Spotlight on Fundations

Echo the Owl helps us practice our letters and sounds! 

You may have heard your child mention a part of our day called Fundations. Fundations is our word study time, or phonics instruction. Phonics is the relationship between letters and sounds and is the basis to learning to read and spell. We do Fundations each day for twenty minutes in our classroom. During this time, students engage in a number of systematic activities designed to practice and understand what sounds the letters in our alphabet make. The video below shows students as we complete the warm up portion of the lesson, in which we practice all of the letters and sounds taught up to that point.  

The vowel extension chart, which highlights the sounds the vowels make. 

A student leads the class using the vowel extension chart. 

During Fundations, we practice matching letters to the sounds they make. The photo below shows our magnetic letter board. We use these during an activity called "Echo Find Letters." To do this activity, I say a letter sound and students must locate the letter that makes that sound. We also will use this board to practice putting the letters in alphabetical order later in the year.

The video below shows an activity called "Echo Letter Formation." During this time, we practice correctly writing the letters. We use special dry erase boards that have the Fundations lines (sky line, plane line, grass line and worm line) on them. Students practice "Skywriting" letters and tracing the letters in their Student Notebooks early in the week and later in the week use the boards and markers to write the letters.

Additional activities that we do in Fundations include "Word Play" during which we become more aware of words and how words form sentences. We discuss capitalizing sentences and ending punctuation. We also have "Storytime," which is a time for listening and reading comprehension,

Fundations is a time for students to practice important skills, which they then apply throughout their day to their reading and writing. Ask your child about some of the letters we've learned so far!

Quilt Making

As a part of our math unit on shapes and patterns, students had the opportunity to make quilt squares. We used a pumpkin tracer for one square and orange and pumpkin-themed paper to make the other. After we made our quilt squares, we built a class quilt, which is now proudly hung in the hallway outside of our classroom. After making our quilt, we discussed what we noticed about it. Several students noticed the diagonal nature of the pattern. One student observed that our squares formed a rectangle and we counted that we used 35 squares to make our quilt. One observant student noticed that the diagonals get longer (i.e., there is one patchwork quilt, then 3 going diagonally, then 5) and then they get shorter again. Amazing! While the class loved our quilt, several students wished it was made of fabric and we could really use it to keep warm. Unfortunately, sewing is not something I am very good at, so the paper quilt will have to suffice! If you are at school, please feel free to stop by and take a look at our beautiful creation!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Even though it was cold and drizzly, we had so much fun visiting the Parker Family Pumpkin Patch last week! We learned about how pumpkins grow, what are friends and what are foes of pumpkins, tasted lots of tasty pumpkin treats and each got to choose a pumpkin to bring home. Please enjoy these pictures of our trip! Thank you to the chaperones who were able to join us!

Growth Mindset in Kindergarten

In kindergarten (and in life!) there are times when things feel challenging or hard. Today, we spent some time thinking and talking about how we can handle situations when things feel hard and we just want to give up. We talked about training our brains to have a "growth mindset:" saying things like, "I can try, even though it's hard!" and "it's okay to make mistakes! That is how we learn!" We started by reading a book called Giraffe Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees. In this story, Gerald the Giraffe is the worst dancer in the jungle and he is too embarrassed to go to the Jungle Dance. The other animals tease him and he finally gives up and decides he's never going to dance again. But a wise cricket helps Gerald realize that it's okay to not dance exactly like everyone else. He helps Gerald find the best music for him and Gerald, as you can imagine, ends up gaining confidence and showing the other animals his amazing dance moves.

Part way through reading the book, we stopped and had a class brainstorm about things that we can't do. We made a poster of this and then continued reading the book. We then went back and discussed how the things we listed were things we could keep practicing. We could say, "I can't do this....YET!" Eventually, we will learn how to do these things because we have a growth mindset!

We then each completed a paper describing something that we CAN do and something that we can't do YET!

Finally, I shared some posters that I will be hanging in the classroom to help us remember to practice a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset. 

If you would like to read more about growth mindset in children and how you can encourage this at home, I recommend checking out this website: 8 ways to encourage a growth mindset in kids

All Kindergarten Morning Meeting

Morning Meeting is, quite possibly, one of the most important times of the day in our classroom. It is a time for us to come together and greet each other, engage in conversation and sharing, and build relationships with each other. The kindergarten team decided that we would like to come together each Friday morning for a larger, more collaborative Kindergarten Morning Meeting. During this time, each class takes a turn teaching a new greeting and a song or activity to the other classes. It has been so much fun and is a great chance for us to spend time together as three classes. Last week was our turn to lead the meeting. We taught the other classes the greeting "Hello, Neighbor," and then we sang the "Milkshake" song, one of our favorite songs from Go Noodle. We are already looking forward to our next chance to lead Kindergarten Morning Meeting in a few weeks!

I've included a link to the Milkshake Song. To view it, you will need to create a Go Noodle account, which is free and super fun! Enjoy!

Milkshake Song

Count and Compare Dots Math Game

In math today, we learned a new game to help us compare quantities. Count and Compare Dots is a partner game. Partners take turns choosing a ten-frame dot card. Each person must identify how many dots are on their card and partners then compare the quantities to determine who has more and who has less. Players then spin the spinner to determine who gets to keep both cards. In the video below, you will hear partners engaging in a conversation about how many dots they have and justifying (or explaining) how they know.

  I've included a link to an online game that will support the concept of comparing quantities that your child might enjoy playing at home. Enjoy!

Balloon Pop Comparison

Fire Safety Day

On Monday, October 3rd, we were fortunate enough to have the Hinesburg Fire Department visit our school to talk to us about fire safety. Several of the volunteer firefighters spoke to us about what to expect if there is ever a fire and the fire department needs to come to our homes. We practiced "stop, drop, and roll" and saw a fireman wearing his gear. We also got to tour the newest fire truck and learned about the important gear and tools that the trucks carry with them to help people. At the end of their visit, the firefighters gave each child a fire hat and a goody bag. Thank you to the Hinesburg Fire Department for taking the time to visit our classes!

Kindergartners gather to listen to the Hinesburg Firefighters.

Practicing Stop, Drop and Roll!

A firefighter in his gear.

Taking a tour of the truck.

We got to climb inside!

Checking out the medical equipment.

The newest firefighters of Hinesburg!