The circus is here!

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we learned the name, sound and correct letter formation for lowercase a and g.  We learned there is a "funny a"  and "funny g" that we sometimes see in books, and the regular a and g that we write.  

Please use the following verbal prompts:

a-over, around, down (NOT circle and a stick)

g-over, around, dow....n, curve up

When their mouth says "over," their pencil should make a "hill."  Please watch for this at home and correct if they are not doing this. 

Shared Reading & Spelling: we are excited to begin our spelling routine in Kindergarten.  A detailed note came home about this on Monday, as well as another note today further explaining their spelling check and routines.  Please make sure you have read both of these notes, so you can help your child at home as well.  

I am very proud of their first spelling test.  I want to reiterate to you what I reiterated to them.  It is okay if you missed a word or two, that just tells your brain you need to practice it some more.  I am not upset with them and their parents aren't upset with them and we never will be. They are also not "in trouble" for missing a word.  That is a part of learning!  When you make a mistake, you can learn from it!  Their spelling check is in their folder for you to review. The most up to date word wall list is also in their folder.  They will bring one home every Friday.

We will practice our spelling words/word wall words in various ways in the classroom: finding the words in books that we read, literacy workstations/centers, "high-fiving" the word and reading it every time we leave our classroom and more.  Practicing in various ways at home will also help set your child up for success with this new routine.  

I will introduce the new word of the week on Monday's (or the first day of the week if Monday is a no school day) to the students, but every Friday in the blog I will give families a sneak peek of next week's word.  I highly encourage you to check this blog every Friday to get a head start on practicing the words at home.

Next week's new spelling word:

can

Next week's spelling check will be on Thursday, due to no school on Friday.

Writing: We are continuing our work on telling stories through pictures and adding details like people, characters, and settings. Students are getting more confident with their drawings and are beginning to transfer this understanding into their own stories.

Many students are starting to add beginning sounds when labeling or “writing a story,” which is exactly what we hope for at this point in kindergarten. Spelling full words will come as they learn more letters.  For now, this beginning-sound writing is an exciting and important step!

Literacy Workstations:  this week we began literacy workstations. Students work at a station with a partner.  Stations mostly include literacy and fine motor skills tasks, but we will also mix in some math stations from time to time.  During this time, I pull students to work one on one or in small groups at my teacher table on more individualized instruction.  

Math: This week, our kindergartners learned about number racks (also called “reks”) and practiced showing numbers on them. We even made our own number racks to keep in our math toolkits for regular use, helping students explore numbers and build a strong foundation for counting and quantities.

Friday Craft: today we read the silly book Frankenstein doesn't wear earmuffs and made these cute Frankenstein's to decorate our classroom! Check them out tonight at the circus!

Custodian's Day:  on Thursday we celebrated Mr. Brandon, Ms. Teesha, Mr. Bobby and Ms. Angela for Custodian's Day!  We are so lucky to have an amazing team of custodians at BEU! 

It was a bittersweet day as well, as it was Mr. Brandon's last day with us.  He was our head custodian.  He loves BEU and was sad to leave, but he drives 45 minutes, one way, to work every day and he was able to find a job closer to home.  The kids love him and we were all sad to see him leave, but we wish him well!  We made cards for him and the other custodians on Thursday.  Thank you to those who sent additional gifts as well! They have a hard, but important, job in our school and deserve all the accolades! 

Flash's Big Top Circus:  the big day is finally here!  The kids are SO excited about their first circus as an official timberwolf!  We hope to see you all tonight from 6:00-8:30 p.m. Thank you to everyone who donated an item for our class Lego basket or signed up to work a shift tonight!  We see you and appreciate you! 

Spirit-wear Monday: now that the spirit-wear orders have arrived, we hope to see everyone wearing their BEU gear on Monday!  Wearing their spirit-wear every Monday is a special Beulah Ralph tradition!  

More fun at school...

Happy Homecoming Weekend!

 A look at our learning...

September Reading Logs: September is coming to an end and reading logs are due on Wednesday, October 1st.  You still have 4 days left to post September's "Sneaky Reading Challenge" in our class Facebook Page.  September's challenge was to read in the car.  October Reading Logs are in your child's Friday Folder, along with a new "Sneaky Reading Challenge." I'd love to see more participation in this next month! You post the photo anytime you catch your child doing the challenge!  You don't need to wait for me to make a post. Beginning in October, students who complete their required monthly reading log will earn a free pizza coupon to Pizza Hut. 

Reading is required homework at BEU.  In K-1, the expectation is at least 4 days a week for 15 minutes at a time.  Reading TO your child is what is appropriate right now.  We DO NOT expect Kindergarteners to be readers at this point in the year. 

