Happy Thanksgiving!

Taking Numbers Apart

This week in kindergarten, we've begun to look at numbers in a new way. We've started to compose and decompose numbers. These are strange terms, but it's pretty easy - it looks like this:

4 is 0 and 4.

4 is 1 and 3.4 is 2 and 2.4 is 3 and 1.4 is 4 and 0. This concept can feel pretty frustrating for some students at first. So, today before delving into composing and decomposing numbers, I equated decomposing numbers to learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. It feels like you'll never learn how to do it, but all of a sudden, you're peddling down the street with only two wheels! They really enjoyed hearing that! (CC.K.OA.A.3 - Understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking from.)Here are a few of the Math In Focus workbook pages we completed today.

Here is how we start out. Tell how many cubes of each we have and then how many do we have all together?

Then we choose our own combinations to 4 and 5. The students have to tell me how many of each they chose to color, how many of each they have, and then 5 is ____ and _____. This is the part that feels like that bike without training wheels!

This student decided they were going to put 3 blue and 2 yellow cubes together to make 5.

This student's first combination to 5 was 4 and 1.

Getting to Know Raz-Kids

We're really getting excited about reading books in kindergarten! I sent home information in your student's folder last week about a new program we'll be using both in school and at home called Raz-Kids. This program is password protected and the students will need to use that password each time they log in.

In kindergarten, reading is an important skill we begin to develop and practice each day. Raz-Kids makes reading more interactive, fun, and focused on a student's "just right" reading level. I will be using Raz-Kids in the classroom each week with the students and hope that you can find some time at home as often as possible for your student to use Raz-Kids to read. (Common Core RF.K.1, RF.K.2, RF.K.3, RF.K.4)

To get to know the program, we joined Mrs. Klipfel in the library on Thursday to learn more about Raz-Kids, how to use it, and to get some time using the iPads, too! Here are a few photos of our time together on Thursday!

Mrs. Klipfel and the students getting set up on the iPads.

Mrs. Klipfel teaching the students how to locate Raz-Kids on our iPads.

We had LOTS of questions while working on the iPads and learning Raz-Kids. If you have a question, Mom and Dad, feel free to email me!

Thank you Mrs. Klipfel for teaching us how to use Raz-Kids!

Reading Workshop for Parents!

Hello 309 Parents,
This Thursday there will be a presentation here at Steward School for parents focusing on reading strategies you can use at home with your student(s). This presentation will be about an hour long. Here are the details for the event:
November 20, 20146:30-7:30 pmS.T.A.R.S. - Strategies to Accelerate Reading Success - For kindergarten parents in the Steward library. Presented by Sarah Lacourciere (ELA Coordinator), Jessica Minnaar and Marianne Monbleau (Reading Teachers) and Lisa Martin (Kindergarten Teacher).
Thank you and I hope you can make it - the presentation is very informative!