Chunking and the Writing Process

Yesterday, the girls learned about breaking words into chunks (aka syllables). I taught them three different ways to break apart a word: clap it out, robot speak, and holding their hand under their chin.  Ask your daughter which way was her favorite.  As we broke apart all of our names into syllables, most of the girls chose robot speak.  We finished our syllable activity by getting into partners and sorting spring words by chunks.

Today, I introduced the girls to the writing process and they were interested and excited to learn the different steps. Today's step was the planning step.  The girls had to plan out their next story by using a graphic organizer.  In our next Writer's Workshop, the girls will learn about peer editing.

Catching up with Pre-First

A big thanks to our latest mystery readers.  

We completed our mini-unit on tallying and comparing numbers using <, > and =.  Last week, the girls rotated through three centers which focused on these skills.

Counting and sequencing tally marks.

Using a deck of cards and Popsicle sticks to compare numbers.

Matching tally marks to their corresponding numbers.

Last week we read "The Paper Bag Princess" by our author of the month. After we read the story, the girls were paired up to sequence the events and worked together to glue the events in order on paper bags.

We also planted our seeds!  The girls got their hands a bit dirty as we put the soil into our pots, planted our seeds and watered them.  Be sure to ask your daughter what seeds we planted.

Finally, we celebrated Earth Day!  The girls showed their appreciation for the earth by writing their own promises about ways they can be mindful of the environment.  They brainstormed thoughtful ideas about recycling, planting gardens, and reducing waste.  They finger painted their own globes and adorned them with green glitter.  

Sticker Capitalization

We continued to reinforce the capitalization rules today by having the girls play "teacher". The girls paired up and were given fun colored stickers and pens.  They buddy read and edited two stories, looking for all of the capital mistakes, correcting them by covering the lowercase letters with the sticker and writing the uppercase letter with the pen.  Did you notice our capitalization mistake...are you smarter than a Pre-Firster?

Today, the girls had a special mystery reader. We are loving our guests!

Capitals and Tally Marks

In language arts, we focused on which words need to be capitalized.  I taught the girls the acronym MINTS--make sure you ask them what it stands for--to help them remember the capital rules.  The girls broke up into groups of 4 where they had to create a sentence that contained at least 1 capital.  After they created their sentence, they wrote it on a sentence strip and had to make the capital letter with their bodies.  

Yesterday, in math, the girls were introduced to tallying.  They watched a short movie on Brain Pop Jr and then played a partner in Rock, Paper, Scissors.  They had to keep track of how they won or tied, by using tallies.  

Today, we continued working with tallies.  The girls learned a fun dice game and raced their partner to see who could be the first to acquire ten tally marks for every number.

We have been discussing what the plot of a story is and used Thomas' Snowsuit by our Author of the Month, Robert Munsch, to help us determine what the opening, conflict, climax, and resolution was in the story.

Comparing Numbers and Publishing Party

The girls began comparing numbers this week using the greater than and less than signs.  They were put into pairs and had to use popsicle sticks to create an alligator mouth which would then "eat" the greater number.  The girls wrote the number sentence on their iPads using the Doodle Buddy app.   Whomever's number was greater read the sentence aloud and got to keep the cards.

We also celebrated completing our How-To books by having a Publishing Party with the second grade.  

Tinker and Techxploration

This year's Tinker and Techxploration was a lot of fun for grades Kindergarten through 5th grade!  Students explored a variety of stations such as:  Leap Motion, Beam, Makey Makey, Alexa Dance Party, MakeUp Genious, SnapChat, Engineering the Tallest Tower, and more.  The girls even were able to look at and ask questions about Teslas!  A special thank your to all of the parent volunteers who made this day possible!