Last week was packed full! My class and I talked about pumpkins as we learned. Halloween week is a hard week for children to focus and think about anything other than costumes or candy! I am so thankful that it was on a Thursday but even more thankful that it falls on a Friday next year!
We listened to The Biggest Pumpkin Ever, one of my favorites and used a Venn Diagram to compare the characters in the story.
I think it is critical that children be able to recognize similarities and differences in stories even in Kindergarten. As teachers, we need to give them tools to organize their thinking. In Kindergarten, I think exposure to a variety of graphic organizers is meaningful. We wrote our words through the practice of interactive writing. It was interesting to see which children remembered what as well as how attentive they were during the story. They remembered things I did not think they would be able to! I think this lesson is a great example of holding high standards for learning even in kindergarten.
As a reading teacher, I believe we all have a filing cabinet in which our brain organizes the information we try to file away. Due to this, I believe I am a developer of those files and connections children make. I would never want a child that was in my class to get to an older grade and struggle with comprehension because of common background knowledge. This is another reason that even kindergarteners need exposure to graphic organizers. The information they are presented with needs to make a connection so it gets filed away and can be retrieved. This week, we used this organizer to talk about our schema about pumpkins. As we learned new information, we added seeds to reflect this. I read lots of non-fiction text to support our learning. As we listened It's a Fruit, It's a Vegetable, It's a Pumpkin it mentioned that pumpkin was in the squash family. My kids did not know what it was! I am currently trying to figure out a way to incorporate a squash snack. The story also mentioned cucumbers growing on vines like pumpkins. One of my little girls interrupted the story at this point and I thought she was going to ask what a cucumber was. Instead, she said "I know what those are". She proceeds to tell the class that they are the things you put over your eyes.
This is our class Jack-o-Lantern. We are going to use it in the coming weeks. I am always surprised at how many children have never carved a pumpkin or dug out the seeds and pulp.
We also guesstimated the circumference if our pumpkin and then used the string to measure it. We have been talking about non-standard measurement so this was another way to expose children to measurement and the vocabulary.
We also celebrated Red Ribbon week with a red snack. My home room moms went above and beyond! Many of the children had no idea what the peppers were or how they would taste. I also got some fun treats!! It is always nice to be spoiled.
Our early childhood team dressed up as Pete the Cat! The moral of the story is... "It's All Good". An important thing to remember! My kids loved the costume. If you haven't read or shared Pete the Cat with your class, you can learn more here.
Ribbon makes everything better!
I am so thankful for this blessing!
A fabulous first grade teacher!
Taylor Swift! I am blessed to work with amazing colleagues who love on children (and me)!
Trick or Treat? I am pretty sure my sweet class is spoiled! Another successful party day in the books. I am curious how many teachers woke up Friday morning mad at their alarm because their body thought it was Saturday!
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