A Peek At Our Week!

Monday, October 14, 2024 No comments

  I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! Please take a peek below to see important dates, announcements, and curriculum updates. ๐Ÿ‚

Important Dates:

October 16th:
Picture Day-Smile!

October 25th:
Spirit Day: Walpole/Boyden Day

October 31st:
Spirit Day: Black and Orange Day ๐Ÿงก๐Ÿ–ค

Announcements:

Smore
If you haven't already, please be sure to subscribe to Mr. Dearborn's weekly Smore. This provides more details and information about events that are happening around our school. Click here to view last week's edition!

Curriculum Update:

Fundations
Last week in Fundations the children were introduced to the vowels i, and u. We learned that vowels are letters that make more than one sound, and noticed that our vowel Fundations cards are a different color (a pinkish orange) than our other cards. We also practiced reading the sight words "you" and "of". 

Into Reading
Last week in our Into Reading program, we began our second unit by reading the book I Am Rene, the Boy by Rene Colato Lainez. We also answered a new essential question: What makes each of us special? Last week's lessons taught us to identify the problem and solution in a story, and we explored the concept of opinion as well.





Our learning took an exciting turn last week as we completed our very first research project! This activity came about after we read that the character in our story of the week ate plantains with his family, and one of our vocabulary words was research! We decided it would be a great idea to research plantains and spent the week reading and learning about them. On Friday, we created our own informational pamphlets and even expressed our opinions about plantains. It also didn't hurt I had a banana costume at home which really brought the topic to life! There is truly never a dull moment in Room 115! ๐Ÿคฃ๐ŸŒ





On Friday, we also had a great time coloring and decorating our names. Through our story of the week we learned that each person's name is unique and special to them!

Math
In math we began our second unit in the Bridges curriculum. This unit will continue to focus on the numbers 5 and 10, and last week we practiced showing different number combinations that make 5 and 10 using cubes and ten frames. We also compared numbers 0-10 using the <, >, and = symbols!



The students above practice counting and comparing numbers while playing a fun partner game.


We also enjoyed a visit from JiJi who encouraged us to continue solving our puzzles in ST Math! 

Thanks so much for taking a peek at our week! Please check back soon to watch us learn, grow, and play in the wonderful world that is K! ๐ŸŽ๐ŸšŒ๐Ÿ“–


A Peek At Our Week!

Sunday, October 6, 2024 No comments

 I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend. Please enjoy a few updates from our busy week below!๐Ÿ˜Š


Important Dates:

October 11th:
Early Release
12:25pm Dismissal

October 14th:
No School

October 16th:
Picture Day-Smile!

Announcements:

Smore
If you haven't already, please be sure to subscribe to Mr. Dearborn's weekly Smore. This provides more details and information about events that are happening around our school. Click here to view last week's edition!

Curriculum Update:

Fundations
Last week in Fundations the class learned about the letters m, and n. We also practiced reading the sight words is and his.



On Friday, we enjoyed playing a digital memory match game!
Math
In math we completed the first unit in our new Bridges curriculum! Last week's lessons focused on patterns. The class learned that patterns are colors, pictures, words, or movements that repeat. 




Colorful seat cushions are also great for making patterns!



We continue to practice our formation of the numbers 0-5 as well!

Into Reading
Last week in our Into Reading program we read the book Schools Around the World by Clare Lewis, and continued to answer the essential question: What will I discover in Kindergarten? Last week's lessons also introduced us to the genre of informational text, and had us identifying the central idea of various books. It sure was a busy week for learning new skills!

Writer's Workshop
It was an exciting time in Writer's Workshop last week as we completed our illustrators unit! The children learned how to use a "big line" to organize their pictures and show objects that can be found in the sky, on the ground, and under the ground/water. We also learned that when our pictures include characters and a detailed setting we can tell stories about the work we create. Next week we will explore the concept of labeling, and use beginning sounds to label our pictures!

Thanks so much for taking a peek at our week! Please check back soon to watch us learn, grow, and play in the wonderful world that is K! ๐ŸŽ๐ŸšŒ๐Ÿ“–




A Peek At Our Week!

Sunday, September 29, 2024 No comments
It was another busy week in Room 115. Please enjoy a few updates below!๐Ÿ˜Š

Important Dates:

October 11th:
Early Release
12:25pm Dismissal

October 14th:
No School

October 16th:
Picture Day-Smile!

Announcements:

Boyden Goes Gold ๐Ÿ’›
Friday was truly a special day as we recognized Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and also our dear, sweet friend Emmanuel Urrea who lost his battle with cancer this past summer. 








A balloon release was done at the end of the day in Emmanuel's honor. 

