Characters and Setting

We have been learning more about fiction story structure this week in reading.  Specifically we are working on characters and setting.  We have learned that characters are the "who" in the story and setting is the "where".  We used our Jack and the Beanstalk field trip to delve into this a bit more.  First, we read "Jack and the Beanstalk" by Matt Faulkner.  We named all the characters (Jack, his Mom, Giant, Giant's Wife, Old Man, Harp).  Then every child made the characters and cut them out.

After we saw the play, we revisited the story, a picture of the stage at the play and thought about WHERE it took place.  We decided there were two settings:  Jack's House and the Giant's House.  Each child created a setting page with these two places represented then put their characters in the setting.

Finally, we labeled all of them.

Here's our learning in pictures:

I HAVE to share the bus photos:

Then we arrived at the theater and saw the beautiful stage:

 And we got to hear from the actors...

When we came back, the next day, we added our characters and setting together to be able to retell the story.  There was a great deal of thinking that went into our work and I am VERY proud of our readers for being able to identify these important story elements!  

It's been another busy week in K.  We have been reading books and talking about the "Language of Thinkers".  This is specific language that readers and thinkers use to show they understand the books they read.  Initially we started with "I notice" to help kids start to dig into details of the books we read together.  This week we added "Predict" and the language we are using is "Maybe..." to make a great guess about what will happen in the book.  Here we are practicing predictions using the book Something Special.  

 The students are practicing putting the title on the page and then drawing or writing their prediction.  They all write the word "Maybe..." and then those that can, add "kid writing" to get their great ideas down on paper. I love it that I have so many "risk-takers"!  They are OK giving their writing a try and putting what they know on the paper.

 We have a whole range of writers in our room.  Some are still stringing together random letters and others are putting beginning sounds of the words they hear.  Still others are more close to actually spelling some words correct.

 And look at the creation of some of my guys during developmental centers this week!  Remember playing with Lincoln Logs when you were a kid?  I do!  I'm not sure I EVER built anything this intricate with them.  Who knows?  These just may be budding architects or city planners!

 And today, for Math, we learned about "glyphs".  The term "glyphs" comes from hieroglyphics.  These are a pictorial form of data collection.  As part of our Apple Unit, we completed these Apple Glyphs today.  Students build their apple by answering specific questions.  We hope maybe our parents will be able to figure out which glyph is ours when they visit our room on Monday night!

Calendar Binders

We are LOVING our Calendar Binders!  Every day we complete calendar activities focused on Math Standards for Kindergarten (and beyond).  We start by opening our binders and filling in the calendar with the date.  As the year progresses, we will look for patterns by coloring the days differently.  

 Everyone sits together so they can help each other if necessary with a page.

 After we write in the date, we tally the number of days we have been in school.  Students are learning to "bunch the fives" and then we circle anytime we have a "ten".

 We use our place value chart to help with tallying.  Later in the year, we will add a place value chart to each student's binder.

 After tallying, we look at the weather for the day and graph it.  Seems we've had a lot of "cloudy days" recently!

 I model on the board with my own "binder".

 We add any birthdays or lost teeth to those pages and then we close with our September poem.  Today we counted "m's" in this poem.  Tomorrow, we are going to look for "s".

 We help check our friends' count for M's.

 The kids LOVE when it's time for the "Question of the Day"!  They are almost always able to answer them, but they are questions that make us think a bit.

 Today's question: "What is the opposite of hot?"

 Oh, oh, oh, pick me, pick me!  We all answered with a resounding "COLD"!

That's a little glimpse into how we start our day!