Kid, you'll move mountains.
~Dr. Seuss
9/29/2017 0 Comments Off to Europe! We introduce the seven continents for Core Knowledge in Kindergarten. This week, as we learn about Europe, we will focus on royalty as a precursor to Columbus and the pilgrims. Our class is lucky to have several students with direct ties to European countries! Students may always bring in souvenirs or toys that relate to what we are studying. On Friday, we will read Princess and the Pea. A pajama day is a must to truly celebrate this core story!
Our last few students will present their student of the day posters this week. It has been fun getting to know our classmates. I hope your child enjoyed the book their classmates created for them! At the end of the week, we will begin the writing curriculum that we will use for the rest of the year, Units of Study by Lucy Calkins. A strong foundation in number sense is incredibly important. In math, we have been working on number identification, writing numbers, and place value. Keep pointing out numbers everywhere you go. Students love to see the importance of numbers in daily life! I have received many notes in the leveled readers bags that the books seem too easy. That is great news! I will continue to re-test and evaluate your student's just-right reading level. Books that are sent home should be at the independent reading level, so they need to pass the benchmark test with at least 95% accuracy. Also, remember that we read with the students at school every day. They should come home feeling very confident. However, PLEASE make sure your child is pointing to the word they are reading. If they get to an unknown word, ask them to make the first sound and look for a picture clue. That's what we do in class!
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9/22/2017 0 Comments Welcome Fall! First day of fall and it certainly feels like it! Time to start sending in a sweatshirt or jacket for the cooler morning recess. If your change of clothes in backpacks has shorts, please change them out to pants. To celebrate the start of fall, we will be celebrating a favorite fall treat next week. Fresh apples! On Wednesday, we will make applesauce, so if you do your grocery shopping this weekend, pick up an apple to send in. We usually buy them with ZEF money, but we have found, the kids are really excited to contribute. We will cook the applesause on Wednesday, let it cool and eat it on Thursday. No need to send a snack on Thursday.
Fall not only makes me think of apples but also HAYRIDES! Please send in permission slips by Tuesday. If you pay online, it helps us if you send a note to let us know. Dress for the weather on Thursday. Looks like we are in luck for a beautiful day! Next week is a short week with a collaboration day for teachers on Friday. We had already stuffed the book bags with 4 books before realizng the short week. Feel free to read an extra book one night, or just have an extra one left over. We will probably read all four at school. Be sure to sign-up for a fall conference. Let me know if you will be out of town, and we can work something out. Also, if you volunteer, let me know and we can conference after workstations. www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a45aca62da57-fall2 9/15/2017 0 Comments Fun Junk and WIN Did you see all the trash-like treasures that came home this afternoon? After reading the book Not a Stick, we explored "fun junk" to explore our imaginations and turn ordinary items into spaceships, wands, and towers. The students learned to use our classroom tools like, tape, hole punchers, stamps, and even staplers. This activity is not only fun but developes imagination and independence in the classroom!
