Seed, plant, yellow flower, green pumpkin, orange pumpkin, REPEAT :)

Pumpkin cycle!

This week we focused on the life cycle of a pumpkin.  We read many books highlighting the life cycle, acted out the cycle, and created a great craft project to demonstrate the pumpkin seed growing into a green plant, producing a yellow flower, a green pumpkin fruit growing and then changing into an orange pumpkin.  The K-Kids brought home their pumpkin plate retelling activity, and I do hope they told you about the life cycle of a pumpkin!  During this exploration, the K-Kids also learned many new facts about pumpkins that we added to our pumpkin learning chart.  They also recognized that some of the information in the schema category (things we think we know) from last week were in fact misconceptions.  We moved those post-it notes from the schema category over to the misconception side and discussed why.

In literacy corners this week, we focused on spelling number words and color words through hands-on matching games and written work.  Every day the K-Kids read appropriately leveled text with me with a focus on phonics and comprehension.  We also completed pages in our Explode the Code phonics books. I am very excited about the progress in reading every kindergartener has made thus far!  It is amazing to see them read, comprehend, and begin to have skills to decode words they do not know.  I cannot wait to share their reading progress with you at parent teacher conferences in November!

This week in math, we worked a lot with digits - writing digits, recognizing digits, and creating patterns using a 10s chart.  The K-Kids practiced the beginning strokes to writing digits, and I will begin to teach the correct way to write 0-9.  I have also been assessing number sense and ensuring that each kindergartener has a solid idea of numbers, ways to represent numbers, and ways to create numbers (5 can be 5+0, 2+3, 4+1, etc.).  We also started sending home the estimation jar, and the kids have had so much fun with it!  Each kindergartener makes an estimate about how many items are in the jar, and their guesses are a quick indicator to me if they truly understand higher numbers and number order on a number line.  We are all not quite there yet (with many of the items, the kids guess 7 or 8 when there are clearly more in the jar), but with practice and number sense development over the year, the guesses will be closer to the actual amount!

The Evanston Fire Department came into our class this week to share some lessons on fire safety.  They spoke of the importance of checking the smoke detectors in the home (homework for you!), and they talked about  having a plan and a safe place to meet outside if there was ever a house fire (another homework assignment for you!).  The fire chief then put on his fire gear, complete with oxygen tank and mask, and showed the kids what he would look like during a fire.  This was important because many kids hide under their beds or in closets from the firefighters (they are pretty scary looking!) when there is a fire in the home.  The kids were a bit nervous with the loud oxygen tank and beeps from the mask, but I think it was great for the kindergarteners to also realize the really nice firefighter who was just talking to them was actually under all of that gear!

The first field trip to Didier Farms was a success!  It was a bit windy, but the sun was shining and the kids loved looking at the scarecrows in the fields, visiting the pigs and the education barn, eating lunch in the spooky barn, and successfully navigating the corn maze.  I am so thankful for the three mothers who accompanied us on the field trip - I could not have done it without them!  Enjoy the pictures below - turn up the volume for the kiddos - silly song, but thought it was cute for the event :)!