct order and match our Predictable Chart. Friday, I gave the students their sentences that I had typed into the computer and cut apart. We used them to illustrate a class book called “ A Pumpkin Is....”. You can see it in our classroom.
During our Math time this week, we completed a Pattern Block Pumpkin, much like the apple we made last week. After completing it, the children graphed the numbers of each pattern block shape that they used to make their pumpkin. We also had our first opportunity to sequence the life cycle of a pumpkin on paper. The children were given 6 pictures of the life cycle and asked to put them in order. We glued them on a sheet and they will be displayed in the hallway out side of our classroom. We also used our balance scales. We talked about how we could make each side balance with the other. The children had different math tools at each table and were given the opportunity to rotate from table to table and use various materials.
During our Writer’s Workshop time, our mini-lessons this week were about stretching out words and writing down the sounds that we heard. We placed special emphasis on writing down the first sounds in the words we want to write. I conference with 5-6 children a day and am charting their progress so we will be able to see the children’s growth throughout the school year. More on that at conference time! :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kristen Poindexter
http://www.poindexterpress.blogspot.com
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