A look at our learning...
Fundations: this week we learned the name, sound and correct letter formation for lowercase v and w. They are "slant down" letters. The "slant down" can be a bit tricky for kids. When practicing at home this weekend, watch and see if they are slanting down the correct way.
Please use the following verbal prompts for correct formation:
v-slant down, slant up
w-slant down, slant up, slant down, slant up
Shared Reading & Spelling: we read the poem A Fall of Colors and the big book What I like. Both featured our new spelling word like. We discussed point of view in poems/stories. We figured out that it was a leaf's point of view in our new poem. In our big we discussed thought bubbles and what they mean and can tell us.
We will not introduce new spelling words next week due to the short week. When we return on Monday, November 27th we will begin learning 2 new words a week instead of one. Our new words that week we will be up and day. Feel free to start practicing early!
The students are doing a WONDERFUL job spelling their words correctly on their spelling test, but many are missing a point for their name due to not forming their letters correctly. We have learned correct letter formation for all lowercase letters except q, x, y, z. They are expected to form all lowercase letters learned correctly at all times; not just on their spelling test, but every time they write. If your child is missing points for this on the spelling test, please work on correcting it.
In your child's Friday Folder is a paper with correct letter formation and verbal prompts for ALL letters. These are the verbal prompts your student is expected to know and use. Please do not throw this paper away. Please keep it somewhere to use often and hold your child accountable. If they are forming their letters incorrectly, they need to be saying the verbal prompts out loud to you when writing those letters. They have learned that those words tell their pencil what to do. 9 times out of 10, if they are verbally saying the prompts they will not form it incorrectly. Thank you for helping with this at home.
Writing Workshop: we are moving further along in the writing process. We have moved from telling a story through pictures, to adding labels, to now writing a "story." In Kindergarten, a sentence is a story at this point in time. We are learning the writing process you see in the picture below. Students are expected to spell word wall words correctly and sound out/stretch out non word wall words. Check out some of the great stories from some of our classmates this week! I did not help them with any of this! I love the phonetic spelling! This is what we should see!
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| I went to gymnastics. |
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| I went to the Mizzou football game. |
Math: this week we started focusing on teen numbers and how they start with a 1, as I discussed with many of you at parent-teacher conferences. For the rest of November and all of December we will start math every day with this song below. It's a great one to help learn their teen numbers and fix the reversals.
We have also started learning correct number formation of numbers 0-10. It is just a quick overview and we don't spend a great deal of time on it like we do letter formation. We talked about how if they can write those numbers, they can write any number in the whole wide world!
As I discussed with many of you at conferences, it is developmentally and age appropriate for students to write numbers backwards until the end of second grade. It doesn't mean they are dyslexic, I promise. 😀 While you can work on it if you wish, it isn't required and will often naturally correct itself. We don't want to transpose numbers (41 for 14, 61 for 16, etc.) but simply writing a number backwards isn't a huge deal.
Counselor: this week Mrs. Bergeson's lesson was about kindness. This was perfect since World Kindness Day was on Monday, November 13th. Ask your child about the photos below and what they are doing with Mrs. Bergeson.
A wonderful way to talk to your child about school each day is to ask "how were you kind?" or "who were you kind to today?" rather than "what did you do at school today?" Try it!
Packmate of the Month: yay Molly! She was chosen, by her peers, as our November Packmate of the Month!
Disguise a turkey: we had so much fun sharing the "disguise a turkey" family projects over the past few weeks! I hope you enjoyed this special time with your child! What I love most is how you can tell the child was the leader and the family assisted. Thank you for encouraging and embracing their creativity! We will proudly display them through the end of November and return home in December.
Class goal: we earned 10 compliments from our specials teachers and celebrated with a pj, pillow, blanket and movie day on Friday. We enjoyed watching Free Birds. It's a great one for Thanksgiving time if you haven't seen it! It also tied in nicely with our "disguise a turkey" project.
We are going to continue to work on earning compliments from specials. When we earn our next 10 stickers we decided we will celebrate with a costume day. They can wear their Halloween costume or any play dress up clothes. I will let you know when we reach this goal.
Buddy Bench: check out our Kindergarten team newsletter for information on a new Buddy Bench on the front Kindergarten playground! Check out how beautiful it is!
Next week: a reminder that Columbia Public Schools IS in session on Monday and Tuesday. Thanksgiving break is Wednesday-Friday. We are working hard on improving kindergarten attendance numbers. Thank you for helping your child arrive to school on time and allowing them to stay all day.
I hope all of you have a wonderful, safe, happy and healthy Thanksgiving! I am very thankful to you for sharing your kiddos with me each and every day and the support you give me as their teacher. I love my job and what I do!
Kindergarten is a fun and busy place!
