Tag Archives: nonfiction writing

News of the Week—April 19-23

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EARTH DAY: We enjoyed making and wearing our Earth Day hats on Thursday. We read Just a Gum Wrapper and It’s Earth Day! by Mercer Mayer among other books to assist in our learning about Earth Day.  We learned how we can take care of the earth and “go green” by recycling paper, cans and bottles, turning off lights when leaving a room, turning off the water while brushing teeth and using containers instead of plastic baggies for snacks. The kinders used this information to create a craft.  Having a chance to marble paint was part of the fun. 

We took a few minutes to find out where the 4th graders each week take our bags of scraps of paper.  The kinders were surprised to learn that we have a big recycling bin in our school parking lot.  Looking inside at all of that paper was pretty cool too. (Sorry…no pictures of that.  I was too busy lifting 22 kinders up to look inside) Many kinders said that they recycle at home.  Keep working to keep our earth healthy and clean.

   

Cheers were heard when I explained what we would be doing with blue & green frosting, a popsicle stick and a cookie……making an Earth Day cookie. Who knew that frosting and cookies make kinders explode with cheers?  🙂 Love it!!

     

POPCORN WORDS:   THEY. THESE

MATH: We found partners of 6 & 10, used the symbol of equal (=) and not equal (=with/through it) to find groups that are fewer, showed teen umbers as 10 and extra ones and solved addition problems.  We learned how to play Domino Dots to practice addition.  What fun!

WRITING: Our topic of study this week was CHICKENS.  We read many different non-fiction books on chickens while writing down many interesting facts on a big chart. Then we organized these facts onto our own “have, can, are’ papers and highlighted 3 favorite facts before writing them down and drawing pictures in our  All About Chickens books. We added another page to our all about books this week – we added an ending page. We found a way to wrap up our topic on chickens. The kinders did an AMZING job working more and more independently!!  Enjoy having your kinder read their writing to you.  

FAIRY TALES—THE LITTLE RED HEN:  We read various versions of the  The Little Red Hen this week. The kinders used the Shape Go Map to help recalling details of the story.  The kinders practiced their retelling skills by using character cutouts and a setting that they drew onto a paper bag.  I hope that you ask them to sing the retelling song we learned as they retell the story to you this weekend.

READING: We learned that readers read everything they can about a topic by reading more than one book about the same topic. We used 2 books about insects to practice this.  After reading 2 books about ducks, we noticed facts that were similar and different.The kinders then tried to find similar and different facts in their 2 books.  The kinders fun playing a game  using non-fiction text features. We said, “Can you spy with your little eye…” and then gave a non-fiction text feature for our reading partner to look for in their topic books. We looked for things such as bold words, fancy words, photographs, labels, glossary. Finally, the kinders learned that readers can think about everything authors what them to learn about a topic. They had fun sharing some fun facts with friends.

LITERACY/PHONICS: We were busy working on these skills….

  • remove beginning sounds to make new words isn’t always one letter but sometimes two letters. You can add CH, SH, TH. (chip-ship)
  • listening for ending sounds
  • making words in the -ET family
  • reading a short story and answering comprehension questions
  • reading the story of The Little Red Hen and retelling it using the props we made

KOOL KINDER AND THE SURPRISE BAG AND THE GUESSING BAG:  The items this week were pom poms, marshmallows, mini chocolate chips and freeze dried Skittles.  We are having so much fun trying to guess the amount and are practicing making groups of ten and extra ones too.

REMINDERS

  • Bring 2 snacks each day to school and a water bottle with a spill proof lid please. Recently many kinders are “SOOOO HUNGRY” and are eating more than one snack in the a.m.  Often leading to “I need a snack” in the afternoon.  Growing kinders!  I do some extra snacks for just in case. Please be sure to have a conversation with your kinder about snacks.  I do make them eat what you send.  
  • Return take home books and library books on Wednesday
  • Watch the weather. Please keep in mind that even though the season is spring, some days will be cold, wet, rainy and maybe snowy :(.  Please continue to send a hat and mittens, along with a coat, with your kinder. Boots are not needed unless it snows or rains. Thanks! :)

