Greetings from Miss Leslie's Kindergarten! Today officially marks the end of the 11th week of school. The amount of learning that has happened so far is just incredible! The children have been having a blast learning their sight words, especially with the following activity. The students were "word and letter detectives." I gave them each a newspaper, a highlighter, and a magnifying glass. I also told them each a letter to hunt for based on their own specific needs. By using their magnifying glass, they would find that letter and highlight it. Their big challenge was to find sight words. Because sight words are so common, they were finding them everywhere! This activity is something that can easily be reproduced at home. If you don't have a magnifying glass, the activity can be done without or you can help your child make one! Here are a few pictures and quotes from the children:

• Bella D: "Look, I found America!"
• Patrick: "I am good at finding n's, but I am not good at highlighting them."
• Aidan: "Can I do this during center's?"

In math, the focus of this week has been numbers through different representations, such as dice and dominoes. They played a game called "Roll and Record," which was done with a partner. As you probably can tell from the previous blog updates, I have been incorporating a lot of partner work so children can use their social skills to communicate and cooperatively play a game with someone else. Previously, we had talked about being fair, being a good sport, and what it means to share. I was anxious to put their social skills to the test! We also talked about using a pan balance to compare weights of two different objects, which intrigued them. Here is Sophia and Aaliyah playing the game together.

The children have been getting awfully creative during our project time. During this time, children are free to engage in whatever they would like using the materials and resources available in the classroom. Using the computer for letter and number games, mp3 players, writing materials, and puppet area have been a fan favorite. I have also found in interest in constructing things, whether it be putting together a puzzle or building something out of blocks or cardboard. I always make sure the children have a purpose for what they are doing. Play, and the opportunities instruction, becomes a critical part of teaching because I know that literacy learning should be embedded in the context of these authentic experiences. Rather than being taught in isolation, literacy knowledge and skill should be learned through meaningful activities in which young children use reading and writing for a purpose.

Here is a great example of children learning literacy through constructive play. Alexis and Melania are building a polar bear out of cardboard. They named him "Poley." Both girls are working on writing a creative story about him. My role as their teacher is to sit with each of them and help them sort their ideas, guide them as they listen to the sounds of words, and put what they hear onto paper. I am excited for the finishing report!

Hello to the families of the curious Kindergartners!

I hope everyone has been enjoying Fall as much as we have. The weather has been incredible. The children have been so excited to get their "wiggles" out at recess because the sun has always been shining! To take advantage of this weather, we have been investigating outside as much as we can. We boarded the "leaf express" and went searching for leaves, comparing what they looked like in September, for we have an ongoing leaf comparison chart hung in our classroom. The departure of the next leaf express will occur in about 2 weeks, in order for the children to compare, yet once again, what the leaves looked like in October.

Here are a few pictures of our young scientists outside with their science notebooks, making observations about their surroundings and the fallen leaves:

In math, the children have begun to investigate different ways to measure objects. They used different materials, such as cubes and counting kangaroos, to measure their finger, big toe, and foot. There was a lot of stinkiness going on in the classroom! They loved taking off one sock and shoe and lining up cubes to match the length of their foot and big toe. At one point, I looked around the room and just took a minute to take in the moment. It was so amazing; with a partner, they were all around the room, sitting with their clipboards and pencils, using different objects as a means for measurement. I wish you could have seen it in action. They also learned about the beauty of symmetry. We observed symmetry in nature, symmetry when we paint, and our faces as being symmetrical. The children were given each a mirror where they could look at their face and draw the symmetrical parts they saw, such as their eyes, nose, eyebrows, and mouth. Here are pictures of each learning experience:

The children have been having fun with their sight words, or "heart words," as we call them. Sight words are the words that they should know by heart, looking at the word and reading them automatically. They used homemade pumpkin play dough and wiki sticks to build the words on their own, then using their finger to say each letter and then the word.

The children have also shown in interest in learning about Africa. How did this come about, you ask? As I called out a number, they were showing me different ways to show that number using their fingers. The Africans have a completely different way of holding up their fingers to represent a number. When I was showing them, they were in awe. They had so many questions for me, which lead me to show them where Africa is on the map. Using the book that I read to them titled "A if for Africa," they have been building villages out of blocks and cardboard on their own during centers.

This upcoming week, the children will be investigating more, learning about similarities and differences between this culture and theirs. What do they live in? What games do the children play? What do they like to eat? Alexis raised her hand at one point and said "Because we are reading an alphabet book about them, what if we made an alphabet book about us and sent it to them." This is why I love my job! I am looking forward to the month of November. Time is really flying.