We had an amazing week making inferences! This week we began by talking about how we can use text clues (words and pictures) and our schema to make inferences. We talked about good inferences and bad inferences - good inferences are related to the text and our schema. Not-so-good inferences are ones that don't rely on what we've learned from the text at all. We did several activities to help students make inferences and revisited The Lorax, one of our favorite books. After rereading the story and asking "Wonder" questions that the author didn't answer, students got the opportunity to make inferences of their own by drawing the Once-ler. Did you know that the book never shows what he looks like? It was fantastic to see the different interpretations that students made based on text clues and their own schema. Because the text describes the Once-ler as being old, students gave him canes, wrinkles, and gray hair. All of their amazing drawings allowed us to see that inferences can lead us to different - but correct - answers.
This week we were very fortunate to have visits by two community helpers who came in to talk to students about their jobs. The first was Alderman Solis who came in to give the students some advice on making decisions for a community. To prepare for his visit, students learned about interviewing and practiced interviewing each other. They also came up with questions they had about an alderman's job. Alderman Solis shared with our students how important it is for someone in his position to always listen to the wants and needs of their community. We also had a visit from Mrs. Gannon, a registered dietician. She talked to students about different food groups and being smart by thinking about which food groups your meal comes from. She also talked about how each group on My Plate (http://www.choosemyplate.gov) helps your body in a different way. The students loved her activities and the book she brought - Delicious by Helen Cooper. This week we talked about what's important in a community by looking at what we have in our community around STEM. Each student received a picture of a building in the STEM neighborhood to recreate using a paper bag. We talked about the things that we may need in a community and whether or fictitious community for our PBL has everything it needs. |
Mrs. McGrane
I love teaching kindergarten literacy at STEM! It is amazing to be a part of the reading and writing growth of a kindergarten student. You get to see kids move from knowing some letters and sounds to being enthusiastic readers and young authors. Archives
March 2016
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