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, April 26—MUSIC;  Book orders due online or paper forms with check made out to Scholastic Book Clubs

*Tuesday, April 27—GYM

*Wednesday, April 28—ART; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books! Thank you for taking the time to write comments about your kinder’s reading of their TAKE HOME books.  That is so helpful 🙂

*Thursday, April 29—STEAM 

*Friday, April 30–MUSIC

***Have a fabulous weekend. Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week—April 12-16

POPCORN WORDS:   HIM. JUMP

WRITING:  We began the week by listing facts we knew about goats.  There were a lot of good facts.  Then we read informational books about goats to gather more facts.  The kinders incorporated these facts into their writing as they created another book of All About Goats using the format of Goats have _____.  Goats can ____.  Goats are ____. The kinders are doing a fantastic job with their informational writing.  They have made incredible progress this year in their writing. I am so proud of their hard work.

FAIRY TALES….THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF:  Our fairy tale this week was about 3 brave goats who had courage to cross a bridge and deal with a bully, the troll. We read the original story and a few different versions of the fun fairy tale.  Again, we used the SHAPE GO map to help us retell the story, talk about the characters, setting and heart of the story. We discussed words that described the three goats and the troll.  This led into a good discussion about what we can do if we encounter a bully. We also had an awesome discussion about what makes a hero.  We thought the biggest billy goat was like a hero for saving his little brothers. We ended the week by having fun making our own trolls.

  

MATH:  We focused on number partners this week.  We completed pages inside of our math workbooks and played games. One game was called The Hiding Zero Game. This game focused on practicing teen numbers, each teen number is made by replacing the zero in the ten with a number that tells how many ones there are. For example, 14=10+4. Pigs in the Pen was another fun game.  Lay out 10 objects. One partner closes their eyes while the other partner removes some of the “pigs”. Open eyes and say “6 pigs in the pen.  How many more pigs to make ten?” (6+4=10) Lima Bean Shake was a third game we played.  We also reviewed sorting by completing a book called Bonkers for Buttons and actually sorting objects.

LITERACY/PHONICS: We worked on these skills….

  • letters that work together to make a single sound – we looked at the sound s makes, the sound h makes and then the sound they make when they are together (sh)
  • sorting pictures that start with s, h and sh
  • making words in the word family -UM
  • writing and reading CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant)
  • reading the story of The 3 Billy Goats Gruff and retelling it using the props we made

READING: We learned that non-fiction readers think of new words that they are learning and write them down. Readers sometimes need to be detectives and use clues on the whole page to figure out the meaning of words, reminding themselves to not read too fast so that you don’t miss important facts.

KOOL KINDER AND THE SURPRISE BAG AND THE GUESSING BAG:  The items this week were seashells and a stuffed lion. We also started a new activity for being the Kool Kinder.  Be on the lookout for the GUESSING BAG.  You will need to fill the GUESSING BAG with a number of the same objects (1-50).  Then the kinders will try to guess the number.  A fun way to practice estimating, number identification and making groups of 10 and extra ones.  So far we have tried to guess the number of cotton balls, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS:  We celebrated 3 birthdays this week.  Thank you so much for the birthday gift treats!

REMINDERS

  • Bring 2 snacks each day to school and a water bottle with a spill proof lid please.
  • Return take home books and library books on Wednesday
  • Watch the weather. Please keep in mind that even though the season is spring, some days will be cold, wet, rainy and maybe snowy :(.  Please continue to send a hat and mittens, along with a coat, with your kinder. Boots are not needed unless it snows or rains. Thanks! :)
  • Change of clothes check.  Be sure to check the extra clothes baggy in your kinder’s backpack that they are season and size appropriate.  With spring weather, recess can sometimes get messy.

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, April 19—MUSIC

*Tuesday, April 20—GYM

*Wednesday, April 21—ART; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books! 

*Thursday, April 22—STEAM If your kinder would like a sack lunch from the lunch service, please email me or write a note by Thursday, 4/22

*Friday, April 23–EXTRA RECESS Fast Friday (Early Release) 12:15 p.m. Dismissal

***Have a wonderful weekend. Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week—March 29-April 1

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Well, we made it!  It is officially SPRING BREAK!  The kinders have been anxiously counting down the days.  Take a peek at what happened this week in kindergarten.

