Number Bonds

As we work on addition and subtraction in Kindergarten, we work extensively with a mathematics chart called a "number bond".  Here is a number bond:

Each circle of the number bond has a name to describe its role in a bond:

The whole is the total amount and it is connected to each part- so two lines connect to the whole.

The parts are the two numbers that, when put together, equal the whole amount.

Notice that there is not a line connecting  part to part.

Here is a functioning number bond:

Here you can see that if you take the two parts (2 and 3) and put them together, it makes the whole (5) amount.

To begin, we might say 3 and 2 make 5.  Then, it leads us into 3 + 2 = 5.

The same applies to subtraction, except we cross off the number that is being taken away:

Here you can see that if you take the whole (5) and take away the part that is crossed out (3), the remaining part would be 2.

Eventually this leads us to writing 5 - 3 = 2

We use number bonds daily and you will start to see them coming home on homework.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

New Goals

Your child may have mentioned that we have a new goal with our tickets at CR Hanna.  When students earn tickets for being kind, safe, responsible or respectful, they are now to keep these in a safe spot and once they have 5, they can take them to the office to buy a prize!  It has been a huge success and we have seen some great progress to earn these tickets.  In our own classroom, students are being helpful to one another and throughout the day, if their tables are responsible, working hard, using appropriate voice levels then they earn a tally for their table.  At the end of the day, the table with the most tallies wins a prize.  Yellow and Blue have been the most responsible so far this week.  Keep up the great work, Kindergarten!

Don't forget, Friday is an early dismissal day at 11:22 and no lunch will be served.  There is no school on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Happy New Year

2017 is here and Kindergarten is back in session.  As we return this week, we begin an almost 2 month review of letters and sounds by studying an animal that begins with each letter.  Yesterday we learned about alligators and were able to touch a real alligator head while reviewing the sound for short A.  Today we introduced LONG A - Each vowel of the alphabet (a,e,i,o and u) can make 2 distinct sounds.  The LONG sound is when the vowel sounds like the letter name.  Today we learned about Apes.  With long vowels, we focus on "sneaky e" that sneaks onto the end of a word and makes the vowel say its name in the word.  You will see those on tonight's homework, as well.  Your student might mention sneaky, silent e when writing APE or cAke tonight!  We will learn about the long vowel sound of each vowel as we come to it in the alphabet this time around.

Today we earned our last letter of RESPONSIBLE and tomorrow we will have a PAJAMA DAY!  There is a pink note in folders about that tonight.

Report cards will be coming home on Friday (tomorrow).  Please review the report card, keep the papers at home, sign the envelope next to 2nd Quarter and return the empty envelope to school next week.  If you have any questions about your child's assessments, please do not hesitate to get in touch :).

We are officially halfway done with Kindergarten!  So much to look forward to coming up.  Stay tuned!