Penguins

We finished up our two week study of penguins last Friday. We started our week by making a chart about what we already knew about penguins (our schema). After reading a non-fiction penguin book with tons of penguin facts, we went back to our chart and added our new learning from the book we read. We continued to add to the chart throughout the week as we kept learning new information. We also learned a new word, “misconception.” A misconception is when we think we know something, but it is actually not true. Some of our scheme ideas had to be moved to the misconception box. We ended this day by making an Oreo penguin. And of course we ate them!!

  

During Writer’s Workshop we went back to our knowledge about non-fiction writing and created an “All About Penguins” book! The kids did a great job and did this book all by themselves. They came up with their own facts and illustrations and we created the cover of the book together. They are hanging up in our hallway right now so everyone can read them.

                  The Cover                      Table of Contents                       Diagram

            

                            Fact Page 1                                                    Fact Page 2

                  

We used penguins in our math time to learn about "equality.” Since penguins eat fish, we used goldfish to help us see what equal means. I gave the students a number and they had to try and split that number of fish equally between the two penguins. We discovered that some numbers are able to be shared equally and some are not. This went right along with our learning about “doubles” and some students realized that if a number is a double, it can be shared equally. SMARTIES!

 

 

  Using our knowledge about doubles.

 

 

 

 

 

We have been trying something new in math called “Think Math.” During “Think Math” I write down what the answer to our problem is. We do one example together and then the kids have time to write down as many problems as they can think of that equal four. All the problems below are what THEY came up with!! I love that they are starting to see patterns in the numbers, use their knowledge about doubles and easily use the addition and subtraction sign.

Our penguin chart. Wrapping up our learning about Penguins!

We studies many different types of penguins during our unit. The students worked with partners to create a certain type of penguin. They used their books, their knowledge and the IPads to help them draw, color and cut out their penguin. It was a great way to integrate technology and learn that we can search something on the internet to help us find pictures and information we need.

 

 

 

We got to have a special popcorn party with all the kindergarten classes and watch The March of the Penguins. This was a great movie to reinforce our learning and be able to see the real thing!

This week we are learning about Arctic Animals: Walruses and Polar Bears!

Wonderful Winter Fun

We got right back into the swing of school this week by doing lots of activities about winter! We learned how to make snowflakes, melted ice-cubes, made snow globes and labeled our winter clothing.

Since we have lots of snow on the ground, we were able to visualize what it looks like outside our windows. We came up with ideas of what we could do outside in the snow and drew a picture using chalk crayons and turning it into a window!

                                     

We read a fun story about a family who lived in a snow globe and had to patiently wait until someone shook their globe before they could go outside and enjoy all the snow. We pretended we lived in a snow globe and came up with some very neat ideas!

            

Learning how to make snowflakes was a blast! Instead of using paper, the students picked out four different colors of tissue paper. They cut them into circles and then they learned how to fold and cut them to make a beautiful snowflake. They put all of their snowflakes in a collage and now our room is decorated with lots of colorful snowflakes!

                                         

We finished our winter unit by reading a great book, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow. We practiced our writing and labeled the winter clothing we wear outside. They are adorable.

     

     

We continue to learn new letters and word families every week as well as work on our sight words and reading. In math we have been learning doubles facts and using our knowledge about numbers to figure out story problems.

During Writer’s Workshop we have been talking about different types of writing, including posters and signs. This week we made a variety of different posters letting people know what we wanted them to do and/or what was important to us. We are starting to become very independent writers and it is so great to see!

Here are some of our posters we have hung around the room

             

            Take my boots off.                             Do not hit and do not tell on friends.

    To role a dice you hold it and shake it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the next couple weeks we will be learning about Arctic Animals (Walruses and Polar Bears) and Penguins. Please continue to read with your child every night and review their sight words with them!