POPCORN WORDS:  A week of review

WRITING:  This week we complied facts about bears onto a large chart and referred to that chart throughout the week.  We organized our facts onto our individual “have, can, are” papers.  As we wrote our informational booklets we asked ourselves “What else can I add?” by remembering what writers and illustrators do…write words and drawing matching detailed, labeled pictures.  The kinders did a great job writing their All About Bears books.

FAIRY TALES—-GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS:  We read MANY stories of The Three Bears…the ‘original’ versions, along with others like Goldilocks and the 3 Hares, Tackylocks and  Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears.  We practiced using different words to describe Goldilocks. For example she had yellow hair, she was naughty, curious, she was rude and likes porridge.  We used the Shape Go map during retell, focusing on what happened in the beginning, the middle and the end of story.  We had fun retelling the story using puppets.  

MATH:  We worked on learning more about number partners of 10 using stars in the night sky, practiced telling story problems with drawings and worked with teen numbers. We had fun finding number partners of 10 using jelly beans in an Easter Basket.

READING: We learned that readers can add an ending to a nonfiction book. Some non-fiction books just end, others invite readers to do something.  Readers can notice & use their nonfiction FEATURE POWER. This power helps us gather even more information about our book. Non-fiction illustrators use bold words, labels and headings to highlight specific facts too.

LITERACY/PHONICS: We worked on …. 

  • writing and reading CVCe words (consonant-vowel-consonant-silent e)
  • writing and reading CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant)
  • identifying ST and BR blends
  • reading and finding popcorn words in Goldilocks and the 3 Bears story

KOOL KINDER AND THE SURPRISE BAG:  The items this week were: a stuffed dog, glow in the dark bat and LOL doll.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SAWYER

In between our “regular” learning  this week we squeezed in some fun by….going on an Easter Egg hunt on our playground and by decorating an egg.  The kinders decorated an egg before it was taped to the seat of their chair.  It was the kinders’ responsibility to keep their egg warm by sitting on it while waiting for it to hatch.  Throughout the day on Thursday, the eggs began to hatch chicks….PEEPS chicks that is.  What a lot of fun it was when the kinders realized their egg had hatched.  You just have to LOVE kinder humor and excitement! 

REMINDERS

  • Bring 2 snacks each day to school and a water bottle with a spill proof lid please.
  • Return take home books and library books on Wednesday
  • Watch the weather. Please keep in mind that even though the season is spring, some days will be wet and rainy and maybe snowy :(.  Please continue to send a hat and mittens, along with a coat, with your kinder. Boots are not needed unless it snows or rains. Thanks! :) 
  • Change of clothes check.  Be sure to check the extra clothes baggy in your kinder’s backpack that they are season and size appropriate.  With spring weather, recess can sometimes get messy.
  • TAKE HOME Books:  Your kinder will not have a book to take home over Spring Break.  They will be taking home a new book to read on Wednesday, April 14.  If you have free time, continue to practice popcorn words, addition & subtraction stories with written partner equations and write various kinds of stories…narrative, informational and pattern books.

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, April 12—STEAM. WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL Celebrate Emily’s birthday (4/8)

*Tuesday, April 13—MUSIC

*Wednesday, April 14—GYM; TAKE HOME BOOKS come home again & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books!  Celebrate Grayson’s birthday

*Thursday, April 15—ART 

*Friday, April 16–STEAM. Celebrate Sophia’s birthday

***Have a wonderful, safe, relaxing break!  Enjoy creating memories this week with your family   Mrs. Bohl

 

News of the Week—March 22-26

POPCORN WORDS:  AS    HAS   

MATH:  We reviewed various math concepts such as solving addition & subtraction problems, drawing & writing partner equations for story problems, identifying 3D shapes, writing number partner equations, drawing tens & extra ones for teen numbers on Monday.  On Tuesday, the kinders worked inside their “office spaces” to take the Unit #4 test.  These tests will come home soon.  We began Unit #5 by telling math stories and drawing scenes with teen numbers. We looked for partners of 10 by using Stars in the Night sky.  We solved addition problems by cracking open Easter eggs and rolling a giant die to find partners of 6. We ended the week by playing a fun game called BUNNY HOP.  The kinders LOVED hopping out addition equations to find the answer.

