Week of October 1st

This week we got to use the Imagination Playground. The Imagination Playground combines the sensory, motor, and intellectual development benefits of block play in a flexible and adaptable format that encourages greater collaboration and physical activity. Joplin James, a Kindergarten teacher here at Shelburne, was able to bring this back to our school for another year. The children were excited to be able to use it again this year. Check out our pictures from our first day of use. We will have access to it once a week for the month of October. In math this week we started some new workplaces. Some of the workplaces that we are some games such as compare and contrast numbers where we count by 2s, there is a sorting and patterning activity with frogs/bugs/buttons or shells to use, they are looking at likenesses and differences with an activity called "What does not belong?", and they are using pattern blocks to extend patterning. We have one more week and we will finish with our first unit of math. In writing we continue to look at mentor texts of authors who write about their lives and things that they know. Students are doing their own writing on things that they know about or activities from their lives. We have also talked about the writing process and the different steps we should take as writers such as brainstorming; writing a beginning, middle and end; rereading and making our stories better and editing. Next week we will focus on using partners to bounce ideas off of and sharing our writing with them so that they can help us make our stories better. Next week we will be going to Shelburne Farms on Wednesday. We are excited to talk about matter and make butter, bread and cheese. It should be a great field trip! Have a wonderful weekend, Nancy