Fundations: this week we learned the letter name, sound and correct formation for lowercase c and o.  Please use the verbal prompts below to practice at home. Your child should be saying these prompts to themselves every time they write a letter on their homework to ensure they are doing it correctly.  

c: over, around, open

o: over, around, close

At school, we have learned that the "over" motion should look like a "hill" or a "rainbow." Watch for this when forming these letters. Please make sure that your child is going over to the left when forming these letters. 

On the handwriting homework, please make sure their pencil begins at the dot and goes over to the left. 

Handwriting Homework: please make sure your child's name is on their optional handwriting homework.  Many students are turning it in without a name.  This is also a great opportunity for them to practice writing their name and forming letters learned correctly.  Please make sure the student is writing their name, not an adult or older sibling. 

Spelling Word: our new Word Wall Word this week was a.  Just like I, we learned that a can be a letter or a word. 

A new spelling routine, that involves you at home, begins on Monday! Be sure to check your child's Daily Take Home Folder on Monday for more information. 

Writing: we continue to work on telling stories through pictures.  We are getting better at drawing people using shapes and have moved onto learning about settings.  A setting is where the story takes place.  Check out this song that has helped us with this. They were able to choose a character card to glue in their writing notebooks and draw a setting that matched that character. As you can see below, one child chose an alien character card, so drew a rocket ship in space.  Another child chose a farmer so they drew a farm and barn setting.  Next, we will transfer this knowledge over to writing about ourselves and including a setting based on something they have done (Mizzou football game, riding their bike, going to the store, etc). 

Math: this week we continued working with 5 and 10 frames.  We used red and blue snap cubes on our 5 and 10 frames and found different ways we can make 5 and 10.  We discovered there is more than one way to make a number! 

During our morning Number Corner time (aka calendar time) our focus continues to be learning the names and attributes of 4 basic shapes (square, circle, triangle, rectangle), recognizing and extending patterns and counting our days in school. 

Friday Craft: we read the book Mouse Shapes and made this cute craft that goes along with the book and shapes we have been learning in math! 

Health:  This week we began using the A Little SPOT of Feelings book series in class. These stories feature simple, relatable characters called “Spots” that represent different emotions. The Spots help children recognize and name their feelings in a way that makes sense to them. While this is just one way we are teaching about feelings, it gives our kindergartners another tool to build important emotional literacy skills—learning how to talk about what they feel instead of showing it only through actions.

Packmate of the Month: Congratulations to Isaac!  He was chosen, by his peers, as our September Packmate of the Month and honored at an assembly on Friday.  Students will vote every month for one of their classmates that they believe follow our BEU expectation of the month.  It is a private vote and the winner is kept a secret until their name is announced during the assembly.  Responsible was our character trait for September. 

Our class also won the attendance award for kindergarten!  That means we had the highest percent of attendance out of all 5 kindergarten classes.  Not only that, we had the best attendance in the entire school with 98.1%.  Yay!!  We will have this flag and a banner displayed outside our classroom for the next month!  Thank YOU, parents, for prioritizing school!  As one kid said "it's because we love school so much!"  I love it!  Such a great group of kids this year!  

Custodian Appreciation Day: Thursday, October 2nd, is Custodian Appreciation Day! While we are lucky to have several custodians who care for our school, the two our students know best are Mr. Brandon and Ms. Teesha. This day is a wonderful opportunity for children to show them just how much they are valued. Students may choose to make a card at home, color a picture, share a kind word, or even bring in a small treat or gift. None of this is required, but it’s a meaningful way to let them know they are an important part of our school family.

This year’s celebration is extra special because Thursday will also be Mr. Brandon’s last day as our head custodian. He has accepted a job closer to his home. Mr. Brandon is truly amazing, and both staff and students agree he will be irreplaceable. He has been such a loved and appreciated presence in our school, and what better way to send him off than by showering him with gratitude!  If you would like to know some of their favorite things (snacks, drinks, gift cards, etc.) please send me an email and I'm happy to share! 

🎪 The circus is coming—just one week until the big day! 🎪 A huge thank you goes to our wonderful room parent, Kayla Hagedorn, for organizing our classroom’s LEGO basket for the raffle, and to all of you who so generously donated items to make it amazing!

We still have a few open volunteer slots to help in the game rooms during the circus. Each shift is only 30 minutes, and volunteering ensures that every game room can stay open for the kids to enjoy. Thank you to those who have already signed up—we appreciate you! If you haven’t yet, please consider helping to fill the final spots so the event can be a great success for everyone. You can sign up here. 

M I Z Z O U

Happy Homecoming!

More fun from our week...