These are the skills that we are working on for this unit as well as the skills that we've already practiced.  Please review the letters and sounds at home.  Students should also work on writing the letters and numbers learned.  Students should also practice identifying and writing their first and last names beginning with a capital letter followed by lower case letters.

 
   All lessons and activities are based on the Guaranteed Curriculum and may be found on the St. Tammany Parish School website.

 

   During Every Day Counts, we practice the days of the week, months of the year, numbers, shapes, counting, groups of tens and ones, and patterns.

 

    Unit 5: Animals 
Enduring Understandings:

  Animals are an intregal part of our world.
  Animals live in our world.

Essential Questions:
  Why are animla important in our lives?
   Where do animals live?
   Why do animals need food? 

 

Morning Meeting Topics of Discussion:

     This week we are learning about pets. We will discuss different pets and graph our favorite ones.  We are continuing with our Smart Bodies activity series. We will read a story called Mama Cat Has Three Kittens and learn the poem "The Three Little Kittens." 

 

Language Arts Focus for the Week:

     This week we will introduce the letter O,o." We will continue to review the letters "C,c,N,n,I,i,M,m,P,p,S,s,T,t" and the words "to, can, go, we, like," and "have." We discuss the title, author, illustrator, characters, plot,  setting, and the sequencing of events in each book daily. We are continung with our Smart Bodies program. We will identify rhyming words, and predict and discuss stories.
 

Journal Focus for the Week:

     This week we will write about our favorite pets. 
 

Books for the Week: 

   This week we will read Mama Cat Has Three Kittens as well as books about pets and other animals.   

Math Focus for the Week:

   For the week of November 30th, we will continue to focus on counting forward and backward to 10, writing numbers through 12, spelling number words through "ten", and matching number cards to number word cards. We will discuss less/fewer, equal/same, greater than/more and identify the previous and the next numbers in sequential order, identify the missing number, work with color patterns, and compare amounts. We will work simple addition problems.

 

Every Day Counts Calendar Math:

     We turn a number on the calendar, add a paper clip for each school day, and add a colored numbered butterfly for each school day, and discuss calendar patterns on a daily basis. We also sing the days of the week and months of the year using the calendar and birthday baskets. We are adding one counter for each school day of the month to the daily depositor. We have also outlined and colored circles up to the quantity of 9 on the domino number builder. We now will create stories using the number amounts. We also are discussing the terms "greater than, less than, equal, same, fewer, more," using Unifix cubes to illustrate each term.

 

Classroom Work Station Activities:

     This week we are listening to the Earobics "O,o" story; using cookie cutters with Play-Doh; manipulating number and other puzzles; looking at and reading books about pets; creating patterns, sorting by size, identifying beginning and ending sounds, making sight words and simple words, and sorting types of food on the Promethean Board; using the websites starfall.com and the Earobics phonemic awareness program on our classroom computers; using spider counters to follow and extend patterns; using number cards, dot cards, and manipulatives to show one-to-one correspondence; playing a counting board game with two levels of play difficulty available; using Play-Doh to form letters and write our names; spelling sight words using magnetic and sandpaper letters; practicing writing numbers 1-12; sorting seasonal objects; using visual directions to draw our own pets; building with wooden blocks; and dramatizing in the housekeeping station about becoming a vet.

 

Home Learning:

     Please read and discuss the take-home readers with your child. The readers are in your child's purple take-home folder, along with discussion ideas for the students in the back of each book. The folders containing the books are due back each Friday. Please also continue to review your child's written name, address, phone number, age, and birthday with your child. Review basic colors and shapes, counting and writing numbers through 12, singing the alphabet song, and practicing the /o/, /n/, /m/, /a/, /s/, /c/, /p/, /t/, and /i/ letter sounds. Allow your child to help sort socks, towels, and silverware. Let him/her count the silverware, glasses, and plates that are used to eat a meal, or other common items in your home.

   Frog Family Fun Packs are to be returned on Tuesdays. If you choose to order books from the Scholastic Book Club, that is also a great way to practice reading and identifying easy words. The November Scholastic book order forms were sent home before the Thanksgiving holidays and are due back this Friday, Dec. 4th. There is no required homework for Kindergarten. These ideas are merely suggestions for activities you may enjoy completing with your child. As always, do whatever you feel your child can handle. We want to make learning fun and stress-free!

 

Questions to Discuss at Home:

What is a pet?
How is a pet different than a wild animal?
What do pets need to live?

What are some foods that are not good nutrition for our bodies? Names some that are good for us.

Can you name a number that is more than 3 but less than 12?

What comes next in this pattern: cat, dog, bird, cat ...?

Can you tell someone in your family about a book we read in class this week?

Can you use a sentence with "is"?  

 

Differentiated Instruction:

     All students are unique in their learning styles and work habits! I provide many different types of learning activities, including many opportunities for kinesthetic (hands-on), auditory, and visual learners. Most children learn in all of these ways. I provide easy writing and coloring practice, many opportunities to look at and listen to books in class and at our school library (read aloud and through headsets), many learning songs to sing, opportunities to use our hands (Play-Doh, shaving cream, Unifix cubes, lacing activities, blocks, and puzzles), opportunities to use technology (computers and the Promethean Board), and opportunities to show creativity and imagination (housekeeping center, art center, weekly art class, and weekly music class). Students are allowed to complete classroom activities at their own paces. There will be many opportunities for extra learning practice and higher-order thinking activities. Station activities are centered on the theme, and vary based on the students' needs and whether or not they need more challenges.

 

 

 

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