WRITING:  We began a new style of writing….NON FICTION. We read a collection of non-fictional books about pigs and located many interesting facts to write on our chart paper.  We used this information to help us write our information writings All About Pigs.  The kinders are beginning to use spaces between words, popcorn words and sentence stoppers with more regularity.  Hooray for them!

FAIRY TALES:  THE THREE LITTLE PIGS:  We also read the classic story The Three LIttle Pigs as well as some books with a twist The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Three Horrid Pigs and the Big Friendly Wolf and The Three Little Pigs and the somewhat bad pig.  Of course we needed to practice our retelling skills by creating props (character puppets and the straw, stick and brick houses out of a milk carton!) so that your kinder can tell you the story at home. We sang this fun song (using my CD) frequently this week. I found it on YouTube so that you can enjoy it at home. Here is the link to The 3 Little Pigs Blues by Greg and Steve.They also practiced reading popcorn words by playing RUN, PIGGY, RUN. Look for this game inside your kinder’s folder.

READING: We started a new reading unit learning about non-fiction books.  The kinders first reviewed what fiction and non-fiction books are.  Then they learned that reading non-fiction books isn’t that different from fiction books. Readers look closely, ask questions, point and talk so that they become experts on topics. Readers also ask questions, just like reporters do by saying  “This just in…”.  The kinders had fun practicing this after we read a Let’s Find Out newspaper about beavers.  We said “This newspaper was mostly about how beavers build their homes.  One example was……….”  Have fun listening to your reporter give you some facts at home!

LITERACY/PHONICS:  We practiced writing CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, unscrambling sight words and reading sight words, We learned that rhyming words are sometimes spelled the same at the end. Word part power can help us hear and see what is the same in a tricky word so that we can read and write them. Example: hop, top, stop, flop.

KOOL KINDER AND THE SURPRISE BAG:  The items this week were: a football, Biscuit the dog, a pet cage, a motorcycle and a parrot

USING OUR 5 SENSES:  We reviewed what our 5 senses were…hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching.  The kinders were then asked to use their 5 senses to observe and describe a bunny Peep.  What fun!

REMINDERS

  • Bring 2 snacks each day to school and a water bottle with a spill proof lid please.
  • Return take home books and library books on Wednesday
  • Watch the weather. Please keep in mind that even though the season is spring, some days will be wet and rainy and maybe snowy :(.  Please continue to send a hat and mittens, along with a coat, with your kinder. Boots are not needed unless it snows or rains. Thanks! :) 
  • Change of clothes check.  Be sure to check the extra clothes baggy in your kinder’s backpack that they are season and size appropriate.  With spring weather, recess can sometimes get messy.
  • TAKE HOME Books:  Your kinder will not have a book to take home over Spring Break.  They will be taking home a new book to read on Wednesday, April 14.  If you have free time, continue to practice popcorn words, addition & subtraction stories with written partner equations and write various kinds of stories…narrative, informational and pattern books.
  • MONTHLY CALENDARS:  The APRIL calendar can be found under CALENDARS at the top of our blog.  It lists birthdays, events, and more.  Please take time to read it.  I also sent home a paper copy today. Here is the link to the April lunch menu.
  • WEEKLY HOMEWORK:  The subtraction page was missing from the homework packet that was passed out on Wednesday afternoon.  I placed it in your kinder’s return to school section of their Blue Daily Folder.  Please look for it and return it with the homework next Wednesday!

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, March 29—STEAM

*Tuesday, March 30—MUSIC

*Wednesday, March 31—GYM; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books!   Homework packet due  

*Thursday, April 1—ART. Read and Feed:  Wear pj’s or comfy clothes for reading!

*Friday, April 2-Friday, April 9 Spring Break—NO SCHOOL

*Monday, April 12. WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL

***Have a wonderful weekend!   Mrs. Bohl