This week we are beginning a new unit in Investigations: Data Gathering and Analysis. Sounds a bit serious for grade one, but will actually be loads of fun as we explore meaningful questions, look at different ways to represent our information and understand the usefulness of collecting data.
Today we began with a simple do you like question. The children showed their answer by choosing from two colored cubes, then sorted out the answer. aWe talked about how knowing what they like could help in planning a menu or knowing what to get as a gift.
The term attribute was defined because we use this word to determine sorts or groupings for different purposes. Here are some pictures of the students sorting by different attributes.

The kindergarteners have immersed themselves with the rich literature and illustrations of the Caldecott medal winners. Mahalo to Kumu Kanani for her part in exposing our young readers to these books. Mahalo to Mrs. Rosehill for lending her expertise to a wonderful drawing lesson and mahalo to all the ‘ohana for supporting this venture and reading more books at home!

In our study of Pilgrims and American Indians we learned an important skill that the Indians shared was the food corn and how to grow it. On Friday we made corn muffins using two different recipes and enjoyed this American Indian food treat. The keiki drew pictures of a Pilgrim kaiaulu, wrote the steps they recalled for the corm muffin recipes then ate and enjoyed the treat!

Following our ‘oli every morning upon returning to class we have a greeting circle. We do this to set a positive tone for the day, provide a sense of recognition and belonging, help the keiki learn each others name and areas of interest about our selves and to foster respective behaviors towards one another.
Please enjoy a video of one greeting where we shared compliments.

In math we have been learning how to count on from a given number. This strategy will help the keiki later as they learn to add and subtract. They will learn to see the missing sum from a given number to another quantity, particularly as they relate to 5 and 10.
Here’s an example: count on from 2 to 5. As your child sees 2 as the beginning sum, they will focus more on what amount is between 2 and 5. Thus we count on and see 3 as the missing amount.
In today’s game we used calcualtors. We punched in our initial amount as found in a card we flipped over. We input that number into the calculator, pressed + 1. Then we rolled a dice to see how much to count on. We pressed = that many times to discover # and # makes #. This game will be continued using numbers less than 5 to make 5 and numbers less than 10 to make 10.

Making applesauce turned into almost a full day activity for KA! We began our morning talking about halves and quarters, then passed out 20 Fuji apples and began our cooking journey. Here are the steps we noted as we cooked the sauce:
1. Learn about halves and quarters.
2. Cut the apples in haves and quarters.
3. Rinse the apples.
4. Put them in the slow cooker.
5. Smoosh the cooked apples in the food mill.
6. Put in some butter, sugar and cinnamon.
7. Mix it and enjoy!
All of us enjoyed our class-made treat. A common comment from the keiki was that it tasted more like apple pie….yum!

Our activity included writing for information- the keiki were inspired to write about what they did because it was a real experience!

Some days I do read-alouds to the students to work on story comprehension and vocabulary skills. One activity that we love is called “Stop- and- Draw.” I break a story up into parts where we can stop to discuss the different words or ideas within the book. The keiki have a worksheet that is divided into four parts. Some of the ideas we explore are as follows:
*What do you know about this topic- ie: beach
*What would you see/ hear in a place like this?
*What does this word mean? How does the story help us know it?
*What do you think would happen next?
The students can draw and/or write about the different responses. Enjoy the following work samples of a stop-and-draw activity of the story Scaredy Squirrel At The Beach- by Melanie Watt.

(The picture of the kids lying down is when they were re-inacting Scaredy Squirrel playing dead!)

We have begun to explore the value of numbers. We are learning that a number represents an amount and it can be shown in different ways. The terms “the story of one, two, three and four” showed how a given number combines to a given amount. The keiki also learned the words “number bonds”- which shows how a number is made of two or more parts. These words will be a big part of our math learning as we learn number values and combinations over this year. The following pictures show some students as a number bond. Look at what is same/different to show two parts becoming a whole.