1. Meeting our new friends
We do lots of get-to-know-you activities this first week. Here are some of our kindergarten friends this year!
2. Reading new books!
Our focus book for the first week was called The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. This is the story of a raccoon who is nervous about leaving his mom for kindergarten. She gives him a kiss on the palm of his hand and tells him to keep it for whenever he needs a reminder that she loves him! We did several activities around this book, including this poem with the kiddos' handprints!
3. Exploring math materials during Math Choice
Math choice is every Friday. This is a time when I pull out lots of math materials that the kids can manipulate, build with, and explore. They get to choose which items they use, and they work cooperatively in groups of four. This was a very popular activity this week! I should mention that our assistant teacher, Ms. Breuer, leads a rousing game of Uno with the kids during this time too!
4. Graphing our birthdays
To begin our discussion of "more" and "less," we shared our birthdays (most kindergarteners aren't sure when their birthdays are, so it was really more like me sharing their birthdays!) and graphed them by month. Then we talked about which month had more and which had less!
5. Free choice time!
This is the best time of the day for kindergarteners (with the exception of recess I suppose)! Play is such an important part of a five- and six-year-old's day. They get 20-30 minutes a day of unstructured play in the classroom, so they can explore all the areas of the room - the block area, dramatic play, art table, puppets, math toys, puzzles, etc. This is a time for kids to learn to play together. It's also a time for me to observe their social interactions, notice what they are interested in, and generally have fun with them!
No comments:
Post a Comment