A Peek At Our Week!

 I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! The month of May is a busy one in Kindergarten. Please see the following updates below. ⛅

Important Dates:

May 15th:

Early Release

May 22nd:

Kindergarten Music Concert

May 25th:

Memorial Day

No School

June 8th:

Zoo Field Trip!

Announcements:

ABC Countdown

It's hard to believe that the end of the school year is almost here! In Kindergarten, we like to celebrate the last few weeks of school by doing an ABC countdown to summer. Each day we will on a different letter and participate in activities that begin with that letter. The fun will begin on Wednesday, May 13th with the letter A and "Anything But a Backpack" day. Please have your child bring their Boyden folder, lunch, etc. in a creative container such as a gift bag, pillowcase, crate...anything but a backpack! A complete list of activities was sent home with your child on Friday. It is important to note that the majority of actvities will not require the children to do or bring anything in from home (I realize this is a crazy time of year for families as well). Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions!

Kindergarten Field Trip 🦁

On May 29th the Kindergarten classes will be taking a field trip to Franklin Park Zoo! Permission slips were sent home today (Monday). More information will be shared as the time gets closer, but please be sure to mark your calendar for this very exciting day!

May 4th!

We enjoyed celebrating May 4th with a fun Star Wars themed geometry craft! May the 4th be with you!

Touch a Truck! 🚓

Last Thursday students in grades K-2 enjoyed a fantastic Touch a Truck event right at Boyden School! The children got to explore a police cruiser and truck, while also giving a quick pat to Rebel. A big thank you to Ms. Lemmler and Mrs. Audrey for organizing this wonderful opportunity!

Curriculum Update:

Reader's Workshop

Last week in Reader's Workshop we began module (unit) 8 titled From Plant to Plate. During this unit we will work to answer the essential question: "How do plants become food?" and started building our understanding by reading the books Plants Feed Me by Lizzy Rockwell, and Planting Seeds by Kathryn Clay. We also made and checked predictions, identified the central idea of a text, and put steps in a sequence.

Math

In math the class practiced counting and comparing numbers last week. Bug Catchers and Count and Compare Bugs were two new games they learned to help develop these skills. This week, we will circle back to the concept of measurement as we measure various lengths using nonstandard units.

Science

It has been an exciting time for science in Room 115! Last week we welcomed five furry caterpillars into our classroom and have enjoyed watching them grow SO much already! We will continue to observe our new friends over the next several weeks as we witness the stages of the caterpillar life cycle and watch them transform into beautiful butterflies. 🐛🦋

The children also learned about the steps for how to grow a plant, and enjoyed planting their own radish seeds! This activity aligned perfectly with the two mentor texts we were read as part of our HMH reading curriculum! 

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! 🍎📖🚌

A Peek At Our Week!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend despite the dreary weather! Please see below for pictures and updates from Room 115! ⛅💮

Important Dates:

May 15th:

Early Release

May 22nd:

Kindergarten Music Concert

More details to follow!

May 25th:

Memorial Day

No School

Announcements:

Tyler Can!

On Wednesday we enjoyed a visit from Boyden parent, school committee member, and now author Kari Denitzio who shared her book Tyler Can! with us. This inspirational story features Tyler Forgeron, a young man with autism from Walpole who started collecting cans during COVID to stay busy. His efforts have continued since the pandemic ended, and Tyler has used the funds he has collected to make charitable donations to many local causes. We are excited to add a copy of Tyler Can! to our classroom library, and can't thank the Boyden PAC enough for their generosity! 💙🧡

Lost and Found

This sweatshirt is looking for it's owner. Please let me know if it belongs to your child! 😊

Curriculum Update:

Reader's Workshop

In Reader's Workshop we continued to ask the essential question: "What can I learn when I look closely?" as we brought module (unit) 7 to a close. We enjoyed reading the books Hey, Little Ant by Phillip Hoose, and a nonfiction text titled: Ants by Lisa J. Amstatz. These books provided us with practice identifying the topic and central idea of a text, making connections, and identifying opinions and reasons. In the week ahead we will begin module 8 which is titled From Plant to Plate and poses the essential question: "How do plants become food?". 

Math

In math last week we practiced our estimation skills! The class enjoyed estimating the number of counters, cubes, plastic bears and mini erasers that were put in our estimation jar each morning. We also practiced counting  by 10s and ones to get the exact number of items once our estimates were submitted. The estimation jar was such a hit that we will continue to fill it with fun items at least once a week for the rest of the year!

