Happy Halloween!
Your children have been hard at work and play this month. This week and next we are wrapping up a number of projects, many of which we will share with you next week at our family share on Friday, November 7th, after arrival in the morning.
In Writing Workshop students are writing books all about themselves. One book is filled with what each child loves, and the next book what each child can do. These books overlap writing and social studies, as children share their interests and abilities at the same time as they learn about the conventions of writing and how to write their first few high frequency words.
In Reading Workshop we are finishing up a unit about building good reading habits while reading emergent storybooks. Next week our class will celebrate finishing this storybook unit by spending a morning on storybook crafts and creating props that we will keep in the classroom to use during literacy centers. Now that we have assessed every child in reading in the last month, we can begin working in groups on next reading skills and strategies based on what each child is ready for.
In Math we are still in the midst of our first unit of the year, which is a hefty one! Your children are working on counting, sorting, comparing and currently grappling with the idea that a number can be broken up into parts and put back together to make the same whole. We are even beginning to write equations!
Last week on Science Friday we studied and collected signs of fall. Today we are hunting for seeds! We also save a bit of time every week for some playground time.
This study also overlaps with another: our new drama program! Yesterday our class met our new (but very experienced) theater arts teacher, Kevin. We had a blast starting our story with him, which is all about trees in the city. We started thinking about seeds that trees drop. If your child finds a seed this weekend, see if you can figure out which tree it came from, and why it's shaped like it is (is it in a fruit for an animal to eat? A sticky burr to stick to fur? Is it a flyer?) Kevin will be working with us for our theater arts residency for the next 2 months. We can't wait to see him again next week!
Next week we hope many of you join us for our Social Studies and Writing Workshop family share. There you will see a few finished projects. One of them is our "Me Towers." The blocks are up but we need your and your child's help to finish by adding artifacts from their lives: small keepsakes or toys that represent their unique skills and interests, along with photos from their five years of life!
Your children cannot wait to share their hard work with you. See you then, and stay tuned for our next blog post with photos from the family share.
love,
Clara & David
A few more photos from the week: both kindergarten classes on their trip to Puppetworks, and our new Choice Time center, dramatic play, where we introduced lots of fun costumes and props for open ended dress up play. Your kids were fire fighters, patients in a hospital, doctors and crime fighting princesses.
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