Open House Slideshow
Thank you so much to everyone who was able to attend last week's Open House/Curriculum Night! In the event that you weren't able to make it, or would like to review the information shared, please click here for access to the slideshow I presented. As always, do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have! 

Smore
If you haven't already, please be sure to suscribe to Mr. Dearborn's weekly Smore. This provides more details and information about events that are happening around our school. Click here to view last week's edition!

Curriculum Update:

Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!
On Thursday the class learned about and celebrated a beloved fall figure, Johnny Appleseed! Happy Birthday Johnny!





We also enjoyed participating in many apple themed activities last week! We learned about the life cycle of an apple, discovered that apples float in water, and read many poems and books about apples. ๐ŸŽ

Fundations
Last week in Fundations we learned about the letter t, b, and f. We also practiced the sight words and and. During the first few weeks of school we will be learning to read and spell color words as well! Last week's color was green. Click here to listen to a song we used to help us practice this color.



The class had a great time sorting items from my mystery bag that started with the letter b, t, and f.

Into Reading
Last week in our Into Reading curriculum we read the books Kindergarten Kids by Stephanie Calmenson and School Bus by Donald Crews. Both of these texts helped us continue to answer the essential question: What will I discover in Kindergarten? We also explored the genre of poetry and the story elements of characters, settings, and events.

Math
Last week in math we practiced counting numbers to 10! The ten frame was a major focus of our instruction, and by the end of the week the students were getting very efficient at recognizing numbers in ten frames quickly. They also enjoyed playing two new games called "Beat you to Five" which had the students identifying how many more cubes were needed to make 5, and "Who Will Win?" a game which provides the children with number writing practice. 



Writing
During our writing time we continue to practice drawing people as part of our illustrators unit. Last week the students not only used familiar shapes to help them draw heads and bodies, but also explored different hair styles, facial expressions, and accessories they can add to the clothing in their pictures!

A Small Peek at Specials
Last week in P.E. the students used hoola hoops to practice personal space, also known as bubble space. The concept of personal space is something we continue to practice in the classroom, especially when we are lining up throughout the day. This would be a great lesson to discuss with your child at the dinner table or when you're in the car as it's SUCH an important skill!




Thanks so much for taking a peek at our week! Please check back soon to watch us learn, grow, and play in the wonderful world that is K! ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ“–๐ŸšŒ





A Peek At Our Week!

Sunday, September 22, 2024 No comments

  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend despite the dreary weather! Please see below for a few highlights from our classroom last week. ๐Ÿ˜Š

Important Dates:

September 25th:
Open House/Curriculum Night
(Parents/Guardians Only)

September 26th:
Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed! ๐ŸŽ
Students are welcome to wear red/apple themed clothing to celebrate!

Announcements:

Dismissal Nametags
Please be sure to have your child return the dismissal nametag/lanyard they used during the first week of school. I will be reusing them for our field trip later on this year. Thank you!

News from the PAC
Boyden PAC is excited to announce our NEW Halloween event this year. BOO BAGS!! ๐Ÿ‘ป Visit the link below to register and learn more about it!

Our annual baked goods fundraiser is currently underway as well! See the attached flyer and please place all orders by 10/11 ๐Ÿช๐Ÿช!




Curriculum Update:

Fundations
Last week we began our Fundations program, and learned about important practices such as how to hold our writing tools and have proper body posture, as well as how to "sky write" our letters. At the end of the week the students were introduced to the letter "T"! We also practiced reading the high frequency words to and the.

Math
We continue to build our number sense in math as we explore numbers to 5. Last week we showed the numbers 1-5 on our five frame mats, and used our fingers to show how many boxes were full and how many were empty. At the end of the week we learned some fun number formation poems to help us with writting these numbers.





Writer's Workshop
Last week in Writer's Workshop we practiced a very important pre-writing skill, drawing! We learned that shapes such as circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles can be used to make pictures (and people too!). 

Special Guests
Last week we also welcomed many special guests into our classroom and school! We kicked off (literally) with a karate assembly! 



On Wednesday, Kindergarteners enjoyed a visit from Officer Hart and Rebel who taught us about school safety.


The children also enjoyed meeting Mrs. Arnold, Boyden's new Digital Learning Coach! Mrs. Arnold taught us how to take care of our Chromebook computers and helped with the tricky process of logging in for the first time, bootcamp style! If she happens to look a little familiar, it's because Mrs. Arnold is my twin sister!








Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
On Wednesday Mrs. Audet, one of Boyden's school counselors, came by for our first guidance/SEL lesson! She reviewed the Boyden behavior expectations and taught us about her job as a school counselor. She also introduced a new school-wide incentive about spreading positive gossip, or sharing the great things we notice about others!


Thanks so much for taking a peek at our week! Please check back soon to watch us learn, grow, and play in the wonderful world that is K! ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ“–๐ŸšŒ