Along with estimation, we also continued to practice solving word problems/number stories! Emphasis was placed on subtraction stories as subtraction tends to be a bit trickier for most students. To help strengthen our understanding, we read the book Monster Musical Chairs, and then enjoyed playing a game of musical chairs in our classroom!

Phonics

In phonics we reviewed all of the digraphs that have been taught over the past few weeks. These include sh, ch, ck, wh and ng. In the week ahead the class will learn about words with beginning blends such as clam, frog, and stop.

The class enjoyed completing a Write the Room activity where they had to identify the beginning digraph for each picture. ✎

Writer's Workshop

In Writer's Workshop we began our unit on narrative/personal experience writing! We learned that narrative writing is a true story about something that really happened to you. It follows the typical story sequence and includes a beginning, middle, and end. As we build our understanding of this genre, we are all working to write a book about the first time we filled our classroom reward jar! I am SO proud of how hard all of the children are working, and can't believe how far their writing skills have come since the beginning of the school year!

Art Fun! 🎨

The class was busy making amazing paper creations in art last week!

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! 🍎📖🚌

A Peek At Our Week!

    I hope your child enjoyed their spring break and is looking forward to returning to school tomorrow! Please enjoy a few highlights from our very busy week before vacation! 🌞

Important Dates:

May 15th:

Early Release

May 22nd:

Kindergarten Music Concert

More details to follow!

May 25th:

Memorial Day

No School

Curriculum Update:

Reader's Workshop

In Reader's Workshop we continued to ask the essential question: "What can I learn when I look closely?" We enjoyed learning about famous primatologist Jane Goodall as we read the books Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell and Jane Goodall and the Chimpanzees by Betsey Chessen. These books helped us strengthen our understanding of nonfiction and biography genres.

Phonics

The week before break we continued to learn about digraphs, or two letters than make one sound. At the beginning of the week the class learned about the wh digraph which helped them learn the new sight/heart word what. For the second part of the week, the children learned about the ng digraph which appears at the ends of words like rang, tong, and thing.

To reinforce the -ng digraph, the class enjoyed making their own Kings of Ing! This activity helped students practice reading words in the -ing word family, and featured our newly introduced digraph -ng. 

Math

In math we revisited addition and subtraction story (word) problems before the break. The students worked hard to find key words that indicated whether a problem should be solved using addition or subtraction, and used manipulatives, mental math, and equations to solve each story problem. In the week ahead we will review counting by tens and ones.

Writing

We completed our procedural or "how to" writing unit before the break! Be on the lookout for your child's complete piece titled "How to Brush Your Teeth" which will be coming home soon! 🦷🪥

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! 🍎📖🚌

A Peek At Our Week!

 I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Please see below for updates and announcements from Room 115. 😊

Important Dates:

April 20th-24th:

Spring Break-No School

Announcements:

Glue Sticks Needed

As we enter the last leg of the school year our supplies are starting to run low. If anyone is able to donate glue sticks (even if it's just a few!) it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

Class Reward! 🌞

The class continues to work hard and display positive/expected behaviors in Room 115! They once again filled their reward jar and enjoyed extra recess time on Friday afternoon. It couldn't have been a more perfect day for it! 

Curriculum Update:

Reader's Workshop

In Reader's Workshop we continued to ask the essential question: "What can I learn when I look closely?" We enjoyed reading the books I Know the River Loves Me by Maya Christina Gonzalez, and Look-Alike Animals by Robin Bernard. These books provided us with practice identifying the topic and central idea of a text, as well as discussing the author's purpose for writing each selection.

Phonics

Last week in phonics we learned about the final -ck digraph, and practiced reading words such as lock, sick, and duck. We also entered our second week of sight/heart word review, as the words they and who require lots of extra practice! In the week ahead we will resume learned new sight/heart words as the class will be introduced to the word what.

Math

In math we continued with Unit 7 last week. The first module of this unit had us revisiting the concept of measurement. Our learning focused on weight and we examined various types of scales. We also used balance scales to compare the weight of different objects. We ended the week by exploring capacity, or the amount that a container can hold.

The students enjoyed using the Touchview to determine objects with greater and less capacity. 

Writer's Workshop ✎

We continue to learn about procedural or "how to" writing during our Writer's Workshop time. While we began the unit by sequencing events of well know activites that were provided for us, last week the children began to generate and write their own steps for a common task, brushing their teeth! We will continue to work on our How to Brush your Teeth books with the goal of publishing them by the end of the week.

A Look Inside Specials 👀

The class had an absolute blast in P.E. last week!

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! 🍎📖🚌