Kindergarten had an exciting and busy first week of school. We were delighted to reunite with old friends, meet new friends and discover our class pet, a garter snake! The children came up with some different names for our snake, voted and choose, “Roger Michael” and nicknamed him “Snakey”. We learned that Snakey is diurnal, because he is very active during the day!
As our days together progress, we are becoming comfortable with our
daily routines and good habits. Each morning we write and draw in our journals in response to our daily question! These questions give the children “food for thought” to help them transition into the school day. They draw pictures, use invented spelling and dictate their thoughts. Our most popular question so far this year was, “what is your favorite sweet treat?” as we prepared for Rosh Hashanah! Our morning meeting has quickly become a favorite and special time as we share personal stories or objects with our friends. During this time, we feel respected for our uniqueness as well as a sense of belonging to our classroom community.
The scent of Rosh Hashanah fills our classroom and the message fills our hearts. We tasted sweet, yummy apples and created a bar graph based upon our preferences. We baked healthy honey cake and soon we will enjoy apples and honey and challah with raisins at our upcoming Rosh Hashanah celebration! The children have explored ideas about how they can be their “best self” in the New Year and we walked to the river and practiced Tashlich, thinking about our “best self”. We learned that a shofar is blown to remind us to stop and think about our “best self”. Rabbi Mendy and Rabby Yitzchok blew the shofar for us. We tried too, and several friends were able to elicit a delightful sound!
During our shared reading we have explored concepts of print and parts of a book. We learned our first sight word, “I”, and we are beginning to blend sounds we know. The children use invented spelling in their daily journal writing. Our centers our stocked with literacy and writing materials and the children often write signs during their play!
We explore math concepts with daily routines using the calendar through graphing, ten frames, place value cups, counting, predicting and estimating. The children used colorful strips to compare lengths as we examined measurement. Of course, on Friday, we use measurement tools to prepare challah, a class favorite!
It wouldn’t be kindergarten without play! Our most frequently visited centers so far have been the block, sand and writing centers. In play, the children “try on” various roles, such as, Ice Cream Shop Owner, Architect, or Writer. They experiment with language, problem solve and use writing to make signs. Outside time is shared with friends daily, where we can run, climb, dig, ride, draw and enjoy nature. Through play, the children continue to grow together as a class community!Shanah Tovah!
Morah Melissa
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