Anti-Bias Curriculum

We are exploring the many ways that we are the same and that we are different from each other. We are examining what our eyes are like, what our hair is like and our skin color. We made simple puppets from paper towel tubes before we began to look carefully at skin color.

In art we mixed paint to match the color of skin and then decorated more elaborate puppets that BZ made with the children. We will write stories about our puppets and ask BZ if we can display them in a case. We have been making impressions of our hands that we will also paint in skin color tones.

We are making books about ourselves and our families. Thank you to the people who sent in a family photo for your child's book. We took close up shots of children's eyes to include in their books and to use as a matching game. The children are very good at identifying each other by just their eyes! we have made a chart of everyone's hair. It's harder to identify each other just by hair.

Math

We finished up a unit on patterns in December with activities like adding cars on to a train of cubes. Children draw a card that shows them a pattern. They build this pattern and then roll a die that tells them how many of these "cars" they will make. They also practiced breaking a train into cars, marking where a pattern begins to repeat.

In January we started a unit on measurement and numbers. Children began by figuring out how they could measure their feet in a variety of ways. We also measured lines around the room using craft sticks  and small objects around the room using cubes.

We have played Build It, where you draw a number card and place that many pennies on a ten-frame. This is followed by Build On, a game where you draw a card, place the pennies and then roll a die and add that many pennies to the frame. These activities build a foundation for adding and subtracting. Today we played Racing Bears. Children roll a die and move their bear. When they get close to the end, they decide on how to split the number on the die, involving the idea of subtracting the spaces they have already used. In Roll and Record, the children use two dice and have to combine the numbers to figure out their total. We are also doing Quick Images, where we flash an image on a screen, then ask children to copy the image onto their Ten Frame.

Language Arts

We have been focusing on learning ending sounds in words, making booklets of matching ending sounds in words, playing lotto games and making word chains based on the last sound in people's names. We have been making books about ourselves in the anti-bias curriculum we began exploring in January (more about this in another segment).

We have been retelling stories and talking about the beginning, middle and end of a story we have read. Children can then dictate what they recall from the beginning, middle and end. They have also been practicing sight words in three word panels. Using a word tile, they build a word with letter tiles and then write the word. We have begun practicing long vowels as well as short vowels in words.

We have also been assessing children throughout the school using the Benchmark Assessment System. This tracks how children are doing in their reading skills. We are currently working in beginning readers, having spent the fall in pre-decodable books. The kids are doing a great job in reading!

The School Play

The big excitement in December was the school play, Cindyella. The kindergartners were awesome pony riders and did a great circle dance. Much time was invested in rehearsals and learning how to hit just the right stride. Many thanks to our parents for all the help outfitting the children and supporting them in their big debut.

Other Activities

We learned about Hanukkah through a story and made Menorahs, cutting them out and gluing them on paper. We will talk about lighting the candles next week when Hanukkah begins, pretending to light a candle each day. We are busy making presents for our buddies as well.

We have been exploring BeeBots, small programable robots. The big challenge is to make the BeeBot go around a wooden block. Here the BeeBot is moving along a number line. Some children will learn how far the BeeBot will move each time you push the button.

During free choice time, children are playing with the Lego pirate ship, working on a floor puzzle of the US and building a sand tunnel. The two children with their arms wrapped around each other are doing an "ankle shake" morning greeting.

Patterns in Math

We have been working with patterns during the past few weeks. Beginning with AB patterns such as red-yellow, red-yellow, red-yellow, we have been creating patterns, making pattern snakes and learning to break apart our patterns. Next we will explore what part of our pattern repeats and learn to break our patterns into units. As we beging to explore AAB patterns these questions get increasingly complex. We have some initial hypotheses about patterns, including patterns go over and over again and that you can tell what comes next in a pattern. After exploring color patterns, we looked at patterns using numbers. We played hopscotch and then sat down at the table and tried our hand at 1-2 patterns and variations thereof.

Thanksgiving Fun

We wrote a book of things we are grateful for shortly before the break. We also created a tree of thanksgiving by tracing and cutting out large leaves and writing about something for which we are grateful. We read the story I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, and created an old lady with which to act out the story.