Next week we will begin our differentiated, thirty minute long groups of designated “What I Need” or WIN time. WIN is a time when grade level teachers and instructional staff provide extra practice for foundational skills, reteach concepts in a different way, or offer opportunities for extended learning. During WIN, groups of students may be taught by a different teacher and may work with students from other homerooms. We have 6 rounds of WIN time each year and each round lasts for 5-to-6 weeks. Prior to each round, teacher-teams form groups to ensure that all students are engaged in powerful instruction throughout each WIN round. Grouping is flexible, so your child may not have the same teacher or work on the same skill, topic or project for consecutive WIN rounds. Each round is designed to provide your student with what they need most to learn and grow! This round we will be focusing on letter identification, sounds, and sight words. On Monday, we will begin sending leveled readers home each night. We try to practice reading with each child during the school day, so be sure to send these books back to school every day. Because we are reading them every day, they may seem "too easy" or "memorized." That's ok! Let your child shine and feel confident about reading to you. Celebrate that! A few important tips: - Your child should always hold the book. - Encourage your child to point to every word as he or she reads. This helps the child memorize sight words and move beyond memorization reading. - Have fun! Don't read when your child is tired or grumpy. You will both end up frustrated. - ONLY READ ONE BOOK EACH NIGHT. The books are short. It's ok to read and be done. However, you can also play games, like "I spy..." and look for letters, sight words, or something that begins with the sound.... - Ask questions: what was your favorite part? Pretend you are the author, what page could you add? How do you think this character feels? Why? I re-test the students' reading levels once a month. The books that go home are at a 95% independent level. We work at a more challenging instructional level in class. Kindergarten is about learning to love reading and school. Have fun and let me know if you have any questions! 9/11/2017 0 Comments Moooo-ving on...Happy Monday! I hope you enjoyed your weekend and are ready for a full week of kindergarten. The books that came home in the white Dr. Seuss bag were from the library. You can keep library books for a week until the following “media” day or return them as soon as you’re done. We have media on Thursday this week. Leveled Readers will start going home next week. We are trying not to send too much work home as your children need to relax and unwind after working hard at school. Just focus on your posters and writing collages. If you are looking for reading and math, try Reading Eggs and Math Seeds! Last week, we began to explore the bikes and striders. Thanks to the ZEF Enrichment Fund, we can provide opportunities for exercise, cross brain development and fun! There is compelling research linking physical activity to academic success. Thank you for your generosity and contributions. We also learned about the United States symbols. Did you see the flags we made? We practiced reading and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. We will learn more about the US as we travel around the world this year and learn about the continents. This week we mooo-ve on to the farm and animals! Core Knowledge stories like The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, and Chicken Little. These rich, classic tales add fun and creativity to our classroom! Math papers from our math curriculum will start coming home this week. You will notice several blank pages. I believe in using a workshop model and hands on teaching with kindergarten students. We use our bodies and manipulatives to do math, so while the papers may seem “unfinished,” I assure you we are learning the material. This provides opportunities for reteaching and extension within the lesson. It is not necessary for you to do the extra problems, but if you are looking for extra practice, feel free. You do not need to send it back to school. We are working on counting with 1:1 correspondence, correctly writing digits, and representing numbers in multiple ways. When the students master a skill, there are enrichment opportunities as an “I’m done” choice. We are working hard to utilize this program in a way that provides students with opportunities to challenge all students. As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns! 9/1/2017 0 Comments Dinos and School CultureWe had a great week learning about dinosaurs, one of which is our school mascot, as we focused on how to "do school." The students are adjusting to the routines and expectations in Kindergarten very well. Our school behavior system is ROAR: respectful, organized, attentive, and responsible. We use those words to teach students how to succeed!
Learning to hold a pencil, crayon, and marker correctly is one of the first skills we try to master in kindergarten. Getting those little muscles in our hands strong will help us become "professional writers!" You'll see evidence of this work coming home over the next few weeks. In math we have been working on shapes, colors and patterns. Have your child read “Shape Monster” to you. Anytime your child is reading they should be pointing to the words. Use picture clues and first sounds to decode unknown words. Our new mathematical words are perseverance and rhombus! I've been finding time to read one and one with each student to find our just right reading levels. Leveled reader bags will start going home on September 11th. At our assembly today, we learned to stand up to bullies by asking for help. We know that we can ask for help if it is happening to us or to a friend. I try to avoid the word bully in kindergarten. It is hard for young children to understand that a disagreement with a friend, even a couple disagreements, is very different than a repeated use of intimidation, strength and aggressiveness. Social skills are an essential part of kindergarten, so please continue to encourage your child to ask for help, but also email me to let me know if there is an issue that I don't know about. Next week, we are learning about American symbols! We are even learning the Pledge of Allegiance. |
Specials ScheduleMonday: Media
Tuesday: Technology Wednesday: PE Thursday: Music Friday: Art Sight Wordsred, the, like, can, orange yellow, a, I, green, blue, purple, black, we, see, pink, white, gray
Important DatesDecember Archives
February 2020
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