December fun!

December was so much fun!

We read Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes.  We read Chrysanthemum earlier this year, by the same author.  We have been working on retelling stories this year, which helps us focus on key details and ordering (what happens 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.).  With Wemberly Worried, we read the story, then looked at different picture cards of key details and sorted what happened in the story from what did not happen in the story.  The details on the cards were so tricky and seemed like they could all have been in the story.  However, the kids were detectives and figured out which details were true to the story!  Here is what it looked like:

In Math, we worked on part-part-whole, which is leading us to understand how addition works.  As children play the games and record the numbers, we put the numbers into number sentences (which become equations).  For example, one child rolls 5 on the die and places 5 brown cubes on his "part".  The other child rolls 5 on the die and puts 5 blue cubes on her "part".  Next, the partners push their two parts together, up to the "whole" and count how many they made.  Last, they record on their paper "5 and 5 make 10".  The following week, we played the same game but this time the partners recorded their findings as "5+5=10".

It looks something like this:

The last week before winter break we focused on gingerbread men!  We read several versions of the Gingerbread Man story, comparing the stories, characters, and setting, as well as retelling different versions!  We made gingerbread men who RAN AWAY from us!  We had to write letters and make gingerbread houses to encourage them to come back.  The last day of winter break was all about the Polar Express!  We retold the story, began our own Polar Express stories, and enjoyed hot cocoa.  I was so busy and engaged in our activities that I forgot to take many pictures of the week!  Here are two pictures from the day we made our houses.

We have also been working very hard on our Weather Expedition.  I will post many pictures of our adventures and learning at the end of January, when we wrap up our expedition.  I can't believe we are almost finished!  These children have become quite the experts and I'm so excited for them to start on their final product!